What soapy mistake have you made today?

[nsmar4211]

My lowes didn't have lye, but I got it at Tractor Supply. $14 for 2 lbs.... but it's lye

I'm now having visions of pizza soap and dogs pooping rainbows...and I just got up.... LOL.... after breakfast going to check last nights batch for unmolding

 

[Viore]

N_A and Gigi, I was laughing about it too! Well, the next morning. In the heat of the moment, I was more mad at myself for leaving the powders within reach of the dogs.

I'm really surprised the dogs haven't gotten into more of my soapy stuff. My weim can reach anything on the counters but she seems to leave soapy dishes and even the soap in the mold alone. Wooden spoons sticking out of a pot are fair game though...

Okay, done hijacking the thread! Back to soapy mistakes!

 

[not_ally]

I was worried about, this, too Viore, w/r/t to soap batter drips on the floor. Mine are completely uninterested in ingesting them, which is such of a relief. I keep my oils on the floor, and there is a lot of licking going on there. But I don't worry about that b/c it can't hurt them in those amounts

 

[raingarden]

K, you and I both have big Halloween batches in our future ...



Welcome, Raingarden. Just checked SSRB for SC Lemon Zest and both people who reviewed it reported exactly the same thing, trouble shot in advance b/c a new FO, soap on a stick, they thought there was no getting around it. So some comfort there, if only in shared misery

Thanks for the info. Slept better last night knowing there was probably nothing I could have done to prevent this. I will live to soap another day.

 

[raingarden]

My mistake for the day - and several to come I guess - is letting myself run out of lye. I ordered 27 lbs a couple of weeks ago from the Lye Guy, and it appears to be stuck in FedEx limbo, also the LG has not answered my emails, so I am kind of stuck on figuring out how/when to find another quick source (will probably just stick w/NG , going forward, the pricing was v. close, I just wanted to check something new.)

I did just order 3 lbs via Amazon Prime, but it will not get here until Monday. That is way, way too long. They may find me, dead from soaping DT's, at that point. Hopefully the pups will not get hungry enough to eat me by then

Ally, I just started buying lye from bulkapothecary.com . They are in Aurora, OH. Shipping is cheap for me since I live near Pittsburgh. Not sure to ship to LA. They are fast and I love the lye, castor oil, palm oil. Hope this helps.

 

[jules92207]

I still just buy lye at my local ACE, it's not as cheap as bulk but I don't make a buttload of soap all at once so I like knowing only a little lye is exposed to air at a time. It is 3.99 a lb.

 

[Jstar]

What brand do you get at Ace's Jules?

I get mine at Lowes and its $14.00 for 2 lbs...your deal sounds much better

 

[gigisiguenza]

Jstar I paid the same at Lowe's... major rip off but it's what I had available so what ya gonna do :/

 

[tbeck3579]

Snappy, I think it looks like ground beef. I know a lot of guys would love that. Was the soap HP? I tried HP but I didn't like the way it turned out. I should have took a pic because a ground beef appearance would have been a drastic improvement.

 

[umeali]

Thanks for providing a shoulder to all new soap makers :clap::clap: I am upset I made my milk oats honey soap yesterday but even after 24 hours it sticky and soft enough ,I do not know what to do now ? I am upset ,all my soaps that I made yesterday are not good looking or set yet .

 

[not_ally]

Umeali, how soft *are* they, actually gooey or set up Ok but too soft to unmold? Ie; is there any reason to think that they will not harden acceptably with some more time? I would give them another day and reassess at that point. If still super soft then I'd come back and post your formula/process (actually that is always a good idea w/problem soaps, it just saves the round of replies from all of us which will tell you to do that .

 

[not_ally]

Jules, $3.99 is a great price for something locally sourced. Even for not locally sourced, most of the suppliers charge more than that ("WSP, why is your lye so expensive?") if you are not buying in bulk.

 

[Jstar]

Jstar I paid the same at Lowe's... major rip off but it's what I had available so what ya gonna do :/

True that..I used to buy my lye at Essential Depot, but since they have gone up on their prices I wait for sales..until then I buy Roebic brand at Lowes..fairly high, but I avoid shipping charges. so that helps a bit

 

[umeali]

Umeali, how soft *are* they, actually gooey or set up Ok but too soft to unmold? Ie; is there any reason to think that they will not harden acceptably with some more time? I would give them another day and reassess at that point. If still super soft then I'd come back and post your formula/process (actually that is always a good idea w/problem soaps, it just saves the round of replies from all of us which will tell you to do that .

Thank you ,but I think it need more time .I checked it . thanks again

 

[SunWolf]

If you have a Rural King, they have lye for $9.99 for two pounds: http://www.ruralking.com/ropebic-drain-opener-crystal-2-lbs-lye-hd-cry-6.html

 

[jules92207]

What brand do you get at Ace's Jules?

I get mine at Lowes and its $14.00 for 2 lbs...your deal sounds much better

It's Rooto. It is a darn good deal, if I go anywhere else it's at least a dollar more a lb.

 

[MorpheusPA]

I just made more laundry soap (the first pound went over well except "could it bubble a little more").

This one was 55% palm, 40% coconut, 5% castor (in the hopes of getting a few bubbles). Processing went well, but I probably should have used more than 25% water...

Pouring...the stuff stiffened up while I was pouring it (no color, no scent), and immediately started to crack and (weakly) volcano. Gel phase flew like a wave through the soap.

If I cared what it looked like, this would be a failed batch. Since I don't, and it's laundry soap anyway, I just hope it isn't lye heavy or something.

 

[KristaMarie]

Just made a batch scented with orange and litsea EOs and attempted an ITP swirl with paprika. Between sugar turning my lye solution brown and the orange color from the EO, everything looks kinda blended together right now. We'll see if I have any swirls tomorrow, but I'm thinking no...

 

[spenny92]

Not really a mistake, but I had to throw out a batch of honey beer soap today. I've been waiting weeks for it to harden, and it's just doing nothing. I can squidge it between my fingers like fudge, it's such an odd consistency. I think I messed my quantities up as it was such a small batch - so not quite as heartbreaking to throw it out!

Impatiently waiting for the postman to arrive with my soap supplies, I hope! It's been DAYS since I've soaped. I've resorted to making enough mini bath melts and lotion bars to keep a small army well-moisturized for a year - not quite, but you get the point! I now have to head off into the miserable, bucketing down rain to go and feed 100 calves down the farm. Waaah.

 

[not_ally]

OMG, calves, so cute! 100, I can see why you might want to just put a bunch of buckets down, hope they feed themselves, and lie down in the strawy calf-ness until was over. Know it does not work that way, sorry