I finally made salt bars. Wish I had done it a year ago, lol. I used 80% CO and 40% salt, so maybe I’ll be able to try them in 6 months.
What soapy thing have you done today?
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Peachy Clean Soap
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Good luck w/ the open markets' I'm thinking of doing that too' but I've put it off. where is the Sale on Shea Butter?
Love the color & shape of your Bars. Is the rectangle shape a three dimensional mold?.
Personal preferences are fascinating to me. Lemongrass EO is one of my all time FAVORITES! My favorite soap is rosemary and lemongrass. It's also the most popular and requested soap among my friends and recipients.
Now if you can excuse me for some unsolicited advice said with great affection. I'm sensing a lot of self-criticism in your post. If 2020 taught me anything, it is to be more gentle with myself and others BECAUSE WE'VE ALL JUST SURVIVED A FREAKING GLOBAL PANDEMIC!! Blue ribbons for everyone!
Peachy Clean Soap
Well-Known Member
. sorry no blue ribbon emoji, I had to choose a blue heart. 
I used to make lemongrass lip balm. And we had beehives we cared for. Lemongrass is about the closest thing to their "this is home" pheromone, so anytime we wore it working the bees we'd have bees around our faces constantly. 
No, it’s one I got on Amazon. I had seen another member use it and I loved the shape. I think it was @Misschief or @msunnerstood. I apologize as my brain isn’t working like it used to. Lol.
I love lemongrass too. In fact, the salt bars I just made are a combo of lemongrass EO and Lemongrass FO. I agree we all need a trophy for the last year.
Peachy Clean Soap
Well-Known Member
I also love lemongrass--in fact my soapy thing I did yesterday was get all my ingredients ready to make a matcha coconut milk soap scented with lemongrass and lime!
My son is about to graduate from college, but when he was a teenager, he was a beekeeper in our backyard. They are fascinating creatures. We got to know the bees so well that we could recognize which were his and which were not when we were out and about the neighborhood. People were often shocked to learn that there were bee hives in our backyard smack in the middle of Chicago. It was like learning about the soaper community (we are everywhere!!) -- we had no idea how many urban beehives were around. The honey was wonderful while it lasted. I miss those days.I used to make lemongrass lip balm. And we had beehives we cared for. Lemongrass is about the closest thing to their "this is home" pheromone, so anytime we wore it working the bees we'd have bees around our faces constantly.
Ladka
Well-Known Member
I like lemongrass FO so much I always have a bottle or two at home. There's rarely a batch without it.
I feel like I’ve been away so long I’ll never catch up. That goes for soaping and this thread!
I thought I had 5-6 soaps that needed to be photoed and posted on my website. I had FIFTEEN! AND new lotion bars and balms. Holy smokes!! It took a few hours, but inventory is up to date, posted online, and initial social media post made.
WHEW!
Meanwhile, I actually managed to make a soap. If base ingredients hadn’t been sitting there prepped (for a month!) I probably wouldn’t have gotten around to it. The day started by playing with soap dough because it’s my favorite! But after 3 tries, and almost breaking my extruder disc, I had to completely change my plan for what I was going to make. It took on a life of it’s own. But, it was fun fun fun!
I thought I had 5-6 soaps that needed to be photoed and posted on my website. I had FIFTEEN! AND new lotion bars and balms. Holy smokes!! It took a few hours, but inventory is up to date, posted online, and initial social media post made.
WHEW!
Meanwhile, I actually managed to make a soap. If base ingredients hadn’t been sitting there prepped (for a month!) I probably wouldn’t have gotten around to it. The day started by playing with soap dough because it’s my favorite! But after 3 tries, and almost breaking my extruder disc, I had to completely change my plan for what I was going to make. It took on a life of it’s own. But, it was fun fun fun!
So that was a surprise. I came home from work, unwrapped my loaves, got the cutter out, was anxious to post photos of my gardener/mechanic soap and prepped my trusty terrycloth towel backdrop. The first loaf popped right out but was very warm to the touch. That's a new one -- I've always unmolded 24 hours later. It took everything in me to put it back and put the cutter away. This patience stuff is for the birds.
Today I made an iced coffee soap (M&P). It's setting up tonight so I'll cut it up tomorrow. I purposely didn't use vanilla color stabilizer because I want it to turn brown on its own (my own goofy experiment). Making the ice cubes was fun! I think next time, I'll use a tiny paddle-like tool that I got with micas to help flood the tiny cavities in the mold. Tomorrow, I'll shrink wrap soap and make a valiant attempt at a Christmas swirl.
I'd love to see a picture of your soap! It sounds amazing!
I unmolded a goats milk and honey soap that I made yesterday. It's fun using the same recipe and tweaking it with different liquids, additives and such. Each batch is turning out just a little bit nicer I think. At least nicer looking.
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The loaf I just cut was still warm. Why put it back?
After several miserable fails at the embed I wanted to make, I finally just slapped this together. It’s scented MaM Palo Santo, which smells nothing like palo santo, but smells better in soap than OOB. This soap just had a kind of its own. Also, some weird little white bumps that I don’t think are stearic spots, but maybe.
Maybe I’ll call it: Emerald Coast, or high moon.
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I don't know why I put it back. I never have encountered that before but it seemed like it was missing its cozy little fort under the towel pile.The loaf I just cut was still warm. Why put it back?
After several miserable fails at the embed I wanted to make, I finally just slapped this together. It’s scented MaM Palo Santo, which smells nothing like palo santo, but smells better in soap than OOB. This soap just had a kind of its own. Also, some weird little white bumps that I don’t think are stearic spots, but maybe.
Maybe I’ll call it: Emerald Coast, or high moon.
Great green soap there! It looks like it could glow in the dark!
WELL... I realized a lot in this little experiment. Excitement can totally turn one's brain off in the zeal to make the soap. I probably should have made 2 batches of the little ice cubes. And, in melting the base for the soap I used a clear base instead of the coffee base that I'd intended to use! Hmph. The good news is that my son loves the scent, I got good experience using the itty bitty soap mold and it will still turn darker... just not as dark as I'd hoped for! LOL!
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It's still cool looking! And I'm sure it smells wonderful.
You're very kind to say that. My son scooped up one of the bars of soap and said that he might just take a bath before dinner with his new coffee soap! It's nice having a live-in fan! LOL!
In soapy news, I've finished my cross cut sled for the table saw! (Bear with me...)
Now that I can get much more accurate cuts, I'm all set up to make my own custom soap moulds! (See?
)
But first I practiced with a simple little project and made myself a beveler to my preferred spec. There's one straight blade which I can adjust for depth of cut from about 2mm to 5mm, which seems to be plenty, in testing. I also ground out a second blade to make a roundover profile with shoulders, and I like it a lot!
These ancillary projects are great for doing soapy things without actually generating new soap!
Now that I can get much more accurate cuts, I'm all set up to make my own custom soap moulds! (See?
)But first I practiced with a simple little project and made myself a beveler to my preferred spec. There's one straight blade which I can adjust for depth of cut from about 2mm to 5mm, which seems to be plenty, in testing. I also ground out a second blade to make a roundover profile with shoulders, and I like it a lot!
These ancillary projects are great for doing soapy things without actually generating new soap!
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