What soapy thing have you done today?

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With or without the cat?


I do understand what is happening during saponification (with “understand” in the sense of chemistry textbooks/lectures). But still I'm with you, it has something magical about it, if you want to call it that way. The more I know about soapmaking is mostly the more I know that I don't know, and won't ever know. There are so many things that can't be explained by a scientific approach! Soapmaking will always resist being squeezed into the category of science, craftmanship, or (black) art – because it is always a blend of all three!

In soapy news, I'm currently challenging another pet theory with on-paper-appeal with soapmaking practice: An attempt for (a very cumbersome detour to get to) a shortcut to the elusive soap-without-lye phantom.
I had precipitated free fatty acids from soap scraps + excess citric acid + some purification magic. The current step is filtrating off some activated charcoal I had added to clear off impurities. Needless to say I have to do this in the oven to keep the FFAs from solidifying at RT … Uncertain ending…
Agree' the more I learn about soaping the more I realize I don't know. Soaping Keeps Us Humble' thats for sure.
your Soaping Project "W / Out Lye? Hmmm Now this is gonna be interesting. I venture to say its another form of lye just chemically unstructured' as Lye lol 🤣😂.
 
Today I made another loaf of Signature Soap. It has I think 9 FO'S in total' of course it started Misbehaving In Every Way' as it usually dose' so I was ready for the "Misbehaving Party Of Nine" Knowing its gonna happen any second' as im stirring as fast as I can' then Pour it in the mold smoth it out' fast' I bang on the table trying to remove any air bubbles. 🤣😂 On to color number two' pour in FO' Wait for it' Bam!! Its ricing & Im stirring as fast as I can' thrown in the mold' bang it down. On to the last & final color Repeat of first two colors. I think to my self Do I Dare Try A Spoon Swirl' its really a Naughty Frozen Monster' 🙃🤨🤪, I gotta try that beautiful spoon swirl ive seen friends post. As Im attempting to swirl this Frozen Mess' I'm thinking to self "Oh This Isn't Gonna Be Good".
I finally finished up & put the Misbehaving Party Of Nine To Sleep. Its getting happy in the ice chest' hopfully cooling down' 🤣💫🤣💫😂 here is a picture. I'll post another after I cut it tomorrow.
It's Late Night Night Sweet Dreams.

Update on my " Signature - So' Peachy Soap" Though it's not perfect The Scent Is Heaven! I have one customer that Absolutely Loves My " So Peachy" scented soap's, though the colors & design change'it's the scent is what I want to Nail as perfect & consistent, according to my nose.
Thx to her & suggesting I should make this my "Signature Soap" So I Did. 🍑💫🤗
 

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I unmoulded the fragrance test soaps this morning, and I continue to be intrigued by the variations that just a fragrance can cause. I used a pencil to carve the numbers on them for future reference and there was such a difference in consistency! Almost 2 days after pouring, some were chalky and crumbly, some were firm and waxy, some were soft and greasy, and one was still too soft to unmould! (Black pepper EO)

The colours are also quite interesting:
IMG_20210525_105746.jpg

C2 and C3 on the left are the controls for the two batches. All the others have 1.5g of FO per 60g of my normal soap recipe batter. The ones that look bigger are the ones that set up so fast they had to be poked down into the cups, so there are lots of air pockets!

Reference table:
Screenshot_20210525-111646.png
 
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Unmolded and cut my Lily of the Valley soap, which was very soft, and I should probably have waited. Way too soft to bevel, and I might need to do touch-ups on the surfaces I smudged, but I'm fairly pleased. Not exactly a glamour pic, but they aren't cleaned up yet, either.
Pretty soap with perfect lines :).
 
I unmoulded the fragrance test soaps this morning, and I continue to be intrigued by the variations that just a fragrance can cause. I used a pencil to carve the numbers on them for future reference and there was such a difference in consistency! Almost 2 days after pouring, some were chalky and crumbly, some were firm and waxy, some were soft and greasy, and one was still too soft to unmould! (Black pepper EO)

The colours are also quite interesting:
View attachment 57708

C2 and C3 on the left are the controls for the two batches. All the others have 1.5g of FO per 60g of my normal soap recipe batter. The ones that look bigger are the ones that set up so fast they had to be poked down into the cups, so there are lots of air pockets!

Reference table:
View attachment 57709
This is fantastic!
 
Unmolded and cut my Lily of the Valley soap, which was very soft, and I should probably have waited. Way too soft to bevel, and I might need to do touch-ups on the surfaces I smudged, but I'm fairly pleased. Not exactly a glamour pic, but they aren't cleaned up yet, either.
Oooh very nice' It has a calming effect when I look at it. 💫🤗🧼
 
These are the soaps I made recently to estimate the strength of the botanical colorant infusions I started in March. From left to right, but excluding the soap in the lower left, the colors are paprika, rhubarb root, alkanet and indigo. The indigo pigment is not oil soluble so I use the suspended powder in oil, whereas for the other colors I just use the oil. In each case, the colorant is 1/2 strength compared with the soap above. The indigo bars were planed on the bottom to reveal the inner beauty. Why oh why does indigo have to go grey on the outer edges? I used the oil from the unshaken indigo infusion to get the pale pink color of the soap in the lower left. The pink is from a secondary plant pigment, alizarin, that is oil soluble.

View attachment 57693
Wow this is fantastic & wonderful info.
 
I unmoulded the fragrance test soaps this morning, and I continue to be intrigued by the variations that just a fragrance can cause. I used a pencil to carve the numbers on them for future reference and there was such a difference in consistency! Almost 2 days after pouring, some were chalky and crumbly, some were firm and waxy, some were soft and greasy, and one was still too soft to unmould! (Black pepper EO)

The colours are also quite interesting:
View attachment 57708

C2 and C3 on the left are the controls for the two batches. All the others have 1.5g of FO per 60g of my normal soap recipe batter. The ones that look bigger are the ones that set up so fast they had to be poked down into the cups, so there are lots of air pockets!

Reference table:
View attachment 57709
I'm waiting for a "Peachy scent" just kidding' not... Thx for your wonderful info. 💫🧼🙌🏼
 
These are the soaps I made recently to estimate the strength of the botanical colorant infusions I started in March. From left to right, but excluding the soap in the lower left, the colors are paprika, rhubarb root, alkanet and indigo. The indigo pigment is not oil soluble so I use the suspended powder in oil, whereas for the other colors I just use the oil. In each case, the colorant is 1/2 strength compared with the soap above. The indigo bars were planed on the bottom to reveal the inner beauty. Why oh why does indigo have to go grey on the outer edges? I used the oil from the unshaken indigo infusion to get the pale pink color of the soap in the lower left. The pink is from a secondary plant pigment, alizarin, that is oil soluble.

View attachment 57693
Those are beautiful!
 
I finally tried the lollipop swirl. I may or may not post pictures once I cut it, but one of my colors got noticeably thicker than the others and it got difficult to pour, it was more like blobs sliding down the inside of the can, than a smooth steady stream.
I just posted my non-entry from last month's challenge. I had a similar issue that it got thick and was more like blobs sliding down the inside of the can.
 
Here are the three batches I made over the weekend (my goat milk and oatmeal soaps). It's been about a month since I made soap and the last two batches before these were both total fails so I was glad these came out fine. From left to right it's Eucalyptus Tea, Madagascar Vanilla, and Lavender Woods & Honey. The two on the ends are going to be part of gift boxes.
 

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Finally got my new shampoo bar press in the mail yesterday after the first one got lost! So I had to make some more shampoo bars I could press... then I had to make conditioner bars to match! Lol! I need help! Anyone need some shampoo or conditioner bars!?!? 😀😅😂
EA77F162-5E59-457C-BD17-6FC03BC5E527.jpeg

They are sooo cute!The kids wanted something to differentiate between the shampoo & conditioner bars. I think this works!
 
Finally got my new shampoo bar press in the mail yesterday after the first one got lost! So I had to make some more shampoo bars I could press... then I had to make conditioner bars to match! Lol! I need help! Anyone need some shampoo or conditioner bars!?!? 😀😅😂
View attachment 57727
They are sooo cute!The kids wanted something to differentiate between the shampoo & conditioner bars. I think this works!
Those are adorable' I didnt know a Soap press was used for Shampoo Bars' wow interesting.

Here are the three batches I made over the weekend (my goat milk and oatmeal soaps). It's been about a month since I made soap and the last two batches before these were both total fails so I was glad these came out fine. From left to right it's Eucalyptus Tea, Madagascar Vanilla, and Lavender Woods & Honey. The two on the ends are going to be part of gift boxes.
Those are nice' the scent sounds amazing.
 
Not me, I just made 8 bars lol. But those square shapes are cute! I wonder if it would help my husband hang on to the bar better so he isn't always drop testing my bars... hmmmm....
I get the 1.75” diameter in round and now square, because I think it fits better in my hand & is a good size 3 oz bar. I guess we will see in a day or two when I try them out! But I manage to drop at least one of them once or twice. My conditioner bars are dented messes in the shower! 😊
 
I made my second attempt at this months One Pot Wonder Challenge soap this morning and got it into a pre-heated 150°F pre-heated oven at 11:30 am, with just enough time to shower & get to my hand therapy appointment. My thumb was in more pain than it's been in quite some time. I didn't think I overworked it, but just realized I forgot to take my arthritis med this morning, so that was probably a large part of why it was so painful, plus it's taking forever for the swelling to stop returning each morning. In any case, after my session & some very welcome massage, it felt fabulous!

So now I'm just trying to remind myself that I don't want to open the oven yet to peak or temperature check the soap.
 
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