Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
Nothing soapy done yet but I will be soaping later just so I can use this
And I intend to start my soap blog finally
And I intend to start my soap blog finally
What soapy thing have you done today?
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snappyllama
Supporting Member
I have everything ready for remaking my PT soap and retrying another Castille version. If I get enough time today, I want to go for something colorful that smells nice too.
Totally looking forward to the blog, Sonya! Please get on it, I know that you have plenty of spare time on your hands 
soapmage
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I cut my new soap this morning and I'm very happy with it! The mica did get smeared all over the sides like I thought, but I will wipe them down once they've hardened up a bit more. I used Bliss EO blend by WSP and it's just lovely but a bit on the light side, so may need to use more next batch (I used .5 oz ppo) but it's so expensive! I only bought a 4 oz bottle to try.
soapmage
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Thank you!
Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
Totally looking forward to the blog, Sonya! Please get on it, I know that you have plenty of spare time on your hands
Probably starting it tomorrow now as my soap plans for today did not go according to plan - accelerating FO meant that my drop/hanger swirl became HP drop and plop!! Not what I intended to be my first blog post!!
I think the problem batches are more interesting to read about, they give you more to think on. The pretty ones are fun to look at, but not so thought provoking. Plus, your creds are pretty good on the pretty ones, Ms. Spin swirl winner at five months out!
Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
Ok just for you, my first blog post will be today's disaster
Hoorah, I can't wait! Would you post the link in a new post? I think a lot of people are interested in the rapidity of your soaping journey, they will want to see it and might if you miss it link to it here.
Sonya, I'm excited for your blog!
I made some "coconut creme" soap using the HP extreme method that actually turned into microwave HP. It's discoloring to a pretty brown color in mottled spots (I knew it would discolor!). I think I'm going to put some white piped HP soap on it too now that it's cut.
I also got some really great finds in the past 2 days. I got a silicone slab mold, a cheese cutter (for planning soap), a mini squares silicone mold, and a bunch of little fondant type mats for a total of $7 from good will.
Then, when I was taking out my dogs this morning I noticed someone put a box for trash on top of the recycling bins by the dumpster. It had 2 large pyrex bowls that were not cracked and a brand new looking tiny (maybe 6 cup) crock pot brand slow cooker. The box also had some little kitchen jars with ceramic lemons. I almost took those too but I just don't have the space...
Seriously?? Who throws that away! At least donate it!
View attachment 14543
I made some "coconut creme" soap using the HP extreme method that actually turned into microwave HP. It's discoloring to a pretty brown color in mottled spots (I knew it would discolor!). I think I'm going to put some white piped HP soap on it too now that it's cut.
I also got some really great finds in the past 2 days. I got a silicone slab mold, a cheese cutter (for planning soap), a mini squares silicone mold, and a bunch of little fondant type mats for a total of $7 from good will.
Then, when I was taking out my dogs this morning I noticed someone put a box for trash on top of the recycling bins by the dumpster. It had 2 large pyrex bowls that were not cracked and a brand new looking tiny (maybe 6 cup) crock pot brand slow cooker. The box also had some little kitchen jars with ceramic lemons. I almost took those too but I just don't have the space...
Seriously?? Who throws that away! At least donate it!
View attachment 14543
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Worked on a tutorial based on my experience last February with "salting out" a bunch of soap scraps.
A big thanks to Boyago for sharing his experience with this technique and getting me curious enough to try it myself. Here's the thread he started, if you're interested: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52103
A big thanks to Boyago for sharing his experience with this technique and getting me curious enough to try it myself. Here's the thread he started, if you're interested: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52103
That *was* interesting, thanks D and Boyago. Don't think it would work for me b/c I use mostly lard and superfat too high. But it does get me thinking of making a 100% coconut laundry soap. How do those compare w/regular, ie; store bought powders in terms of cleaning?
Whatever soap you start with, Not Ally, is what you end up with after salting out. Just minus the fragrance, color, and other additives.
If you don't use any lye in the salting-out process, the soap still contains all its superfat. If you do use some lye, you can easily reduce or eliminate the superfat. The salted-out soap won't be lye heavy if you do add lye, because the salting-out step removes water-soluble materials and lye is water soluble.
Salting out doesn't change the essential character of the soap, so judge a salted-out soap in terms of the original recipe(s). If the soap scraps are from bath bar recipes, then you end up with bath bar soap. If you want a 100% coconut soap for the laundry, then you'll want that regardless of whether it's salted-out or freshly made.
In Boyago's case, he used his salted-out soap (scraps from a wide variety of recipes) for laundry soap but he clearly knew it wasn't going to be as strong a cleaner as a 100% coconut soap. But to get some good use out of soap that would otherwise be useless -- that was his motivation.
In my case, I'm using my salted-out soap as bath and hand soap. I chose to add NaOH to reduce but not eliminate the superfat. It is a mild soap that lathers well for bathing and hand washing. Yes, it doesn't have any glycerin in it and the superfat is low, but the soap is still good soap. I like how the salting-out removes the color and fragrance, so I can color and scent the soap as if it's freshly made stuff.
" How do those compare w/regular, ie; store bought powders in terms of cleaning? "
Do you mean how does a high or 100% coconut soap compare with store bought detergents? Plain soap doesn't contain optical brighteners, so it doesn't make glowingly-white whites. Plain soap also doesn't contain enzymes, so it may not be as good at removing some stains without extra pretreatment.
I have been making a 30% lard, 70% CO soap with EDTA for my laundry soap. The amount of EDTA is still a work in progress, but I'm using a fair bit more than the 0.5% I'd normally use for bath soap. My last recipe for laundry powder was this:
80 oz (2270 g) grated soap with high percentage of coconut oil
80 oz (2270 g) washing soda (about 1 1/2 boxes)
80 oz (2270 g) oxiclean-type oxygen bleach powder
Use 2 TBL to 4 TBL per load depending on size and dirtiness. I'm definitely seeing better results in terms of cleaning and whitening with this blend than the usual recipe that calls for baking soda + washing soda + borax + soap.
I just don't think the baking soda adds anything to the party, so I eliminated that totally. I also think washing soda and borax occupy the same niche in terms of adding detergency to the blend. Washing soda gets my nod as being more effective than borax in a dry blend, so that's why I'm using it over borax in this recipe. If I made a liquid clothes washing soap, I'd use borax, because it will remain effective in a water based product unlike washing soda.
I also think I simply need more soap per load for better removal of greasy dirt and skin oils, so I'm using 2-4 TBL of the blend. IMO, the ladies who are using 1-2 TBL of the usual mix to clean a load of laundry are definitely not dealing with greasy, muddy, stinky chore clothes.
The mix seems to be working well for me -- my HE washer isn't getting stinky every month or two like it does with commercial detergent and I'm not seeing excessive foaming or scum buildup, colors are remaining clear and bright, whites are acceptably white, and my clothes smell good.
If you don't use any lye in the salting-out process, the soap still contains all its superfat. If you do use some lye, you can easily reduce or eliminate the superfat. The salted-out soap won't be lye heavy if you do add lye, because the salting-out step removes water-soluble materials and lye is water soluble.
Salting out doesn't change the essential character of the soap, so judge a salted-out soap in terms of the original recipe(s). If the soap scraps are from bath bar recipes, then you end up with bath bar soap. If you want a 100% coconut soap for the laundry, then you'll want that regardless of whether it's salted-out or freshly made.
In Boyago's case, he used his salted-out soap (scraps from a wide variety of recipes) for laundry soap but he clearly knew it wasn't going to be as strong a cleaner as a 100% coconut soap. But to get some good use out of soap that would otherwise be useless -- that was his motivation.
In my case, I'm using my salted-out soap as bath and hand soap. I chose to add NaOH to reduce but not eliminate the superfat. It is a mild soap that lathers well for bathing and hand washing. Yes, it doesn't have any glycerin in it and the superfat is low, but the soap is still good soap. I like how the salting-out removes the color and fragrance, so I can color and scent the soap as if it's freshly made stuff.
" How do those compare w/regular, ie; store bought powders in terms of cleaning? "
Do you mean how does a high or 100% coconut soap compare with store bought detergents? Plain soap doesn't contain optical brighteners, so it doesn't make glowingly-white whites. Plain soap also doesn't contain enzymes, so it may not be as good at removing some stains without extra pretreatment.
I have been making a 30% lard, 70% CO soap with EDTA for my laundry soap. The amount of EDTA is still a work in progress, but I'm using a fair bit more than the 0.5% I'd normally use for bath soap. My last recipe for laundry powder was this:
80 oz (2270 g) grated soap with high percentage of coconut oil
80 oz (2270 g) washing soda (about 1 1/2 boxes)
80 oz (2270 g) oxiclean-type oxygen bleach powder
Use 2 TBL to 4 TBL per load depending on size and dirtiness. I'm definitely seeing better results in terms of cleaning and whitening with this blend than the usual recipe that calls for baking soda + washing soda + borax + soap.
I just don't think the baking soda adds anything to the party, so I eliminated that totally. I also think washing soda and borax occupy the same niche in terms of adding detergency to the blend. Washing soda gets my nod as being more effective than borax in a dry blend, so that's why I'm using it over borax in this recipe. If I made a liquid clothes washing soap, I'd use borax, because it will remain effective in a water based product unlike washing soda.
I also think I simply need more soap per load for better removal of greasy dirt and skin oils, so I'm using 2-4 TBL of the blend. IMO, the ladies who are using 1-2 TBL of the usual mix to clean a load of laundry are definitely not dealing with greasy, muddy, stinky chore clothes.
The mix seems to be working well for me -- my HE washer isn't getting stinky every month or two like it does with commercial detergent and I'm not seeing excessive foaming or scum buildup, colors are remaining clear and bright, whites are acceptably white, and my clothes smell good.
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Thanks for taking the time to explain that so fully, D. I sort of think maybe we should have a sticky/sub-forum (is there such a thing? It would be good so that it didn't up link space on the main board but was separate so that people could see the threads easily) for laundry soap. It comes up a lot. Poor mods, I can see them rolling their eyes at yet another suggestion.
Anyway, this was really useful. It actually kind of convinced me it would be a *bad* idea for me to make laundry soap, I tend to spill on my clothes a *lot* so need maximum stain treating in the mix. I pre-treat as well, and still have problems.
But it was good to have another option for re-using problem soaps, espec. when the problem is color, some of mine are ones that are overly-colored and bleed considerably into the bath water, but are otherwise ok. I was kind of wary even to use them in confetti. I was thinking of venturing into HP w/the problem soapies, but figured it wouldn't address the color issue, so this is something to ponder.
Anyway, this was really useful. It actually kind of convinced me it would be a *bad* idea for me to make laundry soap, I tend to spill on my clothes a *lot* so need maximum stain treating in the mix. I pre-treat as well, and still have problems.
But it was good to have another option for re-using problem soaps, espec. when the problem is color, some of mine are ones that are overly-colored and bleed considerably into the bath water, but are otherwise ok. I was kind of wary even to use them in confetti. I was thinking of venturing into HP w/the problem soapies, but figured it wouldn't address the color issue, so this is something to ponder.
I made a new soap today.. I made it difficult for myself.. ( that's just me I always try the difficult stuff before the easy stuff lol )
Somy second soap was made out of coconut oil - olive oil - castor oil and 20% superfat
1/2 of this mix was used with a aloe vera juice/lye solution and 1/2 was with a water lye solution and I added the coconut cream at trace.
Split the coconut cream mixture in 2/3 and added orange mica to 1/3 ( by this time the soap was more like a dough.... )
I added the coconut cream at a ligth trace but it instantly turned into thick trace after pulsing 1 or 2 times with the stickblender...
I wanted to use a pipingbag for the orange toppart but had the wrong nozzle to work with and ended up handdecorating with a spoon.
Any tipsor tricks on how to prevent that instand thick trace after adding coconut cream? is it easierto use coconut cream powder ( or any milk powder for that matter ) or should I mix the milk in by hand rather than using a stickblender?
I will post pictures tomorrow of my first and second soap.
1 good thing is, this time my soap did not get overheated like my first one YEAH!!!!
Somy second soap was made out of coconut oil - olive oil - castor oil and 20% superfat
1/2 of this mix was used with a aloe vera juice/lye solution and 1/2 was with a water lye solution and I added the coconut cream at trace.
Split the coconut cream mixture in 2/3 and added orange mica to 1/3 ( by this time the soap was more like a dough.... )
I added the coconut cream at a ligth trace but it instantly turned into thick trace after pulsing 1 or 2 times with the stickblender...
I wanted to use a pipingbag for the orange toppart but had the wrong nozzle to work with and ended up handdecorating with a spoon.
Any tipsor tricks on how to prevent that instand thick trace after adding coconut cream? is it easierto use coconut cream powder ( or any milk powder for that matter ) or should I mix the milk in by hand rather than using a stickblender?
I will post pictures tomorrow of my first and second soap.
1 good thing is, this time my soap did not get overheated like my first one YEAH!!!!
Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
I cut my failed intricate hanger drop swirl that became a drop and plop instead!
I also started my blog!! Nothing but 'hi this is me' so nothing to share yet
I also started my blog!! Nothing but 'hi this is me' so nothing to share yet
How did it come out, Sonya? Be sure to link to your blog when you are ready for us to see it.
I have started to sell a few soaps and handmade leather items (purses, etc.) at an art center gift shop. I found out today that the Center arbitrarily decide to put a new stock number on all of my items without telling me. I lost my only way to track what items are selling. In order to know whether I need to replenish Soap A and not Soap C, I will have to visit the gift store and look. It's a 1 1/2 hour round trip. I worked for hours to follow their labeling rules and get everything all figured out and done right ... all for nothing. I'm so disappointed.
:-?
:-?
Wow, that is so disheartening. I can't even imagine that. I hope all gets figured out soon. I would ask them to maybe photograph or indicate in some way what soap sells with their new tracking system until you can get over there and update your tracking to theirs. Doesn't sounds like they are the super accommodating type though... [emoji29]
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