What soapy thing have you done today?

[ResolvableOwl]

NaOH replenishment came in a plastic BAG (inside a jar, at least). Folks, has nobody told you that NaOH micro-pearls are ELECTROSTATIC?

It was no big drama to limit my annoyance to today only. I had planned to remake lye masterbatch. My former, sturdy PE lye bottle stil held just the right amount to do that. Then I transferred the new NaOH granulate into the old bottle. Lost about 1 tsp to electrostatic cuddling.

 

[MrsZ]

Hi everyone! I'm back! Did anybody miss me? Just kidding.

I helped my little sibling in laws and my own kids make soaps from MP last weekend. They hoped to do CP, but I wasn't comfortable with five kids aged 3-12 in the soaping process. They had fun with the MP.

 

[scmorgans]

Just cutted my coffee and chocolate soap made with goat milk olive oil infused with grounded coffee beans unrefined cacao butter and mango butter coffee fragance and some other oils It was my first time trying soap dough embeds it was fun to make but took some times

LOVE IT!

 

[TashaBird]

I’ve been on a bath bomb making frenzy. I can’t make them fast enough and sell out, which is very satisfying, but I miss making soap! And, I NEED to make some. I’ve got 3 batches of soap prepped, and a bunch of soap dough made. A ton of bath bombs drying, and it’s too humid today to make more. Going to make embeds, which is basically just playing with play dough! So that sounds like a fun soapy sunday! Here’s some pics from my bath bombs. They’re formulated to be foamy, so I’m gonna call them a soapy thing.

 

[pinpointpete]

Those look great but you really want to get those bars off of the metal rack. That's a sure way to invite DOS.

Thanks, just put some parchment paper under them just now.

 

[Ladka]

After several months I made another CP batch. I made dual lye pure beef tallow soap (90 : 10 NaOH : KOH). I didn't use a stickblender, just mixed by hand. It went slowly to thick emulsion. It didn't notice any trace when it began to thicken. I seem to have been spoilt by the extra slow moving lard batter I'd been making before. And I had such plans with embeds, confetty and different colours! So here is what I managed to make. With some trimming it should be OK.

 

[Zing]

Our house has been quite the Santa's workshop this weekend. Mrs. Zing and her bestie have baked dozens of cookies. It's a decades-long tradition with them except for missing 2020 during the pandemic. Also, their first cookie-baking-weekend in our new kitchen. My contribution was to be the taste-tester -- I know, I know, I just give and give. In soaping news,

• I finished and capped my 100 tubes of lip balm and ordered labels.
• I labeled and packaged 60 lotion bars (so far I've got clove, rosemary, kukui oil that is unscented but has awesome nutty scent, and a cocoa butter that is also unscented but smells great.
• Printed out labels for my soaps.
• Packaged up 2 gift boxes for the post office.
• Also, thanks to the leads from this forum, I ordered some inappropriate soap molds, special order for BIL

 

[TashaBird]

Packages and photos 4 new soaps. Trimmed up and steamed the ash off the individual cavity soaps I made from the left over batter and odds and ends.

 

[Ladka]

Two more batches of dual lye beef tallow soap, with a little castor added. Testing the 5 % and 10 % KOH to see the difference.
This time I recognized the point when the batter started thickening and began pouring (two bars with no FO or colour for two persons with very sensitive skin) and colouring. I poured into individual moulds of various shapes and also used some of the shavings, crumbs and odd pieces for confetti. The last batch is happily gelling in the oven. At least I hope it is

 

[Vicki C]

Salted out a bunch of soap scraps yesterday and today spread them out to dry. Here’s a cleanup tip for anyone who needs it. If you ever put dishes with too much (fully cured) soap into your dishwasher and end up with a dishwasher full of suds you can toss in a cup of vinegar and it knocks the suds right down. Don’t know how I missed this fun fact until now.

 

[TashaBird]

Salted out a bunch of soap scraps yesterday and today spread them out to dry. Here’s a cleanup tip for anyone who needs it. If you ever put dishes with too much (fully cured) soap into your dishwasher and end up with a dishwasher full of suds you can toss in a cup of vinegar and it knocks the suds right down. Don’t know how I missed this fun fact until now.

That’s a great tip!!!

Finished some bath bombs that I’m super excited about!
Stupid fedex has said it was delivering my national shrink wrap system for the last THREE days!
But these guys look like a silly magical army of happiness!
Got boosted today. REALLY need to make soap soon or I might freak out.
And a friend may have found me TWO 20 tier sheet pan racks for super cheap! That would solve my bath bomb space issue!!! Fingers crossed it comes through and I don’t feel too crappy from my shot.

 

[Vicki C]

That’s a great tip!!!

Finished some bath bombs that I’m super excited about!
Stupid fedex has said it was delivering my national shrink wrap system for the last THREE days!
But these guys look like a silly magical army of happiness!
Got boosted today. REALLY need to make soap soon or I might freak out.
And a friend may have found me TWO 20 tier sheet pan racks for super cheap! That would solve my bath bomb space issue!!! Fingers crossed it comes through and I don’t feel too crappy from my shot.

Your bath bombs are da bomb.

 

[Ladka]

Made yet another batch of beef tallow dual lye soap.
I've finished with soaping for this year.
I still have to clean the kitchen and the soap is gelling happily in the oven.

 

[TashaBird]

Your bath bombs are da bomb.

Thanks! Learning to make them was trickier than I expected. But they’re getting better, and it’s super fun!

 

[Kiri Kiri]

Hay everyone
I had a very soapy Sunday with my sister and took them out of the mold right after work today. Those are some of the best batches I had so far, if I gotta say so myself! They smell like english rose, pear and sea breeze respectively. The smell toned down a bit after it sat for 2 days which is super nice, definitely not too overwhelming

I´m planning to cut them maybe tomorrow or the day after. If I have time (and remember haha) I will update with some hopefully nice soap slices!
Unfortunately all of them seem to suffer from soda ash, even though we spritzed them with rubbing alcohol. Maybe I kept them too cold? (probably around 0-5°C) I´m not too sure, but if you have any tips I´d very much appreciate it


Also, i absolutely love what all of you have been doing! I read this thread regularly and love seeing everyones creations, so awesome!!

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Today was Asian shopping day!

Not sure if cuisine-me or soap-me is more enthusiastic about these

They also stocked up palm oil and “sauce graine” (palm fruit paste). Market works: more demand = more supply (I just wonder who is buying all that red palm oil ).

Testing the 5 % and 10 % KOH to see the difference.

Mind to hijack @Mobjack Bay's Additives and Lather (Bubbles) thread with your findings?

@Kiri Kiri
These are looking marvellous from the top! Looking forward to see their inside.
Too bad they caught soda ash – though at least for the rose loaf, it looks quite decorative IMHO.
There are much smarter experts than me when it comes to avoiding soda ash. But AFAIK 0–5°C is really chilly (you wanted to avoid gel at all cost?). If this gives you false trace, you can't judge well if your emulsion is actually stable or not, and unstable emulsion means increased chances for soda ash (among other dangers).

 

[Kiri Kiri]

@ResolvableOwl
Thank you so much!
I´m not trying to avoid gel in particular haha, I just soap in a room that´s separated from the house, in winter it is heated just enough so nothing freezes inside when i soap in there, I heat the room nice and cozy to avoid stuff like false trace, but more importantly, to be comfy When we left the room Sunday evening it probably cooled back down to outside temp, which here is currently around 0-5°C, that´s why i said it probably sat in that temperature for about a day at least. So that might increase the risk of soda ash appearing? If so, I´ll just leave the finished soap in the house to sit

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Ahh, ok! Yes, keeping the soap not too cold might help: Time is an important factor. The warmer the environment, the quicker the batter will saponify, and the less chances for airborne CO₂ to steal lye to form soda ash.
The extreme limit of this is CPOP. (But if your embeds are M&P, be careful with intense gelling/too high temperatures, for obvious reasons).

 

[Zing]

Unfortunately all of them seem to suffer from soda ash, even though we spritzed them with rubbing alcohol. Maybe I kept them too cold? (probably around 0-5°C) I´m not too sure, but if you have any tips I´d very much appreciate it

Congrats and looking good! I got ash once. Now I pour into the mold, spray with alcohol, cover with plastic wrap, cover with cardboard. I haven't had ash ever since. I also gel under a pile of towels, not sure if that matters.

I'm waiting impatiently for the cut!

 

[Ladka]

@ResolvableOwl I'm not sure I understand what you mean by
"Mind to hijack @Mobjack Bay's Additives and Lather (Bubbles) thread with your findings?"