What soapy thing have you done today?

[not_ally]

They look lovely and creamy, though, Sonya. Also, v. "unbumpy", they look more like my brine bars than the salt ones.

Bren, that is a v. pretty blue.

 

[skayc1]

After 24 hours, first in the freezer, then in the refrigerator, I now have my Bastille Carrot Buttermilk Soap near a fan till the water condensation is gone. I prevented the gel phase! Love the color not gelling created! Am wondering what other baby foods (made from fruits or veggies) would work as natural colorants.

 

[traderbren]

Skayc, nice job!

 

[nsmar4211]

Did another test small batch last night, 100% coconut oil, scented vs unscented and colored with the craft store colors..

100% coconut doesn't seem to like scents. Heats up crazily even with a scent that didn't heat a lard batch. Used M&P shallow bar molds (craft store) and even those went through a partial gel! Colorant didn't make a difference. Thinking I won't bother trying to do an entire loaf mold with 100% coconut.

Now I"m researching pine tar soap for a friend who has skin issues....next batch...thinking that attempting coconut and pine tar would cause a volcano.

 

[skayc1]

colored with the craft store colors..

what is craft store colors?

 

[skayc1]

I had to put my soap back into the freezer for a bit, now I have it in the fridge...It started heating up.

 

[not_ally]

Got my Omar stamps, they are beautiful! Really perfect and crisp. Surprisingly light, if I had not read so many posts about them here I would have been worried about breaking them. He was very, very easy to work with, spent time on a custom stamp that was tricky and did not work, sent the stamps super quickly (took less than a week from Spain to LA). Also included a sweet, small freebie stamp. Definitely a big thumbs up.

It might take a while for me to test these in soap b/c I have other things to test right now, but will post a pics of the stamps themselves later.

 

[nsmar4211]

Craft store colors are the "soap colors" sold in Michaels and Hobby Lobby.... but they are not meant for CP soap. The blue morphs into a pretty lilac purple. So far the other colors haven't morphed on me though. I've been using them because they're cheap and I'm just experimenting right now

 

[not_ally]

Craft store colors are not good in the long term. Actually, craft store anything is not good for soaping in the long term. I think if I was wanting to check out colors before venturing into full out on-line colorant addiction - it is a pain trying to find things locally when you are starting out and want stuff right away - I would try natural colorants/infusions.

Actually, blues and purples are kind of a pain no matter what they are/where you get them b/c of the morphing. I segregate the morphers and have a morphing doc so that I can take notes on them and not want to kick myself the next time

 

[shunt2011]

I'm going to make some salt bars today. Going to give the individual silicone molds another try. Last time they got more ash than anything I've ever seen even after spraying with 91% alcohol. So thick I couldn't even wash it off. Going to cover them with a box and let them be until tomorrow. No air getting to them.

 

[nsmar4211]

not_ally: Yea, these are all for meeeee that are using the craft colors. I have a test batch with spice colors curing to see how they go. For the gift soaps, most of the good fragrances are discoloring anyway so I'll be playing with some techniques using spices for colorants. My "test group" of friends said they didn't care about the colors that much ....whew! LOL. I can't really afford to buy enough colors to experiment with, I did get a blue and a green lab color so everyone's getting some version of blue/green/brown/white soap LOL

Today's experiment: Made a batch of pine tar soap today. Wondering if I'm going to regret using a silicon individual bar mold.........guess I'll find out in the next day or so! Thought I was going to get lucky with it not accelerating until I poured...got half the batch poured and oh boy thickening...only two bars are glop glop so not as bad as I had feared. Can't imagine doing a large batch of it!

 

[not_ally]

Nsmar, I like LC's. You know, they bleed, but I am OK w/that usually. And I think that the colours are really nice and vivid. I have never made a pine tar soap but smelled one at a recent local soap meetup, and it was really nice, ultra clean in an old-fashioned but not laundry FO way. I bet you will love them when they are done ...

 

[TwystedPryncess]

I took on a part time server job to try and force myself to get needed exercise. It's been work/sleep/work/sleep/etc for a month getting used to it, literally. I'm now at work/stay awake brain dead a few hours/sleep/rinse repeat mode now. Hopefully I will graduate to getting strong enough to do needed things like clean and run errands, and then soap! Whoopee!

But anyway, some time ago I posted a pic of a peach soap I had made that day in this thread. I will have to find the name of the peach FO (it was from BB) to refresh our memory.

I have been using the soap the last week or so and the first few uses give a darker peach scent, but it lightens up slightly after that. I would use it again, maybe with a little more FO because I like my peach to stick, or maybe try a lotion to couple with for layering the scent. It gets a 'good enough for now" rating. Still going to try others when I get energy. Still on the quest for that perfect light peach. Lol.

I used it in a fairly simple lard soap recipe.... Lard, coconut, olive.... And it lathers beautifully. I probably won' t give very many bars of it away, at least until I get another batch curing!

 

[jules92207]

I love peach and I think I remember our conversation about it, and that you were looking for a peach bellini, right? I found one at WSP, oddly enough I just did a quick search and when I started to type in wholesale supplies it pulled up an old link that too me right to the peach search I had done! I think it's a sign I need to order some peach...

 

[TeresaT]

I gave away a bag of soap and talked about soaping to non-soapers. I never realized how boring I was until I saw the glazed looks in their eyes.

 

[TwystedPryncess]

Lol @ Teresa. I run into that danger at work when it's slow! Some of the customers like to hear about people making soap though. I try not to get too carried away. I put away the jewelry booth too, until October, both were too much on the fibro for now, and I was talking as much about soap, if not more, to my booth neighbors, as jewelry, and they all definitely went home with piles.

@jules, I was looking for a peach bellini type, or some sweet/light peach that sticks well. I will check out the WSP stuff for sure! Thanks so much for pointing me that direction!

 

[not_ally]

Princess, I hope the server work is OK w/ your fibro? You sound like you are working v. hard, maybe too hard.

 

[jules92207]

Replenishing some of my favorites, made this one yesterday with a blend of BB's Champagne and Crisp Anjou Pear. Colors were spring green from nurture and yellow sparkle mica from WSP.

 

[not_ally]

Perfect colors for the FO. I bet it smells delicious, that sounds like a good mix. Jules, have you tried Sweetcake's Sweet Yellow Pear? I hardly like any fruit smells, and that one makes you feel like you have pear juice dripping off your chin, it is v., v. good.

Haven't done it yet, but need to go to Home Depot and buy wire to start practicing for SMF challenge no. 2!

 

[Obsidian]

I made 4 small batches of castile with different liquid to see if any will help improve lather. I used H2O for the control sample, dark beer, aloe juice and coconut milk. I have one more batch to make, this one with H2O and sodium citrate.