What soapy thing have you done today?

[MrsZ]

I usually use sugar too. I take a little of the batch water and warm it a bit in the microwave and dissolve the sugar completely and add it back into the batch water before adding the lye. Adding it to an already made lye solution will give you a gloppy blob of sugar goo. Powdered sugar also works well.

Thank you!

 

[Zing]

Thanks for your input! I'm definitely going to try it with my next batch. Do you dissolve it in the water before the lye?

Fully dissolve sugar in distilled water. Then add lye crystals.

 

[Zing]

I jusr finished an especially stressful soaping session. Now I will have more than my normal angst-ridden time waiting to unmold.
For the first time, I added honey and beeswax. I had @IrishLass 's post printed out on my counter which was very helpful!
When I added my honey-water mix to the lye-water solution, it turned ORANGE! Like full on tomato-juice color! That was unexpected. Then when I added the lye solution to my oil mix, I noticed un-dissolved lye crystals at the tail end of pouring. So I'm worried about those.
I hand stirred for 30 minutes. Right before pouring, I blasted my stick blender for all of 5 seconds.

I was confident of my soaping skills and thought I could handle a 3 pound batch. Uh-uh. Lesson learned, next time a new procedure and recipe, I'll make a small batch. Oh, and because they're all single-cavities, I have several days to wait until unmolding!! Fingers crossed....

 

[MrsZ]

I jusr finished an especially stressful soaping session. Now I will have more than my normal angst-ridden time waiting to unmold.
For the first time, I added honey and beeswax. I had @IrishLass 's post printed out on my counter which was very helpful!
When I added my honey-water mix to the lye-water solution, it turned ORANGE! Like full on tomato-juice color! That was unexpected. Then when I added the lye solution to my oil mix, I noticed un-dissolved lye crystals at the tail end of pouring. So I'm worried about those.
I hand stirred for 30 minutes. Right before pouring, I blasted my stick blender for all of 5 seconds.

I was confident of my soaping skills and thought I could handle a 3 pound batch. Uh-uh. Lesson learned, next time a new procedure and recipe, I'll make a small batch. Oh, and because they're all single-cavities, I have several days to wait until unmolding!! Fingers crossed....

I don't have anything constructive to add, but thank you for sharing your soaping troubles. Hearing experienced soapers like you have problem batches too, makes us newer-bies feel better about our own messy soaps.

 

[AliOop]

Then when I added the lye solution to my oil mix, I noticed un-dissolved lye crystals at the tail end of pouring.

Are you sure they were lye crystals, and not sugar or citric acid? And did you strain them out?

Sorry it was so stressful. We've all been there.

 

[Ladka]

I've been rendering beef tallow since the day before yesterday. After all the fat melts I let the melted fat floating on top of salted water in several pots to cool down on the balcony.
I managed to let frozen large pieces of fat thaw just right so that cutting went fine. I decided to not travel to my daughter's to use her meat grinder cause it's much simpler for me to do all the work at my home.
The raw fat seemed rather clean. I still cut off some spots and was surprised how dirty the first water was.

After three salted washings the water looked much cleaner but there was still a thin layer of slightly darker fat on the bottom surface that I cautiously scraped off.

Hope I finish the batch tomorrow. I'm pretty tired of it but am looking forward to beautiful white tallow and white soap bars.

 

[basti]

Got my Nurture order today! It's always wonderful shopping with them. Picked up 8th & Ocean, Foxy Lady, Dragon Moon, and Butterfly Garden FOs. All smell quite nice but I am astounded by Butterfly Garden. How did they capture that smell in a bottle??

I finished up rendering the lard I have and it's a grand total of 2.5 oz I'm gonna do some research and try to formulate a recipe that uses a low percentage so I can use it up in a 1 lb batch. I know folks use it in much bigger amounts but I don't want to hold on to this stuff indefinitely on the off chance I get more. We're not pork eaters in this house after all.

 

[MrsZ]

Got my Nurture order today! It's always wonderful shopping with them. Picked up 8th & Ocean, Foxy Lady, Dragon Moon, and Butterfly Garden FOs. All smell quite nice but I am astounded by Butterfly Garden. How did they capture that smell in a bottle??

I finished up rendering the lard I have and it's a grand total of 2.5 oz I'm gonna do some research and try to formulate a recipe that uses a low percentage so I can use it up in a 1 lb batch. I know folks use it in much bigger amounts but I don't want to hold on to this stuff indefinitely on the off chance I get more. We're not pork eaters in this house after all.

How would you describe Butterfly Garden? I've been debating buying it for almost a year now.

 

[basti]

How would you describe Butterfly Garden? I've been debating buying it for almost a year now.

I'll be honest it smells EXACTLY like the name. Like you're at some fancy butterfly garden and you take a big ol' whiff of some flowering bushes. The non-floral notes in it round it out to make it very realistic smelling instead of just straight floral.

 

[MrsZ]

I'll be honest it smells EXACTLY like the name. Like you're at some fancy butterfly garden and you take a big ol' whiff of some flowering bushes. The non-floral notes in it round it out to make it very realistic smelling instead of just straight floral.

That sounds amazing! It'll definitely go in my next order.

 

[Marsi]

I made another 4kg of soap

I had someone helping, so it took twice as long

 

[Misschief]

Well, that was an interesting soaping session. I was just in the process of getting all my supplies out when the power went out. We had our first, very wet and heavy, snowfall of the season and it knocked a tree over the power lines a couple of blocks away. Additionally, there was a wire down across our driveway (turned out to be the hi-speed internet cable, not power). Once the power came back on, about 2 hours later, I made my soap, Oatmeal Milk & Honey. That one always moves FAST! I have it sitting outside right now, where it's hovering around the freezing mark. I'm hoping it doesn't crack or overheat this time.

 

[CLMP]

I made another 4kg of soap

I had someone helping, so it took twice as long

Lol I'm new at soaping so it takes me along time too, like 4 to 5 hours lol with clean up and everything. Haha.

Well, that was an interesting soaping session. I was just in the process of getting all my supplies out when the power went out. We had our first, very wet and heavy, snowfall of the season and it knocked a tree over the power lines a couple of blocks away. Additionally, there was a wire down across our driveway (turned out to be the hi-speed internet cable, not power). Once the power came back on, about 2 hours later, I made my soap, Oatmeal Milk & Honey. That one always moves FAST! I have it sitting outside right now, where it's hovering around the freezing mark. I'm hoping it doesn't crack or overheat this time.

I love that kind of soap hope it works out for you. We have snow today too it started yesterday still snowing.

 

[Misschief]

I love that kind of soap hope it works out for you. We have snow today too it started yesterday still snowing.

Putting it outside definitely made the difference. It still got pretty hot but didn't crack. I'm happy.

 

[CLMP]

Putting it outside definitely made the difference. It still got pretty hot but didn't crack. I'm happy.

Nice maybe you can post a picture when they are done.

 

[Misschief]

All in all, we had about 4 hours without power today. Luckily, I managed to get one batch done (OMH) before the power went out a second time. After the power came back on (hopefully to stay), I made a second batch of soap. This one is scented with Very Merry Cranberry; I wanted something fruity to round out the selection of fragrances I have. I didn't intend to make Christmas colours but it just seemed to "go" with the fragrance.... cranberries are red, with green leaves, after all. I'm really looking forward to the cut of this one.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I had high hopes of getting some prep done to make soap in the morning, but then I got out of my last work meeting late, drove home, realized that I left my phone at work and had to drive back to get it. I’m home alone this weekend and wouldn’t feel comfortable without a phone tonight. That was the end of any prep plans other than printing off the recipes.

It’s a good thing I made most of my soaps for the holidays in August and September because my soaping time was almost non-existent in October and that 4-6 week cure window is almost gone.

 

[Relle]

I made my soap, Oatmeal Milk & Honey. That one always moves FAST! I have it sitting outside right now, where it's hovering around the freezing mark. I'm hoping it doesn't crack or overheat this time.

That's what I like about my OMH, that it doesn't move fast. I also add honey at the last minute and no problems.

 

[Misschief]

That's what I like about my OMH, that it doesn't move fast. I also add honey at the last minute and no problems.

I will keep that in mind for next time. I added my honey to the oils and when the lye hit the oils, it went orange almost instantly. I managed to get it poured into the molds but it always heats up. At least I didn't use a wooden mold this time; that always overheats for me.

 

[Relle]

At least I didn't use a wooden mold this time; that always overheats for me.

Funny you should say about the wooden mould, that's all that I have for a loaf mould. I do put mine straight in the frig.