What soapy thing have you done today?

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Bummer on the FO!
I have a couple I was "meh" about, but after soaping, I can see how they will appeal. Let's hope how it goes for you!

Does anyone have a review on Nurture's pheromone FO?
 
Wow! That’s a lot of humidity!

I learned about chemical dehumidifiers when we sold a home (ironically that house was built circa 1940s (if not earlier) era too)!

The basement had an old well closet from before city water was connected in the 1940s/50s). Our real estate agent took one look at the closet -(unfinished floor, no insulation, a drain, and lots of rocks on the floor) and popped a musty area dehumidifier jar right in there 🤣. The well closet seemed designed to suck in and drain water.

I said closet in my post because I didn’t think the jar would work as well with a fan, but it might help pull humidity from other areas of your house outside of the fan air path.
🤣🤣🤣 Our basement floods when it rains or when snow melts too fast. Luckily, the basement is also a can’t-be-used garage, so when it floods, we open the door and the water flows out. My DH sets up a pump at the other end of the basement and runs a hose out the garage door to drain some low spots. It won’t make a good drying space for soap. 😢 Sometimes it makes an okay workshop for my fused glass. Building codes today may be a hassle, but they serve a good purpose.

I’ll do a dehumidifier info scavenger hunt later to see if there’s a way to build it into my setup. Based on our BlueAir air filter I have ideas for some other low cost modifications. The most immediate may be to stitch a filter or netting enclosure to prevent dust, dog hair and insects fro contaminating bars while still soft. Stay posted.
 
Made my challenge soap yesterday and cut it today. Not exactly how I envisioned it but it will work. As I was cutting it, I got a wild hair and decided to reorganize my soap storage.

Finished soap has been taking up space in my cabinets in the laundry room and I have been thinking of where to move it. Soap supplies have been on the countertop in the laundry room which is also not ideal. Moved the finished soap to a room in our shop and now it’s all organized. The supples are in the cabinet where the soap used to reside. It’s a fairly small change but makes me very happy.
 
I set up my new soap drying station, just in time for the rainy weekend here in the Northeast. Unless the fan is blowing on it on high setting, all my CP bars are sweating like crazy. We have no air-conditioning and no dehumidifier.

I wanted a set up like this since I first saw it on a post over a year ago from John Harris. It uses silverware dish washing racks from a restaurant supply store, high enough for my bars, and with open sides for air circulation. It is topped off with a new Lasko fan. (New because dog hair, dust, and insects.) The new set up measures 16 inches high and 21 x 21” deep and wide. The fan operating on high in this set up is quieter than with the fan on the table. The new setup cost roughly $100.View attachment 73608View attachment 73609
That is an amazing set-up! Simple too. Thanks for sharing and the inspiration.

My soapy thang was yesterday. I have a favorite coworker who is leaving. She is a positive presence in a really stressful work environment and she makes me smile and laugh, and she's just plain kind. I gave her some soaps, lotion bars, and lip balms. She opened and saw the soap and said "How did you know I only buy handmade soap? Wait, what? You made this?" I warned her that the one soap was patchouli & lavender and people have strong opinions on patchouli. She said she's a hater but could not believe that patchouli was in that soap because it smelled so good. Turns out she makes bath bombs, in her words, "I bring the drama and the scent." She's gonna drop off some of her bath bombs for Mrs. Zing. If you're on here, Hester, I'll miss you and appreciate you!!
 

Absolutely 😁

y
Just a head's up... there are about as many ways to make LS (Liquid Soap) as there are LS-ers! 😅 This post may help lay down a foundation for further exploration:

If You've Never Made LS Before

You would be wise to take advantage of the Recipe Feedback Forum before soaping to get input about your formula before giving it a go.

Thank you, I will bookmark that, and will look more into the many processes if & when I make liquid soap, which I have not yet brewed in my cauldron 🧙‍♀️ ....but I'm not 😂 I am actually making a soap paste for use in various other products 😁 This is a test run, so only a kg of potassium hydroxide, but I'm excited about it :)

I dunno, liquid soap has not yet appealed to me, but that doesn't mean it one day won't. Not to mention the fact that I have not yet completed packaging & labeling for my entire line of products outside of the soap realm. Liquid herbal soap especially is something I could see myself enjoying, making use of the many plants I forage. I am open to all possibilities which come my way 😊

HAPPY LS-ING! :computerbath:

I will gratefully accept that towards my possible future liquid soaping experiments & endeavours ❤️
 
I set up my new soap drying station, just in time for the rainy weekend here in the Northeast. Unless the fan is blowing on it on high setting, all my CP bars are sweating like crazy. We have no air-conditioning and no dehumidifier.

I wanted a set up like this since I first saw it on a post over a year ago from John Harris. It uses silverware dish washing racks from a restaurant supply store, high enough for my bars, and with open sides for air circulation. It is topped off with a new Lasko fan. (New because dog hair, dust, and insects.) The new set up measures 16 inches high and 21 x 21” deep and wide. The fan operating on high in this set up is quieter than with the fan on the table. The new setup cost roughly $100.View attachment 73608View attachment 73609

I NEED some of these racks! Where specifically did you get yours if you don't mind sharing? Bread delivery trucks used to have something like these, but good luck getting any store to share them now :rolleyes:

Fans are a beautiful thing, gotta say. And that looks like the size I would like to have. It would replace the several smaller ones I currently have.
 
I NEED some of these racks! Where specifically did you get yours if you don't mind sharing? Bread delivery trucks used to have something like these, but good luck getting any store to share them now :rolleyes:

Fans are a beautiful thing, gotta say. And that looks like the size I would like to have. It would replace the several smaller ones I currently have.

I found and saved them on my Amazon wish list. Hope I found the right ones.

Carlisle FoodService Products RF-14 Blue Color, Polypropylene OptiClean Combination/Flatware Rack https://a.co/d/cF81zPs
 
I made soap in my new leaf molds! Thank you @Mobjack Bay for the mold idea and to @Zany_in_CO for the no-slime castile recipe. I make it with real sea water, and add some aloe concentrate to the water. These are scented with blood orange and patchouli:
IMG_6424.jpg
 
I NEED some of these racks! Where specifically did you get yours if you don't mind sharing? Bread delivery trucks used to have something like these, but good luck getting any store to share them now :rolleyes:

Fans are a beautiful thing, gotta say. And that looks like the size I would like to have. It would replace the several smaller ones I currently have.
I got them from a restaurant supply store. There may be one near you, but if not, here is where I ordered mine. I like that I can pick up just one rack and move it to another room if needed without having to move the individual bars. Mind you, I do have to straighten them out again when the rack is put in a new location. The regular Lasko fan fits right on top.
 
🤣🤣🤣 Our basement floods when it rains or when snow melts too fast. Luckily, the basement is also a can’t-be-used garage, so when it floods, we open the door and the water flows out. My DH sets up a pump at the other end of the basement and runs a hose out the garage door to drain some low spots. It won’t make a good drying space for soap. 😢 Sometimes it makes an okay workshop for my fused glass. Building codes today may be a hassle, but they serve a good purpose.

I’ll do a dehumidifier info scavenger hunt later to see if there’s a way to build it into my setup. Based on our BlueAir air filter I have ideas for some other low cost modifications. The most immediate may be to stitch a filter or netting enclosure to prevent dust, dog hair and insects fro contaminating bars while still soft. Stay posted.
You could build a Corsi-Rosenthal box around the drying stacks! "Yes! You, too, can dry your fresh soap with 98% filtered air!" :cool:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsi–Rosenthal_Box
 
I made the first in a planned series of high-honey soaps. This starter batch is 6% honey by total weight of oil. I'm going to increase 2 percentage points per batch until (1) it stops acting like soap, (2) I get to 14%, or (3) I get bored!
Now that that batch is in molds, I'm going to make my first batch of transparent/translucent soap. I'll post photos of both once I unmold them on Tuesday.

(chuckling internally at the idea of having the self control to wait for 48 hours to unmold soap).

Here are photos of the freshly poured bars before putting parchment paper over them to keep the cat hair out! Making the transparent soap was a trip, but I doubt I'll make much of it! Complex and expensive to make, at least the version I made. There's someone marketing goat-milk soap in our local Publix market that has transparent tips on the wedge-shaped bars; that's an interesting way to use it, for sure.

PXL_20230716_204652290.MP.jpg

PXL_20230716_215938448.jpg
 
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Made 3 batches of LS and loaded them with luxuriousness! Oatmeal/Shea Avocado/Olive and the good stuff I don't share anywhere. I've a few more batches I need to do and then it makes the lotion for the skin. 🤣🙃
 

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