What soapy thing have you done today?

[VikingChick]

Today I cut the soap I spent all weekend making for the Soap Challenge Club. This month’s challenge is straight horizontal layers, and those of us in the “advanced” category (I put that in quotes because it’s where you have to enter if you’ve been making soap for more than three years, but in no way, shape, or form do I consider myself an advanced soapmaker!) have to have a minimum of 5 layers plus an additional design element. This was my first try making horizontal layers, and I definitely made some mistakes, like using a high-lard recipe thinking it would set up faster since lard is a hard fat and I didn’t want to use too much CO……WRONG!! In the moment I’d forgotten that lard traces slowly, so even with an accelerating FO, it still took FOREVER for each layer to set up because I didn’t want to SB.

So here it is - I was super surprised and pleased to see that while this soap is not what I wanted - the mica lines are messed up, the colors aren’t as vibrant as I wanted, and the bottom layer probably wasn’t fully emulsified when I poured it so it’s crumbly and likely lye-heavy - THE LAYERS ARE STRAIGHT!!

 

[Zing]

I haven't done anything soapy for what feels like ages (probably a month in reality). I did go Burlington North Carolina on my motorcycle for two days of rider training.* The second day (yesterday, Sept. 9) it rained most of the day. We trained anyway, learning to do U-turns and sharp swerves to avoid objects on the road. When I took my gloves off at the end of class, it was clear that there had been bleeding; thankfully, not human blood, but dye! I washed my hands right after these photos using Dawn, & to my surprise it barely touched the dye. When I got home a few hours later I washed my hands with one of my Bastille bars, and got about 80% of it off.

View attachment 74442View attachment 74443

I was struggling for most of August with some emotional health issues (which is part of the reason I haven't posted recently), but seem to be emerging gradually from that dark place. I'm hoping to get back to soap making after my second set of motorcycle training classes later in Sept. One of the things that gets really hard for me when I go off the rails a bit is cleaning, but before I left for my motorcycle trip I spent about 4 hours cleaning my basement & organizing & cleaning my soap bench. It's ready for my next batch, & this is huge because when the bench is a mess, it makes it hard for me to start soaping because I can't soap because it's a mess, and I can't clean because I'm depressed, and I want to make stuff, & I can't, which makes me feel worse... & down the drain I go... My soapy thing for today, once I unpack from the trip & do all of the laundry, will be to finish my soap-tester survey and send it out.

View attachment 74444
(photo shows my old workbench, mostly switched over from carpentry/repair work to soap-focused work. There are silicone molds on shelves on the left, a newly-washed plastic-covered bench, stainless steel soap pots on the shelves under the bench, colorants & additives in drawers, solid fats in bags on the top shelves, and liquid fats on shelves to the right. A stick blender has pride of place & my new paper towel dispenser has (somewhat astoundingly) actually been installed & is ready to provide towels to wipe off oil drips & soap batter drops.)

(*The class was totally worth the time & money I invested in it; shout-out to the MotoMark1 driving school.)

Hmm, does somebody need to add Earlene's blacksmith soap to their bucket list?
Sounds like a great trip and way to go, #SelfCare. (And you gotta stay 10 feet away from those drains, like way away. Don't ask me how I know. ) GREAT to hear from ya!

Today I cut the soap I spent all weekend making for the Soap Challenge Club. This month’s challenge is straight horizontal layers, and those of us in the “advanced” category (I put that in quotes because it’s where you have to enter if you’ve been making soap for more than three years, but in no way, shape, or form do I consider myself an advanced soapmaker!) have to have a minimum of 5 layers plus an additional design element. This was my first try making horizontal layers, and I definitely made some mistakes, like using a high-lard recipe thinking it would set up faster since lard is a hard fat and I didn’t want to use too much CO……WRONG!! In the moment I’d forgotten that lard traces slowly, so even with an accelerating FO, it still took FOREVER for each layer to set up because I didn’t want to SB.

So here it is - I was super surprised and pleased to see that while this soap is not what I wanted - the mica lines are messed up, the colors aren’t as vibrant as I wanted, and the bottom layer probably wasn’t fully emulsified when I poured it so it’s crumbly and likely lye-heavy - THE LAYERS ARE STRAIGHT!!

View attachment 74450

If I may just add a coupla edits to your post? "As an advanced soaper, I'm pretty chuffed with my beautiful soap with the cool color combo and THE STRAIGHT LINES!"
Seriously, awesome work there. I get that you had another vision, but that is awesome. Believe me, I know what an achievement lines are. Can I vote? Chicagoans like to vote early and often, you know.

 

[Vicki C]

Today I cut the soap I spent all weekend making for the Soap Challenge Club. This month’s challenge is straight horizontal layers, and those of us in the “advanced” category (I put that in quotes because it’s where you have to enter if you’ve been making soap for more than three years, but in no way, shape, or form do I consider myself an advanced soapmaker!) have to have a minimum of 5 layers plus an additional design element. This was my first try making horizontal layers, and I definitely made some mistakes, like using a high-lard recipe thinking it would set up faster since lard is a hard fat and I didn’t want to use too much CO……WRONG!! In the moment I’d forgotten that lard traces slowly, so even with an accelerating FO, it still took FOREVER for each layer to set up because I didn’t want to SB.

So here it is - I was super surprised and pleased to see that while this soap is not what I wanted - the mica lines are messed up, the colors aren’t as vibrant as I wanted, and the bottom layer probably wasn’t fully emulsified when I poured it so it’s crumbly and likely lye-heavy - THE LAYERS ARE STRAIGHT!!

View attachment 74450

I love how the mica lines got swirly - very nice!

 

[VikingChick]

I love how the mica lines got swirly - very nice!

Thanks! I could see it happening as I was pouring and I thought, at least it’ll look pretty. If it was more consistent I could pretend I did it on purpose!

If I may just add a coupla edits to your post? "As an advanced soaper, I'm pretty chuffed with my beautiful soap with the cool color combo and THE STRAIGHT LINES!"
Seriously, awesome work there. I get that you had another vision, but that is awesome. Believe me, I know what an achievement lines are. Can I vote? Chicagoans like to vote early and often, you know.

Thanks! You can vote as many times as you want, as long as it’s for me!

 

[Whillow]

I haven't done anything soapy for what feels like ages (probably a month in reality). I did go Burlington North Carolina on my motorcycle for two days of rider training.* The second day (yesterday, Sept. 9) it rained most of the day. We trained anyway, learning to do U-turns and sharp swerves to avoid objects on the road. When I took my gloves off at the end of class, it was clear that there had been bleeding; thankfully, not human blood, but dye! I washed my hands right after these photos using Dawn, & to my surprise it barely touched the dye. When I got home a few hours later I washed my hands with one of my Bastille bars, and got about 80% of it off.

View attachment 74442View attachment 74443

I was struggling for most of August with some emotional health issues (which is part of the reason I haven't posted recently), but seem to be emerging gradually from that dark place. I'm hoping to get back to soap making after my second set of motorcycle training classes later in Sept. One of the things that gets really hard for me when I go off the rails a bit is cleaning, but before I left for my motorcycle trip I spent about 4 hours cleaning my basement & organizing & cleaning my soap bench. It's ready for my next batch, & this is huge because when the bench is a mess, it makes it hard for me to start soaping because I can't soap because it's a mess, and I can't clean because I'm depressed, and I want to make stuff, & I can't, which makes me feel worse... & down the drain I go... My soapy thing for today, once I unpack from the trip & do all of the laundry, will be to finish my soap-tester survey and send it out.

View attachment 74444
(photo shows my old workbench, mostly switched over from carpentry/repair work to soap-focused work. There are silicone molds on shelves on the left, a newly-washed plastic-covered bench, stainless steel soap pots on the shelves under the bench, colorants & additives in drawers, solid fats in bags on the top shelves, and liquid fats on shelves to the right. A stick blender has pride of place & my new paper towel dispenser has (somewhat astoundingly) actually been installed & is ready to provide towels to wipe off oil drips & soap batter drops.)

(*The class was totally worth the time & money I invested in it; shout-out to the MotoMark1 driving school.)

@Jorah, I'm glad you are feeling more up to snuff. This has been a hard year for me as well. I can always tell when I'm not doing well the the piles of patient charts on my desk at work. I think my boss knows to tread lightly LOL.

That is great you are doing the motorcycle courses to avoid mishaps. I did several before I got my license as well and it has helped me numerous times to avoid collisions. Although it doesn't help other drivers to avoid collisions when they are staring at a woman on a Harley and not paying attention to the traffic in front of them. UGH. I am very familiar with the black dyed hands as well. Not fun riding in the rain but a great experience as well.

Looks like you are all set up for some new soapmaking. Can't wait to see what you will create.

 

[Tammyfarms]

This past week I spent hours researching how to infuse natural colorants and looking at places to buy them. I realized I have some stinging nettle and calendula petals here so decided yesterday to jump in and get some infused. In the reading I have done, some provided by the lovely folks on here, I still wasn’t finding specific instuctions so I just decided to jump in. I ground the nettle and calendula into powder and infused it in castor oil. It will be interesting to see how this experiment progresses. I started with 20 grams of nettle and 100 grams of castor oil which made a really thick concoction, not at all like I expected. When mixing up the calendula I used 10 grams of powder and 100 grams of castor. It’s also very thick. As I was grinding and mixing “Strange Brew” by Cream was playing. I thought that was a good omen. As Tom Petty said, The Waiting Is The Hardest Part.

 

[Jersey Girl]

The last 3 days I made soap! Haven’t made any since May! My curing rack was empty all summer . I needed to start restocking for the holidays. Made six batches in the last three days and need to restock at least a dozen more scents. I’m a bit behind schedule so it’s going to be a very soapy week. Then I’ll be on to lip balms.
ETA…it’s slowly filling up!

 

[not_ally]

All really pretty! And you are so much smarter and more practical than me, using cardboard liner (and parchment paper?) on your metal shelves. When I saw that I kicked myself for buying a roll of plastic shelf liner last week, duh. Oh well, thanks for inspiring me for the future!

 

[Whillow]

Those are beautiful soaps @Jersey Girl

 

[Kiti Williams]

I made up a small batch of Haunt Off, 4 4oz containers. The Haunting season starts on the 23rd of Sept, si I need to purchase more jars. To those who don't know what this is, it is a makeup remover that takes off all the stage makeup/air brushing the put on the actors for their parts. This makeup is way harder to get off, as it is water proof. It also keeps pimple break outs from happening.

 

[marlajune]

Finished an order for 9 loaves of soap. Still have to cut them in half, bag and tag when they are done curing. (Wedding Favors) Next will make heart soaps for a wedding shower.

As for storage, I buy 8"x6"x4" boxes from Kyana Packaging Solutions in Louisville, KY. I put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom. I don't seal the box, just use a piece of tape I can open and close to grab soap. They've kept my soap clean and smelling great for 11 years! And they stack and travel well too!

 

[Whillow]

Well last night I made a big batch (slab mold) and I'm soooo disappointed in it. LOL The fragrance was not supposed to accelerate, yet it did. I ended up plopping all the colours in on top of one another. I should have just done the pop bottle pour like I normally do but I thought I could put them in random circles and it would look like the pop bottle pour. I totally forget what that technique is called. It is just a dark mess. I'm hoping it will look better once I cut them when I get home.

 

[VikingChick]

Well last night I made a big batch (slab mold) and I'm soooo disappointed in it. LOL The fragrance was not supposed to accelerate, yet it did. I ended up plopping all the colours in on top of one another. I should have just done the pop bottle pour like I normally do but I thought I could put them in random circles and it would look like the pop bottle pour. I totally forget what that technique is called. It is just a dark mess. I'm hoping it will look better once I cut them when I get home.

I love the colors though…..I bet it’ll be beautifu!

 

[Misschief]

I managed to get two batches of soap made this morning. One is a perennial fave, Lemon Poppyseed; the second I haven't made for a while - Dead Sea Mud soap, scented with Dragon's Blood. I'd forgotten I still had some Dead Sea Mud and figured I'd better use it up.

 

[Jorah]

At my wife's request, I'm making a batch of soap based on a recipe she found online. From what little I've learned of soap so far, it looks like a nicely balanced recipe and avoids both palm oil and animal fats, which are features that will appeal to some of my testers. I'm going with a 1.5:1 water-lye ratio. My last batch was Aug. 13, and it's nice to get back to the workbench.

Component	%​	Grams​
Olive Oil Pomace	45​	408​
Coconut Oil	22​	200​
Shea Butter	20​	181.5​
Grapeseed Oil	8​	72.5​
Castor Oil	5​	45​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	Total oils: (907)​
Kaolin Clay	​	3.5 tsp​
Water	​	189​
Lye	​	125​

Edit to add: Batch 034 is in the books!

 

[Misschief]

At my wife's request, I'm making a batch of soap based on a recipe she found online. From what little I've learned of soap so far, it looks like a nicely balanced recipe and avoids both palm oil and animal fats, which are features that will appeal to some of my testers. I'm going with a 1.5:1 water-lye ratio. My last batch was Aug. 13, and it's nice to get back to the workbench.

Component	%​	Grams​
Olive Oil Pomace	45​	408​
Coconut Oil	22​	200​
Shea Butter	20​	181.5​
Grapeseed Oil	8​	72.5​
Castor Oil	5​	45​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	Total oils: (907)​
Kaolin Clay	​	3.5 tsp​
Water	​	189​
Lye	​	125​

That's very similar to my go-to recipe. I use Olive Oil (not pomace), Coconut oil, Shea butter or Lard, Avocado or Sunflower Oil, and Castor oil.

 

[dmcgee5034]

At my wife's request, I'm making a batch of soap based on a recipe she found online. From what little I've learned of soap so far, it looks like a nicely balanced recipe and avoids both palm oil and animal fats, which are features that will appeal to some of my testers. I'm going with a 1.5:1 water-lye ratio. My last batch was Aug. 13, and it's nice to get back to the workbench.

Component	%​	Grams​
Olive Oil Pomace	45​	408​
Coconut Oil	22​	200​
Shea Butter	20​	181.5​
Grapeseed Oil	8​	72.5​
Castor Oil	5​	45​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	​
	​	Total oils: (907)​
Kaolin Clay	​	3.5 tsp​
Water	​	189​
Lye	​	125​

Do you normally use Pomace, @Jorah, or is that what you have “in stock”? Reading on the forum about how it speeds up trace, I just use regular ol’ olive oil. I’ll be curious to hear how it goes… and glad to see you getting back to the workbench
Have Fun!!

 

[Jersey Girl]

All really pretty! And you are so much smarter and more practical than me, using cardboard liner (and parchment paper?) on your metal shelves. When I saw that I kicked myself for buying a roll of plastic shelf liner last week, duh. Oh well, thanks for inspiring me for the future!

Thank you. Actually it’s cardboard with that plastic (that I assume is used for needlepoint type crafts) on top of it. I used to use just cardboard, but I wanted something that I could clean easier and that would breathe some.

 

[Jorah]

Well last night I made a big batch (slab mold) and I'm soooo disappointed in it. LOL The fragrance was not supposed to accelerate, yet it did. I ended up plopping all the colours in on top of one another. I should have just done the pop bottle pour like I normally do but I thought I could put them in random circles and it would look like the pop bottle pour. I totally forget what that technique is called. It is just a dark mess. I'm hoping it will look better once I cut them when I get home.

I like it!

Do you normally use Pomace, @Jorah, or is that what you have “in stock”? Reading on the forum about how it speeds up trace, I just use regular ol’ olive oil. I’ll be curious to hear how it goes… and glad to see you getting back to the workbench
Have Fun!!

I'm gradually shifting all of my olive oil to pomace; I think it darkens the soap less.

 

[Jorah]

That's very similar to my go-to recipe. I use Olive Oil (not pomace), Coconut oil, Shea butter or Lard, Avocado or Sunflower Oil, and Castor oil.

The original called for hemp oil, which I don't have, so I tried to find something close. Out of what I had on hand, grapeseed seemed closest in profile.