Today's soapy things:
~ Finally cleaned up and organized my soaping cabinets, which have been an absolute disaster since they were moved about two months ago. I function so much better and am so much more motivated when things are organized! It makes me happy to look at them, too.
~ Made a new 8000G oil master batch using my recent lard purchase from Walmart, my rendered tallow from the 1/4 cow we bought last year (still haven't rendered the stuff from this year's ½ cow), and PKO and CO from @cmzaha (I'm still working through those, Carolyn!). Topped it off with a variety of liquid oils from jugs that were running low, which cleared out a lot of space in the cabinet where I store them.
~ Portioned out the master batched oils, as well as as the remaining lard, into some plastic tubs with handles and lids that I received for free from Essential Depot. They sent me this huge box of 100 of these things - for free! - when I ordered some cocoa butter from them last year. I almost sent these to the donation center, and now I'm so glad I kept them. Yes, they have the ED logo on them, but I don't really care. They are perfect for portioning out things like lard, tallow, and MB oils for storing in the freezer.
~ Made a new lye master batch, which started as a 50% lye concentration batch with tussah silk dissolved in it, as usual. Separately, I measured enough water to dilute it to 40% lye concentration, and warmed that up to dissolve the sorbitol and sodium citrate. Then I combined the two. Now I have my first lye masterbatch that is ready to go as-is for how I soap: 40% lye concentration with the additives I always use. Hooray!
~ Made a batch of soap using the still-warm MB oils and still-warm MB lye solution. I knew it would move fast, so it is a one-color batch, scented with lavender and lemon/litsea. The colorant looked horrible in the mold, kind of brickish-reddish-brownish. I just peeked at it gelling on the heating pad, and it's lavender in the center, and pink on the ungelled edges. So I guess there's hope.
~ Finally cleaned up and organized my soaping cabinets, which have been an absolute disaster since they were moved about two months ago. I function so much better and am so much more motivated when things are organized! It makes me happy to look at them, too.
~ Made a new 8000G oil master batch using my recent lard purchase from Walmart, my rendered tallow from the 1/4 cow we bought last year (still haven't rendered the stuff from this year's ½ cow), and PKO and CO from @cmzaha (I'm still working through those, Carolyn!). Topped it off with a variety of liquid oils from jugs that were running low, which cleared out a lot of space in the cabinet where I store them.
~ Portioned out the master batched oils, as well as as the remaining lard, into some plastic tubs with handles and lids that I received for free from Essential Depot. They sent me this huge box of 100 of these things - for free! - when I ordered some cocoa butter from them last year. I almost sent these to the donation center, and now I'm so glad I kept them. Yes, they have the ED logo on them, but I don't really care. They are perfect for portioning out things like lard, tallow, and MB oils for storing in the freezer.
~ Made a new lye master batch, which started as a 50% lye concentration batch with tussah silk dissolved in it, as usual. Separately, I measured enough water to dilute it to 40% lye concentration, and warmed that up to dissolve the sorbitol and sodium citrate. Then I combined the two. Now I have my first lye masterbatch that is ready to go as-is for how I soap: 40% lye concentration with the additives I always use. Hooray!
~ Made a batch of soap using the still-warm MB oils and still-warm MB lye solution. I knew it would move fast, so it is a one-color batch, scented with lavender and lemon/litsea. The colorant looked horrible in the mold, kind of brickish-reddish-brownish. I just peeked at it gelling on the heating pad, and it's lavender in the center, and pink on the ungelled edges. So I guess there's hope.
