What soapy thing have you done today?

[Ekuzo]

@Ekuzo I thought that I would be okay not to boil based off what I had read. I disloved some sodium citrate but skipped sugar. I had also let it go flat in my fridge for a week and thought I'd be okay. I boiled some last night and am interested to make some soap again and see the difference. Ya know for science

Now that I know I think I could get away without boiling and just move quicker and don't SB. I love learning this stuff! So many experiments... I'm gonna need more beer...

That’s what! Experiment some more and find what works best for you - for science, of course I'm already used to soap drinking much more than me

I have learned that my heating temps and insulation that works great for my 400g batches of soap are a little too hot for a full 1000g batch of soap. Had some oil seepage and what looks like some amount of ricing at the bottom of the mold. Still pretty soft too but it’s holding together well enough to cut at least. This soap was made on the 19th so it’s been a few days. (Of course I might be incorrect about what’s on the bottom of the soap)

I'd say it's been enough time now to get zap tested and see if there's any separation. If it's really just ricing and nothing else, you can say it's a design choice, looks cool

 

[AliensrReal]

Great job matching the colors to the FO names!

The brown soaps came out better than I thought. I did add some titanium dioxide. For some reason I can’t find my premixed TD. I guess the small bottle fell and is now hidden somewhere.

 

[Servant4Christ]

The brown soaps came out better than I thought. I did add some titanium dioxide. For some reason I can find my premixed TD. I guess the small bottle fell and is now hidden somewhere.

I love your green/blue color. Need sunglasses for that shade of yellow

 

[Midnight_Sun]

That’s what! Experiment some more and find what works best for you - for science, of course I'm already used to soap drinking much more than me


I'd say it's been enough time now to get zap tested and see if there's any separation. If it's really just ricing and nothing else, you can say it's a design choice, looks cool

I tested, no zap. It firmed up somewhat after cutting too, though I think it will need a long cure before becoming properly hard. Maybe I used too much water (I did a 2:1 ratio but I couldn’t get the salt and sugar to dissolve in my lye solution so I added some more water to finish dissolving it all). Possibly I can add the salt/sugar to my water before dissolving the lye?

The colors are pretty muddy but I can probably blame my technique for that. It’s a tricky swirl

 

[Cindy D.]

@Midnight_Sun that came out really pretty! I love your swirl!

 

[AliOop]

Possibly I can add the salt/sugar to my water before dissolving the lye?

Yes, you should always do that, actually. Lye is a water hog; once added, it makes dissolving anything else very difficult.

But your soap looks great, so well done!

 

[Midnight_Sun]

Yes, you should always do that, actually. Lye is a water hog; once added, it makes dissolving anything else very difficult.

But your soap looks great, so well done!

Thank you very much! I did not know that, I’ll mix my additives first next time. Thank you

 

[MrsZ]

I've been feeling like my soap hobby is pretty expensive, so I sat down and calculated how much it costs me to make a bar of each of my recipes and variations. I was happily surprised to discover that is costs me less per bar than buying a nice fancy bar of soap at the store. They always talk about girl math, well, according to soapmaker math, I'm saving a lot of money with my soapmaking!

Of course, I wouldn't have 70 plus bars of store-bought soap sitting in my pantry if I wasn't a soap maker, so that might not actually add up.........

 

[Cindy D.]

Just so no one thinks all my soaps come out perfect every time...stearic spots (should have heated the oils again), holes galore (should have checked the percentages), his eye balls are right together and somehow there is white mixed into the red of the head and body. I sacrificed one bar to fill all the holes and gaps.

Oh well it's still soap someone will happily use it.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Made soap today using a blend of Candle Science Red Ginger Saffron (1/3) and BB White Tea & Ginger (2/3j. Red Ginger Saffron is a @KiwiMoose favorite, but the endorsement comes with a strong warning about the acceleration issues. I agree that it smells wonderful. I thought the White Tea & Ginger would slow it down significantly. Well, sort of. This loaf may have an ITP swirl. We’ll see.

 

[Zing]

Wowza, @Midnight_Sun , @Cindy D. , and @Mobjack Bay , truly incredible soaps. Cindy, that looks perfect to me!

I made my challenge soap this morning. Uf da, I'm angsty. Normally I soap in the afternoons and then can have my post-soaping cocktail but it's still a bit early here!

It's an ombre and I did a course correction mid-stream. My plan was to go light to dark. But my light looked pretty dark to begin with, so then I went from dark to light and adding titanium dioxide.

I've gotta swear off watching those perfect soapers on their YouTubes with their perfectly clean counters and utensils. I made such a mess. My gloves become coated with titanium dioxide and soap batter and then my spatulas get covered and slippery I use a ketchup bottle for my titanium dioxide and at one point it plopped into my batter.

 

[Zing]

@Midnight_Sun , I forgot to include this. I add sugar to my distilled water BEFORE I add lye. I add salt (sodium lactate) to my lye-water solution when it cools down.

 

[Cindy D.]

@Zing , thanks! I am in no way neat while soaping, I slime everything I touch no matter how much I wipe my gloves..
I have a mess of stuff to put away today!

 

[Midnight_Sun]

@Midnight_Sun , I forgot to include this. I add sugar to my distilled water BEFORE I add lye. I add salt (sodium lactate) to my lye-water solution when it cools down.

I ran out of sodium lactate and had to use salt crystals, but I’ve ordered more! I did not know to dissolve the solid additives first so I’ve made a note and I’ll do that in the future! Previously I used only sodium lactate so I never had to consider when I added the additives.

 

[justsomeguy]

@Zing , thanks! I am in no way neat while soaping, I slime everything I touch no matter how much I wipe my gloves.View attachment 79919.
I have a mess of stuff to put away today!

This is the way

 

[bookworm42]

This is the way

This is the way

 

[AliOop]

This is the way

This is the way

I don't know about THE way, but it sure is my way, and I refuse to be shamed over it. Sloppy soapers, unite!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I’m a very tidy soaper - so there!

 

[AliOop]

I’m a very tidy soaper - so there!

See, I knew you tidy soapers looked down on us peons! I just knew it!!

 

[justsomeguy]

See, I knew you tidy soapers looked down on us peons! I just knew it!!

They are outnumbered! We win again!