What soapy thing have you done today?

[Mobjack Bay]

Or maybe that makes the stamp stick to the soap and that's a terrible idea.

Steaming after stamping is something I can still do ! I'm away from home for a while but I will do that when I'll be back. Thank you

If I experiment I will report back. Good luck with the steaming.

 

[Humblegoat]

I steam after I stamp the soap or otherwise add mica or glitter, but I also dampen the soap in advance by spraying it lightly with 91% isopropyl alcohol. I never tried steaming before stamping, but that’s an interesting idea. My soaps are sometimes too firm to stamp, which I’ve attributed to using 40% lye concentration. Now I’m wondering if steaming the soap in advance would make hard soap easier to stamp. Thanks for the idea!

I decorate my soaps with mica powder and stem them after cure. I just started steaming them and notice the mica doesn’t wash off as quickly. Anyone have any ideas about when steaming takes place to be most effective? Duck is non steamed, snowman steamed after cure

 

[squidstings]

Impatiently teesing my (90%)KOH BAR batch

Oils: 125.8F (at time of start)
Tallow (grass F/F) 382.1g
Fractionated coconut oil 174.3g
Castor oil 21g
Avocado oil 48.4g
Hemp oil 34.6g
Sunflower oil 34.9g

Water/lye: 169.5F
205.17g/157.01
24.5g Colloidal gold/silver mix (50/50) discounted from mixture until clear then added immediately before mix with oils.

At the beginning of med trace:
10g Frankincense EO
10g Myrhh EO
4.4g Vitamin E

Cut like my other batches. Lots of air bubbles though.

My live in guinea pig have been using it since yesterday afternoon
Rinses thoroughly and very quickly. I like the "soap grip". To me it feels like clean skin grip.
I put a few drops of avocado oil on my hands and my hands were clean just as quickly and easily.
I worried about harshness. Maybe not as gentle as I'd have hoped or produced before, but I am being deliberately critical. Got a little dry skin feel after rubbing it on the hair on the back of my hand to start and rinsing that part last.

So far, useful and within desired characteristics. Prayers to the gods of the cure

 

[ackosel]

I made my first in-the-pot swirl attempt today. I had visions of a delicate pink & blue pastel to be cut into guest-size bars. I want to make a gift basket to leave at the nurse's station when we have our baby in March.

Well, my indigo infusion didn't quite turn out the way I had envisioned. I replaced all the olive oil in my recipe (20%) with indigo infusion. I poured off for pink without disturbing the powder at the bottom, and then gently shook the jar before pouring off for blue. Then, as a precaution in case the indigo faded completely, I added a little French pink clay to the pink portion and divided the blue in half, adding activated charcoal to half of it.

The resulting swirl looks NOTHING like I envisioned! Instead of "baby blue", it looks more like "baby poo"! My intention was NOT to make gag gift soap for the nurses! Maybe I can pass it off as camo colors, but it certainly isn't the cute pink & blue I was aiming for! At least it smells good. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like after gel, and what the swirl looks like tomorrow when I cut it. For now, I'm not a fan! I'll try again, but with different colors.

 

[Tammyfarms]

I made my first in-the-pot swirl attempt today. I had visions of a delicate pink & blue pastel to be cut into guest-size bars. I want to make a gift basket to leave at the nurse's station when we have our baby in March.

Well, my indigo infusion didn't quite turn out the way I had envisioned. I replaced all the olive oil in my recipe (20%) with indigo infusion. I poured off for pink without disturbing the powder at the bottom, and then gently shook the jar before pouring off for blue. Then, as a precaution in case the indigo faded completely, I added a little French pink clay to the pink portion and divided the blue in half, adding activated charcoal to half of it.

The resulting swirl looks NOTHING like I envisioned! Instead of "baby blue", it looks more like "baby poo"! My intention was NOT to make gag gift soap for the nurses! Maybe I can pass it off as camo colors, but it certainly isn't the cute pink & blue I was aiming for! At least it smells good. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like after gel, and what the swirl looks like tomorrow when I cut it. For now, I'm not a fan! I'll try again, but with different colors.

Hoping it looks great when you cut it.

 

[Elise]

I made my first in-the-pot swirl attempt today. I had visions of a delicate pink & blue pastel to be cut into guest-size bars. I want to make a gift basket to leave at the nurse's station when we have our baby in March.

Well, my indigo infusion didn't quite turn out the way I had envisioned. I replaced all the olive oil in my recipe (20%) with indigo infusion. I poured off for pink without disturbing the powder at the bottom, and then gently shook the jar before pouring off for blue. Then, as a precaution in case the indigo faded completely, I added a little French pink clay to the pink portion and divided the blue in half, adding activated charcoal to half of it.

The resulting swirl looks NOTHING like I envisioned! Instead of "baby blue", it looks more like "baby poo"! My intention was NOT to make gag gift soap for the nurses! Maybe I can pass it off as camo colors, but it certainly isn't the cute pink & blue I was aiming for! At least it smells good. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like after gel, and what the swirl looks like tomorrow when I cut it. For now, I'm not a fan! I'll try again, but with different colors.

Did you use plain leaves turned into powder ? Indigo needs to undergo some kind of treatment before being able to render blue (or pink) in soap. At some point on this page : https://www.soapmakingschool.com/natural-indigo-powder-in-soap/, there is a picture showing the difference of color of soap made with treated indigo powder and soap made with untreated indigo powder.
Also, make sure your base soap color is very white.
I made both mistakes and was very disappointed with my soap color . Since then, I've bought the proper indigo powder (but haven't had the time to test it yet !).

 

[ackosel]

Did you use plain leaves turned into powder ? Indigo needs to undergo some kind of treatment before being able to render blue (or pink) in soap. At some point on this page : https://www.soapmakingschool.com/natural-indigo-powder-in-soap/, there is a picture showing the difference of color of soap made with treated indigo powder and soap made with untreated indigo powder.
Also, make sure your base soap color is very white.
I made both mistakes and was very disappointed with my soap color . Since then, I've bought the proper indigo powder (but haven't had the time to test it yet !).

I am aware that the indigo has to be properly processed, but I have no idea if mine is or not. The places I've looked at it just call it "indigo powder". I bought Crafters Choice brand because a lot of people recommend WSP for essential oils and other soaping ingredients. It's difficult to know where to find the right stuff sometimes. No harm done though, it's still soap, smells great, and may appeal to the outdoorsy people in my life. I also knew I wouldn't get baby blue with indigo. It looks better this morning after gel and cool-down, but developed heavy soda ash. If I really don't like it, maybe I'll try dipping it - without indigo!

 

[AliOop]

I am aware that the indigo has to be properly processed, but I have no idea if mine is or not. The places I've looked at it just call it "indigo powder". I bought Crafters Choice brand because a lot of people recommend WSP for essential oils and other soaping ingredients. It's difficult to know where to find the right stuff sometimes. No harm done though, it's still soap, smells great, and may appeal to the outdoorsy people in my life. I also knew I wouldn't get baby blue with indigo. It looks better this morning after gel and cool-down, but developed heavy soda ash. If I really don't like it, maybe I'll try dipping it - without indigo!

Since you bought it from Crafter's Choice, it is probably treated/processed. An easy way to tell is by the color. If it is green, it is almost certainly unprocessed. If it is blue, or grey-ish blue, it has been processed so that it is ready to use as-is. However, most folks take another step to infuse it into one of their soaping oils. That helps with controlling the amount of indigo needed to achieve the desired color, without a whole bunch of stickblending your batter that could result in a thicker trace than desired.

To activate green indigo powder so that it produces a blue color, I add ¼ tsp salt to ¼ cup of the powder. Then simply stir in enough hot (close to boiling) water to get all of it wet and make a thick paste. Cover tightly and let it sit for about 15 minutes. When you come back and stir it, the mixture will be very dark, almost black. It is now ready to use in your soap or other products, and should be used right away, or it will start oxidizing and becoming less effective. It will take some experimentation to learn how much to use in your soap.

 

[squidstings]

The resulting swirl looks NOTHING like I envisioned! Instead of "baby blue", it looks more like "baby poo"!

made my day

Good luck. Hope it looks good cut.

Quriosity. Anyone ever consider/try Methylene Blue?

 

[Shelley D]

I made my first in-the-pot swirl attempt today. I had visions of a delicate pink & blue pastel to be cut into guest-size bars. I want to make a gift basket to leave at the nurse's station when we have our baby in March.

Well, my indigo infusion didn't quite turn out the way I had envisioned. I replaced all the olive oil in my recipe (20%) with indigo infusion. I poured off for pink without disturbing the powder at the bottom, and then gently shook the jar before pouring off for blue. Then, as a precaution in case the indigo faded completely, I added a little French pink clay to the pink portion and divided the blue in half, adding activated charcoal to half of it.

The resulting swirl looks NOTHING like I envisioned! Instead of "baby blue", it looks more like "baby poo"! My intention was NOT to make gag gift soap for the nurses! Maybe I can pass it off as camo colors, but it certainly isn't the cute pink & blue I was aiming for! At least it smells good. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like after gel, and what the swirl looks like tomorrow when I cut it. For now, I'm not a fan! I'll try again, but with different colors.

I had to love it because it looks just like one of my attempts! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ~ and I'm totally loving the swirly action on the top!

 

[ackosel]

I had to love it because it looks just like one of my attempts! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ~ and I'm totally loving the swirly action on the top!

You are too kind!

I cut the soap today, and it does indeed look MUCH better than I was afraid it would. I left the soda ash on top because it looks like falling snow on a gray winter day. (Here in western Montana we have no snow with none in the forecast before Christmas.) I went ahead and cut some sample size bars for the nurse's gift basket.

 

[AliOop]

You are too kind!

I cut the soap today, and it does indeed look MUCH better than I was afraid it would. I left the soda ash on top because it looks like falling snow on a gray winter day. (Here in western Montana we have no snow with none in the forecast before Christmas.) I went ahead and cut some sample size bars for the nurse's gift basket.

Those are so pretty! Those nurses are gonna be so nice to you.

 

[Humblegoat]

Those are so pretty! Those nurses are gonna be so nice to you.

They look great!

 

[Shelley D]

You are too kind!

I cut the soap today, and it does indeed look MUCH better than I was afraid it would. I left the soda ash on top because it looks like falling snow on a gray winter day. (Here in western Montana we have no snow with none in the forecast before Christmas.) I went ahead and cut some sample size bars for the nurse's gift basket.

Awesome! You can see all the different shades The ash goes away with the first use so that shouldn't bother anyone

 

[justsomeguy]

I made a two pound loaf of ZNSC with African black soap crumbs and Alkanet root powder infused oil. It's in the oven CPOPing right now cause I soaped to cool again (110° is to cool).

Trying to find the correct amount of infused oils to get a purple ZNSC. 7% is the magic number...

Edit: added a picture

 

[Humblegoat]

I made a two pound loaf of ZNSC with African black soap crumbs and Alkanet root powder infused oil. It's in the oven CPOPing right now cause I soaped to cool again (110° is to cool).

View attachment 80146

Trying to find the correct amount of infused oils to get a purple ZNSC. 7% is the magic number...

Edit: added a picture

What is ZNSC stand for?

 

[justsomeguy]

What is ZNSC stand for?

Zany's no slime castile soap

 

[justsomeguy]

I made a two pound loaf of ZNSC with African black soap crumbs and Alkanet root powder infused oil. It's in the oven CPOPing right now cause I soaped to cool again (110° is to cool).



Trying to find the correct amount of infused oils to get a purple ZNSC. 7% is the magic number...

Edit: added a picture

I fouled up. Twice.

There's no purple that I can see and the African black soap did not melt

So it might be a very scrubby soap.

 

[ackosel]

I fouled up. Twice.

There's no purple that I can see and the African black soap did not melt

So it might be a very scrubby soap. View attachment 80148

It looks really neat, though!

 

[Humblegoat]

Zany's no slime castile soap

lol I would have never gotten that one!