What soapy thing have you done today?

[amd]

amd your soaps are very pretty. I like the color combination and the swirls turned out great.

Aw, thanks Dibbles! I wanted more swirl but I had a fear of overswirling (now at least I know where the bottom limit is). Next time I'm going to try stacking the colors. My white crackled though - I assume too much TD. I'm still such a newbie with colors. After 4 months of experimenting I have at least figured out how to color without having soap that oozes oil every where, now to just get the "how much to add" figured out. Baby steps (and I'm enjoying it because it means I get to make more soap!)

 

[shunt2011]

The cut from my first hanger swirl. I still have a lot to learn about color and placement.

Love the swirl and the colors. Very nice!

 

[annalee2003]

Finally bought some lye!! Everything's complete now, and I can start making my very first batch of soap once the toddler goes to sleep and the in-laws go home (seriously, go home already ...).
Never been so excited to just be by myself for a few hours, haha. Not going to get much sleep tonight, but I don't care!

 

[jules92207]

This is the text I got from hubby...

"Ok so I got you 4 bottles of lye"

That's love y'all. I know I'll be making some soap this weekend.

 

[Misschief]

I made my beer soap this evening. I was going to wait until tomorrow but I just couldn't wait any more!

Blackstrap soap1 by Ev Skae, on Flickr

I used a local beer from BNA Brewing; this is their Blackstrap Stout. For fragrance, I used a combination of sage, cedarwood, lime, and patchouli essential oils. I wasn't totally enamoured of the scent but I didn't use a lot so it should be alright. I also added a bit of cocoa to the bottom 3/4 and added a bit of titanium dioxide to the top 1/4 which I hanger swirled before adding the remainder of the lightened batter.

I'm hoping it looks like beer being poured into a glass... we'll see tomorrow. It's resting now, uncovered, on a rack with air circulation all around it.

I soaped cold - dissolved the lye earlier this week, mixed my oils yesterday, soaped today and the house is chilly. We shall see tomorrow.

When my daughter, who bought the beer for me, told the workers at the brewery that I was using it to make soap, they were very interested. One of the guys has already insisted he wants to buy a bar when it's ready. They're even suggesting that I approach the owner to sell my soaps along side their beers. I'll just be happy to score some flat beers, to be honest.

 

[CritterPoor]

What's so out of hand about that?? Just as an aside, for my own use, I cut my bars in half, or even quarters. That way, I can fit more samples in my soap dish.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

well that just makes too much sense for me to have thought of it myself

 

[BrewerGeorge]

...
When my daughter, who bought the beer for me, told the workers at the brewery that I was using it to make soap, they were very interested. One of the guys has already insisted he wants to buy a bar when it's ready. They're even suggesting that I approach the owner to sell my soaps along side their beers. I'll just be happy to score some flat beers, to be honest.

I'd bet this arrangement would be super easy to set up. A good portion of beer goes to waste during production, so they could even supply you without cost to them if they wanted by giving you brew that was going to be production losses for them. Actually the best beer for soaping would come after fermentation but before carbonation - to save you the step of driving it of. But odds are they probably won't even bother with that and just give you some finished beer because it won't require them to remember to save it for you. Beer is cheap for brewers.

Visit during the day so you can talk to an actual brewer instead of the restaurant/bar people who usually run the place at night. You shouldn't have much problem setting something up. Brewers are typically a very friendly bunch and are passionate about everything to do with beer (they're certainly not doing it for the money!) and that includes beer soap. That's why I started in with soap, myself. As long as your needs are modest, I can't imagine any brewer balking at trading a growler of beer for a couple bars of soap.

Good luck!

 

[nsmar4211]

Did a ton of soapy dishes and packed up samples to cure....that's enough for today

 

[gigisiguenza]

The cut from my first hanger swirl. I still have a lot to learn about color and placement.

I like these very much, they're pretty. They look purposely done, not accidentally made.

 

[Punkin2x74]

This one has been a process. I've been in a slump lately and having a hard time getting out of it. But I finally put the blender to the bowl.

Snow Cakes Type.

 

[CritterPoor]

made 1 batch of soap today, messed up another. i bought shea butter & cocoa butter for some lipbalm that I made and wanted to try them out in soap. I made the cocoa butter batch first, scented it with some lavender EO. Half way through the shea batch, I realized I forgot to add the 5% castor oil to the cocoa butter batch & only did 5% coconut oil instead of 10%. I'm hoping a good, long cure will fix this. If not, well, I guess i get to learn how to rebatch.

 

[mintle]

I am just infusing oils today in the oven (with alkanet, spirulina, annato, red clover and chamomille with calendula). I am preparing for my All Natural soap series for the christmas. I get tired from time to time with all the micas, FOs and fancy swirls (this phase does not last long, though ), so I thought that going natural (just herbs, clays, EOs, milks and honey) would be a great idea.

 

[amd]

Made cupcakes for my daughter's birthday. As I'm mixing up the batter she comes in and says "where's your goggles? And why does that soap smell like cake?" Apparently I make too much soap? Ah well.... Mixing up a batch of soap now that the cupcakes are done.

 

[Misschief]

I made my Blackstrap Ale soap last night and unmolded and cut it this morning. Now, I need to tweak it.

Blackstrap Ale Soap by Ev Skae, on Flickr

I put copper mica on it - I don't think I'll do that again. Next time, I'll add more cocoa to the bottom half to make it darker, more like the colour of the ale. I also want the hanger swirl to be more like the foam in a glass of ale.

I'm not really thrilled with the scent, either. I think it's the sage in the blend. If anyone has any suggestions for scenting a beer like this (essential oils only), I'd appreciate it.

 

[mymy]

Guys, I tried to make 100% green tea solution and added lye into it. Suddenly the color changed into pitch black. What did i do wrong?

 

[amd]

Guys, I tried to make 100% green tea solution and added lye into it. Suddenly the color changed into pitch black. What did i do wrong?

Nothing. Its a reaction to NaOH. My green tea soap is poop brown.

 

[mymy]

Nothing. Its a reaction to NaOH. My green tea soap is poop brown.

Phew, luckily I did not throw out the solution. Thank you so much.

 

[amd]

I love my green tea soap despite the color!

 

[mymy]

Planned to make greentea with cocoa butter soap. Sadly the lye reacted with the greentea solution and turned it into a coffee instead of tea. I had to put it aside and used plain water instead. I made 30% lye concentration and sadly i was rushing and poured the lye into hot oil. The soap cracked on top. Gonna cut it in a few hours to come.

 

[penelopejane]

I made my Blackstrap Ale soap last night.

I put copper mica on it - I don't think I'll do that again. Next time, I'll add more cocoa to the bottom half to make it darker, more like the colour of the ale. I also want the hanger swirl to be more like the foam in a glass of ale.

I'm not really thrilled with the scent, either. I think it's the sage in the blend. If anyone has any suggestions for scenting a beer like this (essential oils only), I'd appreciate it.

Wow! I think it looks great. Can't wait to see the perfected version [emoji2]