What soapy thing have you done today?

[penelopejane]

I made two lots of pumpkin soap. One with oil soaked paprika powder mixed in and one with the paprika powder strained out of the oil.

I haven't got any avocado oil or castor oil left! I have to go shopping this weekend.

 

[LoveOscar]

I soaped today. Started last night with a calendula tea, steeped that in the fridge over night. Fast infused some calendula in olive oil on the stove for about 2 hours this morning. On a side note, diced some beef suet up, and that is sitting in the crock pot rendering down, to be tallow soap some other day. And I soaped a calendula honey soap. I'm excited, there's a bunch of firsts in this one. First herbal infusion (calendula tea and oil), first colorant (turmeric powder), and first FO (wildflower honey FO from BB). It seems successful so far, as it's sitting on my counter wrapped up to gel. Looking forward to seeing how it unmolds tomorrow.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I got the shakes. Bad.

I haven`t soaped since april 4`th because I simply haven`t had any time whatsoever to do so. And I am one who doesn`t like to soap when I have very little time on my hands, even though it doesn`t really take that long to put a batch together. But our kitchen is tiny (tiny I tell you!) and the cleanup takes a while so I prefer to do it when I don`t have to stress with a lot of other things afterwards (i.e soaping before dinner. Uhm, that is something I only did once. Never again... )

So I have tried to get my fix by searching for things to try.

Next on the agenda is to purchase bananas (as ripe as they come, most of them are green when they are in the stores) and make banana milk, freeze it and make soap with it. Will be interesting to see how that feels. I don`t need to add any extra sugar either.

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

I have the same experience as cmzaha - my dog shampoo bar has 20% Neem, and at first I thought I was going to have to throw it out, it smelled so bad! But thank goodness I didn't. After 6 weeks, the scent was tolerable, and now after 12 weeks, all of us who wash the dog agree that it's the best shampoo ever for the dog. His coat feels wonderful, the Neem has subsided, and the other scents I'd put in there have come into their own: cedarwood, clove and lemongrass.

Just give time, I'd say. It's the oil properties of the Neem that are the flea inhibitors, not the actual scent. Plus, Neem is a great coat (and hair) conditioner.

I used 25% neem and karanja. Hoping after a long cure it'll smell better. I didn't add any scents to it because I made it special for my beagles that smell really bad. The soap right now smells better than they do...lol.

 

[Sagebrush]

Made a double batch of salt bars...and cut before bedtime! #winning

 

[mzimm]

Made this DIY silicone lace mat from some bridal applique lace that I really wanted to see in soap someday. "Someday" just may be tomorrow, as I can hardly wait to try it ou!

Thought I'd post an update to this post and let you know how the lace mat worked out. Though it probably ought to go in camera pics section, eek! I obsess over proper etiquette, so pls forgive my social gaffes if this is the wrong way to go about it.
We have a pasture with purple hairy vetch flowers growing alongside crimson clover (top left pic) and I just love that lovely flower with the ugly name!
The silicone mat got smeared thinly with white batter, allowed to set a bit, then poured over with light green batter. I drew the vetch on the top of the soap with a skewer, though I'd intended it to look more swirled in than piped on (top right). When unmolding, I was thrilled at how well the mat preserved the applique detail! (bottom left).
I should have waited longer to unmold and cut, as the finished bars (bottom right) were very delicate, easily smudged. I'm a work in progress as far as learning patience goes :?

 

[Navaria]

Thought I'd post an update to this post and let you know how the lace mat worked out. Though it probably ought to go in camera pics section, eek! I obsess over proper etiquette, so pls forgive my social gaffes if this is the wrong way to go about it.
We have a pasture with purple hairy vetch flowers growing alongside crimson clover (top left pic) and I just love that lovely flower with the ugly name!
The silicone mat got smeared thinly with white batter, allowed to set a bit, then poured over with light green batter. I drew the vetch on the top of the soap with a skewer, though I'd intended it to look more swirled in than piped on (top right). When unmolding, I was thrilled at how well the mat preserved the applique detail! (bottom left).
I should have waited longer to unmold and cut, as the finished bars (bottom right) were very delicate, easily smudged. I'm a work in progress as far as learning patience goes :?

Oh wow! Looks great! I love the flowers you drew on, and your mat turned out perfect!

 

[Dahila]

second attempt at sunflowers, I keep my fingers cross that it came ok

 

[dibbles]

Made my first ever batch with avocado puree

 

[Sagebrush]

Thought I'd post an update to this post and let you know how the lace mat worked out. Though it probably ought to go in camera pics section, eek! I obsess over proper etiquette, so pls forgive my social gaffes if this is the wrong way to go about it.

We have a pasture with purple hairy vetch flowers growing alongside crimson clover (top left pic) and I just love that lovely flower with the ugly name!

The silicone mat got smeared thinly with white batter, allowed to set a bit, then poured over with light green batter. I drew the vetch on the top of the soap with a skewer, though I'd intended it to look more swirled in than piped on (top right). When unmolding, I was thrilled at how well the mat preserved the applique detail! (bottom left).

I should have waited longer to unmold and cut, as the finished bars (bottom right) were very delicate, easily smudged. I'm a work in progress as far as learning patience goes :?

Those are gorgeous! Great work!

 

[Navaria]

Made my first ever batch with avocado puree

Purees scare me. I'm afraid I'll screw something up somehow and end up with blocks of mold lol. So I'll live vicariously through you! I can't wait to see them!

 

[snappyllama]

Today I prepared for Soap Making Saturday!

Calendula tea made: check
Beer sacrificed to the soap making gods: check
New Tester Recipe Developed (I have a few oil odds and ends I want to use up): check
Plans made (to be modified/discarded several times tomorrow): check
Hubby taking teenagers to Costco tomorrow so the whole house will be mine... all mine: check and check!

 

[amd]

Made my first ever batch with avocado puree

Ahh Dibbles! That's a first on my list today too!

 

[TeresaT]

Why oh why does it do that! I promise I wasn't standing on my head when I took the pic!
Can't figure out how to un-kitty-whumpas that image - sorry y'all!

Did you take that with an iPhone? I only have an iPhone and every time I post a photo from the phone it does that. The photo is normal in the "photos" app. But I've found if I take the photo while I'm posting instead of uploading one, it doesn't do that. To fix the upside down photos I have to go to my computer and download it off of here, open it up and rotate it until it is correct, then re-upload it. If I look at it from the cloud, it is still correct. I think iPhone photos get lost in translation.

On another note - that is an awesome mat!! I love it.

 

[TeresaT]

Today I washed up all of the soaping dishes from Thursday's soaping session and unmolded the loaf I made with the extra batter from my 5th and final try at April's challenge. It stuck in the corners. I've come to the conclusion that soft oils need a lot more time to harden up when I'm using a silicone mold. Since I am not patient at all (If God wanted me to have patience, He should have made me a doctor!) I will have to use my wooden mold to make soft oils soaps. I hate using my wooden molds. I have to line them.

However, I did make a cool discovery because of that soft soap. I have a straight blade soap cutter that was part of the wash-up this morning. It was still wet. Using a wet blade makes clean, smear-free slices. I will cut all of my soap loaves from now on with a wet blade, even the ones that are sufficiently cured.

Yesterday at work there was a very nice heavy-duty cardboard box that had arrived the day before with some supplies. I cut it up for a light box. (Building security looked at me really strange when I walked out with a box with most of the sides cut out. But they're used to me and don't ask anymore.) I forgot to stop and get tissue paper, but I had white plastic garbage bags in the house. One plastic garbage bag was enough to tape the sides. It actually looks pretty good. And since I used plastic instead of tissue, I think it's going to last a bit longer. I've got to go to the dollar store today to grab a poster board and a couple of table lamps to put on the sides of it. I used it to take a (crappy) picture of my soap entry. Since I didn't have poster board for the white background, I used a puppy pad. I got a huge box of puppy pads on sale at Petsmart a few months ago and have been using them to cover my soaping counter. They're the perfect size, have tape backings and are very absorbent. I bought them because Shredder wasn't liking the cold weather and refused to use the doggy door at night. She preferred the carpet. But she doesn't like these pads, so she still uses the carpet. Freakin' dog is going to get herself killed one of these days. I'm getting lots of use out of my carpet cleaner; great investment, that.

 

[dibbles]

I admit it - I'm hopelessly impatient. I'm also a self confessed bubble junkie. So I had to test out a little piece of the avocado soap, freshly cut. I can't wait for this to cure so I can use it for real! This is after about 15 seconds at the sink.

 

[mzimm]

Did you take that with an iPhone? I only have an iPhone and every time I post a photo from the phone it does that. The photo is normal in the "photos" app. But I've found if I take the photo while I'm posting instead of uploading one, it doesn't do that. To fix the upside down photos I have to go to my computer and download it off of here, open it up and rotate it until it is correct, then re-upload it. If I look at it from the cloud, it is still correct. I think iPhone photos get lost in translation.

On another note - that is an awesome mat!! I love it.

Not an iPhone, but an iPad, so it's probably just the same issue. Thanks for the info, Teresa, I'll figure that into the equation next time I try to post.

 

[TeresaT]

Not an iPhone, but an iPad, so it's probably just the same issue. Thanks for the info, Teresa, I'll figure that into the equation next time I try to post.

Oh, yeah. That happens with my iPad, too. I forgot about that since I pretty much quit using the iPad.

 

[mzimm]

Today I washed up all of the soaping dishes from Thursday's soaping session and unmolded the loaf I made with the extra batter from my 5th and final try at April's challenge. It stuck in the corners. I've come to the conclusion that soft oils need a lot more time to harden up when I'm using a silicone mold. Since I am not patient at all (If God wanted me to have patience, He should have made me a doctor!) I will have to use my wooden mold to make soft oils soaps. I hate using my wooden molds. I have to line them.

However, I did make a cool discovery because of that soft soap. I have a straight blade soap cutter that was part of the wash-up this morning. It was still wet. Using a wet blade makes clean, smear-free slices. I will cut all of my soap loaves from now on with a wet blade, even the ones that are sufficiently cured.

***sigh*** I'm finding the same thing with my silicone molds. Never had this problem when I was using freezer paper and DIY cardboard soap molds. Then I "upgraded" to all manner of fancy silicone molds, and no amount of sodium lactate seems to help get them out of the mold before 3 days at least.

But pretty cool about the wet blade! So simple and workable!

 

[mzimm]

Scored at Big Lots today
"Butcher Boy" brand coconut oil 76 degree for $12/gallon. Use by date 2/2018. Whoop woop! Bought 4 of them, and thinking about getting the other 3 that were on the shelf, but geez, 4 gal will last me a loooong time.