What soapy thing have you done today?

[Arimara]

Researching soleseife. I came across a bar from another soaper in my stash and adored it - much more than the usual salt bars. I made one attempt at it and failed. More research (too much salt/not enough water), but still trying to figure out if I can do this as a loaf or if it can only be done in cavity molds. I'll be digging through the forum today. Otherwise... I took a stab at the BB sculpted horse soap. Epic fail. I did make a very lovely honey soap though with a drop spoon swirl. I fragranced it with apricot & honey fo from wsp. It is so lovely!

That soap is sounding so lovely it must define lovely.:mrgreen:

 

[earlene]

More shrink wrapping and labeling going on here, between hearing aid appointment and making phone calls to California and laundry and dishes. What else. Oh, yeah, a bit of soap shavings accumulating in the container. I'll have to do a little rebatch with the shavings soon.

 

[earlene]

I had to search my photo log to determine which day I made a soap I shrink-wrapped yesterday and started to label. When I carried it downstairs, I left the label behind upstairs and couldn't remember which soap it was. I was off by 10 days and would have included the wrong ingredients on the label if I had depended on my faulty memory. I thought the label said 9/6/2016, but per the photos I made it on 9/16/2016. Thank goodness for my backup documentation of the soaps I make (the photos with made-on dates and a brief description.)

More evidence of why I need to keep my computer up to date. I still haven't copied my soaping recipes onto this new computer, but it on today's To Do List!

 

[TBandCW]

Woo-Hoo!! Don't want to jinx anything but just dropped off two more online orders at the post office. One was for 8 bars of soap!! It's been a good week for online orders.

 

[Greenmeadow]

Just made my first MP soap on a clear base layered and swirled in 4 colours red , orange , yellow and mat white , with dried carnation petals in the top layer

 

[kumudini]

Cut the soap I made on Wednesday. The design didn't go exactly as planned but I'm happy with what I have. It's scented with mint and star anise EOs, colored with AC and TD. This is for DH.
I'm also planning another batch for later today. Most of the soaps in my stash are over 1 year old and I'm absolutely loving them. So I'm going to make few more batches now, to be used atleast 6 months later.

 

[amd]

That soap is sounding so lovely it must define lovely.:mrgreen:

Thanks Arimara! I'll post pictures when it firms up a bit more. The honey is making it softer than usual so I'm trying not to handle it. (But I want to pick it up and smell it and stroke it and pet it and call it George...)

 

[bumbleklutz]

Made a small (1#) batch and separated it to test 3 new FO's. I also discovered that the small hard plastic cups I use to weigh out FO's; that I thought were safe to use with FO's are not. One of them melted, and now my kitchen smells like rosemary orange...LOL. Never had a problem with them before, but live and learn.

 

[houseofwool]

Wahoo! Most of the accounting is done for this year. Just one set of data to fix and then it is on to finishing a physical inventory of bulk oils and other supplies. I managed to get the essential oils done last weekend.

My accountant will be much happier this year!

 

[CTAnton]

I did my first craft show yesterday. Mostly melt and pour holiday soaps but some of my deer tallow cp soaps.I was the only soaper there which is rare in these parts. Maybe that was a clue because sales were less than robust. There was some discussion amongst the vendors as to poor advertising. 50 dollars for the table and I probably made 150. But I had a blast.............................

 

[jules92207]

I should have soaped. I should stick with what I know instead of trying a body butter, which I promptly over fragranced, and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

 

[earlene]

Note to self: Don't get distracted while planing & beveling soap! A couple of mornings ago I planed a teeny tiny bit of skin from a finger. Then yesterday, I trimmed one of my fingerails while planing & beveling soap. Nothing huge, but, really, do I need kevlar gloves or something? :? (seriously, I'm looking into it.)

So, obviously, that's what I've been doing. Planing, beveling, dosing soap with ETOH. Shrink wrapping, labeling. Oh, that reminds me...

Yesterday I thought I'd lost my touch with the plastic film heat sealing doo-hickie (I know there's another name for it, but it is eluding me atm). The seal just wasn't working right. Oh, I remember now, 'impulse sealer', and why is that? Anyway, it finally dawned on me that the setting was the problem. Yes, that was it. It worked fine the rest of the day, for the most part. Then this morning, all over again. And I couldn't get that 'fine tuning' to choose the right setting. Then, light bulb moment, I thought 'mark the spot on the dial!' So I put a contrasting colored arrow on the spot where the dial needs to be set. And it works like a charm again. So glad it finally occured to me there is an easy solution! Apparently I keep accidentally changing the setting when I move the thing around.

ETA: I just ordered some kevlar gloves on Amazon. I'll give them a try and see if I can manage working with them while planing soap. I'm not sure, but as many times as I've nicked myself cutting soap, I may as well go for it.

 

[randycoxclemson]

Cut the worlds ugliest soap

In the ongoing attempt to create a soap for a neighbor (and his son) that will get rid of chlorine smell when they go swimming, I finally decided on a plan.

I made a brine soap with super-strength coffee as the liquid (brewed at least double-strength coffee--Cafe du Monde, so it had some chicory in it--then ran that through another cycle with double amount of fresh grounds). So the coffee from the get-go was not the most pleasant smelling thing. Dissolved the sea salt in that, added some honey and a big wad of silk and then added the NaOH.

Man did that smell! But I'd made coffee-based soap before and it smelled bad at first, too. In the oil, I added some activated charcoal and bentonite clay. Now, one of the oils was Neem Oil, so that, combined with the really hot, burnt coffee smell was a bit much. So, while I was stirring the soap (it wasn't tracing at all), I added two fragrances and it immediately started turning to thick pudding.

I quickly poured it into my 4-pound mold and had enough to fill one-pound silicone mold and that was it. Looked like mud or tar.

That was Sunday. In fact, within 2 hours, the silicone loaf was so hard I went ahead and cut it. FIRST QUESTION: anyone ever cut cold process soap that soon after mixing?

Anyway, I let the larger loaf sit overnight and cut it this morning. It's still butt-ugly and smells, interesting--sort of a cross between some woody essential oil and ammonia. I'm hopeful that will settle down over the next six weeks or so. It is hard and silky smooth. SECOND QUESTION: anyone ever done anything like this to let me know what to expect? If it doesn't get the chlorine smell off of them, maybe it'll just replace it with a ... um ... different scent.

 

[TBandCW]

Panic mode:shock:. Thought I had enough soap to sell to get me thru the end of the year! WRONG!!!

 

[amd]

I decided to try bubble bars - I bought some from a soaper friend and hers were OK. Tried a couple recipes and then bought one (which was absolutely perfect, from the instructions to make, tips & tricks, to the product itself). I launched them in my store, expecting to sell a few, but at the price I needed to make a profit I didn't have high hopes. I sold out in two days! So I put in a big order for more ingredients and scrambled to find things locally to at least make a quick batch or two to cover the people who have tried to place orders. Curious to see how these and the soap cupcakes sell after the holiday season.

 

[LisaAnne]

I am learning to make kaleidoscopes (this is my first one) and I had to try soap shavings.

 

[earlene]

I am learning to make kaleidoscopes (this is my first one) and I had to try soap shavings.

LisaAnne, although that's very pretty, it reminds me too much of my ocular migraines. It made my eyes hurt just looking at it! Have fun with your kaleidoscope soap; it sounds like a fun project.

My kevlar gloves came yesterday, so of course I had to immediately try them out by planing and beveling soap off and on most of the day. Not a single cut or scrape all day, but boy oh boy did my hands feel tired by the time I quit. It's the longest I have done that ever.

It seems I have pretty much caught up with planing soaps that are ready to shrink wrap and I started on some that should probably cure a little longer first. It's a good thing, too, because I am almost out of the 'smell-though shrink wrap' that I purchased from Great Cakes Soap Works. So this morning I ordered another 100 feet. The first 50 feet lasted me about 6 months.

With only 3 more days to gather supplies for the Home Swap and to pack for my trip and to clean the house sufficiently prior to my departure, I still need find time to label as many of these shrink wrapped soaps as possible. Plus I am still working on transferring files to my new laptop. Way more work than in the past, as I am also learning a few new things about the updated OS, and other technical details I have not before encountered (as far as I recall.)

 

[bumbleklutz]

Last night I made a 1# batch scented with NS Satsuma Orange. Citrus scents are my favorite, so I hope this one sticks around.

It smelled great oob, although when I added it to the soap batter; I think the scent changed a little. This morning even though the soap is still in the mold and slightly warm; it's back to the oob smell.

I "attempted" a checkerboard pour of white and orange; but I think my batter was too thin and I poured from too high. So, my top layer probably dropped into the bottom layer. :cry:

Will cut it later today and see how it turned out. Either way, it's a learning experience. As always with soap: "Even if the baby is ugly, the parents are still proud."

 

[mx5inpenn]

Last night I made a 1# batch scented with NS Satsuma Orange. Citrus scents are my favorite, so I hope this one sticks around.

That is my oldest's favorite. I made a batch in early October. The scent is still obvious in the cured bars, although not as strong. Once they are used, it bounces right back.

 

[bumbleklutz]

That is my oldest's favorite. I made a batch in early October. The scent is still obvious in the cured bars, although not as strong. Once they are used, it bounces right back.

Good to know it comes back when they are used. I've found that to be true with certain fragrances, especially citrus fragrances.

Years ago I soaped a fragrance called "Creamsicle" (long discontinued :cry: ), that you guessed it, smelled EXACTLY like the ice cream treat. I fell in love with that fragrance, but 2 weeks into curing, the scent was completely gone. A few months later I absent mindedly grabbed a bar, and was completely blown away at how good it smelled in the shower.

Interestingly, when the bar was dry and sitting in the soap dish, there was hardly any scent; but as soon as hot water hit it; the fragrance just bloomed.

Out of curiosity, what usage rate do you use for the Satsuma Orange? I soaped it at 4.25% as that was all I had, but I think at 5% or 6 % it would do better.