What soapy thing have you done today?

[cobbsie]

!st soap

I made my first soap today....following a recipe from a recent course with cocnut oil, sunflower oil and olive oil and a tablespoon of honey

It gelled and heated quickly and is already out and cut!

No fragrance as I wanted to see if I could actually make soap....it is a lovely colour goldne brownish with speckles (Im assuming from the honey.....it did get a bit hot!)

Delighted to find such a great place to explore the whole soap making world

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Very interesting article, thank you Zany. It's better. No pain or apparent aftermath, except one tiny line that looks like a bruise under the skin - very very tiny. I used some arnica salve I normally use on my feet to sooth the pain and when I woke up this morning, no discomfort at all. I even did the dishes this morning without discomfort.

I obviously added my honey solution too fast and did not use my extra tall pitcher for the solution.

Whew! I'm relieved to know the arnica salve is working for you. That bruise should disappear if you continue using the arnica. Good stuff. Now, I have another concern... if I understand you correctly, you added the honey to your lye solution? If so, YIKES! LOL When adding honey to a soap batch, I use 50/50 honey/water, warmed, and add it to my oils before adding the lye solution (CP) or after the cook (HP). :bunny:

 

[earlene]

Whew! I'm relieved to know the arnica salve is working for you. That bruise should disappear if you continue using the arnica. Good stuff. Now, I have another concern... if I understand you correctly, you added the honey to your lye solution? If so, YIKES! LOL When adding honey to a soap batch, I use 50/50 honey/water, warmed, and add it to my oils before adding the lye solution (CP) or after the cook (HP). :bunny:

Thank you for your concern!

Yes, I was trying a method discussed in another thread. The problem was not the ingredients or the method. The problem was the user (me). The next day I was more cautious as I should have been the day before. This was the first time I had not taken sufficient precautions to prevent a lye solution volcano, and hopefully it will be my last. (ETA: Oh, I see you already saw & posted on that thread.)

Oh, and it's not really a bruise per se, it just looked like a bruise in the dark of night. What it really is is a broken blood vessel near the surface with the seepage pooled in a size about that of a fine-tip felt pen mark on construction paper. Anyway it will dissipate eventually as they always do when I get a broken blood vessel.

 

[Saponomancer]

I made soap dough today! I'm hoping to replace my melt and pour embeds completely

 

[earlene]

Removed the new BlackSmith Soap from the mold. It looks good, but won't be entered into the SMF Stripe Soap challenge. I cut one bar & like how it looks. No zap. Letting it sit a bit longer before I finish cutting.

Leaving the rebatch I did last night in the oven to continue to cool and re-absorb some of the FO, which seems to have pooled a bit on top. It's amazing how DB turns black soap brown! I did not like most of the black soaps I made for last month's challenge, so I did a half new & half old rebatch, which turned all the new black too until I added the FO. Now it's brown. No biggie as I turned it into BlackSmith Soap too (with the added Borax & Pumice that my brother likes). He should be fine with brown soap, I think.

 

[wearytraveler]

Made this yesterday since I found a bottle of BB Autumn Fig Harvest FO I didn't realize I had and since I'm trying to thin the FOs I have It was a perfect excuse for another batch. I also played with stamping the bar with mica. Not sure if I like that method yet. I'll need to play a bit more.
I also think the bottom or white would have benefitted from having poppy seeds mixed in. I've been saying that I'm going to do that one day and I keep forgetting!

 

[navigator9]

I haven't made soap for quite a while, since deciding not to sell any more. (I think I'm still firm on that one.) But I've had a recipe rolling around in my head that I wanted to make, using some of my favorites, lard, avocado oil, buttermilk and oatmeal, and I made it yesterday. I tried a sliver this morning at the sink, while I was waiting for the coffee, and it's scrumptious! I didn't expect much in the way of big bubbles, but it's got plenty of those and it feels wonderfully creamy. I can't wait to see what it will be like when it's fully cured. It felt good to break out the stick blender again!

 

[earlene]

Took some photos of my cut BlackSmith soap after deciding I may just enter it after all. The design didn't show through favorably with the one end cut I did when I first took it out of the mold, but when I cut the rest of the mold last night I was pleased to see the result with the rest of the cut soaps. So no pictures until I decide positively.

My camera battery needs recharging, though, so no picks of the BlackSmith with Rebatch soap that I also cut. After the battery is charged, I'll get some shots of that, too and post pictures. I like how they came out as well.

ETA: After the cut and before the cure, I made a total of 8.6 pounds of BlackSmith Soap. I actually have a couple of soaps in the half-rebatch/half-new soap that came out exactly as planned for a striped soap look. When I photograph them, I'll have something to compare the all-new striped soap and see which one I think looks the best for the challenge. Of course, I'll probably make at least one more striped soap before I decide.

 

[SaltedFig]

I finished getting what I needed for my stripe soap entry (2 shops, $3 spent :mrgreen.

Tomorrow I start the actual soaping part!

... Well, ok, not quite.
First I have to start the colour part (extracting the colour from botanicals).

THEN I can start the soaping part.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I am out of everything! LS for foamers, Laundry soap, face gel-cream, hand & body lotion, pot pourri for the guest bath, shampoo, I think that's it. So a B&B, (bath & body) marathon is in order... first, the face-firming gel... I've been making this since forever and altho I can't tell the difference, other people notice it and tell me I look good... it's not my recipe. Here's a link if anyone's interested. (Scroll down until you find it)

http://www.teachsoap.com/recipes.html

 

[WeaversPort]

I unmolded my first attempt at a pencil mica line soap to discover; I have little darker spots on the bottom of the soap, the fragrance didn't stick very well, and I need a tall skinny mold.

Ah well. The adventure continues.

 

[amd]

Sold soap. Cleaned the soap lab. Waiting for my ink cartridge to come so I can print labels and package soap. Life is chaos at the moment so no actual soap making going on until Friday or Saturday. Then I'll be working on my cream soap experiment and a few custom orders that need to get done before I start packing the lab up.

 

[LunaSkye]

I just finished what could possibly be my most idiotic soap ever made: a beer soap. Not just any kind of beer soap though. I reduced the beer with coffee grinds, onions, and red pepper flakes. It even came out a nice, toffee color too.

 

[lenarenee]

I haven't made soap for quite a while, since deciding not to sell any more. (I think I'm still firm on that one.) But I've had a recipe rolling around in my head that I wanted to make, using some of my favorites, lard, avocado oil, buttermilk and oatmeal, and I made it yesterday. I tried a sliver this morning at the sink, while I was waiting for the coffee, and it's scrumptious! I didn't expect much in the way of big bubbles, but it's got plenty of those and it feels wonderfully creamy. I can't wait to see what it will be like when it's fully cured. It felt good to break out the stick blender again!

Hmmm....I have some buttermilk in the fridge, and a unopened bottle of avocado oil....

 

[earlene]

I told my husband about the soap I've given away lately and he mentioned a co-worker wants to know if she can buy some of my soap. Before I could even remind him I won't sell, but I'd be happy to give her some, he said that he told her we don't plan to go there. So I'll be picking out some soap for him to take to work for this co-worker.

He also told me he is looking forward to trying out the BlackSmith Soap I made for my brother. He spent the day working on the riding lawnmower and washed his hands a lot today using the last bar of it that I made last year. Really I don't expect there will be any difference, except this one looks a bit different. The only difference in the recipe is that I added some honey to it this time to increase bubbles.

 

[SaltedFig]

Worked on some dot-point notes for a demonstration gig ... called it quits at 1200 words.

Tomorrow, the trimming. And then the real work begins, the writing proper.

And this ... a lot (for saying yes in the first place). :headbanging:

 

[WeaversPort]

Worked on some dot-point notes for a demonstration gig ... called it quits at 1200 words.

Tomorrow, the trimming. And then the real work begins, the writing proper.

And this ... a lot (for saying yes in the first place). :headbanging:

What are you demonstrating? Enquiring minds enquire!

 

[WeaversPort]

Yesterday I made Monkey Farts soap with M&P for my boyfriend. I learned that with the right(?) fragrance oil, it appears that melt and pour soap can seize. Or its flashpoint (127F) is just so low that by the time you can add it, it's becoming solid in the measuring cup.

Obviously this requires experimentation.. But now I'm slightly worried that Monkey Farts is going to be a naughty fragrance oil...

 

[SaltedFig]

Soaping ...

 

[kchaystack]

Yesterday I made Monkey Farts soap with M&P for my boyfriend. I learned that with the right(?) fragrance oil, it appears that melt and pour soap can seize. Or its flashpoint (127F) is just so low that by the time you can add it, it's becoming solid in the measuring cup.

Obviously this requires experimentation.. But now I'm slightly worried that Monkey Farts is going to be a naughty fragrance oil...

Lots of people think that FO or EO magically and instantly evaporates if it is added above this temp. This just isn't true. Flashpoint is not boiling point.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showpost.php?p=594940&postcount=9