What soapy thing have you done today?

[biarine]

My very simple hp dual lye Castile soap. still a little bit warm, I am just being impatient.

 

[lenarenee]

Finally figured out why I couldn't get pics to post. Cut these yesterday but still can't move them because they're so soft, we're having very high humidity here in San Diego County. The 3 layer ones are my first big soaping mistake....poured dragonfly blue and yellow chiffon drop swirl before adding the fo! Mixed it, divided into mo peacock blue and Nurture's sea green and scraped all the yellow out the bowl I could for the center.
These are special requests for gift giving. From left to right: NG Fresh cut roses, BB chamomile bergamont, WSP Cool citrus basil.
eta: in the left background you can just make a blue betta fish in a pickle jar waiting for his 7 gallon tank to get cleane! Little ham!

 

[Wyredgirl]

I made a soap that seized so fast I barely had time to get it in the mold and the white riced on me so I SB'd into submission , cut today not as bad as I expected.
Pumpkin pie stout soap

 

[penelopejane]

I don't really understand why making soap is so difficult for some (namely me) and so easy for others.
Does it have to be intuitive?
Can't it be made into more of a repeatable process?
I watch videos where people have all the time in the world to splash a few coloured swirls into their mold (never have a worry about working out the perfect trace) and whooska! The most beautiful soap emerges!
I just can't do that.

 

[BlackDog]

I made my very first liquid soap paste! It's chilling on the counter; shall zap test tomorrow.

 

[earlene]

Penelopejane, I am so sorry. I hope things improve for you and your soaping. Finding that perfect slow to trace recipe to have lots of working time can be challenging.

BlackDog, hooray on your first LS paste!

Yesterday I made another attempt for this month's challenge, but somehow I didn't make enough batter to fill my little mold to the top. The home-made plastic bag inserts for the squeeze bottles worked great though! The only trouble is I think that the bags need to be wider to hold more soap. So I'll work on making some bags for the bigger condiment bottle I have and test them out in the near future. Anyway, clean-up was a breeze!

This morning I will be making another batch to finish up the top of yesterday's soap. I've only used this mold once before. It's a bamboo drawer organizer box that I bought at Target to use as a mini-slab mold. It's actually a very nice size for a small batch. It makes 4 decent sized square bars. I just have to try to get the volume right so it fills to the right level and have a little space for the top designs. I haven't tried a 1000 gram batch, but that will be my next amount to see how that fits. I'd rather have some left over than not enough and I've done the calculations, but they don't seem to be working correctly with a water discount.

 

[lenarenee]

Penelope I know you've been having trouble with the new molds, but didn't realize you had other frustrations as well. We're here to help.

I have to forbid myself from watching videos or looking at the browsing soap pics thread at least 24 hours before soaping because the soap and skills I admire can make me feel inadequate, which makes me indecisive, doubtful of myself and be all tensed up during soap making. For any craft or art, that makes success more unlikely.

A slow recipe is key for me; one of the reasons I gave up palm oil. But I have easy access to lard and I know you don't. I'm sure there's something we can do to help with, so let's put our heads together.

 

[Obsidian]

Im testing a new mold and a new FO. Can't wait until I can unmold and see how it does.

 

[penelopejane]

Penelope I know you've been having trouble with the new molds, but didn't realize you had other frustrations as well. We're here to help.

I have to forbid myself from watching videos or looking at the browsing soap pics thread at least 24 hours before soaping because the soap and skills I admire can make me feel inadequate, which makes me indecisive, doubtful of myself and be all tensed up during soap making.

It's more the ease with which people soap than a difficulty with trace. I think I have that down.

Some people are so atuned to the soap and some are simply slap dash and both seem to unmold the perfect soap and swirls! I guess I am just doubting my ability to get it all together. After all this time I've been knocked for six with these new molds when it should be a breeze.

I am so upset that I'm not an intuitive soaper.

 

[Kittish]

My first reprocess! My mermaid tail soap, while it looked all right, was zappy in spots after several days, so I decided to shred it and hot process with an ounce or so of avocado oil added just in case it needed more. Guess I didn't have quite as thorough an emulsion as I thought when I split my batter up to color it. Heh, shredded soap is kind of fluffy. Filled my big crock pot, til it melted down. Looks like it's going to turn out a nice sort of sea green color. The scent has survived and the cedarwood and frankincense are more prominent now, which surprised me since I only used about half the EO that I should have for the original batch. No more zap, which is a good thing.

 

[lenarenee]

Today I promised the universe I will never again make a 4 color tiger swirl.

 

[Kittish]

Today I promised the universe I will never again make a 4 color tiger swirl.

Ooooh, that's tempting fate, don'tchaknow? Of course, there are ways around that without breaking your promise. 5 colors. 6 colors. 7 colors.

So... do we get to see a pic of what happened? I bet it still looks pretty nice even if it's not what you wanted to do.

 

[lenarenee]

Ooooh, that's tempting fate, don'tchaknow? Of course, there are ways around that without breaking your promise. 5 colors. 6 colors. 7 colors.

So... do we get to see a pic of what happened? I bet it still looks pretty nice even if it's not what you wanted to do.

You got it. It will be probably be Friday morning before I cut it. I predict the name will contain adjectives such as crooked or drunken!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Sooooo, I have the shakes really bad now, as I haven`t soaped in 6 weeks (Yall know the feeling...you go and sniff your fragrancebottles and check the soaping equipment as a kind of "fix", because you REALLY want to make soap, but have to wait!)

But I did receive my order from Natures Garden today. Yay!

I did a fullsized blind buy (eeep...) but the feedback on it was 5 stars all the way, so I`d took a chance on it. It was Sun and Sand type, and it turned out OOB to be a light suntanlotion/beach type of fragrance oil. Light out of the bottle, but really nice, and have a feeling this one will really bloom in soap when curing! I have always wanted to try out one of those. Well see how much I put in the batter, but it has no restrictions according to the IFRA certificate, so I may use 6% in this one. I usually use 5% in the ones I have from NG before as many of them are strong, but this is more mellow. We`ll se...

I also got a sample of Seaside Cotton, and it was stronger OOB than the Sun and Sand type, and I really like it! A bit more fresh and airy, sweet but tart at the same time. I will make a tester batch with it, and if it turnes out great after cure I will get a fullsize of that one too, which also holds 5 stars and great reviews.

Last sample was Japanes Cherry Blossom. Hmmm, I don`t know what to say. Either my nose has a blindspot to this fragrance, or it simply so weak OOB that it need to be put in something to bloom and evolve. I suspect the latter!

Will update when I have made some soaps.

 

[artemis]

I did a fullsized blind buy (eeep...) but the feedback on it was 5 stars all the way, so I`d took a chance on it. It was Sun and Sand type, and it turned out OOB to be a light suntanlotion/beach type of fragrance oil. Light out of the bottle, but really nice, and have a feeling this one will really bloom in soap when curing! I have always wanted to try out one of those. Well see how much I put in the batter, but it has no restrictions according to the IFRA certificate, so I may use 6% in this one. I usually use 5% in the ones I have from NG before as many of them are strong, but this is more mellow. We`ll see...

If it's the one I've gotten (I think there are two. One is "Sun AND Sand," the other is "Sun & Sand"), I am very happy with how it behaves and how it holds it's scent. No A, no D. I had a friend request this and have been buying it ever since.

Will update when I have made some soaps.

With pictures, I hope!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

If it's the one I've gotten (I think there are two. One is "Sun AND Sand," the other is "Sun & Sand"), I am very happy with how it behaves and how it holds it's scent. No A, no D. I had a friend request this and have been buying it ever since.



With pictures, I hope!

Oh, there is another one? I couldn`t find it, other names with sand or sun in the names popped up, but only one was called Sun and Sand. Perhaps they changed the name so people didn`t get confunsed? Great to know it behaves well!

Yes, I have solved my computerproblems now, so it doesn`t shut down on me anymore, yay! I had huge problems so couldn`t do any "heavy" tasks with it before it just shut down on me and everything was lost. All fixed now, so will post pictures!

 

[earlene]

I popped my soap into the oven this morning to do an 'after the fact' CPOP because I didn't want the top ruined when I finished the mermaid scales yesterday. They still look great as the soap is cooling. It was 102F a couple of hours ago, and I'll be cutting and beveling in a couple of hours, then take some photos. Other than that, all else soapy has been to put away some of my soaping supplies.

 

[artemis]

I opened my first order from the Sage. Don't bother searching for the "Books Abound" FO: it doesn't show up in the results for some reason. It's here, if you want the info: https://www.thesage.com/catalog/products/Books-Abound-Fragrance-Oil.html

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Oooooh Sweetgrass! I really like that FO. Haven't used it in ages but it just happened to be in a blend (one of those you throw together to use up small amounts of this and that) I used to make shaving soap yesterday. If this was your first order from MMS, what did you think of the way they package their goodies? Isn't it awesome? Nobody I know does better than that.

 

[biarine]

I just finished diluting my dish soap of 50:50 dual lye liquid soap for my friend I scented it with papaya and mango fragrance oil that she formulated and given me months ago. Smell delicious