I find that TD thickens my soap, but I have not added it to lye. I know some folks put it into the lye solution, but I have no idea how that would alter the TD.
What soapy thing have you done today?
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Lin19687
Well-Known Member
Tonight I'm going to rearrange why soaps hanging around my racks
Maybe the few grains of lye that fell into my TD did alter it and made it the opposite of thickening, perhaps. I will try to add the TD in the lye solution next time, just out of curiosity. I guess it have to be a pastel soap then, since every color will be whitened.
I have heard that adding misbehaving scents to the lye solution instead of the oils can make the scents behave again. If I remember correct, the idea was that when adding the scent to the lye solution first, it have already reacted with lye and is inactive when mixed with the oils, and can't misbehave anymore. Something like that. I have no idea if it works or not. Just read it someplace here, I think.
@Kari Howie. Maybe you could try this next time with you ricing scent? To add it to the cooled down lye solution. Just get it verified by some expert soapmakers here first. Maybe I got it very wrong, and will drive you into a disaster. Your finished soap look absolutely fabulous!
I have heard that adding misbehaving scents to the lye solution instead of the oils can make the scents behave again. If I remember correct, the idea was that when adding the scent to the lye solution first, it have already reacted with lye and is inactive when mixed with the oils, and can't misbehave anymore. Something like that. I have no idea if it works or not. Just read it someplace here, I think.
@Kari Howie. Maybe you could try this next time with you ricing scent? To add it to the cooled down lye solution. Just get it verified by some expert soapmakers here first. Maybe I got it very wrong, and will drive you into a disaster. Your finished soap look absolutely fabulous!
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I’ll give that a try. Thanks, Rune!
steffamarie
Well-Known Member
I haven't tried this, but I do add my scent to my oils before adding my lye solution. If I'm soaping at room temp, it takes longer for a FO that heats up to make that happen to speed my batch along. It's not a perfect solution, and maybe adding it to the lye water might help more! I'll be interested to hear your results with that method.
I don't think I will try it very soon, just because I have no idea which ones of my scents that will accellerate or not. I know the behaviour of a few, since I have found Youtube videos from soapmakers in Australia using the same scents I have. Most often I don't have the scents they use, or I have what they don't have, so I have no idea about most of my scents. I use scents from Eroma in Australia, and they don't say anything about how it behaves in soap. And since my soaps thicken so extremely quickly anyway, without any help from fragrances or a stickblender, I guess I will not have any chance to find out if the scent makes trouble or not. Perhaps if one of the scents instantly seize to soap on a stick, then I guess it is obvious that the scent made the problem. And then I will try to add it to the lye solution next time to see if it can help.
The only thing I know about my fragrances, is the vanilla content and if it is safe for bath and body. I also know from watching videos from Wicked Lee Goods on Youtube, that most of the fragrances from Eroma does behave fairly well. She tries a lot of their scents, and rarely has any big troubles. Some accellerating and some ricing, but not to the extremes. Most scents do nothing at all. So I hope mine behaves well too. So far they have, but I really don't know because my impossible recipe to begin with.
The only thing I know about my fragrances, is the vanilla content and if it is safe for bath and body. I also know from watching videos from Wicked Lee Goods on Youtube, that most of the fragrances from Eroma does behave fairly well. She tries a lot of their scents, and rarely has any big troubles. Some accellerating and some ricing, but not to the extremes. Most scents do nothing at all. So I hope mine behaves well too. So far they have, but I really don't know because my impossible recipe to begin with.
Lin19687
Well-Known Member
A
amd
@Lin19687 nope. I have brew club tonight. Tomorrow night The Diva wants to help me make embeds for soap cupcakes. Thursday we'll both likely be home and soap cupcakes seem like the perfect snow day project. Our forecasted snow changed from 14 inches to 22 inches.
ETA: but I need to masterbatch oils and lye before I can do any kind of soaping. I think I have enough for the embeds but definitely not enough for cupcakes.
ETA: but I need to masterbatch oils and lye before I can do any kind of soaping. I think I have enough for the embeds but definitely not enough for cupcakes.
Lin19687
Well-Known Member
Lin19687
Well-Known Member
I wish, but there is NO WAY I would be able to deal with the snow you all get 
Dawni
Well-Known Member
Captivating
Member
Did some molding with soap dough today. Tomorrow it will be time for pics of a soap that's fully cured, and then playing with the dough again.
SunshineMI
New Member
Thats an interesting soap holder, how do you get the soap out?
Today I drove 2 hours each way to attend a soap making demonstration, I had forgotten how easy it is to make. Cant wait to make a batch, my first in about 19 years hahaha, yes I did make soap before but have forgotten
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Forgive me if this has already been said, @Rune but this is my suggestion. I would remove everything from your soap recipes except oils, water, lye, and colorants. Work with the basic ingredients until you determine either what is causing your soap to over thicken, or you develop a recipe that behaves correctly . Once you have achieved a recipe that is slower, add your other things back one at a time and observe the effect.
I don't suggest changing what you call fully hydrogenated coconut (its natural state) for the liquid coconut oil 92 because it is not as good in soap as the 78 degree.
There is nothing wrong with unscented soap, either, so I would save scent experiments for the very last, after you have tested each other additive, after finding a slow or slower recipe.
Good luck , friend!
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A
amd
Well, school has been bumped to an early dismissal due to snow. I already put in for the afternoon off work and all day tomorrow. The Diva 'snapped' me from school asking if we can do embeds when we get home. Because I have nothing to do, I went ahead and made my 'All Things Soapy' to do list. I have some non-soap things on the list, like doing bookwork, taking photos and creating listings, but mostly it is making soap and lip balms! Right after I get the kids picked up and grocery run done, of course. I'm not thrilled about two feet of snow in April, but at least I can use it to my advantage. My apologies to the house cleaning, you're still not getting done this week...
Thank you @Meena, for really good advice I will try to follow them as good as I can.
I have no idea what my coconut is, really, but the manufacturer call it fully hydrogenated or fully hardened (which I think is the same). It is so hard that when stored in the fridge it can't be cut with anything, not even a sharp knife. I have to melt it down first.
I was trying to find the melting point of my coconut oils by looking after the MSDS documentation. I didn't find that, but I discovered something really, really horrible!!! They have changed the ingredients in my vegetable lard! I used that one in my two last soaps, and did not read the label, since I knew what it contained. Before that, I think I read the label. Hopefully I did. I have no idea when the new recipe came.
So, I might have had an old package with the old ingredients, or I have made soap with totally different fats than I thought. I just hope they are not lye heavy or anything. I have zap-tested, but I'm not sure how the zap should feel. I will do the phenolphtalein drops tomorrow. My second last soap was not so hard as I thought it would be. It became hard from vinegar, but not as I supposed it to be. I don't know how to explain. The outer package is in the garbage long ago, so I can't find out other than go back to the store and read labels of what they have left, and ask when they had supplies last.
So, the thing is that I thought my vegetable lard had three ingredients in falling order: Shea, coconut and rapeseed oil. But now I discovered that they have changed it to this: Rapeseed oil, coconut oil, fully hardened rapeseed oil, shea.
Full of rapeseed instead of shea, yes nice! Maybe I had old packages since my soaps accellerates so much, and shea is said to do that. But I can't use this oil blend in the future, and have to find something else. I will immediately order some soy wax and try that as a replacer. And drive to an immigrant shop to buy some vegetable ghee, which is palm oil with carotene color and perhaps flavor (I will have to find one without flavor).
So I guess my recipe will have to change anyway. But I'm really angry they did this with the wonderful vegetable lard. Even though my recipe have to change, I could still use it. Too bad. I wish I had Essential Depot or what you have just a click away.
@amd You can buy some fiber reactive dyes, some soda ash, some cotton t-shirts or some cotton fabric, collect snow and do some snow dyeing!
I'm not the right person to suggest such things since I'm suggesting what I have been thinking of doing in a long time, but never done. And I have more than enough ingredients for it. Plus lots of snow outside.
I will try to follow them as good as I can.I have no idea what my coconut is, really, but the manufacturer call it fully hydrogenated or fully hardened (which I think is the same). It is so hard that when stored in the fridge it can't be cut with anything, not even a sharp knife. I have to melt it down first.
I was trying to find the melting point of my coconut oils by looking after the MSDS documentation. I didn't find that, but I discovered something really, really horrible!!! They have changed the ingredients in my vegetable lard! I used that one in my two last soaps, and did not read the label, since I knew what it contained. Before that, I think I read the label. Hopefully I did. I have no idea when the new recipe came.
So, I might have had an old package with the old ingredients, or I have made soap with totally different fats than I thought. I just hope they are not lye heavy or anything. I have zap-tested, but I'm not sure how the zap should feel. I will do the phenolphtalein drops tomorrow. My second last soap was not so hard as I thought it would be. It became hard from vinegar, but not as I supposed it to be. I don't know how to explain. The outer package is in the garbage long ago, so I can't find out other than go back to the store and read labels of what they have left, and ask when they had supplies last.
So, the thing is that I thought my vegetable lard had three ingredients in falling order: Shea, coconut and rapeseed oil. But now I discovered that they have changed it to this: Rapeseed oil, coconut oil, fully hardened rapeseed oil, shea.
Full of rapeseed instead of shea, yes nice! Maybe I had old packages since my soaps accellerates so much, and shea is said to do that. But I can't use this oil blend in the future, and have to find something else. I will immediately order some soy wax and try that as a replacer. And drive to an immigrant shop to buy some vegetable ghee, which is palm oil with carotene color and perhaps flavor (I will have to find one without flavor).
So I guess my recipe will have to change anyway. But I'm really angry they did this with the wonderful vegetable lard. Even though my recipe have to change, I could still use it. Too bad. I wish I had Essential Depot or what you have just a click away.
@amd You can buy some fiber reactive dyes, some soda ash, some cotton t-shirts or some cotton fabric, collect snow and do some snow dyeing!
I'm not the right person to suggest such things since I'm suggesting what I have been thinking of doing in a long time, but never done. And I have more than enough ingredients for it. Plus lots of snow outside.
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SeattleMartin
Embracing the wonderful madness of soap!
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