What soapy thing have you done today?

[newlee]

I thought you were making a pun because the soaps looking like they are laughing, especially the one laying down. They look great to me as well.

 

[Michele50]

It's lovely Nanette.. I don't know why you'd think we'd laugh. I have some that are laughable but none this pretty. You're right, it has that Christmas vibe to it. I think the thickness variations of the stripes look really cool.

Christmas soap, I like that idea. I see an apple and banana in one of your bars, cool looking!! Now how did ja do that?!? I can even make out the leaves on the apple. The other bars look like they have a couple of bananas on them. I LOVE all things soap!

 

[MGM]

That green is very vibrant (and Christmassy). Nothing to laugh at there. When I get home, I'll post some real doozies. @Dawni started a Fugly Soap thread a while back....time to populate it!
Also makes me think it's time I try a tiger pour.....

 

[KiwiMoose]

I love it!! The green and white look so fresh together. Might add that colour combo to my list.

Meanwhile I've tried a rainbow stripe for the first time ever. Boy, this is gonna seem like forever waiting for the cut, to see if it's successful or not...

 

[msunnerstood]

Love the color!

I set a new personal record, HP soap in 30 minutes(including clean up). I know people claim you can do it in 10 but Im not buying it lol.

My Boys and Husband asked for a mens soap with no glitter so I made Black Teakwood and made it solid blue. I realized what a slave to shiny I am when i wanted so badly to dust the top. Instead I made a checkered top texture in it (I couldnt help it)

 

[jules92207]

I made three soaps today - Eucalyptus Tea Tree coconut soap, Bonsai from BB, and caramel honey from Nurture.

I haven’t been soaping much in the last year, it was really nice to get back into the groove.

 

[Lin19687]

Everyone's soap looks so good ! Keep it up !

 

[Zany_in_CO]

It's lovely Nanette.. I don't know why you'd think we'd laugh. I have some that are laughable but none this pretty. You're right, it has that Christmas vibe to it. I think the thickness variations of the stripes look really cool.

Ditto. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Kari Howie]

My glitter lost its 'glitter' after the soap gelled :-(

I hate when that happens. I wish glitter showed up in CP as well as it does in HP.

 

[Nanette]

Late comment Runnerchick but boy, I wish I lived near a soap supplier too! Your chrysanthemum mold soap does sound beautiful....I like those ovals with the knobbies too.....the spa bars?

I hate when that happens. I wish glitter showed up in CP as well as it does in HP.

Was bio glitter used, by chance?

 

[msunnerstood]

Well heres the blue, no sparkle Black Teakwood soap the men of the house requested. It smells amazing. They gave me a look when they saw I textured the top but hey, you dont want sparkle, or swirls, you're getting texture.

 

[cmzaha]

I hope the EO fragrances stick around through the cure.
Depending on the EO's you used and the percentage of salt the fragrance may or may not stick. I make my salt bars with 100% salt using strong fragrance oils to start with. After my min 6 month cure the fragrance will be faded quite a bit. I find EO's just do not make it in my salt bars, but I will again mention I use 100% salt which seems to eat up fragrance. I also fragrance them at 9% of my batch oil weight.

I am really loving cocoa butter in my soap, but it is a bit ornery and my batter thickens up so fast that I can't do much with it no matter how warm I soap (I use it at 10%.) I just go into the recipe knowing I'm not doing anything fancy with it.

Here is a little trick I have learned when using high stearic and palmitic batter. Of course, you have to keep in mind that not everyone's trick works for someone else. Both of my go-to base recipes are fast tracing. My Vegan recipe is high Palm, around 45-49% and my non-vegan soap is a high tallow 45% recipe with shea butter or cocoa butter added in some batches. I soap room temp, oils barely clear or even a little cloudy, with masterbatch lye. Both will go into false trace within seconds of adding in the lye solution and will stay thickened until the batter starts to warm up. After stirring for a few seconds I hit with SB for a couple of pulses watching for the color change, and thinning of the batter. I then separate my batter, color it add in my fo stir and pour into the mold. Many times, especially my palm/lard or tallow /lard will thin out so much I have to hit it again with the SB'er. The hotter you have your oils the faster soap is to trace. The big trick here is to get it past the false trace, but it will get past it even with stirring. I will mention my Palm with cocoa butter will not thin out as much as my palm/lard or tallow/lard, but still stays workable as long as your chosen fo is not an accelerator.

Well heres the blue, no sparkle Black Teakwood soap the men of the house requested. It smells amazing. They gave me a look when they saw I textured the top but hey, you dont want sparkle, or swirls, you're getting texture.

View attachment 41498

I find texture makes it easier to hold on to the soap when it is wet. Just tell them you gave them handles.

 

[msunnerstood]

I find texture makes it easier to hold on to the soap when it is wet. Just tell them you gave them handles.

I like the way you think!

 

[runnerchicki]

Late comment Runnerchick but boy, I wish I lived near a soap supplier too! Your chrysanthemum mold soap does sound beautiful....I like those ovals with the knobbies too.....the spa bars?

Yup. but the knobbies are a pain to unmold. I don't know if I'll use those again for salt bars. I'll wait to see how they feel in actual use to decide if it is worth the trouble.

ETA: living near a supplier is awesome - mainly because I don't have to wait for anything ship. They carry all my base oils in sizes from small to bulk, and they have most of the additives I'd ever want to try as well. The best thing is I can buy small sizes and the prices are great. I don't have to buy in bulk to get a good value. I think the NaOH is like $4.50 for a 2 lb. bottle and no shipping costs.

But I find my collection of FO's is exploding simply because I can sniff them all and I decide I *have* to have more than I really do.

My soapy thing today was reading all 64 pages of the shaving soap thread. I need a vacation now.

Here is a little trick I have learned when using high stearic and palmitic batter. Of course, you have to keep in mind that not everyone's trick works for someone else. Both of my go-to base recipes are fast tracing. My Vegan recipe is high Palm, around 45-49% and my non-vegan soap is a high tallow 45% recipe with shea butter or cocoa butter added in some batches. I soap room temp, oils barely clear or even a little cloudy, with masterbatch lye. Both will go into false trace within seconds of adding in the lye solution and will stay thickened until the batter starts to warm up. After stirring for a few seconds I hit with SB for a couple of pulses watching for the color change, and thinning of the batter. I then separate my batter, color it add in my fo stir and pour into the mold. Many times, especially my palm/lard or tallow /lard will thin out so much I have to hit it again with the SB'er. The hotter you have your oils the faster soap is to trace. The big trick here is to get it past the false trace, but it will get past it even with stirring. I will mention my Palm with cocoa butter will not thin out as much as my palm/lard or tallow/lard, but still stays workable as long as your chosen fo is not an accelerator.

Thank you for this reply ... I have been trying to solve the problem by going warmer, which obviously did not help at all. I'm going to try this trick, keep the temps cool, and see how I fare. The false trace always had me panicking a bit - I never thought to wait to let it loosen up. I have been molding it, then dumping it into a crock pot and rebatching whenever I was unsure I'd actually gotten everything emulsified properly.

Thank you for this reply ... I have been trying to solve the problem by going warmer, which obviously did not help at all. I'm going to try this trick, keep the temps cool, and see how I fare. The false trace always had me panicking a bit - I never thought to wait to let it loosen up. I have been molding it, then dumping it into a crock pot and rebatching whenever I was unsure I'd actually gotten everything emulsified properly.

Your welcome, I hope it works for you. I do not know what size batches you make but I use 59 oz oil in my batches with a 33% lye concentration in the batches with lard. With the high plam I use a 31% lye concentration. Hope this helps

Your welcome, I hope it works for you. I do not know what size batches you make but I use 59 oz oil in my batches with a 33% lye concentration in the batches with lard. With the high plam I use a 31% lye concentration. Hope this helps

I soap smaller batches (1 - 3 lbs depending). I usually use 30% lye concentration, sometimes a 33% - so I think I'm o.k. on the water? I use tallow and lard for most of my recipes. I use palm sometimes, but once I run out I probably won't use it much after that.

I'm also going to revisit a recipe with kokum butter in it that I thought was a hopeless cause. Perhaps not .. we'll see! Appreciate the suggestions a lot - very helpful!

Well heres the blue, no sparkle Black Teakwood soap the men of the house requested. It smells amazing. They gave me a look when they saw I textured the top but hey, you dont want sparkle, or swirls, you're getting texture.

View attachment 41498

I like!

 

[cmzaha]

Yup. but the knobbies are a pain to unmold. I don't know if I'll use those again for salt bars. I'll wait to see how they feel in actual use to decide if it is worth the trouble.

If you want to use the mold again spray it with Pam, it works like a charm. I pour my high shea butter bars in Milky Way Molds that are oval with detailed Hummingbirds. I always spray my Milky Way Molds with Pam and they unmold perfectly. https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/hummingbird-milky-way-soap-mold.aspx. As you can see it is pretty detailed.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Squeeeee! It looks like this has worked! Can't wait to cut it tonight.

 

[JoeyJ]

While tidying up and bevelling some rebatches I did yesterday, my busy brain ran around with these musings

1. What should I name this soap (that looks like blue granite and smells faintly of licorice.)?
2. Wish I could create a similar recipe to Sard Wonder Soap (So good for removing stains on everything, but never gives itchy or dry hands)
3. Why dont I just run a soap rebatching service, coz I am more experienced at that than regular CP, lol!
4. The Tutti Frutti fragrance I have used in another soap smells more like sickly almond essence and its making me nauseous...
5. Did any Aussies see my thread requesting supplier recommendations in Australia
6. How do I package and label these without hiding the pretty design?

Yep, gotta keep the grey matter fresh while doing "boring jobs"...

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Grrrrr - if she buys a black soap what does she expect?

I made another batch of rose soap today. I have only one bar left from my old batch. Pretty pleased with this one - did a pink drop swirl inside. I was surprised that the batter didn't accelerate, being a rose FO. View attachment 41419

That’s some pretty soap. Beautiful swirls!

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I was gonna make soap after the market yesterday and decided I would just get a fresh start and do it this morning---I have been stalling all day. I even went to look for another place to live and took another nap. I did cut another strainer cuz I am going to do another pull when I can motivate. blech--tomorrow is another day.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Very, very nice!

Here is a little trick I have learned when using high stearic and palmitic batter. Of course, you have to keep in mind that not everyone's trick works for someone else. Both of my go-to base recipes are fast tracing. My Vegan recipe is high Palm, around 45-49% and my non-vegan soap is a high tallow 45% recipe with shea butter or cocoa butter added in some batches. I soap room temp, oils barely clear or even a little cloudy, with masterbatch lye. Both will go into false trace within seconds of adding in the lye solution and will stay thickened until the batter starts to warm up. After stirring for a few seconds I hit with SB for a couple of pulses watching for the color change, and thinning of the batter. I then separate my batter, color it add in my fo stir and pour into the mold. Many times, especially my palm/lard or tallow /lard will thin out so much I have to hit it again with the SB'er. The hotter you have your oils the faster soap is to trace. The big trick here is to get it past the false trace, but it will get past it even with stirring. I will mention my Palm with cocoa butter will not thin out as much as my palm/lard or tallow/lard, but still stays workable as long as your chosen fo is not an accelerator.

This is super helpful Carolyn! I’m always afraid to try palm at a lower temp due to the false trace issues I had early on. I have been able to warm up thickened batter for my high lard recipe and see it thin out the way you describe for your palm and tallow recipes. I have mostly stayed away from any recipe with more than 20-25% palm because they move too fast for me but maybe I will give it another shot.

Squeeeee! It looks like this has worked! Can't wait to cut it tonight.
View attachment 41506

Did you do that a layer at a time? I can’t wait to see!!!!!

I did a little mad madder experiment today. I can’t wait to see how it turns out