What soapy thing have you done today?

[DeeAnna]

My young rosin soap lathered beautifully today when I washed my hands, and it is not drying to my skin. The bar I'm testing is firm enough I can barely dent it with hard finger pressure. Can't wait to see what it's like after it cures.

 

[Dorymae]

Does the rosin bring any pine or woodsy scent to the soap like pine tar does?

 

[DeeAnna]

No luck on that, Dorymae. The Diamond G rosin doesn't have much odor right out of the bag it came in. When it was melted it was still odorless. I suspected at that point it might not contribute any scent to the soap either, and I was right. Pine tree sap smells wonderful, but the sap is basically rosin plus turpentine. It's the turpentine that smells so nice.

You can buy real turpentine from Diamond G if you want to make a turpentine soap, and I bet the fragrance would be lovely. The 1912 soapmaking manual I was reading about rosin soaps also talked about turpentine soap. The author said to make an ordinary soap containing rosin and stir turpentine into the finished soap -- the author mentioned 5-6 lb turpentine for every 1000 lb of finished soap -- so it doesn't take a lot. To translate this to the way we make soap, it would be similar to making an HP soap and adding fragrance to the soap after the cook. Problem is that turpentine is not a good idea for an all purpose bath soap -- the 1912 author said turpentine soap was a stain-removal soap for laundry.

Also see this SMF thread: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=45440

 

[Saponista]

Bought two different varieties of local ale. Going to have a first attempt at some beer soap, if my other half doesn't get at them first.

 

[jules92207]

Really wanted to try a new design with my micas but realizing most of my fragrances discolor. Trying to decide if I want to do it anyway and just embrace the brown. Decisions, decisions.

 

[ariella42]

I was planning on rendering some more tallow while studying for the bar, but my husband took me to the zoo and out for lunch instead. Much more fun than studying, but that has to happen eventually too. Hopefully, I'll get both accomplished tomorrow.

 

[maya]

I cleaned out my soaper and apothecary yesterday and today and sold a bunch of stuff. I also made liquid soap from paste for the household.

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

I used my new rendering ?? Mold my bf got me for vday....I did a pretty swirl. Used blue, red, and French green clay scented with hope synergy blend...

 

[MorpheusPA]

Apparently SweetBubbleTreat and I have very similar gift-givers...

This is a honey Bastille colored radioactively with Yellow 5 and Red 30. The bars are intended for pre-teen nieces and cousins of mine, hence the overly-cheerful hues.

The blue mold got the over slop (AKA testing at-home bars).

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

Ooooo we do Morpheus....that's awesome...

 

[Ruthie]

I have to trim and package soap for one of my commercial accounts, but I didn't get housework done yesterday since I was working in the yard. It was our last day before the winter weather hits again, and I had to take advantage. So I may just take a sick day on Monday. Last week I worked too hard anyway, with parent/teacher conferences, party day, etc.

Actually I have soap to package for 2 commercial accounts.... Teachers are having inservice, so the school will not have to hire a sub. They should appreciate my choice of days. I know they won't. But they won't fire me... I don't think. lol

 

[jules92207]

I went ahead and made my discoloring Ancient Sedona from BB. I decided to only fragrance the uncolored portion so it will be interesting if the discoloring bleeds or if my colors set bright against a nice brown.

 

[maya]

I cleaned and organized my vinyl, tape and C.D. collection. And did dishes, which is always epic, and cleaned a bunch of other stuff. Mostly I cleaned. and moved piles of stuff from one spot to another. I also moved soap around. So mostly I moved stuff I want and moved stuff I don't want. Mostly I moved stuff, garbage, recycling, dirt and grime, water, soap, bottles, boxes, furniture. Yep I moved stuff, I created nothing. But it felt realllllly good.

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

Made my first loaf with aloe Vera juice instead of water....tried making a red white and blue loaf but it ended up purple cream and pink....but it's a shampoo loaf and smells like joy synergy blend...sweet and lovely!!! Will post pics when I cut it tomorrow!!!!

 

[biarine]

I made more laundry soap today with tallow, coconut and rice bran and I scented it with fir needles EO

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Made some more soap today! I'm getting down to the wire for easter soaps... But this month has been so crazy that I haven't really had time to think!

Anyways, I repeated a lard-based recipe that I made last year that I enjoyed. This time I scented with a 50/50 combo of Litsea cubeba and sweet orange 15x EOs. It's also the first time that I've actually really smelled the Litsea, and it really smells like fruit loops to me! And I"m hoping some of the orange comes through... In addition to it being 15x rather than standard orange, I have both the litsea and some kaolin clay to anchor it. I mixed the EOs with the clay and let it set a couple minutes before adding to everything else. The main loaf is in the fridge to prevent it from heating up too much, though I did leave the extra I poured into individual soaps out.We'll see how it turns out!

 

[Ruthie]

Anyways, I repeated a lard-based recipe that I made last year that I enjoyed. This time I scented with a 50/50 combo of Litsea cubeba and sweet orange 15x EOs. It's also the first time that I've actually really smelled the Litsea, and it really smells like fruit loops to me! And I"m hoping some of the orange comes through... In addition to it being 15x rather than standard orange, I have both the litsea and some kaolin clay to anchor it. I mixed the EOs with the clay and let it set a couple minutes before adding to everything else. The main loaf is in the fridge to prevent it from heating up too much, though I did leave the extra I poured into individual soaps out.We'll see how it turns out!

Thanks for this reminder. That combo is one I've been meaning to try for some time. I need to look and see what clays I have to anchor it.

 

[DeeAnna]

I colored 1/3 of my last soap batch with oil infused with annatto seed and did a swirl with it and 2/3 plain uncolored batter. Cut the soap today. The swirling didn't work out as well as I hoped it would :eh: but the color from the annatto is a pretty shade of lemon yellow. I mixed about 10 grams of annatto seeds in about 200 grams of olive oil, gently warmed the oil and annatto in a hot water bath for about 45 minutes, and let the oil steep at room temperature for about 3 days. I will do this again!

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Thanks for this reminder. That combo is one I've been meaning to try for some time. I need to look and see what clays I have to anchor it.

It smells really yummy! The scent has faded some from the bars I left out... I could almost smell them from my room last night, but I couldn't smell them at all as I was running around getting ready for work this morning. We'll have to see what they and the loaf are like when I get home tonight!

I colored 1/3 of my last soap batch with oil infused with annatto seed and did a swirl with it and 2/3 plain uncolored batter. Cut the soap today. The swirling didn't work out as well as I hoped it would :eh: but the color from the annatto is a pretty shade of lemon yellow. I mixed about 10 grams of annatto seeds in about 200 grams of olive oil, gently warmed the oil and annatto in a hot water bath for about 45 minutes, and let the oil steep at room temperature for about 3 days. I will do this again!

I'm sure they look great, Deeanna! It doesn't seem to take much annatto to color soap nicely.

 

[redbudsuds]

After a year of making soap in isolation, I joined a Soap Forum!