Today I cut an avocado facial bar. The colours are very muted (used green clay, barleygrass powder and turmeric and while that is a bit disappointing I'm quite happy with the lollypop swirl which I hope to try again with different colours. I lined my mold with parchment paper and it left an interesting mottled texture on the outside - almost like avocado skin which fits the theme of the soap nicely.
What soapy thing have you done today?
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SMF Welded Soap Challenge Technique comes in handy! I didn't enter that month because my calendar was very full - but I did make an attempt that seemed to flop. The soap never got soft in the oven, and the seams never sealed (pics are in the technique thread). Oh well.
But when I put that bar in the bathroom and started using it, all the seams disappeared and the soap looked great! In fact, my husband said that it was his favorite bar of all.
Fast forward to earlier this week... my friend asked if I could make soap on a rope for her grandkids going off to college. Of course I can! I texted her some pics of my most recent soaps to ask for ideas about what they would like. They picked the soap I made for the SMF Cosmic Wave challenge. They wanted THAT soap, not something like that soap. Sigh. Although those were still soft enough to drill a hole and add the rope, I'd filleted them horizontally in order to reveal the wave inside - so they were quite thin, and I had planned to make guest soaps out of them.
Then I remembered how my other challenge soap had welded together perfectly when I used it. Hmmmm.... So, I just tried that with two of my Cosmic Wave bars, running them under water, pressing them together, and running my fingers down the seams. VOILA! They are now welded into the perfect chunky-sized bar for soap on a rope!
Now, I just need hubby's help to drill the hole without wrecking the soap. Although I'd love to do it myself, my track record with power tools is pretty dismal. He hasn't actually banned me from using them, but has said several times, "Whatever you need, please ask first and I will help you with that."
But when I put that bar in the bathroom and started using it, all the seams disappeared and the soap looked great! In fact, my husband said that it was his favorite bar of all.
Fast forward to earlier this week... my friend asked if I could make soap on a rope for her grandkids going off to college. Of course I can! I texted her some pics of my most recent soaps to ask for ideas about what they would like. They picked the soap I made for the SMF Cosmic Wave challenge. They wanted THAT soap, not something like that soap. Sigh. Although those were still soft enough to drill a hole and add the rope, I'd filleted them horizontally in order to reveal the wave inside - so they were quite thin, and I had planned to make guest soaps out of them.
Then I remembered how my other challenge soap had welded together perfectly when I used it. Hmmmm.... So, I just tried that with two of my Cosmic Wave bars, running them under water, pressing them together, and running my fingers down the seams. VOILA! They are now welded into the perfect chunky-sized bar for soap on a rope!
Now, I just need hubby's help to drill the hole without wrecking the soap. Although I'd love to do it myself, my track record with power tools is pretty dismal. He hasn't actually banned me from using them, but has said several times, "Whatever you need, please ask first and I will help you with that."
SeeYaLatherSoaps
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Tried out one of my new molds from Workshop Heritage. Definitely learned some things and found out what I need to change/do different when making 25lbs of soap.
I so wish I knew about Candles and Supplies when I lived in PA. I lived very close to Allentown and could have easily driven there. Sadly I moved to Florida 15 years ago, and only started soaping about 8 years ago.
I made sugar scrubs today for a custom order. She wanted Pine, Pumpkin and Rain fragrances.
Forgot to mix my lye earlier, trying an ice bath to hurry up and cool it.
Does cold weather affect your soap making and/or curing?
Does cold weather affect your soap making and/or curing?
Arimara
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Kind of. It's easier for me to soap when the temps dip below 70 or so.
Made two batches of soap today. This morning, I made a Triple Rice Soap and this afternoon, I made a batch of my Salt & Pepper soap. It sold out at my last market.
The Chill Pills are there for effect or did you have to chase some down w the beer as your soap was seizing?Recently I purchased a beer from a local brewery, made the soap with Ralph Lauren's men's fragrance called Romance. Big mistake when FO was added into the soap batter. It seized, so I have to use HP for the rescue. The result turned out just fine - I love it
What is rice soap and salt and pepper soap?
Rice soap is soap made with rice water, cooked rice slurry, and sweet rice flour. A thread about Rice Soap was started this morning here: Rice Milk Soap
Salt & Pepper soap is a two coloured soap, one side black, one side white. In the black side, I add coarse sea salt and in the white side, I add poppy seeds. It looks like...... yup, salt & pepper.
@Misschief those both sound super cool!!!
Thank you. I'll post the cuts tomorrow. The Salt & Pepper soap is one I've been making since I started soaping, around 6 years ago. I always have it in stock and usually sell a bar or two at each market. Last time, I sold 6, all I had left.
It was a soapy day today! First, it was rebatch time. Used my KitchenAid meat grinder attachment to shred some scraps and bars. Melted everything in the microwave. The end result looks like concrete - a real industrial vibe, if you will. 
Fortunately, the soap smells really good, and is actually really nice soap as far as ingredients go. These will be donated to our local homeless shelter.
Next, it was time to try the new pull-through tools. Since my PVC molds are 18" tall, I used electrical tape to attach some wire to the end of the standard 12" pull-through rod, to make it long enough. Then I planned out a 5-color design, and prepped everything, including lined squeeze bottles.
This is where things started to go awry. For whatever reason, the liner bags inside the squeeze bottles wouldn't accept more than a few tablespoons of soap. Static electricity, maybe? Dunno. Never happened before. Plan B: rip out the bags, put the batter right into the squeeze bottles, and start pouring. So stressful! Not sure pull-throughs will be a regular thing for me.
Part way through the pour, it became clear that somehow the "resize batch to fit mold" option on the SMF calculator made 2x as much soap I needed to fill my PVC mold. Huh??? So now my TS mold is filled with a drop swirl + hanger swirl, too.
Then I threw out the greasy soapy Dollar Store squeeze bottles, wiped out all the soap dishes with the soap rags, put everything in the dirty-soap-stuff box, and stuck it out in the garage where I don't have to look at it. Tomorrow is another day, Scarlet!
Fortunately, the soap smells really good, and is actually really nice soap as far as ingredients go. These will be donated to our local homeless shelter.Next, it was time to try the new pull-through tools. Since my PVC molds are 18" tall, I used electrical tape to attach some wire to the end of the standard 12" pull-through rod, to make it long enough. Then I planned out a 5-color design, and prepped everything, including lined squeeze bottles.
This is where things started to go awry. For whatever reason, the liner bags inside the squeeze bottles wouldn't accept more than a few tablespoons of soap. Static electricity, maybe? Dunno. Never happened before. Plan B: rip out the bags, put the batter right into the squeeze bottles, and start pouring. So stressful! Not sure pull-throughs will be a regular thing for me.
Part way through the pour, it became clear that somehow the "resize batch to fit mold" option on the SMF calculator made 2x as much soap I needed to fill my PVC mold. Huh??? So now my TS mold is filled with a drop swirl + hanger swirl, too.
Then I threw out the greasy soapy Dollar Store squeeze bottles, wiped out all the soap dishes with the soap rags, put everything in the dirty-soap-stuff box, and stuck it out in the garage where I don't have to look at it. Tomorrow is another day, Scarlet!
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Not so much laughing AT you as laughing because what else can you do when it doesn't work the way it should? You could cry but what good does THAT do?It was a soapy day today! First, it was rebatch time. Used my KitchenAid meat grinder attachment to shred some scraps and bars. Melted everything in the microwave. The end result looks like concrete - a real industrial vibe, if you will.
Next, it was time to try the new pull-through tools. Since my PVC molds are 18" tall, I used electrical tape to attach some wire to the end of the standard 12" pull-through rod, to make it long enough. Then I planned out a 5-color design, and prepped everything, including lined squeeze bottles.
This is where things started to go awry. For whatever reason, the liner bags inside the squeeze bottles wouldn't accept more than a few tablespoons of soap. Static electricity, maybe? Dunno. Never happened before. Plan B: rip out the bags, put the batter right into the squeeze bottles, and start pouring. So stressful! Not sure pull-throughs will be a regular thing for me.
Part way through the pour, it became clear that somehow the "resize batch to fit mold" option on the SMF calculator made 2x as much soap I needed to fill my PVC mold. Huh??? So now my TS mold is filled with a drop swirl + hanger swirl, too.
Then I threw out the greasy soapy Dollar Store squeeze bottles, wiped out all the soap dishes with the soap rags, put everything in the dirty-soap-stuff box, and stuck it out in the garage where I don't have to look at it. Tomorrow is another day, Scarlet!
EXACTLY! And it was still a fun day making soap.
But depending on what comes out of that PVC mold, there might be some pull-through tools for sale here in a few days (no squeeze bottles tho).
Oh, NOW you tell me!
That's ok, those squeeze bottles were old and so beat up anyway. Since I have a ways to go before freeing up my taco sauce bottle, I will check the Dollar Store for a new set with wide mouths.
I’ve been wondering if I could use the squeeze bottles without the liner and clean them. Sounds like a royal PITA though! I got 12 wide mouth 16 oz squeeze bottles online for $12. I bet that soap is going to great!Oh, NOW you tell me!
That's ok, those squeeze bottles were old and so beat up anyway. Since I have a ways to go before freeing up my taco sauce bottle, I will check the Dollar Store for a new set with wide mouths.
Any other day, I would have cleaned them. I was just done yesterday, lol. I bet the wide mouth bottles would make cleaning easier, too. Maybe try it with one bottle and see what you think before doing a bunch at once.
Thanks for the Amazon tip - I may do that rather than making a potentially fruitless trip to Dollar Tree.
Using the liners I’m able to squeeze out all the excess into an individual cavity mold and make some cute little odd soaps from the left overs. So, I’ll probably continue to line the bottles.Any other day, I would have cleaned them. I was just done yesterday, lol. I bet the wide mouth bottles would make cleaning easier, too. Maybe try it with one bottle and see what you think before doing a bunch at once.
Thanks for the Amazon tip - I may do that rather than making a potentially fruitless trip to Dollar Tree.
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