What soapy thing have you done today?

[TashaBird]

Your's is the first post; that usually indicates the person who started the thread is the first post in the thread. So I'm confused. Soap Inspiration Pictures (non soap)

Is there another one?


I have not gone over the mold height, when I pour, so I can't help you there. But I can help you avoid it if you want. You've probably already figured this one out on your own, but if I end up with extra batter, I put it into an individual mold.

I keep a couple single soap individual molds on hand just for the occasional overflow.

As for insulating soap that is close to the rim or has raised piping, an inverted cardboard box is a suitable cover to protect the top of the soap.

I found it. It was the Browsing Soap Pics, actual soap. I didn’t start that one.

That good feeling after you have a good run making a batch of soap, is SO good!
But that bad feeling when you don’t think it is going to work out, is SO bad!
I just told DH that I was splurging on a more expensive EO on this batch because it was supposed to be really special. That was a rookie mistake I guess. If you want your batter to stay runny FOREVER try clary sage! Good grief!!! Doing a pull through I’m on a tight schedule usually. It was almost impossible to make myself slow down. I was cleaning up, shaking the bottles, singing Tom Petty the waiting is the hardest part.... That stuff just did NOT want to thicken! Hoping it’s not just a big blur.

 

[GemstonePony]

It's legit soap! My first attempt failed, I think it might have been false trace due to beeswax, but I also strained my lye solution and I can't vouch for how much lye material I removed (bad GemstonePony, I know). Oh, and with my fail batch, I realized my mini-loaf bows in the sides a little, so for my second batch I taped popsicle sticks to the sides.
Anyways, this batch is still pretty soft, so I'm CPOPing now, both so I can unmold sooner and because I think the glow in the dark bits will show better that way. I forgot to add the knots for most of the pour, but I'm hoping it will look like wood once it's planed, cut, and maybe beveled.

 

[violets2217]

Made me some more of my favorite HONEY AND HEMP soap! This time I had a little fun with it. I divided it into 3 parts, left one plain, added kaolin clay and zinc oxide to the second and added some gold and yellow mica to the third. Pored the plain on bottom, the poured the other two on top and took a hanger to it! It was fun if not a little aggressive! I was going for something like a ghost swirl... I think I achieved my goal! Plus I tried soaping at room temperature again because I was afraid the honey would get away from me! I really like soaping at room temperature! I’m not as anxious for some reason!

I really used a lot of exclamation points in this post! Sorry!

 

[Zing]

Cut, breathed a HUGE sigh of relief, and posted my soap, Moonrise

@GemstonePony, wicky wicky what?! What/how have you done? Can't wait to see the final.

@violets2217 -- great job! Simple and elegant. (I know it wasn't "simple" though!).

 

[TashaBird]

Made me some more of my favorite HONEY AND HEMP soap! This time I had a little fun with it. I divided it into 3 parts, left one plain, added kaolin clay and zinc oxide to the second and added some gold and yellow mica to the third. Pored the plain on bottom, the poured the other two on top and took a hanger to it! It was fun if not a little aggressive! I was going for something like a ghost swirl... I think I achieved my goal! Plus I tried soaping at room temperature again because I was afraid the honey would get away from me! I really like soaping at room temperature! I’m not as anxious for some reason!View attachment 51206
I really used a lot of exclamation points in this post! Sorry!

Beautiful! At what point did you add the honey?

 

[violets2217]

Beautiful! At what point did you add the honey?

Lol... I added the honey after my lye cooled. Which heated it back up to 130 degrees!! Lol so I let it cool again to room temp, then started mixing!

 

[Catscankim]

I made Zanys no slime castile last night. Wasnt sure where to put this msg since i started a thread yesterday about my weird lye. And i didnt want to blemish @Zany_in_CO thread with a weird experience lol. I guess my soapy thing today is the cut. But feel free to move if theres a better spot.

Its not quite 24 hours, but i decided to cut anyway even though the instructions said to cut on the second day.

It was hard as a rock. I thought i was going to break the wire...i had to turn the soap while on the wire to get the rest of the way through, which made ugly wire marks.

What do you think was the difference? I didnt cpop, but i did put it in the oven with the light on. I am sure it probably wasnt the recipe since nobody else had a similar issue after rereading all 30 pages of the thread lol. I soaped a little warmer than i usually do because i wanted to try to get trace faster and not burn out my SB lol. I poured at a solid medium trace. I dont know them temp exactly...i stopped using a thermometer a while ago. But both containers were warm, not hot, to the touch. Im gonna guesstimate about 110 degrees.

I got a ton of bubbles, which i am mad at myself for. I hate bubbles...I dont know where they came from. I didnt see evidence of one bubble during the entire process.

And now that i am looking at the pic, there is a rind around the outer border of the soap, which i suspect is just where it is harder than the inside, since it was the end that i had trouble getting the wire through. I think that will even out as it cures.

No fragrance or colors added.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

Made three batches of soap tonight. I have to say after following the suggesting of using microfiber cloths to clean up in the confessions of a soap maker it's made my life so much easier. I just wiped out each container with the cloths and started the next batch. Nothing too fancy, a lavender and cedar purple and green layered soap, a winter sky fragranced white and blue layer/swirl with white confetti mixed in, and an in the pot swirl of red and white with jack frost fragrance. I'm hoping the red turns out even with the discoloration of the fragrance. I only put the fragrance in the red part so the white would stay white.

 

[Catscankim]

Made three batches of soap tonight. I have to say after following the suggesting of using microfiber cloths to clean up in the confessions of a soap maker it's made my life so much easier. I just wiped out each container with the cloths and started the next batch. Nothing too fancy, a lavender and cedar purple and green layered soap, a winter sky fragranced white and blue layer/swirl with white confetti mixed in, and an in the pot swirl of red and white with jack frost fragrance. I'm hoping the red turns out even with the discoloration of the fragrance. I only put the fragrance in the red part so the white would stay white.

I love the microfiber cloths for cleanup!!

edit...dont put them in the dryer. Makes fuzzballs all over the cloths

My other soapy thing tonight...not a fail, but not what i wanted.

was supposed to be my fancy schmancy 3 layered soap: pale yellow on top and bottom, with a swirled layer in the middle. When things started going wrong, this is what i ended up with lol.

The yellow is too yellow on top of it all. But im happy with the nice crisp layer lol.

Fragrance is Champagne from nurture. Not sure what i think of it yet. Smells kind of like 7up.

 

[NMBCreative]

I understand the disappointment when it doesn't look the way you want, but that looks like nice swirled soap to me - not a flop at all!

That is no flop... I think it looks great!

I understand your disappointment, I'm always sad when soap doesn't look the way I had envisioned as well.
But, it looks swirly to me! And I'm sure the soap itself is lovely! Nobody else can see inside your head, all they'll be able to see is this lovely, swirly soap. I know it's not what you wanted, but it's still a nice soap.

Oh, but I like it!! Did you scent it?

I did but I still have a lot to learn when it comes to scents. I used lemongrass, sweet orange and lavandin EOs. Not sure if that's a good combination - but it smells good to me.

WHADAYA MEAN, 'FLOP'?!

Thank you all. You are so kind. I am beginning to love my soap.

ok here is "Fight of the Penguins" I cant wait to cut it

View attachment 51129View attachment 51130

Wow!! This is a piece of art. Its beautiful.

 

[msunnerstood]

My soapy thing came at 230 this morning when my son found me sleeping sitting on the side of the bed with my feet on the floor. When he asked what I was doing I said I was working with soap dough. He said "Mom, youre asleep, lay down " but I told him I couldnt because the soap dough was in my lap. He had to pretend to take it from me before I would lay back down

 

[MarinaB]

Juniper tar soap. Mama Mia how it smells.... I put it to cure to a separate room.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

It was hard as a rock. I thought i was going to break the wire...i had to turn the soap while on the wire to get the rest of the way through, which made ugly wire marks. What do you think was the difference?

Hiya Cat! The only thing I can think of is an error in the amount of NaOH, 1.7:1. Even a slight variation, i.e., 1.5:1, would make the soap harder. I would go back over the recipe to make sure you didn't miss something.

 

[violets2217]

The yellow is too yellow on top of it all. But im happy with the nice crisp layer lol.

That is a beautiful soap! Do you think the yellow will mellow out as it cures? Still, it’s all bright and cheery as is! And those are som straight crisp layers! Love it!

 

[rdc1978]

I watched a YouTube video on cleaning up soap, so I tried a few techniques on my ombre soap (cactus flower). AND I cut a batch of purple soap with a gold mica marbling design that I had seen on YouTube. I have a lot of fails, but these two came pretty close to what the YouTubers had as their finished product.

 

[TashaBird]

Put my pull through molds in the freezer. The normal one slid right out.
the one that I’m worried is a mess stuck and was smooshed on the side.
That clary sage EO really did a number on my batter. I had no idea it’d do that. I didn’t even know deceleration was a thing! Now I know. Still won’t know until I cut. But I’m bummed.

 

[Suzette]

Hi all! Thought I'd take a look at all your beautiful soaps. I love this thread most of all.
This is what I did yesterday. All hand molded from cold process soap dough. The soap is scented with Oudh Wood from Nurture. A gradient pour was used to push the boat out on this FO, to see how well it preformed. My results are yet to be seen, however, the experience was that is the batter stayed fluid and poured nicely. We will see upon un-molding.

"When in doubt, go to the library." — Ron Weasley

May your day be lovely and filled with magical surprises, because, after all, not all surprises are magical.

View attachment 51201

You are so talented Soap Witch! Huge HP fans in my house and this soap is wonderful!! Maybe someday I will attempt to work with soap clay.

 

[The Park Bench]

That good feeling after you have a good run making a batch of soap, is SO good!
But that bad feeling when you don’t think it is going to work out, is SO bad!
I just told DH that I was splurging on a more expensive EO on this batch because it was supposed to be really special. That was a rookie mistake I guess. If you want your batter to stay runny FOREVER try clary sage! Good grief!!! Doing a pull through I’m on a tight schedule usually. It was almost impossible to make myself slow down. I was cleaning up, shaking the bottles, singing Tom Petty the waiting is the hardest part.... That stuff just did NOT want to thicken! Hoping it’s not just a big blur.

Loved the singing Tom Petty

I washed all of the dishes from pouring a lavender charcoal soap and ordered some piping bags and 32 oz squeeze bottles. Now I need to figure out the exact measurements that I want my new molds to be so the DH and DS can make them for me. I want a square one for solid dish bars, a tall and skinny and maybe a square slab mold. I normally pour 10# at a time and don't cpop but now I'm thinking I DO want to cpop so I also need to keep in mind my oven measurements

 

[Basil]

Hallo @rdc1978! The bars are wrapped in wax paper, and then cut up brown paper bags from the supermarket

I love your wrapping too Dawni! I’ve been saving grocery store paper bags and experimenting with labels, designs etc. for the past year . Starting with friends and family and the day when and if I’ll sell.

 

[TashaBird]

Well, once again, life lessons through the soap making process. I can’t always get what I want, but it’s still pretty damn cool! The EO I used decelerated trace, but they’re not ruined. And they smell amazing!