What soapy thing have you done today?

[SA-Soaper]

No stupid question. There is something called an infared Temp Gun. You can lift the cover a bit "point and shoot" and it will read back. I haven't done temps on insulated soap in years. No need to. If I know we are going to have a cold night I just put over an extra blanket so the temp don't drop and cause soda ash.

Check Amazon, Ebay or Home Depo. I love the guns its easier than a thermometer.

Thx again - learned something new - low temps can cause soda ash. That must be why no soda ash since november. I must say this is great site as Ive learned so much from everyone- I have not posted much yet but have read a lot with troubleshooting my bloopers. And I understand frustration I see with people not doing research and wanting answers instantly. I am still newbie with soaping - researching for over year and soaping about 8/9 mths. One day I will give back as you guys do.

 

[SoapyWater]

I was one of the originals when this site first opened. I left after I stopped running my original business. Over the years I still made soap but I didn't come back to the forums. I finally decided to come back and hang out for a while.. and see if I was able to assist anyone. Give it time. Just know things that are available to you now were not around way back then. Enjoy your learning.

 

[Consuela]

Okay. I'm making cocoa butter body butter today. That's it. I said it. I'm gonna do it. And baby's gonna watch lol.

 

[handavaka]

Today I made a beautiful soap batter that flowed smoothly and looked delicious...UNTIL...I used a new fragrance oil that seized my batch to paste! Grrrrrr!!!! All I could think about at first was assessing the cost and the value! DOUBLE GRRRRRR!

 

[Cindy2428]

Studying and registered for Certification exams at Guild Conference. This year Basic CP/HP and Basic MP tests. Goal 1 - Pass. Goal 2 - Take advanced exams next year

 

[Sonya-m]

I'm ready to spin swirl! Just waiting for everything to cool down.

 

[Sonya-m]

Spin swirl done!! Happy with it so far, fingers crossed for a good cut!!

 

[SoapStephanie]

Pictures Sonya!

 

[Sonya-m]

Can't yet cos its for the Soapworks challenge. Will do once the contest voting has finished

 

[Cindy2428]

When does the challenge end? I'm eagerly awaiting everyone's pictures!

 

[Sonya-m]

Winners are announced on the 22nd

 

[dillsandwitch]

Made 2 batches of salt bars today. Had to make 2 cause I accidentally knocked the first one all over the floor and killed my stick blender in the process. Its not fun cleaning up so much raw soap batter. I'm just glad I hadn't put in the salt or FO yet. :S

 

[handavaka]

dillsandwitch~MUST.POST.PICS of those salt bars! They are my favorite!

 

[reinbeau]

I entered the spin swirl challenge even though it didn't all swirl and cut up two test batches I made for a FO selling friend. Oh yea, and I ordered a single-wire Bud Cutter from the proceeds of selling a bunch of soaping stuff to a new soaper. Woo-hoo!

 

[cgirard4]

I made my first purchase from mad oils. Ordered some mica and fragrance oil.

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

I made some more blue doves...used a different recipe this time...it's the first recipe I used when I first started soaping and everyone that has used it loves it. But I'm still looking for a royal blue color. I'm about to give up and just go with blue jean color of doves. Ugh boss lady won't like it I'm afraid.

 

[MorpheusPA]

I made a loaf of palm, olive, coconut, and castor (40/40/15/5) in peppermint and a touch of orange scent to round it out.

Half is a white band, 1/3 a green band, and the top remainder is white. No photos yet as it's in the loaf.

 

[shunt2011]

Wrapped and labeled 300 bars of soap. Getting ready for the upcoming season. This weekend will be more soapmaking. Need to make 8 batches. I want to be as ahead as of the game as possible this year. My New Years promise to me. Not to get behind the 8 ball like years past.

 

[Jstar]

Did my first tallow soap after injuring my shoulder back in Sept.

I used my little tester mold {of course}

I think I may have created a lethal throwing object hehehehe

Mind you I am running a test of my own rendered tallow {which btw has been sitting in my fridge for a few months in stainless steel bowls and was rock hard and very cold}

Today I decided that I would start a cleaning process of said tallow..which oddly really didn't seem to need a cleaning of much, but I did one bowl of it anyway. Really was no smell to it that I could tell, but it 'did' have tiny specks on the bottom which I scraped off. I suspect these were little particles of left overs from frying my suet to begin with that slipped by the straining process. {Am I the only one who frys it first? :think:}

At any rate, while I was getting ready to start cooling the 'washed' tallow, I decided to test the one that was only initially rendered without a water wash...

My results surprised me while making this soap {No color or fragrances}

Slow-Med trace..plenty of time to work..smooth and creamy while pouring
Color stayed white
The smell reminded me of when I make my soaps with coconut milk..weird no? No 'dead cow' lol

Now, I used 70% tallow, 20% CO, and just for giggles cuz I was out of castor, I threw in an oz of soybean oil

Im not happy about the bubble numbers..since Im a bubble freak and love big fluffy bubbles...but the other numbers are ok I think {except for that HUGE hardness number hahahaha..this baby will need to be cut in a matter of hours me thinks..Im watching it. It actually began to set after about 5 mins in the mold}

So soapy guru's..what ya think of this recipe? Could be better, could be worse etc etc..??

 

[reinbeau]

That conditioning number is way to low for me, I'll bet the bubbles will be better than you think.