What soapy thing have you done today?

[Relle]

Or that we could have an SMF swap meetup where we all being the FOs and other soapy stuff we don’t want, so we can trade.

That would be like trying to have one in Oz, FO's etc in a bag and one expensive plane flight later, unless I organized it close to home.

 

[AliOop]

That would be like trying to have one in Oz, FO's etc in a bag and one expensive plane flight later, unless I organized it close to home.

Oh yes, let's definitely have it in Oz! We could bring you all kinds of FOs that you can't get there.

 

[Cindy D.]

Last week, I ordered Himalayan rhubarb because I’d had success with infusing my olive oil in alkanet root and paprika. Silly me, I didn’t realise I was ordering whole roots instead of powder. They were too hard to grind, so I was really quite disappointed. Then, I had a brainwave… use the Thermomix for low heat and stirring the roots about in the oil. Nothing happened…. No red colour … oil ended up looking somewhat cloudy-olive after straining. I was SO peeved. My soap forays are always madness and mayhem.

ANYWAY, today, I trotted out that oil and decided to use it and will wonders never cease! The cheeky oil turned a pale red after the lye was added! My son was the one who spotted it — “Look at the bottom of the jug!!! It’s going red!!!” He was thrilled! I guess it isn’t too bad to be ignorant It’s so gratifying to learn something new, however small.

If you have or know some one with garden rhubarb, you can also use those roots, rinse well and chop them up while fresh. The oil turns a darker color but not pink till the lye contacts it.

 

[VikingChick]

That would be like trying to have one in Oz, FO's etc in a bag and one expensive plane flight later, unless I organized it close to home.

I’d go to Oz! It’s on my bucket list!

 

[Ekuzo]

I’d go to Oz! It’s on my bucket list!

I'd go, if uncle Arnold is there

 

[Chaiat5]

@ackosel I think those look great! Like planets or something. (PS. Let's hear it for steaming soap!)


@Chaiat5 "madness and mayhem"...hello, sister! I'm looking forward to seeing what your project develops into.

HIYA!
I wasn’t up to more mayhem so I poured the soap into individual moulds rather than a loaf mould. I didn’t gel the soap so it was a pale orange colour in the end!

 

[Servant4Christ]

I made the 5 lb swirly soap of doom this morning. I should know better than to mess with a recipe that already works. I decided that instead of making 4 separate batches of oils and lyes, I'd make things easier and make one batch and split it before coloring. Bad idea! The TD didn't lighten up the batter enough, the cocoa powder didn't darken enough, and the charcoal went a nasty looking yellow gray. Then everything turned to pudding before I could begin pouring. My oldest son came down the stairs to say good morning just in time for me to ask him to glove up and help me. Pretty sure I heard him first pump and say, "yes!" I had him hold the dividers in place as I pulled one of them out of the mold. I plopped the charcoal and TD portions into the outsides and mixed the browns and put them in the middle, then lifted the whole mold and dropped it on the counter to try to level the batter a bit and pulled out the dividers and swirled. I managed to scrape enough batter off the dividers and out of the pouring cups to make 4 ugly bars in individual cavity molds. Guess I'll see what it looks like tomorrow and possibly try again, repeating my original method for the sake of my sanity.