What soapy thing have you done today?

[ewhitake]

Does drinking wine count?

 

[Misschief]

Does drinking wine count?

That's about all I've done, too, so yes, it counts.

 

[BobbiOh]

I'm making a 100% coconut test batch with coffee. Wish me luck!

 

[justsomeguy]

I'm making a 100% coconut test batch with coffee. Wish me luck!

Good luck!

 

[justsomeguy]

I bought olive oil at restaurant Depot. ~$101 for ~24 pounds. Not having to pay shipping paid off

Now to make my challenge soap...

 

[Midnight_Sun]

Can I use both sugar and sodium lactate in a soap recipe? I can start a new thread with this question if need be but it seems very small of a question to me.

I'm trying a new soap recipe with 15% coconut oil (I usually do 30-40%) and I want to add some sugar to compensate and get a better lather. I also always use sodium lactate to get a harder bar especially since I can't consistently gel my soap yet. Would there be a problem using both sugar and salt in a batch of soap?

 

[2lilboots]

@Midnight_Sun I use sugar and salt in all my batches

 

[MrsZ]

I'm trying to reformulate my favorite recipe to exclude cocoa butter for the time being. It's gotten so expensive! Definitely not worth the price for a hobby soaper like me at the moment. I made my first batch of the new recipe this morning. I can't wait to see how it works out. The fatty acid profile is almost identical to my old recipe, so I'm hoping the soap will feel almost the same too.

 

[Relle]

I'm trying to reformulate my favorite recipe to exclude cocoa butter for the time being. It's gotten so expensive! Definitely not worth the price for a hobby soaper like me at the moment. I made my first batch of the new recipe this morning. I can't wait to see how it works out. The fatty acid profile is almost identical to my old recipe, so I'm hoping the soap will feel almost the same too.

I've done the same thing but without OO, can't really see any difference, I've tried it washing my hands, but will have to try it in the shower.

 

[AliOop]

@Midnight_Sun I use sugar and salt in all my batches

Agreed, it should not be an issue to combine sugar and salt.

Problems can occur if one uses too much salt, which includes any sodium such as table salt, sodium lactate, sodium citrate, etc. And don't forget that citric acid becomes sodium citrate when it comes in contact with lye.

Less frequently, there can be issues with too many sugars, as well - the soap can end up too soft and a little sticky. Sugars can come in the form of table sugar, sugar alcohols (sorbitol, mannitol, erythritol), honey, molasses, maple syrup, milks, fruit purees, and even veggie purees. This doesn't seem to happen as often as the "too many salts" problem, but it does happen.

 

[Zing]

Can I use both sugar and sodium lactate in a soap recipe? I can start a new thread with this question if need be but it seems very small of a question to me.

I'm trying a new soap recipe with 15% coconut oil (I usually do 30-40%) and I want to add some sugar to compensate and get a better lather. I also always use sodium lactate to get a harder bar especially since I can't consistently gel my soap yet. Would there be a problem using both sugar and salt in a batch of soap?

I use both routinely. I use table sugar dissolved in water before adding lye. Please know that when you add lye, it'll turn a pale yellow which has NO effect on the final color.

 

[Midnight_Sun]

Thank you so much everyone! I shall go forth with both sodium lactate and sugar with confidence.

 

[AliOop]

Thank you so much everyone! I shall go forth with both sodium lactate and sugar with confidence.

Yes, go forth, mighty soaper! Soap on!

 

[dmcgee5034]

Made a batch of soap colored with pink clay. Decided to try out an idea I had to make pink toe beans in these paw molds. It *almost* worked. I poured the pink in and tried to squeegee it out of the main cavity. It was super messy. I’m going to try again using a squeeze bottle. Will definitely be fiddly, but you know when you have your mind set on something. I also think I will make the main part of the paw a darker color like black or gray. Nobody better challenge me to do tabby!

Awwww, pink toe beans - too cute!

 

[Midnight_Sun]

Yes, go forth, mighty soaper! Soap on!

I have soaped! The stripes are definitely not even but we’ll see how the bars look after cutting.

 

[Chaiat5]

Made soap at 2am... because, why not? I used my turmeric infused OO and it turned a deep red! I am waiting to unmould the soap. I'm completely out of EOs now, sadly. Which are your must-have EOs?

 

[justsomeguy]

I was going to make my challenge soap but pivoted and made a slab of mango scented mango/shea/PKO/castor soap. It's yellow

The soap fully gel'd and is now stuck on the HDPE insert

And even though I heated to clear and allowed it to cool down to 100, I've got stearic spots

 

[Chaiat5]

@justsomeguy Your soap looks really pretty and classy!

 

[justsomeguy]

@justsomeguy Your soap looks really pretty and classy!

I don't know about classy, but I was afraid my yellow was gonna be orange for a minute

 

[Servant4Christ]

I put labels on a soapbox to see what it will look like. It's certainly not what I had envisioned and I'm not impressed with these labels at all. The kraft brown labels don't stick well to the boxes and are lighter colored than the kraft boxes. I didn't think that would make much difference, but I'm just not digging it. Now I think I get why Ellen Ruth put a stamp below the open window on her boxes. The kraft label under the window just doesn't look polished in the same way that a stamp would. But I am not buying a separate stamp for every recipe in order to put the soap name in that location so I'm back to square one, I guess. Well, for future orders I'm at square one. I'm doing my best to make these work for my current orders because I really don't have time to research and order something else and have it actually arrive in time.