What soapy thing have you done today?

[kumudini]

For a second day in a row I went down to the basement and stared at my coffee soap loaves for a good while hoping they would turn the lovely dark chocolate brown that the batter was going into the mold, the same color I got before with a similar recipe, the only difference being the red palm oil. I have planned and planned making this batch and now it's a pumpkin color with fine specks throughout. Dumb me thought that the dark brown would easily mask the yellow orange of that darned oil. Thankfully I have experience now and lots of regular palm oil.

 

[songwind]

Hmm, good to know! Thank you everyone for your input. I'm still a little nervous about all of this and don't want to use the wrong thing. Almost all of the drain cleaners that I checked at Walmart and home Depot had other ingredients in them (or didn't even state what was in them). It was a bit frustrating.

*nod* Most of them do, it's only the most basic/old fashioned of them that are still 100% lye.

I think everyone is a little nervous the first time. It's not every day you work with caustic materials that can burn you that quickly. But if you double check your measurements, and make sure to err on the side of caution (if you are inaccurate with oils, go over, with lye, go under) you should be safe. And wear your safety gear, of course.

 

[Saponista]

Made a big batch of Cranberry and pomegranate scented soap with orange slices on top.

 

[kchaystack]

I have used this from Lowes with no problems:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_486650-331-HD-CRY-DO___?Ntt=lye&UserSearch=lye&productId=4751600

I have used some from Ace as well. But I can't find a link for it.

 

[penelopejane]

Penelopejane I sure will post pics when I soap with them. I've been playing with methods of incorporating the natural colorants.

Whether or not I've wasted my time will be told when I make soap on Friday lol.

Gigi,
Thanks for the info. I will be watching with interest. I am going to buy a mortar and pestle. Will let you know how I go.

 

[jules92207]

*nod* Most of them do, it's only the most basic/old fashioned of them that are still 100% lye.

I think everyone is a little nervous the first time. It's not every day you work with caustic materials that can burn you that quickly. But if you double check your measurements, and make sure to err on the side of caution (if you are inaccurate with oils, go over, with lye, go under) you should be safe. And wear your safety gear, of course.

This exactly. I was so nervous I was going to buy the wrong thing too it took me forever to get started. But yes, as long as it says 100% lye you are probably good. Look in the canning section, that might ease your fears too. You can always take a picture of the bottle for us and we can confirm if it's the same ones we use too.

 

[amd]

Drooled over rimmed soaps. Looked for a key lime fragrance oil that didn't discolor (suggestions welcome as I struck out). Did some more thinking about salt bars - if things go well with work tonight I should have time to tackle two experimental batches. (I need to figure out what I like, lol.) And then a bunch of non-soapy things like planning The Diva's birthday party (8 years old - where did time go??) and ordering her school pictures, work, and pretending to work while thinking about soap.
ETA: oh, and worked on my website.

 

[nsmar4211]

amd-I was going to suggest Brambleberry's Lime, but the reviews say it turns slightly yellow. I used it in HP so I didn't notice the discolor . It's a sweeter lime, you could add a drop of lemon to get closer to the key lime maybe?

Made a 2lb batch of unscented uncolored to shred for accent spots in the discoloring fragrances....and another batch of pine tar soap. Got all but the last smidge out before I got jelly . Disposable mixing bucket is the best! (I used the lard bucket).

 

[gigisiguenza]

Gigi,
Thanks for the info. I will be watching with interest. I am going to buy a mortar and pestle. Will let you know how I go.

I haven't needed one of those yet thank goodness LOL

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Got the BB sample of Pumpkin Souffle in my order box tonight and fired of an impromptu 8 oz batch of HP to contain it. Just my regular all-purpose soap except that I used coffee as the liquid and added some coffee grounds. I don't typically go for "food" scents, but this smells awfully good.

 

[songwind]

I haven't needed one of those yet thank goodness LOL

I use a mortar and pestle to grind up menthol crystals before adding them to various products. Makes the process of getting them dissolved and distributed much easier.

 

[amd]

amd-I was going to suggest Brambleberry's Lime, but the reviews say it turns slightly yellow. I used it in HP so I didn't notice the discolor . It's a sweeter lime, you could add a drop of lemon to get closer to the key lime maybe?

yellow discoloration may not be a bad thing as I need to add yellow to green to get a lime green color anyways. I'll add that one to my list to check out! Some of the others I've looked at have discolored to brown (due to a small vanillan content, I'm sure), so I'm trying to avoid coloring around brown, lol.

Last night I tried salt bar experiment #2 (lots more coconut oil, avocado oil, and castor oil) in combination with playing with lime EO (sadly it didn't stick as well as I hoped, even with an anchor) and green and yellow oxide to make lime green. Maybe I shouldn't have mixed up so many experiments in one batch, but I didn't think the color/scent would change outcome of the salt bar, so it seemed like the thing to do.

 

[Misschief]

My order from Voyageur arrived at work yesterday... while I was home sick. This weekend I get to play with Palm Oil, Palm kernel oil, and white titanium dioxide.

And, to top it off, my husband called from Costco to ask what kind of coconut oil I use for making soap. He NEVER does that... never has! He has just shocked me; there must be something he likes about my soap making because this is a turnaround from a couple of weeks ago when all he could do was rant about how much I've been spending on soap supplies.

Or he wants something.

 

[nsmar4211]

Made two 1lb batches of CP to use up testers. Played with swirls on top ....need to figure a better way to sprinkle mica. Put a 2lb batch in the crockpot to use up another tester and scraped sharp edges off several batches of soap while it was cooking. Tomorrow will be cutting soap day!

 

[gigisiguenza]

I took almost all of the non soapy things off the big shelves in my dining room and organized it so I have more room for soaps to cure. And I cleaned up all my soapy dishes from last batch. And I'm working on the plan for my challenge soap.

And I made a big pot of chicken n mushroom stew, and a pan of chicken and stuffing casserole Not very soapy but very yummy!

 

[hopalongkat]

My first attempt at CPOP. Sitting on my kitchen floor, looking through my little oven window like

 

[skayc1]

I used up the last of my shea butter & cocoa butter making my third attempt at this months hidden feather challenge. My purple has turned grey.

 

[Misschief]

I just finished a batch of Dove dupe a la Soaping 101 and having it sitting outside cooling its heels (I don't want it to gel). I tweaked it a little to make it my own; we'll see how it turned out.

Also, just had a conversation with some members of the local Liberal party's candidate's crew, hoping they could convince me to vote Liberal this time. Apparently, this is now a swing riding. Who knew?? My vote might actually count this time!

ETA: within 6 hours, I was able to unmold my soap... no more zap. After dinner, I cut it and I love it already!

NoDove by Ev Skae, on Flickr

 

[Krystalbee]

I made three batches of soap today . With the last one I almost got soap on a stick, managed to save it but was not able to pipe a top :-(. My spoon swirl technique sucks lol.

 

[skayc1]

cut yesterdays soap.