What soapy thing have you done today?
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Cheers for the beekeepers! My teenaged son was a beekeeper in our Chicago backyard until he went to college and my wife attempted for a year. Sadly we just sold all the equipment. I miss the honey, the best tasting I've ever had and our neighbors said they were eating 'hyper locally.' And I miss the bees -- fascinating to watch. Brutal, too, like in the fall when all the girl bees kick out the boy bees out of the hive outside left to die in the cold.
Chris_S
Well-Known Member
I absolutly love bees and that love for bees is what led me to the place i aam now making soaps and candles. I know what you you mean by them throwing out the drones but they have no purpose for them over winter so why would they keep them in the hive. I think its also very fitting that only the female bees have stingers.
I dont have mine in my garden partly because iv 2 cats and wouldnt want them to be stung and also because the way the houses are set out the gardens are very enclosed. So iv set them up in a field owned by someone who loves nature which is ideal because its been untouched for years it backs onto a canal so hymalaian balsam and then also a meadow right next to the field so they are happy bees until it gets cold. Honestly wish i had started beekeeping sooner than i did but glad i eventually found the joy of keeping bees
Soapy thing today not really something i did but i got my new soap stamp
I used 1 tsp in 500g of oil to get this pale nondescript colour.
Chris_S
Well-Known Member
You could try mixing it with a tablespoon of your recipe oils. Thats what iv been doing then i add it to my batter once i hit trace but i used a whisk so i dont mess with the batter too much. Iv been mixing it into 4 jugs and using a teaspoon per colour for just under 1kg of oils so iv been using quite abit more than you did.
That's what i did Chris. Maybe I should try just sprinkling it into the batter at trace and loosely combining it? I wouldn't mind have dark and light patches.
Chris_S
Well-Known Member
Iv edited the post you might not of seen it. maybe using a white or leave it plain in one jug and then green in another but im using like 4 times the amount you have for only double the oils. Iv got a little handheld electric milk whisk that iv been using to mix up the micas with the oils. not sure about sprinkling into the batter iv been adding the oils to the batter and its worked fine so far
Tbh i really like how they have turned out for you
And don't hate me for being an over-achiever, but today I made a coffee, cream and cinnamon loaf! Nom nom, it's smelling very creamy and delicious. I used two fragrance oils: iced coffee, and whipped vanilla buttercream, and real cinnamon in the dark part.
I want to eat that, @KiwiMoose !
Hendejm
Well-Known Member
Loving these stamped soaps!!! I see ANOTHER purchase in my future!
Took a few soap photo's
Naughty Dean! I'm using my first ever batch of soap presently in the shower and it's not too bad even though I say so myself. I sampled the same batch as hand soap some three weeks ago and it was still a bit soft, but now it's nice and firm, and how soap 'should' be. Happy with that.
Chris_S
Well-Known Member
Just made this. decided i would try eo this time lemon lime and spearmint. Only just finished this like 5 minutes ago and already excited to unmold it. Changed my recipe up abit to include less hard oils and more soft slow moving oils so that i could do swirls. Iv not tried eo blends before but i love all 3 eos i used so decided to give it a try if spearmint comes through more thats fine i had to go back and spray it with alcohol lucky i did because the layer of bubblewrap i used had fallen into the batter so lucky i forgot
Attachments
The two books I ordered from Amazon arrived today. Both are soapmaking books. Does that qualify?
Wow! those colours are gorgeous!
Lin19687
Well-Known Member
Today I have to make a few batches of soap because my Odin is sold out and I have 10 people wanting it .
But in order to do that I have to clean off my work desk and move somethings around.
I am debating on today doing cleaning/moving, label cured soap, Box said soap, Box all other soaps I have that are stacked for shows.
This evening get everything measured and set for soaping tomorrow
Then tomorrow I will be all set and can whip out batches.
.But in order to do that I have to clean off my work desk and move somethings around.
I am debating on today doing cleaning/moving, label cured soap, Box said soap, Box all other soaps I have that are stacked for shows.
This evening get everything measured and set for soaping tomorrow
Then tomorrow I will be all set and can whip out batches.
Chris_S
Well-Known Member
thanks wish i had used some td or left one section alone so the was some lighter colours. seriously cant wait for it to be ready for unmolding and cutting so i can see how its turned out. i got a bunch of micas yesterday so felt like i had to make a swirl soap would of been rude not to right?
After the success of my last batch i might make another batch tonight. I washed everything up this morning so im free to make more when i want to. Or i might move stuff about my spare room needs organising i was walking over stuff with my full soap mold luckily it wasnt cats they go outside when im soaping so they dont present a risk to me or them and they love going outside anyways
Loralei
Well-Known Member
I think i deserve a bit of credit given she worked with my recipe although adapted
Beekeeper here too @Loralei mine are reet cranky this time of year gotta go check on them tomorrow not my usual excited self in the thought of dealing with them.
Credit given, lol!! And I hope your visit was alright.. we are in the middle of winter here - I had a late queen emerge before a death, then we moved 500kms north, so I'm worried about them.. but I was happy to see some life the other day when I installed another candy board!
It is the best tasting honey!! I live sharing with neighbours and friends ... I've only been at it for 3 years, but I do love it!
Ong, @KiwiMoose - that looks so amazing!! And now I want a dessert cake with those ingredients, lol!
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Jill B Blasius
Well-Known Member
I had my first ever seizure yesterday! And averted a volcano, I think. About 8 am I made a small batch of 1/2 water-goat milk, rose clay and some BB Flowerchild FO in a 1# mold for myself. (OO, CO, AO, Castor Oil and a wee bit of SL) Worked great, it accidentally started gelling before I could get it to the frig, since I had sat it on an old hot mitt and covered the top with cardboard while I did a quick clean up, no biggie, I let it go. So... I made a 2.5# batch of the same recipe, 4 colors-plain, TD, 2 blue water micas with BB Salty Mariner FO (slightly accelerates the bottle says) for my son. Oy yoi, what a disaster. Or so I thought...
When I made the clay soap, my lye water was cool, about 90. My oils were about 110, but I added goat milk in right out of the frig to the oil, which must have cooled the oils down. Mixed it, added FO, split it colored it, poured it, swirled it with a stick, ta-da.
Making the larger batch my lye water was hotter, 110 and the oils were about 115, which i figured was OK since I was adding cold goat milk - wrong! I realize now it had been sitting on the counter since the last batch, so it was cool, but not cold. It took a long time to thin trace, but that's OK, as I wanted to swirl it in the mold anyhow, right? Added the FO, stirred by hand and went to sort it into my pour cups, it had chunks, not ricing, but chunks the size of a dime to a nickel! So I got my SB and gave it a few blasts, it got a little better and a little thicker, but not quite medium. I divided into the cups with the colors already in them and would just do a quick stick stir to mix. I started with the TD, it was like oatmeal, eek. Added a tsp of oil and stick blended it a few seconds and it was better. I picked up the first blue and it was worse and I couldn't even stir, it was more like chopping lard to make pie dough. The second blue was so hard I had to smash it on the side of the cup to get to the color on the bottom. I picked up the plain and went to put it in the mold first (to look like a sandy sea-bottom), it was solid. So I had to forgo the "design" feature I planned and plopped everything else in on top. Smoothed it down as best I could and it looked like a rebatch it was so dry. Turned and got my alcohol and Saran wrap from the cupboard and it was already cracking down the center. Sprayed and covered it and put a big rubber band around the mold to hold the wrap down and it started ooozing out the center! AGH! Went to put it in the frig and it was HOT. So, I threw a towel around it and let it go. Kept peeking at it every 30 mins, No volcano! Phew!
So I spent the evening looking up how to rebatch fresh soap...dice and cook.
Got up today and easily unmolded the rose clay, cut it, beautiful! It was pretty darn firm for a milk soap after only 24 hrs. Turned the blue soap upside down to begin prying on it and it fell right out of the mold. Was gonna chop it into pieces with my hand slicer, but I cut it into bars and well, it looked really nice, sure there's some inclusions from the plop and drop but I just had to slice off the tops (which I did a teeny-tiny rebatch cook with already and threw into a mold) and the blue soap still looks great!
When I made the clay soap, my lye water was cool, about 90. My oils were about 110, but I added goat milk in right out of the frig to the oil, which must have cooled the oils down. Mixed it, added FO, split it colored it, poured it, swirled it with a stick, ta-da.
Making the larger batch my lye water was hotter, 110 and the oils were about 115, which i figured was OK since I was adding cold goat milk - wrong! I realize now it had been sitting on the counter since the last batch, so it was cool, but not cold. It took a long time to thin trace, but that's OK, as I wanted to swirl it in the mold anyhow, right? Added the FO, stirred by hand and went to sort it into my pour cups, it had chunks, not ricing, but chunks the size of a dime to a nickel! So I got my SB and gave it a few blasts, it got a little better and a little thicker, but not quite medium. I divided into the cups with the colors already in them and would just do a quick stick stir to mix. I started with the TD, it was like oatmeal, eek. Added a tsp of oil and stick blended it a few seconds and it was better. I picked up the first blue and it was worse and I couldn't even stir, it was more like chopping lard to make pie dough. The second blue was so hard I had to smash it on the side of the cup to get to the color on the bottom. I picked up the plain and went to put it in the mold first (to look like a sandy sea-bottom), it was solid. So I had to forgo the "design" feature I planned and plopped everything else in on top. Smoothed it down as best I could and it looked like a rebatch it was so dry. Turned and got my alcohol and Saran wrap from the cupboard and it was already cracking down the center. Sprayed and covered it and put a big rubber band around the mold to hold the wrap down and it started ooozing out the center! AGH! Went to put it in the frig and it was HOT. So, I threw a towel around it and let it go. Kept peeking at it every 30 mins, No volcano! Phew!
So I spent the evening looking up how to rebatch fresh soap...dice and cook.
Got up today and easily unmolded the rose clay, cut it, beautiful! It was pretty darn firm for a milk soap after only 24 hrs. Turned the blue soap upside down to begin prying on it and it fell right out of the mold. Was gonna chop it into pieces with my hand slicer, but I cut it into bars and well, it looked really nice, sure there's some inclusions from the plop and drop but I just had to slice off the tops (which I did a teeny-tiny rebatch cook with already and threw into a mold) and the blue soap still looks great!
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