What soapy thing have you done today?

[Donee']

I am waiting for my second batch ever to harden...going on 48 hours. I can see how addicting this could be though.


when you wash stuff, don;t you just do it right away or is it better to wait?

You start off diligently washing up everything and then as the process becomes more addictive you land up in a muddy puddle of eleventy million (quoted) pieces of stuff you dont know where it came from.

Cleaning before she comes is very selfish of you! You are robbing her of her chance to feel superior and showing you how to do it right.
This worked on my ex MIL until she caught on...

Edit to add what soapy thing I've done today. I fondled my curing soaps, tracked my shipment from SMR and stalked the forum. Oh and.inspected the rosemary and orange peel oil infusions, checked on the orange peel & alcohol extraction experiments. Slow day, home sick.

OMG OMG - I laughed down my leg a bit.......... "fondled" - I am NEVER going to look at soap the same.

 

[Chris_S]

Well done! Some of my favorite soaps have been the result of something gone wrong. The problem with that is that I can’t repeat it and get the same result again!

Wouldnt say it really went wrong just not completely to the orginal plan i had. have you seen a methid where you tilt the loaf mold then pour each layer a line at a time. well i ended up doing that not sure what its called. then i tried to do a swirl so i have an idea as to how i made it look like that lol also tried another method i think would of been better at a lighter trace where you drag a wooden spoon handle around the edges of the mold. Itll be fun trying to recreate this anyways that what i really enjoy about soap making the chances to try new things is almost limitless

 

[Meena]

Just cut end piece off and omg much better than i had expected Just been told by a friend she doesnt like it because i said it was going to be red and white and thats not what it is got red and white mica in post on way now so when i soap at weekend it'll be what i planned for last night red and white striped

Great job on that swirl! Looking good

 

[Donee']

Made my second soap, in the test size slab mold, as it's a Soleseife that I wrote myself and tweaked around
8 times! 6% superfat, 25% salt by water weight (1 oz pink Himalayan to 4 oz water).

What was awesome and so unexpected was that my "light-plus" traced batter stayed light to med-light trace all during the splitting into 3, coloring 2, doing alternate pours, and scraping out each container thoroughly (I am usually a cheap-a*& that way). Stayed fluid, even though I soaped a little warmer this time, I think. Maybe 116 F -ish. (Just a WAG. Probably shouldn't state any temps in these posts, since i don't take them.)

I did not scent this batch. Colors made from ultramarine, wine, and emerald pigment and mica products. I really can't wait to cut this one! There might even be some dots in there, lol.

Increased from 12 oz. oils with first soap to a little over 14.5 oz this time, but still not making enough to fill the mold yet. Will have to check my measurements and volume calcs - they've gotta be off somehow.

View attachment 35141

Lastly, I sprinkled a bit of organic whole lavender flowers, and then somewhat regretted it... but i felt committed, so I kept going. Not too much. Maybe it will be okay...



Love the colors you got! Really, they don't look bad at all. In fact, they're making me hungry -- like some things from a dessert case.



LOL!! cheese and bread soup!! At least you are soaping in Tuscany -- How bad can that possibly be??

By the way, Pappa al Pomodoro looks very delicious, yum. I'll look for this recipe online. We're Sicilian and Sicilian/Napolitan in my house.

[/QUOTE]



Wish you could have shown them, but I understand why you couldn't... at least until the challenge is over.

Still ... knowing Your soaps, my dear Moosie, they're probably drop-dead gorgeous anyway! [/QUOTE]


Beautiful Beautiful
And looking at this it is quite understandable why you need to put "for external use only" on the labels.
Tuscany!!!!!!!!!!!! I am consumed with envy

I loooovvvvveeeeee colour - and thats why i need to buy LARGE quantities of it.

I am off into the gardn to pick tomatos now and make something yummy - and i dont even like tomatos

 

[Chris_S]

[/QUOTE]I am off into the gardn to pick tomatos now and make something yummy - and i dont even like tomatos[/QUOTE]

@Donee' spicey chutney or chilli jam yummers

 

[Meena]

Cut the soleseife this morning, but think I should have left it another 4 or 5 hours, for a full 24. I like it, though. The lather is a bit scant right now, bubbly, and with that unmistakable soft salt feel. I think this will be a really good soap when cured -- rich enough to not be drying.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Cut the soleseife this morning, but think I should have left it another 4 or 5 hours, for a full 24. I like it, though. The lather is a bit scant right now, bubbly, and with that unmistakable soft salt feel. I think this will be a really good soap when cured -- rich enough to not be drying.

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Love the look of it Meena! The colours are amazing. I never bother testing my soaps until they are at least two weeks old. I'm always worried they will be too lye heavy.

 

[Meena]

The lather is a bit scant right now, bubbly, and with that unmistakable soft salt feel. I think this will be a really good soap when cured -- rich enough to not be drying.

View attachment 35154 View attachment 35155 View attachment 35156 View attachment 35157

Guess I didn't use a big enough scrap off the freezer paper. Tried again with 2 scraps, and there's more lather, after all.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Last night I made my second attempt for the challenge. A lot more success that the night prior, but still not as good as I would like. I have not unmoulded yet, so am holding out high hopes that they will be good enough. I did several things differently to get a thinner batter:
More water
Less Lye
More olive oil
Removed Cocoa Butter from recipe altogether
NO FOs
Only citrus EOs
No TD

It still accelerated quickly, so i fear it may be just my beloved soy wax that is causing that - I've started a thread to discuss.

 

[Meena]

Love the look of it Meena! The colours are amazing. I never bother testing my soaps until they are at least two weeks old. I'm always worried they will be too lye heavy.

Really? Do you not SF (lye discount)? I SF'd this one at 6%. Already zero zap.

Thanks for the compliment, it means a lot coming from a true artist like yourself!

 

[Chris_S]

Last night I made my second attempt for the challenge. A lot more success that the night prior, but still not as good as I would like. I have not unmoulded yet, so am holding out high hopes that they will be good enough. I did several things differently to get a thinner batter:
More water
Less Lye
More olive oil
Removed Cocoa Butter from recipe altogether
NO FOs
Only citrus EOs
No TD

It still accelerated quickly, so i fear it may be just my beloved soy wax that is causing that - I've started a thread to discuss.

I would guess that wax of any kind could cause issues like that, have you tried soaping at a higher temp to accommodate the higher melting point of the wax? Iv only ever used bw think i mixed at about 130-140 to keep the wax melted. i know bw has a higher meltpoint temp than sw but can still see it causing issues. if its just for the challenge why do you need wax of any kind?

 

[KiwiMoose]

I would guess that wax of any kind could cause issues like that, have you tried soaping at a higher temp to accommodate the higher melting point of the wax? Iv only ever used bw think i mixed at about 130-140 to keep the wax melted. i know bw has a higher meltpoint temp than sw but can still see it causing issues. if its just for the challenge why do you need wax of any kind?

Other than coconut oil I have no other hard oils. I am vegan and palm free. Cocoa butter is even harder than SW. And way more expensive.

 

[Chris_S]

Other than coconut oil I have no other hard oils. I am vegan and palm free. Cocoa butter is even harder than SW. And way more expensive.

It was the melt point i was getting at more than the hardness at rt i think the melt point of cocoa butter is relatively low compared to sw so you will have to soap at a higher temp as the sw will start to resolidify if you go too low i would guess that could cause false trace. Im basing this on what little experience i have soaping with bw which im assuming would act the same when it gets close to its melt point also having just googles melt points sw has a pretty wide range of melt temps depending on type. Are you actually vegan or just for the purpose of soap? Im only asking that out of curiosity a good friend of mine is vegan and although isnt happy about using palm oil products will do so some what reluctantly.
I get your point about cost i make sw candles and 25kg was 80 quid wouldnt get 10kg cocoa butter for that not in the uk anyways.

 

[Misschief]

I'm waiting for word back from a local FB vendor. She's selling of a bunch of her wooden molds, almost brand new, made of maple, 18" long. I'm planning on buying 4 of them for $30 each; she was advertising them for $40 each. According to her, she's hardly used them and is cutting back on her soapmaking production.

 

[shunt2011]

I’m planning my soaps I’m finally going to get made this weekend. My goal is 12-14 loaves and maybe one 15 lb slab. It’s supposed to snow go a good time to make soap.

 

[Meena]

Cut a 1" x 2.25" slice off one of my first soaps to use last night, as the coconut soap (commercial) that i use has become too drying for my face. The lather is ultra-creamy and so yummy! Very happy with it and it can only get better!

Torn between making more of it right now, or testing out a 4th formulation; but since I don't want to make a full-size mold batch yet ... You know it: I'm gonna experiment a bit further.

This batch will use up the leftover colors I mixed for the soleseife batch, and I think i'll scent it with my Balsam Fir Needle EO. Going to search the forum because i think i recall that particular EO is one of the seizers; but even if it is, i'll use it to see what seize/soap-on-a-stick is like, since I haven't had a batch seize yet, and so that's a blank spot in my repertoire, lol.

I’m planning my soaps I’m finally going to get made this weekend. My goal is 12-14 loaves and maybe one 15 lb slab. It’s supposed to snow go a good time to make soap.

Super ambitious, dear! I can't even conceive of that, with my small apartment and tiny galley kitchen!

 

[shunt2011]

That’s normal for me when I go on a soaping mission. I carry 30-40 scents for my shows so try to get them done and curing for a good amount of time. Then I’m free to make the rest of my goodies.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I made a test batch of soap using 15% red palm oil I got on clearance from BB. beautiful goldenrod color! Will use this in a “pumpkin spice” recipe this fall. Forgot to turn on the heating pad, so did not get a full gel. No worries this batch is just for me !

View attachment 35118

beautiful color. my eyes are playing tricks on me your soap looks 3 dimensional

 

[KiwiMoose]

I unmolded my 'challenge' soap. It's OK I guess - not what I would have liked in my mind's eye, but it will serve its purpose. All will be revealed at a later date

 

[shunt2011]

Other than coconut oil I have no other hard oils. I am vegan and palm free. Cocoa butter is even harder than SW. And way more expensive.

Cocoa butters average melt point is 93-101 and Soy Wax is 120-180. So you would need to soap warmer to keep it melted.