What soapy thing have you done today?

[Zing]

I like your colours. If you want it to gel, one thing you could do is preheat your oven to about 150ºF and turn it off just before you put you soap in. Leave it overnight.

Thanks for the tip. I have a silicon loaf mold -- is that oven safe?

 

[Misschief]

Thanks for the tip. I have a silicon loaf mold -- is that oven safe?

Yes. You're not actually heating it. The oven should be pre-heated but turned off.

 

[Zing]

Got it, thanks,

 

[Meena]

So you don't tear the bejeezus out of it when you take it off then? ;-)

No, I just undo the tape holding the paper down, sometimes needing scissors for that, but then it lifts right out.

 

[Meena]

View attachment 35898 Unmolded last night but waited til this morning to cut. I'm not fishing for compliments here but I'm disappointed in this batch. I don't think it gelled which I wanted. I soaped at the lowest temp (near room temp) I ever have and wonder if that affected gel. In the first hour, mold did not feel warm so I put on a heat register overnight. BUT it smells wonderful!

I think you got a good, consistent, and even swirl, and i love the color combination!

I always wonder when people say they are disappointed, what they had in mind versus the result.
What was the unmet expectation, out of curiosity -- just the gel part?

 

[Meena]

End cuts of latest batches

Great job! The orange and black Tiger came out great!! Love them all.

 

[KiwiMoose]

View attachment 35898 Unmolded last night but waited til this morning to cut. I'm not fishing for compliments here but I'm disappointed in this batch. I don't think it gelled which I wanted. I soaped at the lowest temp (near room temp) I ever have and wonder if that affected gel. In the first hour, mold did not feel warm so I put on a heat register overnight. BUT it smells wonderful!

And not being the 'catch' even if you were fishing...
But I saw these pics before I read your comments, and I think they are wonderful! Love the colours! I think we all do this - we have a picture in our minds of what we expect and are disappointed with the result. Other people looking at your soap don't have that expectation and see it for what it is - good lookin' soap that - in your case at least - smells great.

 

[Chris_S]

Oh don't worry, we'll eat the excess lol

Sorry it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, but hey, it's really pretty soap and it smelling wonderful is a plus

Niiice! Dustin's gonna say those are "iger" and "jeba" soaps hehehe

Took me a few times of looking at that to figure out what you meant lmao feeling a bit dozy today actually yesterday wasnt much better.

Im really happy how they came out. Im not overly excited by confetti soap it just doesnt seem to interest me only benifit is it get rid of soap scraps but then it means i have to use a batch just to make use of them

 

[steffamarie]

Tried out the Clyde slide technique on a small 1-lb batch so we’ll see how that turns out!!

 

[Zing]

End cuts of latest batches

These are awesome -- especially the middle one and the right one! Good job,

 

[MGM]

BUT it smells wonderful!

Did I miss where Zing revealed the fragrance? Everyone says "Oh smells good", as if you're all there in the room with him (NOT), but what iisssss it?

 

[Dawni]

Did I miss where Zing revealed the fragrance? Everyone says "Oh smells good", as if you're all there in the room with him (NOT), but what iisssss it?

He mentions it here..

Made a batch of soap today, my go-to recipe but with apricot kernel oil. Blue mica and cocoa powder, in the pot swirl. Rosemary/bergamot and splashes of fir needle and cedarwood essential oils. While I was experimenting with possible EO blends, discovered 50/50 lavender/litsea cubeba and my wife just lost it, that'll have to be the next loaf, even tho' lavender's not my thang.

 

[MGM]

He mentions it here..

Thanks! I did totally miss that, but all of those combos sound great....off to sniff bottles....I'd have to do it for fragrances for other products and M&P. Just can't afford to use EOs in CP soap.

I can tell you what I WON'T be doing today...making the soap I've been planning for 2 weeks! I was going to do the 100% lard soap with M&P embeds that I prepped ages ago; I had set aside my lunch break on my work-from-home day. I get up, do the breakfast stuff, pack the kids' lunches, and we get a robocall from the school: schools are closed due to freezing rain (current and expected). It's so bad that my workplace is closed---first time in years. So in theory, I don't have to work today, but I have so much to do that I'm going to have to. AND because the kids are buzzing around, I won't be able to do my lunchtime soaping. AND because they're home due to dangerous weather, they definitely won't be outside playing and maybe can barely even get to a friend's house! So instead of having the run of a quiet house to work wherever I want, cup of tea in hand, with a lovely soaping break midday, I'll be trapped in a tiny office upstairs where I'll still hear the "mooommmmyyy"s and no soaping for me.
end GRUMP

 

[Zing]

I can tell you what I WON'T be doing today...making the soap I've been planning for 2 weeks! I was going to do the 100% lard soap with M&P embeds that I prepped ages ago; I had set aside my lunch break on my work-from-home day. I get up, do the breakfast stuff, pack the kids' lunches, and we get a robocall from the school: schools are closed due to freezing rain (current and expected). It's so bad that my workplace is closed---first time in years. So in theory, I don't have to work today, but I have so much to do that I'm going to have to. AND because the kids are buzzing around, I won't be able to do my lunchtime soaping. AND because they're home due to dangerous weather, they definitely won't be outside playing and maybe can barely even get to a friend's house! So instead of having the run of a quiet house to work wherever I want, cup of tea in hand, with a lovely soaping break midday, I'll be trapped in a tiny office upstairs where I'll still hear the "mooommmmyyy"s and no soaping for me.
end GRUMP

Sorry about your tough day! When the kids were little, my wife would have days where'd she say "I need to change my name from 'Mommy' to anything else! I don't want to hear that word again!"

 

[MGM]

Sorry about your tough day! When the kids were little, my wife would have days where'd she say "I need to change my name from 'Mommy' to anything else! I don't want to hear that word again!"

Oh it's not even that tough, I'm just complaining. And here's the kicker, the room I've been relegated to is the one where I keep all my ingredients and products! So here I am, sitting nose to nose with my soaps (good smells!) with 150 bottles of carrier oils and EOs and butters and powders beckoning me to make them into something or at least look at them!
I'm pacing my work today with checking in on SMF....an hour of work = a 10-min forum break...that's a pretty good work:break ratio
(Also, my wife is the stay-at-home mom and she's called Mama, so if the kids don't get an answer to one of the M-words, they just try the other.... And if anyone's going to have a tough day, it's her, because instead of her going to the gym and catching up on stuff around the house and going to her massage, she's got the kids! )
Ok, that was def 10 min.

 

[Micchi]

I started early in the soap dungeon today, working on cleaning up a batch testing out a new mica. I wasn't going to make it pretty, but then I fell in love with the swirl I made so now I have a bunch of pretty guest soaps on the curing rack! Today is also oil restock day, and maybe I'll even have the oomph to make a batch or two for sale.

 

[Loralei]

I love everyone's pictures so much!! I'm knee deep in prepping for a trade show.. since I mostly make cleaning products, I have no pretty pictures . Lots of liquid soap for dishes, though! And 1700+ sample jars of my all purpose cleaner...

 

[Dawni]

So both my lye and my lard were delivered today.. Yey!

Again I was over ambitious and tried to CP some colorful, swirly soap.. And so many things went wrong. I'm close to tears (not really but you get the picture lol).

I miscalculated batch size. These are gonna be like those tiny hotel soaps haha.. Then I could not get the micas blended well so my nice batter that I only stick blended til emulsion, ended up too thick too pour by the time I was not even halfway through. Then, as I was swirling the top, my chopstick fell, and the cat decided to take a stroll on the overhead shelf and dropped a couple of packets of gravy mix and chill flakes (I soap in the kitchen) onto my mold. Those damn micas didn't even give me the colors i envisioned.

So I think I'm gonna end up with my ugliest soap so far... Boooo!

 

[MGM]

couple of packets of gravy mix and chill flakes (I soap in the kitchen) onto my mold. Those **** micas didn't even give me the colors i envisioned.

So I think I'm gonna end up with my ugliest soap so far... Boooo!

Forget the micas. I bet gravy mix and chili flakes would blend well....

 

[Dawni]

Forget the micas. I bet gravy mix and chili flakes would blend well....

Lol if they were opened I don't know what I'd have done. Who knew gravy packets were so sharp lol

Makes me wonder if there's anyone who thought to use chili flakes to decorate soap tops haha