What soapy thing have you done today?

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Pumpkin soap! Very simple, but now I have a recipe :)

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I love the plain pumpkin color--did you use puree? replace the water at what percentage? and did you gel. curious minds want to know!!!
Thanks! I used 3 oz of canned pumpkin purée for 2 lbs of oil, and subtracted the wt. from the water for my 33% lye concentration lye water. Having read posts by some of the experienced makers about the color that results from pumpkin purée, I also added clays. The mix ended up being about 1/2 tsp gold, 1/2 tsp red and a pinch of black (which is actually dark brown) for the batch. My fragrance mix had a little bit of ginger and clove EOs to accent the FO and that was enough to send it into gel stage pretty quickly, but I also soaped on the warm side (115F) because I used a palm-based recipe and I didn’t want to end up with any steric (or palmitic?) spots.
 
I'd been meaning to add clay to soap, and remember that Marie Rayme At humblebee swears by it, so went looking for a recipe. I inadvertently found the one where she uses a HUGE amount of clay, and since I don't have tallow, had to use a different recipe anyway, but I was intrigued by putting in a full 2/3c of clay per 500g of oil! But I did it.
I also used my new Dragon's Blood FO....reviews said it darkens almost to back, so I saved a bit of pink and white for accent. So far not much discolouration at all and boy, I think that Dragon's Blood is an acquired taste! But of course the proof will be in the pudding for how this one feels (something I'm usually less interested in),but I'll have to wait a while for that.....

Living with a scientist:
I asked my DH (a scientist or maybe just a pedant) if he'd help me decant my 25kg bag of NaOH into smaller containers.
DH: Is it a liquid or a solid
Me: It's prills - so a solid
DH: You can't decant a solid only a liquid so I guess the answer to your question is - no, I can't help you.
:beatinghead:

a) pedant
b) scientist
c) lawyer
d) linguist
e) all of the above

(STILL FUNNY THO!)

(also, i consider myself at least 2, maybe 3 of those things, but i didn't know the word "prills". and i love it. will try to work it into conversation tomorrow at the office. "oops, I seem to have dumped a bunch of prills on my desk....")
 

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Tonight I was playing with Label making on my Puter.
Was about to print out a while sheet to see how it would fit on my box..........
:confused: out of COLORED ink and it won't print anything, even though I am only printing in black :mad:
 
Living with a scientist:
I asked my DH (a scientist or maybe just a pedant) if he'd help me decant my 25kg bag of NaOH into smaller containers.
DH: Is it a liquid or a solid
Me: It's prills - so a solid
DH: You can't decant a solid only a liquid so I guess the answer to your question is - no, I can't help you.
:beatinghead:

My husband would say the same thing, not as a scientist, but as a former liquor businessperson and also as a wordie.
 
Thanks! I used 3 oz of canned pumpkin purée for 2 lbs of oil, and subtracted the wt. from the water for my 33% lye concentration lye water. Having read posts by some of the experienced makers about the color that results from pumpkin purée, I also added clays. The mix ended up being about 1/2 tsp gold, 1/2 tsp red and a pinch of black (which is actually dark brown) for the batch. My fragrance mix had a little bit of ginger and clove EOs to accent the FO and that was enough to send it into gel stage pretty quickly, but I also soaped on the warm side (115F) because I used a palm-based recipe and I didn’t want to end up with any steric (or palmitic?) spots.
sounds yummy, in parts.

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So for my soapy thing...ta da! I’m calling it refried beans with plutonium reactor rods. Watcha think of my failed rebatch?
 
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I have to say he did eventually help me to TRANSFER it from a bag to 2 litre containers.
A prill is a small ball that doesn't fly around as much as a powder but is easier to measure than flakes. I don't have a preference really...it is just how it comes from my cheapest local supplier.
Oh the definition I found online as much more elaborate and precise: "a pellet or solid globule of a substance formed by the congealing of a liquid during an industrial process." Which is GREAT! I love very specific words!
 
The glycerin melt and pour soap I made is still sweating. This is the first time I've tried MP I usually do CP. When do you wrap it if it keeps sweating !?!? Argh!
When you make M&P soap as soon as you unmold it Wrap it up, seal it! It will be a mess forever otherwise..just the opposite of CP... or at least very different.!
 
I made soap rims from soap dough... and then didn't get the soap made right away. Not sure WHAT I was thinking, but shrinkage didn't even occur to my little brain. So now the rims do not fit tight in the cavity molds. Debating if I should redo them or go ahead and pour anyways.

I got most of my Soapers Choice order in yesterday. Everything but the coconut oil. I had received an email from SC that my coconut oil had been damaged in shipping and they would be sending me out a new one. Within an hour I had an email saying that the new oil package was shipped. Amazing customer service! Even with this delay, I will still have all the oils I ordered within a week of placing my order.

I also got my BCN order (shocked me as I had ordered on Monday or Tuesday so I was not expecting it until the weekend at the earliest). So I am now stocked for fragrance oils. I solemnly swear I will not buy any more FO's ... unless I completely sell out and can't make more. [Please don't hold me to that... :p]

Today will be packing for tomorrow's show, and maybe messing around with the rimmed soap. We'll see what I decide later. ETA: also doing soap dishes and making Nag Champa soap. Almost forgot....
 
I made soap rims from soap dough... and then didn't get the soap made right away. Not sure WHAT I was thinking, but shrinkage didn't even occur to my little brain. So now the rims do not fit tight in the cavity molds. Debating if I should redo them or go ahead and pour anyways.

I got most of my Soapers Choice order in yesterday. Everything but the coconut oil. I had received an email from SC that my coconut oil had been damaged in shipping and they would be sending me out a new one. Within an hour I had an email saying that the new oil package was shipped. Amazing customer service! Even with this delay, I will still have all the oils I ordered within a week of placing my order.

I also got my BCN order (shocked me as I had ordered on Monday or Tuesday so I was not expecting it until the weekend at the earliest). So I am now stocked for fragrance oils. I solemnly swear I will not buy any more FO's ... unless I completely sell out and can't make more. [Please don't hold me to that... :p]

Today will be packing for tomorrow's show, and maybe messing around with the rimmed soap. We'll see what I decide later. ETA: also doing soap dishes and making Nag Champa soap. Almost forgot....
Sounds like you’ve laid in a good stock of supplies. Good luck at the show!
 
Testing new oil combos for my french-milled soap. I want a hard bar, one that will go through my meat grinder. Today I'm experimenting with more a more, standard simple soap recipe. I previously made soap with majority oils (almond, coconut, palm oils) plus beef tallow. Then also added minimal 1-2oz amounts of hemp, shea, stearic acid, and fractionated coconut oils. This oil combo is nice for 1-step CP soaps but gotta get down to basics if I'm going to be grinding and reheating and all that.
 
Last night got printer all set and finished getting labels done on the template.

I use Avery but print on a 'Sticker sheet' so I can cut my own size. This way I get 8 labels per sheet and it wraps on the box from 1/2 on the front, over one end and 1/2 on the back. Name, scent, weight, scent, ingredients. This way I don't have to cut 3 separate stickers to put on :) Work SMARTER not harder ;) Yes I have to cut 4 times per sticker sheet on the big paper cutter but it saves Money & time. Plus if it doesn't print on the Sticker part of a pre-cut sticker sheet it won't matter win-win :dance:

FM this morning then printing and boxing.
 
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