What soapy thing have you done today?

[cmzaha]

Wow, that’s pretty. So you put it to bed in a plastic container. Do you just close it up, or does it get insulated, too? Curious newbie-ish types need to know.

I have shallow crates that hold 2 of my 18" molds which I put on top of a heating pad with a heat lap blanket on top and a cotton blanket on top of that. I want my soaps to gel!! Warning you do have to keep an eye on them. When I pour the next set I move the bottom to the top so it does take a bit of work but my soap always gel. If they start to overheat I just move the container to my table and aim a fan on them. By putting them in the container I do not have to worry about messing up the tops since I fill my molds to the very tops.

Also if there are any horrors of spills or volocanos, leaking etc the crates catch everything.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@cmzaha good idea about catching the volcano and I really need to find my heating pad. I know that if I go out and buy a new one I will find the one I already have immediately after that.

 

[cmzaha]

Yup. Just keep an eye on the molds for overheating. I usually use 33% Lye Concentration and have to force my recipe and most fragrances to gel.

 

[TeresaGG]

Found and counted the tubs of my soaping supplies in the storage room to estimate space needed in new setup. Writing that it doesn't seem like much. Today was still a good day.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Okay, there’s enough other posts here now for me to pop back in. Thanks! For some reason I felt the need to mentally prepare for some kind of unexpected twist or turn with the soy wax, but it was basically uneventful. If I don’t end up with a bunch of steric spots, I’m going to up the soy wax to 30% for the next batch. Have you ever gone that high? I noticed that a contributor to your soy wax thread mentioned using 40% and Earlene uses 30%. I will also need to check for zap because I used lard as the stand in for the GW 415 in the calculator.

I've only ever done 20%max. I need all the rest for my other 6 oils. Together they make up the FA profile just how I like it. I find the SW is much better when it gels BTW. Otherwise it can be crumbly/brittle.

 

[sirtim100]

Just made some goat milk soap and it didn't explode or morph into something savage with teeth...

Followed instructions for making the lye mixture and it worked, only went a pale cream/yellow colour, and didn't smell rank. Mixed in nicely with the oils and went to trace like a dream. Now it's sitting in a pringles container, doing nothing, and that suits me just fine.

And for my next trick, clay soap!

Happy soaping, everyone

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@KiwiMoose Oops! I think I have partial gel... I’m going to warm the oven and see if I can fix it using the method Deeanna shared on the Soapy Stuff website.

 

[linne1gi]

I made soap for my daughter-in-law. My son & daughter-in-law are having a celebration of their wedding.

 

[Dawni]

Very pretty @linne1gi

Does thinking about soaping count?

I doubt it lol but that's all I'm able to do nowadays.... Too busy running after a toddler and waiting on an elderly grandma

 

[sirtim100]

On a run here in rainy Spain...

After the goat milk venture, a batch of clay soap, and then a big load of Castille with peppermint EO. Xmas is coming and the goose is getting fat

Happy soaping, everyone

 

[runnerchicki]

Very pretty @linne1gi

Does thinking about soaping count?

In my book it does. I am thinking about salt soaps so that is my soapy thing today. I tested mine and love love love them - and they are only a month old. I want to make more but am probably not going to be able to do much soapy stuff besides thinking because I have to start getting ready to move in a few weeks.

I left the base of the soap uncolored to give it an antiqued holiday look from the discoloring FO. Next time, I’m going to try a hanger swirl after I drop pour the colored batter.

View attachment 42067

These look really pretty!

SO - I couldn't get salt bars off my mind. I had *just* enough lye to make 1 lb batch. All I had was Kosher salt and it is a very fine flake, so hopefully the bars turn out ok. I am officially finished soaping for a month or so because I am out of lye and am not allowing myself to go buy more. I have got to start thinking about packing. At least my soaps will be cured enough to survive the move. I'm only moving 15 min away and I hand carry my essential oils, my soap, and my video games. Priorities ....

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I cut my 1st soy wax soap today! Given that I don’t usually work with batter at 115F, I was sooo worried about the loaf overheating and watched it pretty closely for about two hours last night. By this morning it had partially gelled and developed ash on top. I managed to mostly correct the partial gel by putting the loaf into a warm oven for a couple of hours.

I left the base of the soap uncolored to give it an antiqued holiday look from the discoloring FO. Next time, I’m going to try a hanger swirl after I drop pour the colored batter.

 

[Dawni]

Ah then I've thought a lot about soap over the last couple of weeks lol

@KiwiMoose I'm looking forward to you're thick trace ITP, if you ever make it. I've tried that several times, always getting what looks like an abstract painting hehe, but never in a loaf.

@Mobjack Bay I used 40% soy wax 444, for no reason other than the comparison soap recipe had 40% lard. I was testing hardness n longevity. Hopefully my next post is an update on those.......... Yours soap is very pretty

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Ah then I've thought a lot about soap over the last couple of weeks lol

@KiwiMoose I'm looking forward to you're thick trace ITP, if you ever make it. I've tried that several times, always getting what looks like an abstract painting hehe, but never in a loaf.

@Mobjack Bay I used 40% soy wax 444, for no reason other than the comparison soap recipe had 40% lard. I was testing hardness n longevity. Hopefully my next post is an update on those.......... Yours soap is very pretty

Thanks! I’m going to try 30% the next time. I used lard as the proxy for the 415. It has a higher sap than soybean oil and I wanted to make sure I didn’t end up with zappy soap on this run. No zap with the SF at 5% and the SAP at .141 instead of .136ish! I look forward to reading about the 40% 444 results.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I left the base of the soap uncolored to give it an antiqued holiday look from the discoloring FO

looks very xmasy, pretty!!!

 

[melinda48]

What soapy thing? A disaster apparently. I was trying for spearmint/peppermint soap and ended up with this! Crumbly bottom, soft top, gel-looking middle. Can anyone suggest what went awry? I used a recipe that I have used before without problems. Here are some photos. All/any comments welcome!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

What soapy thing? A disaster apparently. I was trying for spearmint/peppermint soap and ended up with this! Crumbly bottom, soft top, gel-looking middle. Can anyone suggest what went awry? I used a recipe that I have used before without problems. Here are some photos. All/any comments welcome!

I just recently made a soap that looks a lot like that. My emulsion was very thin and on the unstable side of things. I had an oil film on the top after a few hours, but the soap never fully separated. I started at RT and although it heated up a bit, it cooled off quickly. It was a small batch (525 g oils). I had similar problems when I first started making small batches using individual cavity molds. After my recent fail, I successfully made two more batches with the same recipe. The only difference was that I blended both of them a bit more. They were still pre-trace, but more the consistency of thick cream versus thin cream (which I realize is totally in the eyes of the observer).

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I cut my 1st soy wax soap today! Given that I don’t usually work with batter at 115F, I was sooo worried about the loaf overheating and watched it pretty closely for about two hours last night. By this morning it had partially gelled and developed ash on top. I managed to mostly correct the partial gel by putting the loaf into a warm oven for a couple of hours.

I left the base of the soap uncolored to give it an antiqued holiday look from the discoloring FO. Next time, I’m going to try a hanger swirl after I drop pour the colored batter.

View attachment 42067

Actually, maybe y’all can help me! I’m hoping to achieve is a random wispy look throughout the body of the soap. I think I’m okay on random, but I would like more wispyness (if that’s a word!). For some reason I thought I could get that with a drop pour and I also thought the red would sink down even though I poured it in towards the end. I’m still very much a newbie when it comes to swirling soap! If I drop pour and then hanger swirl, will I get wispy? Or, if anyone can suggest videos for me to watch, please do!

 

[runnerchicki]

Actually, maybe y’all can help me! I’m hoping to achieve is a random wispy look throughout the body of the soap. I think I’m okay on random, but I would like more wispyness (if that’s a word!). For some reason I thought I could get that with a drop pour and I also thought the red would sink down even though I poured it in towards the end. I’m still very much a newbie when it comes to swirling soap! If I drop pour and then hanger swirl, will I get wispy? Or, if anyone can suggest videos for me to watch, please do!

Evesgardensoaps on youtube. She does some very pretty and very wispy swirls in her soaps. I'm sure there are others but that is the one I thought of right away.

ETA: I would think the gauge of the tool you use to swirl will have an impact on how wispy the swirls are. Thick tool = thicker swirls. Thin tool = thinner, more wispy swirls. I get some wispy swirls by using a chopstick. But I'm not very good at swirling so take my suggestions with a grain of salt LOL.

Edited again to add: If you want to swirl throughout the soap - maybe an ITP swirl? Ophelia's soapery on youtube - she's a master at this.

 

[Misschief]

Actually, maybe y’all can help me! I’m hoping to achieve is a random wispy look throughout the body of the soap. I think I’m okay on random, but I would like more wispyness (if that’s a word!). For some reason I thought I could get that with a drop pour and I also thought the red would sink down even though I poured it in towards the end. I’m still very much a newbie when it comes to swirling soap! If I drop pour and then hanger swirl, will I get wispy? Or, if anyone can suggest videos for me to watch, please do!

My first thought was a minimal ITP swirl. Here's one of my favourite soaps (my grandson claimed the last one in the batch, darn it!). In the uncoloured base, I poured some whitened (with TD) and pale blue swirls. I absolutely love the swirls in this one. It was last years's Christmas soap and each bar has a M & P snowflake.