What soapy thing have you done today?

[Zany_in_CO]

It's more like plop-and-hope for the best lol.

Actually, if you said "Yup. That's exactly what I was going for," we'd believe you. Nice pattern, really.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I made a third batch of @Zany_in_CO's no-slime castile. I think this one will look quite nice in the molds I've chosen.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I got an order for 38 bars of soap in 6 different scents (of course none that I have already made) so I started the first batch tonight. 2 loaves of lavender. I gave in and ordered micas so now I'm playing with colors and swirls and combinations. I really think the lavender batch I made tonight will be quite beautiful. I can't wait to cut it. I also made some embeds for use in another soap later.

 

[violets2217]

I made a third batch of @Zany_in_CO's no-slime castile. I think this one will look quite nice in the molds I've chosen.

I’m trying @Zany_in_CO Castile recipe today. But I’m adding some poppy seed. For about 60 oz oil, 1 tablespoon too much? I don’t what it too abrasive. What do you think?

 

[sirtim100]

View attachment 42538
And a collection of mini soaps I managed to salvage. I still have about a cup of crumbles and shavings to make confetti soap with. I don't like wasting soap.
View attachment 42539

Looks very nice to me. I'd buy it

Made my much vaunted turron soap.

Went fine, almond milk didn't go up in a sheet of flame when it came into contact with the lye. Went a weird colour, smelt a bit odd, but I put that down to some process similar to what happens with goat milk. The oils mixed very nicely, put the lye mixture in, then the FO mix and it suddenly turned into something out of a Dracula movie. Blood red, viscous, gave me quite a fright. Started looking around for hex marks on the kitchen wall, small dead animals nailed to the patio door. Nothing...

So I hurriedly slipped it into the mould and made like nothing had happened. And miracle of miracles, it went a lovely, rich, toasted brown colour, almost like the turron colour I was looking for. And it even smells a bit like almonds.

However, I may have to exorcise the stick blender...

 

[Dawni]

Looks very nice to me. I'd buy it

Thank you
I'd send you one if you want it badly enough

And miracle of miracles, it went a lovely, rich, toasted brown colour, almost like the turron colour I was looking for.

Love the way you write lol
Can't wait to see the soap. What was the FO? Maybe it'll help @Mobjack Bay get her elusive brown

 

[sirtim100]

Thank you
I'd send you one if you want it badly enough

Love the way you write lol
Can't wait to see the soap. What was the FO? Maybe it'll help @Mobjack Bay get her elusive brown

I think the colour was a combination of factors. I put in some honey to match the traditional turron recipe, plus the FO, plus the almond milk. I can send details about the FO. The only thing is it's fading quite fast now, it's turning a sort of nutty beige. Still fits in with the overall concept, though.

In my utterly limited experience, one ingredient that gives a good brown colour is dark honey. I did one soap with organic honey gifted by a friend, and almost one month later, it still has a very nice brown colour, a bit like fudge.

The top one is the Transylvanian exercise, which as you can see, has lost the blood special effects and has gone a rather boring beige, but it's fine for my purposes. The other is the organic honey soap, which is a nice nutty brown.

 

[Kiti Williams]

does taking a hot bath and trying out a solid bath bubble I made count?? I guess it doesn't matter if it does or not but it felt great---baby its cold outside

I think so, we MUST check our soaps for Quality Control!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I’m trying @Zany_in_CO Castile recipe today. But I’m adding some poppy seed. For about 60 oz oil, 1 tablespoon too much? I don’t what it too abrasive. What do you think?

I don't know what 60 oz is (@Misschief - heeeelp!) but I would use about a generous teaspoon PPO if you just want a pretty dotted effect.

 

[Kosmerta]

Hi, this is my first comment on the forum. I am new to soap making an about 12 hours ago (so techniqually "today" ;D) I made my first pure castille soap. 22 oz batch with 0% superfat and a 50% lye solution. I used a small 5" mold, and in a few days I'll cut five 1" slices, then cut each in half. I've heard 1 year is the optimal curing time for pure olive soap, but just for the experiment I will test a slice at two months, and then each month consecutively and take notes. Just personal learning reasons I plan to also make pure coconut oil, pure palm oil, and pure shea butter batches just to help me get a personal experience with the qualities of each oil. I believe this will help me better create my own recipe.

Ashes&Alchemy's single oil experiment from 2013 came up when I googled "single oil soap" and is how I found this forum, A&A if you see this, thank you so much! Your blog is very informative!

 

[Baqn]

Updates from last week I am very happy that I tried salt soap

Second photo is my second attempt Pine Tar CP soap bar, first one is 50% Himalayan salt CP soap bar

 

[amd]

I used a small 5" mold, and in a few days I'll cut five 1" slices, then cut each in half.

Check your soap sooner than a few days. With a 50% lye solution it may be harder than you think. I recently did a castile soap with 1.7:1 ratio (58% solution) and I let it sit for two days and it couldn't be cut without breaking (although part of that may have been my heavy handedness with clay and charcoal). Once the soap is firm and doesn't dent when you push a finger in, you can cut it.

My soap thing of the day: I made a to do list for the weekend that might include making two small batches of soap and definitely includes doing soap dishes.

 

[violets2217]

I don't know what 60 oz is (@Misschief - heeeelp!) but I would use about a generous teaspoon PPO if you just want a pretty dotted effect.

Sorry.. I meant to put in as pounds anyway but I forgot, but I did exactly what you said. Thank you for leading me to the Castile soap recipe!

 

[SoapySuds]

I found mouse nibbles on one bar of soap in the basement. I chided the cats for not doing their job and may have mentioned putting it in their file for a future performance review, I was met with ‘whatever’ eye rolls and a flippant attitude. Still. Why eat my soap now? It’s probably because it’s the strawberry scented one. That does smell amazing, and almost tasty. On the other hand, no zap tests will be conducted in the foreseen nearable future.

 

[sirtim100]

I found mouse nibbles on one bar of soap in the basement. I chided the cats for not doing their job and may have mentioned putting it in their file for a future performance review, I was met with ‘whatever’ eye rolls and a flippant attitude. Still. Why eat my soap now? It’s probably because it’s the strawberry scented one. That does smell amazing, and almost tasty. On the other hand, no zap tests will be conducted in the foreseen nearable future.

Threaten them with a vist to the vet, that never fails. They won't leave the basement till they've got the strawberry soap eating rodent

 

[amd]

Threaten them with a vist to the vet, that never fails.

Or even just set the cat carrier out. My male cat detests the stupid carrier (every time he sees it he has to go to the vet). On the plus side, it is a safe place for the female cat to hide from him when he's finally annoyed her enough for the day.

 

[atiz]

I haven't soaped too much these days (not since the summer), but finally got to make some Christmas soap last weekend.

One is colored with a bit of orange brazilian clay and scented with "Comfort and Joy" FO + some orange EO (I got this FO as a sample and find it a bit sweet... but I find most FOs sweet so it's probably fine. Some of my friends will like this I know.)
The other one is colored with green sea clay, and was supposed to be mint, but then realized I was almost out of peppermint EO, so it's peppermint (about 2%) + cedarwood + cardamom + lemongrass. Smells pretty good; no idea about the percentages otherwise because it was just on a whim.
I tinkered with my favorite recipe, and I think they turned out quite good, nice leather already.
It was fun to make soap again!

(I need to take better pictures; the colors are a bit off, the green is much greener in reality...)

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I found mouse nibbles on one bar of soap in the basement

I hate meeces to pieces!!!

 

[Misschief]

I don't know what 60 oz is (@Misschief - heeeelp!) but I would use about a generous teaspoon PPO if you just want a pretty dotted effect.

@KiwiMoose It's about 1.7 litres.

Not totally soapy but I stopped by my local health food store for some jojoba oil so I can make some more syndet shampoo bars for this weekend's market. One small (4 oz) bottle was $22.00!! Nope, just nope!

If I order from one of my usual suppliers, it won't arrive in time for this week's market and maybe not even for next week's market. I'll have to buy it locally but those prices hurt!

 

[DKing]

Found a box suitable for a spin swirl today and made another attempt, but feeling only iffy on my colour combo this go around, so might have to make another attempt before the cut off. Plus things started to thicken a bit towards the end.