What soapy thing have you done today?

[DKing]

At the market, my best selling soaps usually have lavender in them. It doesn't matter that it's a floral; it seems to be more of a unisex fragrance than any other.

I was never much of a lavender fan, but it is starting to grow on me now. It does seem to be the scent most requested by different family members so I can imagine it would be a good seller for you. Are you doing another sale before Christmas? I still need to come out and say hello!

 

[Misschief]

I was never much of a lavender fan, but it is starting to grow on me now. It does seem to be the scent most requested by different family members so I can imagine it would be a good seller for you. Are you doing another sale before Christmas? I still need to come out and say hello!

Today was my last sale of the season. We could just get together for coffee some time, though, yanno?

 

[Michele50]

"....I need to work on getting my tops to pop more, for example the way @Michele50 gets her’s to pop . I would love to hear how others do a mica drizzle because they always seem to turn ashy on me...."

Thanks so much, @Mobjack Bay, I do appreciate your compliment. Some of mine with the 'pop' of color on top do get soda ash but (with gloves on) I hold them under a gentle stream of water while moving my finger against the ash. It can remove a bit of design so I try to do this quickly. I've read where others use the steam on their iron to 'erase' their's but I didn't have success with that method. I had one loaf get ash and it had quite a bit of texture (no pop color though) on top and it was all down in the groves . I used a small soft make-up brush I had to rub gently in the groves while under a tiny stream of water. It was a slow process but when I gift to my family I'm OCD about my soap and want them to look pretty; the ash takes away from that. Use to I'd leave my soap in the mold longer than now and never got ash; I've only gotten it since removing my soap sooner.

I sometimes use just a little reserved soap batter to drizzle on top and then swirl. Other times I mix a bit of mica into a light oil and put it to the side until I'm ready to decorate the top with it; however, I prefer how the micas look mixed in with glycerin. The glycerin mixed micas are (to me) a bit heavier so if one is heavy-handed at drizzling/dropping it onto the top of the soap it can create little divots or indentations once cured. That might only happen if the soap batter were still very fluid and not at a thicker trace.

I wanted to attach a photo to show you how the lighter blue and darker blue look mixed with glycerin on the top compared to the very same two colors mixed into the soap batter--big difference! I've put a black circle around one area that has the light blue soap batter alongside the light blue mica mixed with glycerin, as well another black circle around more of the light blue soap batter. I did the same with the darker blue (purple circles). Seeing the two blues (soap batter color and the glycerin mix) allows you to see just how much pop it adds.

I took pics right after cutting them into bars. Included is a photo of one so you could see how the colors look after saponification. It was made in a loaf mold so they're rough looking on the sides. I'll smooth them up a bit by running them under the tap (but keep the tops out from the stream) and rub my gloved fingers over the face of the soap. This was my first salt bar and I ground the sea salt to a powder rather than leaving it as very small granules. I've only made 2, the other I left in their granule state.

 

[DKing]

Today was my last sale of the season. We could just get together for coffee some time, though, yanno?

Absolutely! I'm more of a tea kinda girl, but I am completely up for that. let's make plans soon.

 

[Dawni]

Made my (hopefully) challenge entry soap.. And a soleseife! Kiddo napped for quite a while today hehehe

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Michele50 thank you for those very clear photos. It never even occurred to me to use the colored micas instead of gold. I’ve been putting the mica in water rather than oil or glycerin, which may be part of the problem. I also rushed to cut the soap. It was my first recipe with tallow and when the top got very hard within 4 hours of putting the soap in the mold I was afraid that I would be trying to cut a rock if I waited until the next day. I am always learning

You managed to get impressive swirls in your salt bar, which are notorious for being difficult to swirl. With the cure of my first salt bars now at the 5 month mark, a tester soap made with powdery salt seems to be lathering a little less than a tester soap made with granular salt. I’m wondering if the difference could be due to the texture of the bars, with the “rougher” soap lathering better. My next step is to pull out some full size bars to compare.

 

[Ladka]

I unmolded the toy car and carnation flower from my new made silicone moulds.

The car looks just like my Opel on a snowy winter morning ha-ha!
Next time I'll use red colour I've tested in the carnation flower.

 

[Kiti Williams]

Thanks so much, @Mobjack Bay, I do appreciate your compliment. Some of mine with the 'pop' of color on top do get soda ash but (with gloves on) I hold them under a gentle stream of water while moving my finger against the ash. It can remove a bit of design so I try to do this quickly. I've read where others use the steam on their iron to 'erase' their's but I didn't have success with that method. I had one loaf get ash and it had quite a bit of texture (no pop color though) on top and it was all down in the groves . I used a small soft make-up brush I had to rub gently in the groves while under a tiny stream of water. It was a slow process but when I gift to my family I'm OCD about my soap and want them to look pretty; the ash takes away from that. Use to I'd leave my soap in the mold longer than now and never got ash; I've only gotten it since removing my soap sooner.

I sometimes use just a little reserved soap batter to drizzle on top and then swirl. Other times I mix a bit of mica into a light oil and put it to the side until I'm ready to decorate the top with it; however, I prefer how the micas look mixed in with glycerin. The glycerin mixed micas are (to me) a bit heavier so if one is heavy-handed at drizzling/dropping it onto the top of the soap it can create little divots or indentations once cured. That might only happen if the soap batter were still very fluid and not at a thicker trace.

I wanted to attach a photo to show you how the lighter blue and darker blue look mixed with glycerin on the top compared to the very same two colors mixed into the soap batter--big difference! I've put a black circle around one area that has the light blue soap batter alongside the light blue mica mixed with glycerin, as well another black circle around more of the light blue soap batter. I did the same with the darker blue (purple circles). Seeing the two blues (soap batter color and the glycerin mix) allows you to see just how much pop it adds.View attachment 42693

I took pics right after cutting them into bars. Included is a photo of one so you could see how the colors look after saponification. It was made in a loaf mold so they're rough looking on the sides. I'll smooth them up a bit by running them under the tap (but keep the tops out from the stream) and rub my gloved fingers over the face of the soap. This was my first salt bar and I ground the sea salt to a powder rather than leaving it as very small granules. I've only made 2, the other I left in their granule state.
View attachment 42694

That is a lovely cut!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Absolutely! I'm more of a tea kinda girl, but I am completely up for that. let's make plans soon.

Happy to treat anyone to a cuppa tea or coffee if they can pay for the trip over to NZ

I had a go at making an ombre soap, but had difficulties with very lumpy accelerating batter, so the colours didn't graduate as much as i would have liked - there are distinct lines between each mix because I had to work quickly. However, I still quite like it, and next time I will try without using a new, untested, FO.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

@Ladka those are awesome--love it!!!!
@kiwim beautiful soap--I don't care if it isn't what you had planned for they are great!!!

while it may not be soapy--I am making rose melts and then I am stuck waiting for the last of my supplies to come in and then I want to not do anything bath related for the rest of the year after my last 3 markets--except soak in the tub and use some of the new things I have made

 

[Dumfrey]

Made my third batch of cold process soap, a bit surprising this time!



Today's recipe;
30% coconut
30% lard
30% palm
10% olive
50% of water replaced with aloe
1 TBS oatmeal (powdered in vitamix)
Small batch, 500G


Got it to emulsion, added some oatmeal, quick blend, added some FO (China Rain, not supposed to cause acceleration per vendor) and it went form emulsion to a thick trace in about 30 seconds.
Got it all in the molds (individual bar and shell) with juts a little time to spare.
Molds did not fill even, and I was in a hurry, so made a bit of a mess
It was a thick pudding, setting up by the time I finished
It started gel in about 4 minutes, got it covered and insulated.
Dumped the extra into a cleaned up take out cup that originally housed some BBQ beans.

An hour latter, I was able to loosen the edges and shake out the "spare puck" from the bean container.

all in all. Looks like it turned out okay. Will pop the rest out of the mold tomorrow.

 

[DKing]

Happy to treat anyone to a cuppa tea or coffee if they can pay for the trip over to NZ

Going to NZ would be a pretty great vacation, so you never know! Same goes if you ever make your way over to Canada.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Happy to treat anyone to a cuppa tea or coffee if they can pay for the trip over to NZ

I had a go at making an ombre soap, but had difficulties with very lumpy accelerating batter, so the colours didn't graduate as much as i would have liked - there are distinct lines between each mix because I had to work quickly. However, I still quite like it, and next time I will try without using a new, untested, FO.
View attachment 42699 View attachment 42700

Forget about ombre. The layering makes a very attractive soap. And, oh by the way, I’m not seeing any muddy colors...

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Made my third batch of cold process soap, a bit surprising this time!



Today's recipe;
30% coconut
30% lard
30% palm
10% olive
50% of water replaced with aloe
1 TBS oatmeal (powdered in vitamix)
Small batch, 500G


Got it to emulsion, added some oatmeal, quick blend, added some FO (China Rain, not supposed to cause acceleration per vendor) and it went form emulsion to a thick trace in about 30 seconds.
Got it all in the molds (individual bar and shell) with juts a little time to spare.
Molds did not fill even, and I was in a hurry, so made a bit of a mess
It was a thick pudding, setting up by the time I finished
It started gel in about 4 minutes, got it covered and insulated.
Dumped the extra into a cleaned up take out cup that originally housed some BBQ beans.

An hour latter, I was able to loosen the edges and shake out the "spare puck" from the bean container.

all in all. Looks like it turned out okay. Will pop the rest out of the mold tomorrow.

If you put the oatmeal in dry, it may have contributed to the problem. I usually stick blend oatmeal into my oils. On the other hand, I would have expected the lard and olive oil to slow things down. Were you soaping warm? Using a high lye concentration?

 

[Dawni]

@KiwiMoose if you make it all the way here.. Expect a lunch or dinner and/or drinks (if you're up to that lol).. Aside from tea or coffee hehe. Same goes for everyone else lol

So.. I cut what is supposed to be my challenge entry. Some bars look good, but not spin swirl worthy, but some look good enough to enter. I'm happy with all of em regardless. Gonna go sign up now, then pretty these up and take pictures.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I learned the “correct way” to make a hanger swirl AFTER I made this soap.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I learned the “correct way” to make a hanger swirl AFTER I made this soap.

View attachment 42707
View attachment 42708

Lovely colours!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Lovely colours!

Thanks! I guess it’s pink week on SMF. This one was inspired by a floral FO called Tahitian Tiare by Nature’s Fragrance. In all my months of soap making I’ve barely used any floral FOs. They seem to call for colors other than brown .

 

[DKing]

I learned the “correct way” to make a hanger swirl AFTER I made this soap.

It is still very pretty even if it is not "correct"!!

 

[Millie]

@Mobjack Bay I have soap top envy. Those textured tops are absolute perfection.