What soapy thing have you done today?

[Marilyn Norgart]

Unmolded and cut my beer soap:
View attachment 43159

looks wonderful!!!!
my love soap is under the blankets and I am going to try some bubbly stuff

 

[amd]

I don’t cure my coconut oil soaps longer than 4-6 weeks. I super fat at 30% which makes them milder right off the bat. .... I have some older Coconut Oil bars (3 years old) and they aren’t appreciably milder.

I'm glad that works for you. I wouldn't advise it to other people though, as skin types vary. There's a significant number of us on the forum who can't tolerate CO in soaps over 20%, and we can tell the difference between 4-6 weeks cure, and 4-6 months cure. I'm one who can tell the difference at 6 months, 12 months and 18 months just by the way my skin reacts to it. Your skin may not be sensitive enough to know the difference. You'll find the majority of salt bar makers here stand by the longer cure.

 

[Noreen Moore]

I love soap made with aloe vera--I have a mental block though and I cant get myself to use it with a scent--I very minimally color it green though

Interesting do you mix the aloe vera juice in with the lye water? How does something like that work? I am new at this and loving this craft/hobby!

 

[linne1gi]

Interesting do you mix the aloe vera juice in with the lye water? How does something like that work? I am new at this and loving this craft/hobby!

I use Aloe Vera Juice as full replacement for my water. No need to do anything special, i.e. freezing it into cubes for instance. There's not a lot of extra sugar in Aloe Juice, so the soap doesn't heat up either.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

Interesting do you mix the aloe vera juice in with the lye water? How does something like that work? I am new at this and loving this craft/hobby!

I have mixed in the lye water CP(i got a bad rind on that soap) otherwise I make it HP but still mixed it in the lye--don't know why I got the rind in the CP--maybe it was the gelling in the mold?? I should try it again CP. I gotta tell you though that when you add stuff to the lye other than water--it stinks pretty bad for awhile but when its done with the cure it wont smell like that. aloe makes very nice soap as does beer and milks

 

[linne1gi]

I'm glad that works for you. I wouldn't advise it to other people though, as skin types vary. There's a significant number of us on the forum who can't tolerate CO in soaps over 20%, and we can tell the difference between 4-6 weeks cure, and 4-6 months cure. I'm one who can tell the difference at 6 months, 12 months and 18 months just by the way my skin reacts to it. Your skin may not be sensitive enough to know the difference. You'll find the majority of salt bar makers here stand by the longer cure.

Each to his own I say, and while I don't see the benefit of an extra long cure for Coconut Oil soap, if you do, that's fine. We each of us do what works for us.

I have mixed in the lye water CP(i got a bad rind on that soap) otherwise I make it HP but still mixed it in the lye--don't know why I got the rind--maybe it was the gelling in the old?? I should try it again CP. I gotta tell you though that when you add stuff to the lye other than water--it stinks pretty bad for awhile but when its done with the cure it wont smell like that

HaHa, that's for sure true, have you ever smelled milk soaps? Boy do they stink, takes at least a week to get that smell out. I haven't used Aloe Juice in HP soaps, only CP, and it has never failed me.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Interesting do you mix the aloe vera juice in with the lye water? How does something like that work? I am new at this and loving this craft/hobby!

I use fresh pureed aloe juice as most of my water, I have used it as all occasionally. I generally prepare it ahead of time in larger batches and freeze it into smaller bags until I want to use it. I do find it's best to strain the lye solution as you pour it into the oils though - sometimes the aloe has tiny bits that have not pureed.

looks wonderful!!!!
my love soap is under the blankets and I am going to try some bubbly stuff

Champagne?

 

[SoapySuds]

Unmolded and cut my beer soap:
View attachment 43159

Those look drinkable!

 

[Relle]

Unmolded and cut my beer soap:
View attachment 43159

You copycat you, mine is exactly the same. A good head on your beer soap .

 

[Jennifer Horne]

Today i boiled my beer, bc i was on redditt and someone there totally messed up a batch of beer soap and i instantly knew what she did wrong eventhough i had never tried beer soap! This was this persons 3rd soap and i can already tell you she is going to fail, she does not research just goes and does, and wants to know why she has a huge mess. I knida like it actually.

 

[KiwiMoose]

You copycat you, mine is exactly the same. A good head on your beer soap .

Us down under folk know our beer

 

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

Sally, It looks like I didn't provide a link to SDSU. I was able to find the info again though...
https://extension.sdstate.edu/how-much-meat-can-you-expect-fed-steer

 

[SoapySuds]

Today i boiled my beer, bc i was on redditt and someone there totally messed up a batch of beer soap and i instantly knew what she did wrong eventhough i had never tried beer soap! This was this persons 3rd soap and i can already tell you she is going to fail, she does not research just goes and does, and wants to know why she has a huge mess. I knida like it actually.

I used to try to help people like that, now, I have settled myself to just being amused by ignorance. I have to go see this train wreck. Which reddit thread?

 

[fancyschmancy]

cut my soap last night.

 

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

Fancy, What process did you use?

 

[fancyschmancy]

just cold process, think I left "some" bubbles in there maybe lol or cut it a bit too soon I think I need to adjust my recipe a bit more although I might just try sodium lactate and see how that does. I do use 55% oils though but I do like how creamy and lathery it is and its really moisturising but I put it together myself. I know it may need some tweaks along the way before am settled on it finally but so far its producing some really nice soap. Am hoping by the time I get moved and settled I can start selling some, already have quite a few offers which is really nice but Ive just been gifting them and giving out samples to friends and family.

 

[Relle]

Am hoping by the time I get moved and settled I can start selling some, already have quite a few offers which is really nice but Ive just been gifting them and giving out samples to friends and family.

You seem to be caught up wanting to sell too soon, when you don't have the experience of soaping behind you.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Another batch of my Karma copycat soap made. Tweaking the fragrance each time I make it until it is perfect.

 

[fancyschmancy]

You seem to be caught up wanting to sell too soon, when you don't have the experience of soaping behind you.

Like I already said, once Ive moved, thats going to be at least another few months, its not my fault other people are asking to buy but I'm not even selling anything? Should I never mention the word sell in the same sentence as soap?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I kicked off the new year a day early by making a batch of ZNSC and a batch of salt bars and will probably make more salt bars tomorrow. That will give them plenty of time to cure for Christmas next year . I also checked my 2019 soap archive for color retention, as well as DOS. The indigo and madder soaps are looking pretty good, with minimal fading at 4-6 months, while the annatto, orange wax and clay soaps all look as bright as the day I made them. The green plant colorants have faded or turned brown. I was unhappy to find a few early soaps that have 1-2 spots of DOS. The batches were made before I started using ROE and CA or EDTA and around the same time. The recipes varied, but they all had OO, so I’m hoping it was a bad bottle of oil. It makes me wish I could get some of that good Australia OO here in the US .