What soapy thing have you done today?

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

I missed the December un-challenge by a day so I thought I would post here today. At 4:30 this afternoon my new batch (5) was just over 24 hours. My first time with a box mold and used cocoa powder too. At light trace I poured a 3rd of the batch in a plastic cup. Then I added cocoa powder to the remaining two thirds of the mix. I poured a 3rd chocolate colored in the mold then the "vanilla" 3rd then the last 3rd of chocolate. I was going for distinct layers but I poured it all while it was still a little too thin. However it has a good look to it. I named it cocoa swirl. You can almost smell the cocoa in it and I can't smell any of the plain soap smell that my first batch has. I'm glad that I found an "in the kitchen" colorant. It really does look good enough to eat!
ADDED-The wax carton didn't require a paper lining. The soap released from it quite easily.

I wish that the pictures were better. The 1st pic is suppose to show that the middle of the loaf is still in the "gel" stage? In the same pic the piece of soap above the loaf had been in the oven on warm for about 30 minutes. It looks dry and it is rigid. I put it in there after I had cut that piece from near center and the bottom corner chipped off. I may have been cutting on it too early, 24 hours after pouring. I'm still real new at this so any positive critiquing is accepted.

 

[Jennifer Horne]

I made the beer soap and HOLY COW i had tried to learn as much as i could and i just cant believe how fast it went from no trace to "plop and hope for the best" like BAM there it was. That was like crazy fast

 

[KiwiMoose]

I made the beer soap and HOLY COW i had tried to learn as much as i could and i just cant believe how fast it went from no trace to "plop and hope for the best" like BAM there it was. That was like crazy fast

Lol - BAM!
I don’t have that problem with my beer soap. Am I doing something different?

 

[Jennifer Horne]

Lol - BAM!
I don’t have that problem with my beer soap. Am I doing something different?

I absolutely have no idea, maybe it was the recipe i found online .... yikes i didnt run it through a lye calc.

 

[Dawni]

I absolutely have no idea, maybe it was the recipe i found online .... yikes i didnt run it through a lye calc.

Ah. That could explain things.. Always run online recipes through a calculator. Or it could be just how you two add the beer that's the difference.

My beeswax arrived today. I managed to find a local supplier who gets hers from a bee farm in Batangas, a little further south from me.

I was previously using a much lighter, smoother beeswax with no discernable scent, that came in smooth blocks (on the left). My new one, on the right, came in rough chunks. Love the color.. Smells of honeycomb too.

 

[SeaSuds]

@fancyschmancy

By your own admission, you have only been soaping for a couple of months (your introduction thread even uses the word newbie)

Here’s what could happen: you make a fabulous looking soap (not that difficult to do), and a customer comes and says it doesn’t last long enough, or there are orange spots forming or something else, is it their fault they purchased soap from you that is faulty?

But yes it is your fault for making soap. It is your fault that they want to purchase it. It is you.

So, when you have an issue with your soap, and you can’t solve it and you have unsatisfied customers who have stained laundry and burned skin from your product.... nah, you’ll figure it out because, it’s not your fault they want to buy soap from you and sue you for their bad decision of purchasing poorly made but fabulous looking soap from you.

Cause you know, a customer will buy a bar and not use it right away, they bought it as a gift for a friend’s birthday in six months, lose it and then throw it away because it smells weird and no longer looks fabulous, but hey.,. You are an expert. You know everything, and it’s not your fault for selling a bar to somebody begging to buy a bar from you.

Have fun soaping! You don’t need a mentor! You will fail, but hey it’s not your fault!

Is it really necessary to respond to a new member in this way? I don't think anyone deserves such scathing sarcasm...

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

Is it really necessary to respond to a new member in this way? I don't think anyone deserves such scathing sarcasm...

I don't think anybody deserves to be talked to this way--there seems to be a lot of newer people on here and the tone seems to be kinda nasty lately!! isn't there better ways to explain things?

 

[bookreader451]

After a hiatus I made three batches yesterday. I did a men's bar that I am completely in love with and a fancy high top. I feel like I am getting my mojo back.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

After a hiatus I made three batches yesterday. I did a men's bar that I am completely in love with and a fancy high top. I feel like I am getting my mojo back.

same here the first two batches I wanted to cry--just cut my third batch and it turned out to my liking WHEW. now I know I just cant stop--wait--thats not a bad thing, at least until I cant find any room to store it

 

[cmzaha]

Is it really necessary to respond to a new member in this way? I don't think anyone deserves such scathing sarcasm...

Soapysuds was saying the way it is and not giving scathing sarcasm. When you sell to soon you hurt yourself and the entire soaping community. We are a soaping forum with many knowledgeable folks here and many times we do not sugar coat our answers. This is a great place to learn but sometimes you may get told something you do not like. We have all been there at one time. Just because one pours a few batches of soap and thinks they are great does not mean they are.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

Soapysuds was saying the way it is and not giving scathing sarcasm. When you sell to soon you hurt yourself and the entire soaping community. We are a soaping forum with many knowledgeable folks here and many times we do not sugar coat our answers. This is a great place to learn but sometimes you may get told something you do not like. We have all been there at one time. Just because one pours a few batches of soap and thinks they are great does not mean they are.

there is a difference between not sugar coating and just being mean. this is the only site that I am on that comes across like this. and don't get me wrong I agree with not selling to soon. and I don't think the response to Relle was called for either. but the tone on this site lately isn't good and I don't think its productive either. people aren't going to listen if they get treated like this

 

[cmzaha]

I made the beer soap and HOLY COW i had tried to learn as much as i could and i just cant believe how fast it went from no trace to "plop and hope for the best" like BAM there it was. That was like crazy fast

Never make a recipe without running it through a lye calculator. Did you boil off the alcohol? Alcohol in cp soap will cause acceleration, from mild to severe depending on the amount of alcohol. It can also cause severe overheating to the point of a volcano. This is why caution has to be used when using alcohol. When I used to make beer soaps I had the most problems with craft beers even after boiling off the alcohol and using the split method and not mixing my lye with the beer.

 

[amd]

I'm still real new at this so any positive critiquing is accepted.

Please please please take your soap off the tinfoil pan and sheet. It's not good for soap - and will likely cause DOS due to metal contamination. Put your soap on wax paper, freezer paper, parchment paper, paper towels - anything but aluminum foil. I have stainless steel trays for setting my cavity molds on (in case I need to move them out of the way after soap is poured) and I won't even let my soap touch those when I unmold. [Stainless steel should be safe for soap to sit on, but I don't mess around. I used a stainless steel cure rack once, and all of my soaps on that rack developed DOS before they were even cured.]

 

[Jennifer Horne]

Soapysuds was saying the way it is and not giving scathing sarcasm. When you sell to soon you hurt yourself and the entire soaping community. We are a soaping forum with many knowledgeable folks here and many times we do not sugar coat our answers. This is a great place to learn but sometimes you may get told something you do not like. We have all been there at one time. Just because one pours a few batches of soap and thinks they are great does not mean they are.

AND THIS IS WHY I LOVE THIS PLACE

I don't think anybody deserves to be talked to this way--there seems to be a lot of newer people on here and the tone seems to be kinda nasty lately!! isn't there better ways to explain things?

NO! What was said was real life events and most newbies dont put in effort to understand what actually can and does happen, they think "today i make a soap" and before batch one has even cured they are going to sell the soap. One batch (or video) and they know everything. From what i have seen.

I do use 55% oils though but I do like how creamy and lathery it is and its really moisturising

Two things....
1. 55% oils ... what? I

Never make a recipe without running it through a lye calculator. Did you boil off the alcohol? Alcohol in cp soap will cause acceleration, from mild to severe depending on the amount of alcohol. It can also cause severe overheating to the point of a volcano. This is why caution has to be used when using alcohol. When I used to make beer soaps I had the most problems with craft beers even after boiling off the alcohol and using the split method and not mixing my lye with the beer.

I already know that i am not a newbie.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

NO! What was said was real life events and most newbies dont put in effort to understand what actually can and does happen, they think "today i make a soap" and before batch one has even cured they are going to sell the soap. One batch (or video) and they know everything. From what i have seen.

no its mean spirited--I have been on here a little longer than you and have watched a few select people who act like jerks run people off. I have gained a lot of info from this site and have met some really nice people. but for you ones that think its absolutely ok to talk to people like you do--think again--you know nothing of what people are really doing in real life--you just think you do--and gawd forbid people have dreams. just keep being the jerks you are and hiding behind "hey we are just telling it like it is", you are still jerks. you have run another person off of our site--cuz I am a paying member but life is too short to watch this crap. I left once because of it and thought I would try again but you few ruin it for everybody else. So sad I will miss seeing all the wonderful pics and all the wonderful ideas but I too am so over this

 

[Jennifer Horne]

no its mean spirited--I have been on here a little longer than you and have watched a few select people who act like jerks run people off. I have gained a lot of info from this site and have met some really nice people. but for you ones that think its absolutely ok to talk to people like you do--think again--you know nothing of what people are really doing in real life--you just think you do--and gawd forbid people have dreams. just keep being the jerks you are and hiding behind "hey we are just telling it like it is", you are still jerks. you have run another person off of our site--cuz I am a paying member but life is too short to watch this crap. I left once because of it and thought I would try again but you few ruin it for everybody else. So sad I will miss seeing all the wonderful pics and all the wonderful ideas but I too am so over this

"You few" !!!!!
Wait a minute dont you dare put me in that category because i have yet to have shown my tail and do that, but i promise you i can and will when and if i find a need. Dont you dare snap TF at me like i did something wrong when all i said that what someone did was right or i agreed with them.

 

[amd]

 

[Lin19687]

New 'soapers' and the Selling bit..... THIS is exactly WHY I do not go to the beginners section but it seems they all post on the Lye section anyway.

What was said to the original posting that you all are talking about is Perfectly fine.
It was not snotty enough for me but eh.... what do I know. Oh yeah wait, I KNOW that 'soapers' that soap for a month then sell hurt MY BUSINESS !

Ok sorry this all should be in a new thread.

----My soaping lately is that I have organized my soap boxes again and packed a few other things up on the racks.

 

[Saponificarian]

@amd Can I sit and watch with ya?

 

[SoapySuds]

Well, the author of their post used the words ‘is it my fault people are asking to buy soap from me?’

I felt necessary to be direct.

The original OP edited it to a much lesser snotty tone than originally posted.

Everything I responded to was in response to the tone of the original post. Fancyschmancy has edited it so I look b*tchy.

A soaper looking to sell soap needs a solid year of making and testing soap before selling, not two months with mostly M&P experience. I read all of her posts before posting, I felt I was addressing her from an informed position on her experience from the totality of what she has posted on this forum.

The excuse of ‘not my fault people want to buy from me’ is naive at best and arrogant at worst. I’ll give a M&P person a pass, because it’s M&P, but she’s confident in one lye recipe she just poured and hasn’t cured fully. That is one. Giant. Red. Flag.

Yes, she needs to be reprimanded. For her safety, her potential customers, and so she learns.

It would be mean to keep my mouth shut and read how she gets sued later on down the road.

If you think I’m mean because I’m direct and I care for her and her potential customers, you don’t know me well. Let’s have coffee and talk. Seriously.