What soapy thing have you done today?

[rdc1978]

Opened my like 10 trial size f/o from NS. I'm going to make some samples this weekend. Not sure how I feel about the f/o. They are okay, but I don't feel they are as complex or have as many layers as the f/o from brambleberry.

I really like the cavalier and the linden lime though. And the rose geranium.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Made this yesterday and cut it this am. I used eucalyptus and peppermint and it smells sooooo nice. Reminds me of spring and Easter colors. View attachment 44669

OMG LOVE!!!!

 

[Jersey Girl]

I watched a couple more hanger swirl videos and decided to forgo my desire to perfect the lone swirl and just get a good old plain hanger swirl. I think I got it now! This is the cut from my branching out from pastels attempt. I’m very pleased with it. There are some glycerin rivers as I always gel my soap. They don’t bother me too much, but next time I use TD I’m gonna try and avoid gel just to see if I like it better.

 

[Kari Howie]

Thank you. My non-soap making friends are really impressed.

I’m impressed!

Made a loaf of soap, with extra oatmeal in (3x), at the request of my father.
He wanted it to smell like "the woods".
Fragrances used are balsam pine, cut grass, and dirt.
My wife thinks it smells just like mulch.
Think he may like it.

No pictures, since its a generic white bar....

But, soaped a little warmer than normal, and it gelled very well, and I have not noticed any steric spots or soda ash yet.
(Just cut it a few hours ago.)

Have been giving away all my test/trial bars that may not be the most attractive, or smell the best, but are still good soap.

Hope everyone is staying home and staying well.

Where do you get your Cut Grass and Dirt FOs?

 

[Claire Huddle]

I have a hard time cleaning the plastic. The oily residue remains. Yesterday I allowed everything to stay overnight and cleaned it 12 hours later. When they dried, I still have an oily residue on the plastic measuring cups and even on my spoons and spatulas. I use DAWN Ultra to try and clean the grease. I bought a degreaser (Go Orange) and that didn't work well either. What do you use?

Oh lordie, me too! I even thought about starting a thread on it. Plastic is just EVIL. No way can I leave the stuff out to dry overnight though. And not wanting our septic system to resemble the sewers of London (now that's a video worth watching -- enormous fat-bergs floating lazily along), I wipe them out as best I can with paper towels, then hand wash, then give up and put them in the dishwasher where they may sit for another day or two before I run it. And they sometimes still come out with an oily residue! Evil. Evil, I say!

I am going to put more glass containers to work on the next batch. If they work as well as I anticipate, I'll get even more. I wonder if they make little stainless containers....

 

[SoapSisters]

I'm continuing my experiments with soy wax. I went down to 10% soy wax because I found 20% drying (has anyone else??) and scented with lemon eucalyptus (also called Eucalyptus Citriodora) and rosemary EOs. It's quite pungent at the moment, but I'm hoping it mellows.

I soaped HOT and still have stearic spots, which is quite frustrating. (I had planned on ordering a laser thermometer, but now that we're on lock-down, it's not feasible.) The oils were hot to the touch, uncomfortably hot, so I know I'm soaping hot. I wrapped the mold up really well (wooden mold box inside a Styrofoam box, wrapped with towels and a wool blanket). The soap was still warm to the touch the next morning, about 15 hours after making the soap. And still . . . stearic spots.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I watched a couple more hanger swirl videos and decided to forgo my desire to perfect the lone swirl and just get a good old plain hanger swirl. I think I got it now! This is the cut from my branching out from pastels attempt. I’m very pleased with it. There are some glycerin rivers as I always gel my soap. They don’t bother me too much, but next time I use TD I’m gonna try and avoid gel just to see if I like it better. View attachment 44745

Love your work! When I tried not gelling once I just got crumbly soap, so I always gel now and go with the rivers. They add to the design rather than detract from it I reckon.

 

[Sally Scheibner]

I remade some 2 yr old CP shampoo bars that need superfatted. I added argon jojoba marula. Silk collagen & lavender peppermint EOs. It melted great in microwave defrost and went very fast. Can’t wait to use it on this old mop of mine.

 

[Sally Scheibner]

I'm continuing my experiments with soy wax. I went down to 10% soy wax because I found 20% drying (has anyone else??) and scented with lemon eucalyptus (also called Eucalyptus Citriodora) and rosemary EOs. It's quite pungent at the moment, but I'm hoping it mellows.

I soaped HOT and still have stearic spots, which is quite frustrating. (I had planned on ordering a laser thermometer, but now that we're on lock-down, it's not feasible.) The oils were hot to the touch, uncomfortably hot, so I know I'm soaping hot. I wrapped the mold up really well (wooden mold box inside a Styrofoam box, wrapped with towels and a wool blanket). The soap was still warm to the touch the next morning, about 15 hours after making the soap. And still . . . stearic spots.

View attachment 44748

 

[Sally Scheibner]

Sounds refreshing. I love greens in color and smell. Fresh!

 

[Sally Scheibner]

Today has been pretty soapy for me. Most days lately have been under the circumstances. I cut my soap from yesterday ( could have waited a few more hours as you can see but I’ll clean it up in a few weeks). When I made the first cut I was disappointed as it didn’t look very good, but as I cut another bar it turned out ok. I decided though that I need to venture into more bold colors (I gravitate towards pastels) and I want more definition, View attachment 44733 View attachment 44735 View attachment 44734 so I made a new batch this AM with some bright blues accented with white. But the best soapy thing is I got a delivery from NS and I am so excited to try out this new mold. I’ve been trying to make homemade dividers and although my last design worked pretty well, this is the bomb! I really love their wooden molds. The little two pound loaf I’ve been using is my go to mold so I’m sure I’m going to love this 2.5 lb with a LINER! Woohoo!

 

[Jersey Girl]

Love your work! When I tried not gelling once I just got crumbly soap, so I always gel now and go with the rivers. They add to the design rather than detract from it I reckon.

Thank you very much! That means a lot. I agree the rivers can look pretty cool.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

My writing things isn't going well, so I decided to make some soap last night. I did the CPOP method trying to make a swirl. It didn't look too well when I put it in the over. This morning the bars only have a slight swirl, but for a first effort I love them. I used a Nuture Soap scent called Seventh Heaven and they smell delicious. Here's a pic.View attachment 44715 View attachment 44716

Really pretty. I like the balance of the white with the colorful!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I watched a couple more hanger swirl videos and decided to forgo my desire to perfect the lone swirl and just get a good old plain hanger swirl. I think I got it now! This is the cut from my branching out from pastels attempt. I’m very pleased with it. There are some glycerin rivers as I always gel my soap. They don’t bother me too much, but next time I use TD I’m gonna try and avoid gel just to see if I like it better. View attachment 44745

Beautiful! I love the shades of blue you got. Mica?

So, the only soapy thing I did today was read some threads and catch up here. I was pretty far behind. I’m super impressed by all the beautiful soap everyone is making.

 

[SoapSisters]

Sounds refreshing. I love greens in color and smell. Fresh!

I love green too! It's also my most useful color. I have three greens: an evergreen, fruit green and hunter green. I like to match scents with color, and green "matches" spearmint, peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, some citrus scents, fir needle, cedar, pear, apple, cucumber . . . the list is long.

 

[cmzaha]

I watched a couple more hanger swirl videos and decided to forgo my desire to perfect the lone swirl and just get a good old plain hanger swirl. I think I got it now! This is the cut from my branching out from pastels attempt. I’m very pleased with it. There are some glycerin rivers as I always gel my soap. They don’t bother me too much, but next time I use TD I’m gonna try and avoid gel just to see if I like it better. View attachment 44745

Not knowing what lye concentration you use but if you use a 33% Lye Concentration it will help the soap to not gel as hot and help deter glycerin rivers.

Oh lordie, me too! I even thought about starting a thread on it. Plastic is just EVIL. No way can I leave the stuff out to dry overnight though. And not wanting our septic system to resemble the sewers of London (now that's a video worth watching -- enormous fat-bergs floating lazily along), I wipe them out as best I can with paper towels, then hand wash, then give up and put them in the dishwasher where they may sit for another day or two before I run it. And they sometimes still come out with an oily residue! Evil. Evil, I say!

I am going to put more glass containers to work on the next batch. If they work as well as I anticipate, I'll get even more. I wonder if they make little stainless containers....

I hope you are not talking about using glass for making your soap because that is a big no no. As with mixing lye in a glass container, even with soap batter you have active lye that can etch and weaken the glass with can /will break over time. The last thing you want is a big spill of caustic soap batter. As I mentioned above, just spritz your buckets after they are dry with alcohol.

 

[shunt2011]

I second cmzaha, glass in soapmaking is a huge no. People have had glass shatter so it's not worth the risk. I don't use glass to make soap, however, I use a pyrex measuring cup to make my chai tea every day. I can see where the tea has etched the glass(discolored etching) and has totally eliminated the measuring lines. I can only imagine what lye would do.

 

[ShirleyHailstock]

Oh lordie, me too! I even thought about starting a thread on it. Plastic is just EVIL. No way can I leave the stuff out to dry overnight though. And not wanting our septic system to resemble the sewers of London (now that's a video worth watching -- enormous fat-bergs floating lazily along), I wipe them out as best I can with paper towels, then hand wash, then give up and put them in the dishwasher where they may sit for another day or two before I run it. And they sometimes still come out with an oily residue! Evil. Evil, I say!

I am going to put more glass containers to work on the next batch. If they work as well as I anticipate, I'll get even more. I wonder if they make little stainless containers....

This is my pet peeve. I asked on another forum how mechanics clean their hands, hoping to get something that would take the grease away. I've tried four products and the EVIL grease is still there. I think I'll do more glass too. The lye-water will remain in plastic, but the oily stuff has pushed me away from using plastic containers.

This is my pet peeve. I asked on another forum how mechanics clean their hands, hoping to get something that would take the grease away. I've tried four products and the EVIL grease is still there. I think I'll do more glass too. The lye-water will remain in plastic, but the oily stuff has pushed me away from using plastic containers.

I mean to use glass to melt the oils. Then I'll pour them all in a plastic container and add the lye-water. This way, I only end up with one plastic container to clean. I haven't done too much with colors, but I can put those in disposable cups and throw them out.

I made a hanger swirl soap last night. It's still in the oven. I'm dying to open the door and peek, but I'll wait the full amount of time. I received my multi-soap cutter yesterday, so it gets christened today.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Not knowing what lye concentration you use but if you use a 33% Lye Concentration it will help the soap to not gel as hot and help deter glycerin rivers.

My default lye concentration has been 33% but I did up the water this time and used 30% because I used 40% PO, 25% CO and 5% Shea and I wanted to give myself some swirl time. I also use a heating pad to ensure gel and watch them closely. This one I only had set on low for a short while as I knew the extra water was going to heat things up. So, yup...I was kind of setting myself up for it. Lol. Every time I use TD I get the rivers. It’s water soluble. Do you think if I mix it with glycerin instead of water it is less likely to happen? I don’t mind it that much as I do think it adds interest in some cases but I do admire the creamy white color others have achieved in their soaps. Thank you for your feedback!
Cathy

 

[Adobehead]

I watched a couple more hanger swirl videos and decided to forgo my desire to perfect the lone swirl and just get a good old plain hanger swirl. I think I got it now! This is the cut from my branching out from pastels attempt. I’m very pleased with it. There are some glycerin rivers as I always gel my soap. They don’t bother me too much, but next time I use TD I’m gonna try and avoid gel just to see if I like it better. View attachment 44745

This one really rings my bell as far as looks go...... now I want to go watch hanger swirl videos, whatever that may be. I am so frustrated waiting for delivery of two new molds and a new cutter. Old dog going to try new tricks if they ever arrive. I have to pay freight forwarding and wait an extra two weeks, but right now it iseems like an extra month to reach my location. Kudos, Jersey girl. You inspire me!