What soapy thing have you done today?

[AliOop]

Excuse me please. Who else mixes honey into lye?I dont know what or how but the curious cat in me headed of to some experiment today.So I had oatmilk as my water then mixed in 2tbsp of honey .Next went in the lye and boyyy I wasn't ready for the volcano I got next.....will I try it again

You definitely want to add the lye slooooowly into that oatmilk-honey mixture. Just sprinkle a bit, stir a bit, and then sprinkle a bit more, etc. And if it starts to get really hot and puff up, then keep stirring but stop adding lye till it cools down a bit.

Also, I don’t know the size of your recipe, or how much water you might have been using, but 2 T could have been way too much. You may get little brown oozy honey spots on the finished soap.

Ask me how I know all this...

 

[Kafayat Adebowale oyeniyi]

You definitely want to add the lye slooooowly into that oatmilk-honey mixture. Just sprinkle a bit, stir a bit, and then sprinkle a bit more, etc. And if it starts to get really hot and puff up, then keep stirring but stop adding lye till it cools down a bit.

Also, I don’t know the size of your recipe, or how much water you might have been using, but 2 T could have been way too much. You may get little brown oozy honey spots on the finished soap.

Ask me how I know all this...

I can see some one with my minds eye here ...so how do you know......I made just a test batch of 1 pound.....but yer I went right ahead and dumped all the lye

 

[AliOop]

I can see some one with my minds eye here ...so how do you know......I made just a test batch of 1 pound.....but yer I went right ahead and dumped all the lye

You are seeing rightly, Grasshopper! (silly reference to a young martial arts apprentice in an old TV series)

I’d stick to 1 tbsp per pound of oils (PPO), and no more dumping.

 

[Kafayat Adebowale oyeniyi]

You are seeing rightly, Grasshopper! (silly reference to a young martial arts apprentice in an old TV series)

I’d stick to 1 tbsp per pound of oils (PPO), and no more dumping.

You dont know how much I appreciate your response.....I had been doing 1 tbsp for all my batches but I just got a local beekeeper and purchased his home made honey ....I was too excited to give it a shot

 

[SPowers]

I made a salt bar yesterday... it was a crazy afternoon - I felt very disorganized in my mind and in my work - come to find out last night, it was a fool moon! I don't know about you guys, but I usually can tell by how everyone around me is behaving but I think being inside so much, it wasn't reading things properly!
Anyway, back to the soap - I had a base soap that I was changing in terms of color only so didn't think it should be too difficult. I used an individual mold since I was told salt soaps can be hard to cut so didn't want to take a chance. I did an in-pot swirl but by the time I started pouring it was a bit too thick which made it difficult to get into those small openings without making a mess. In trying to clean it up, I ended up muddling the tops so much you couldn't tell there was a design at all. Then I wrapped it in a towel to insulate only to realize an hour later that the recipe said to refrigerate it - which I did! Long story short, I unmolded a few hours later and realized the tops were actually the bottom and the design came through beautifully... they look like marble. Every soap I've made so far has gone wrong in one way or another but the end result so far has tuned out just fine! Quite an amazing process.

 

[tammy sue starks]

I haven't been on for a while, but wanted to tell you all what a deal I have gotten from my local butcher! I got 100 lbs of LEAF Fat! Can you imagine that much? I have been rendering fat for 18 hours and going strong. He even ground it for me. So thankful! I brought him some eggs and soap. I am so lucky. Soaping keeps me busy and my mind off of things.

 

[LilianNoir]

No soap making, but I did just order a cabinet to hold all my FO/EOs. ahem.
And have been playing with a palm AND coconut free vegan soap recipe. HAHAHAAHAHA.
I'm not ready to make it yet, just playing with ideas and fatty acid numbers.

 

[AliOop]

I made a salt bar yesterday... it was a crazy afternoon - I felt very disorganized in my mind and in my work - come to find out last night, it was a fool moon! I don't know about you guys, but I usually can tell by how everyone around me is behaving but I think being inside so much, it wasn't reading things properly!
Anyway, back to the soap - I had a base soap that I was changing in terms of color only so didn't think it should be too difficult. I used an individual mold since I was told salt soaps can be hard to cut so didn't want to take a chance. I did an in-pot swirl but by the time I started pouring it was a bit too thick which made it difficult to get into those small openings without making a mess. In trying to clean it up, I ended up muddling the tops so much you couldn't tell there was a design at all. Then I wrapped it in a towel to insulate only to realize an hour later that the recipe said to refrigerate it - which I did! Long story short, I unmolded a few hours later and realized the tops were actually the bottom and the design came through beautifully... they look like marble. Every soap I've made so far has gone wrong in one way or another but the end result so far has tuned out just fine! Quite an amazing process.

Those look great! And I use those exact cavity molds for my salt bars, too. They are perfect for that. Great job!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I made a salt bar yesterday... it was a crazy afternoon - I felt very disorganized in my mind and in my work - come to find out last night, it was a fool moon! I don't know about you guys, but I usually can tell by how everyone around me is behaving but I think being inside so much, it wasn't reading things properly!
Anyway, back to the soap - I had a base soap that I was changing in terms of color only so didn't think it should be too difficult. I used an individual mold since I was told salt soaps can be hard to cut so didn't want to take a chance. I did an in-pot swirl but by the time I started pouring it was a bit too thick which made it difficult to get into those small openings without making a mess. In trying to clean it up, I ended up muddling the tops so much you couldn't tell there was a design at all. Then I wrapped it in a towel to insulate only to realize an hour later that the recipe said to refrigerate it - which I did! Long story short, I unmolded a few hours later and realized the tops were actually the bottom and the design came through beautifully... they look like marble. Every soap I've made so far has gone wrong in one way or another but the end result so far has tuned out just fine! Quite an amazing process.

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Those look great! Oops, same as Alioop

 

[SPowers]

Thanks... I was happy with the outcome. I like a thicker bar so was thrilled to find this one in my stash!

 

[AliOop]

I made my Half-n-Half Unchallenge soap today. And before I could do that, I had to wash some of my soap stuff that I'd put to the side about two weeks ago. Oops. It's in a little mudroom that I hardly ever use, so I honestly didn't see it all this time! The EO blend that was left on the molds and stick-blender still smelled really good. Combined with the scent that I added to today's soap, my sink smells GREAT.

 

[StarChild]

I made a salt bar yesterday... it was a crazy afternoon - I felt very disorganized in my mind and in my work - come to find out last night, it was a fool moon! I don't know about you guys, but I usually can tell by how everyone around me is behaving but I think being inside so much, it wasn't reading things properly!
Anyway, back to the soap - I had a base soap that I was changing in terms of color only so didn't think it should be too difficult. I used an individual mold since I was told salt soaps can be hard to cut so didn't want to take a chance. I did an in-pot swirl but by the time I started pouring it was a bit too thick which made it difficult to get into those small openings without making a mess. In trying to clean it up, I ended up muddling the tops so much you couldn't tell there was a design at all. Then I wrapped it in a towel to insulate only to realize an hour later that the recipe said to refrigerate it - which I did! Long story short, I unmolded a few hours later and realized the tops were actually the bottom and the design came through beautifully... they look like marble. Every soap I've made so far has gone wrong in one way or another but the end result so far has tuned out just fine! Quite an amazing process.

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I love these! They really do look like marble. I would like to try this technique.

 

[Claudette Carignan]

I made a salt bar yesterday... it was a crazy afternoon - I felt very disorganized in my mind and in my work - come to find out last night, it was a fool moon! I don't know about you guys, but I usually can tell by how everyone around me is behaving but I think being inside so much, it wasn't reading things properly!
Anyway, back to the soap - I had a base soap that I was changing in terms of color only so didn't think it should be too difficult. I used an individual mold since I was told salt soaps can be hard to cut so didn't want to take a chance. I did an in-pot swirl but by the time I started pouring it was a bit too thick which made it difficult to get into those small openings without making a mess. In trying to clean it up, I ended up muddling the tops so much you couldn't tell there was a design at all. Then I wrapped it in a towel to insulate only to realize an hour later that the recipe said to refrigerate it - which I did! Long story short, I unmolded a few hours later and realized the tops were actually the bottom and the design came through beautifully... they look like marble. Every soap I've made so far has gone wrong in one way or another but the end result so far has tuned out just fine! Quite an amazing process.

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Whatever you’re doing wrong keep doing because they are beautiful

 

[SPowers]

Thank you all for the nice comments! A couple of days ago I started noticing almost pin prick size spots on the bars and I think I'm experiencing DOS. I looked that up and not sure about the reasons for it... superfat was only 5% and I know my oils are ok. The other thing, they look rather dull and I'm wondering if it's because they set up in the fridge. I think I mentioned I first insulated it with a towel for about an hour then realized the recipe said to refrigerate so I moved it at that point. Would it have mattered if I just left if insulated? Any thoughts?

 

[SPowers]

Well, I made a soap at the request of my husband and it’s pretty cute. He’s a huge nerd and loves comics. My first experience with using m&p as an imbed. I learned a good lesson about the mold for imbed being too thin. Any suggestions about where I might find some deeper molds for this application?

I'm curious abt this technique... is this an embed that goes thru the whole soap? It almost looks like it's sitting on top of the soap. Thanks,

 

[AliOop]

Thank you all for the nice comments! A couple of days ago I started noticing almost pin prick size spots on the bars and I think I'm experiencing DOS. I looked that up and not sure about the reasons for it... superfat was only 5% and I know my oils are ok. The other thing, they look rather dull and I'm wondering if it's because they set up in the fridge. I think I mentioned I first insulated it with a towel for about an hour then realized the recipe said to refrigerate so I moved it at that point. Would it have mattered if I just left if insulated? Any thoughts?

The dullness is probably just ash. You can steam it off after the bars have cured.

DOS doesn’t usually show up this quickly, so the dots are likely something else. You can start a new thread with a close-up picture to ask about it.

 

[natari624]

Here's the cut:
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They look great!!

 

[Gooddazey]

Did product shots today. Least favorite part of owning a little business. To me, at least. I do like making my soaps all set up and looking cool though. So yeah, boring stuff today.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Did product shots today. Least favorite part of owning a little business. To me, at least. I do like making my soaps all set up and looking cool though. So yeah, boring stuff today.

Taking photos is one of my favourite parts!

 

[Gooddazey]

Taking photos is one of my favourite parts!

I hate it so much. I'm not good at it at all. More power to you, I wish I had the skill and patience to enjoy it