What soapy thing have you done today?

[AliOop]

I definitely see the hind end of the cow. But I see some sort of monster biting it. Lol

Oh good, now they will forget about my weirdness and be judging you instead. Thank you!

 

[ResolvableOwl]

@KiwiMoose's #21287 put the idea into my head to finally make some oatmilk soap. Well, technically today … 2am … Soaked rolled oats in water, and threw in some pandan leaves that were still around, too. SB'd, filtrated, blended into oils (not exfoliating). And a new silicone mould had to be inaugurated … Pandan Puzzle!



What indeed puzzles me a bit is the open surface. Not quite like soda ash, it rather looks like mm-sized fat crystals (can be smoothed out with the finger and feels greasy). I'm not worried, I just haven't seen such a thing yet. It's a classic trinity recipe (palm oil as hard fat, melted at >50°C), cast at thin trace, and CPOP'd (oven heat re-use from another round “disposing of” Lollipop margarine). Other surfaces are unaffected.

 

[Tara_H]

What indeed puzzles me a bit is the open surface.

Too much CPOP? I can't tell from the picture if it's the same thing but my first CPOP came out with what I thought of as a 'fizzy' looking surface; I think I did it a bit too high for a bit too long. When I planed it off the rest was fine.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Most definitely not. Barely a CPOP at all, close to “soaping at slightly elevated temperature”: the oven only was at most 50°C, and I let it there for less than two hours.

 

[GemstonePony]

@KiwiMoose's #21287 put the idea into my head to finally make some oatmilk soap. Well, technically today … 2am … Soaked rolled oats in water, and threw in some pandan leaves that were still around, too. SB'd, filtrated, blended into oils (not exfoliating). And a new silicone mould had to be inaugurated … Pandan Puzzle!

View attachment 56688

What indeed puzzles me a bit is the open surface. Not quite like soda ash, it rather looks like mm-sized fat crystals (can be smoothed out with the finger and feels greasy). I'm not worried, I just haven't seen such a thing yet. It's a classic trinity recipe (palm oil as hard fat, melted at >50°C), cast at thin trace, and CPOP'd (oven heat re-use from another round “disposing of” Lollipop margarine). Other surfaces are unaffected.

I don't know if this is relevant, but my oatmeal soaps with cooked, blended colloidal oatmeal (granted, I don't filter out the oat material) tend to be wrinkly, especially as they dry, and they stay squishy longer than my other soaps. I'm not sure what your filtering process involved though, so maybe it's something other than oat material.

 

[Fenchurch]

Shampoo is something you'd need to measure because the pH can be anything depending on the ingredients used, and the pH can and should be adjusted to acceptable levels. For my shampoo I use a proper pH meter, not strips, just so I can measure more accurately. I've never even used my meter to measure the pH of the soap I make.

OK, I'll keep it in mind for shampoo!

No, it does change. But it changes from 14 to about 10-ish. Certainly no lower than 9.

OK. My very first soaps were on the verge of Hot Process, which means normally the saponification has finished when molding, and afterwards I still haven't have high pH even with CP. Do you know why it is so ? Can it depends on the recipe, or rather the temperature?

You are very welcome! A lot of people become upset when they hear that their soap isn't as low a pH as their strips tell them and won't believe their strips aren't accurate, I'm glad you're not one of them and that you're open to new information.

weeeeell, I may be smart , but I know I'm a beginner, therefore I have a lot to learn!
I also remember my physics lessons, and pH paper didn't range from 1 to 15 then, so I guess the kind I use is not very accurate. Or chemists would not use pH-meters.
I understand people can feel pride in what they do, but they have to have sound reasons for it; if they based their pride on a wrong pH measure, if they are intellectually honest they have to accept (even by checking on the internet) and take no offense...
Personally, if someone comes and kindly EXPLAIN why I'm wrong, I certainly hope I'll accept it...

Well, thanks again for this shared knowledge,
Happy bubbles!
Stéphanie

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Thanks for the input, so I have a better idea what to expect from the soap and how it cures.
The “milk” was 16% oats in water, soaked, puréed, and filtered through a tea strainer (that held back all of the bran). The filtrate was smooth without specks (and green b/c pandan):

I blended 33%ppo of this pandan-oat milk to the oils, the added lye was at 43% concentration. I was worrying if the resultant lye concentration (23%) wouldn't be a bit on the low side, but the batter behaved nice and thickened up quickly. Unmoulding after 14 hours was possible, still soft, but kept shape and already felt like soap (rather than oily). The pieces now weigh 157.3 g, I'll watch how it'll go on.

ETA: LOL I just noticed that the pandan stained that beautiful white silicone mould! Guess it's a good thing that natural greens aren't very long-lasting!?

 

[Quanta]

OK. My very first soaps were on the verge of Hot Process, which means normally the saponification has finished when molding, and afterwards I still haven't have high pH even with CP. Do you know why it is so ? Can it depends on the recipe, or rather the temperature?

I do know that soaps made with different oils have different pH levels, depending on the oils used. Heat will also speed up saponification, which brings the pH down as the lye gets used up. If it gels, or if you cook the batter (hot process), this speeds up the process and the lye gets used up faster. As soon as the lye is completely used up, the pH from that point on won't change very much. If the batter is still liquid, the pH will still be pretty high just because the free lye in the batter makes the pH higher.
If you have a pH meter, or one you have access to, you may be interested in taking accurate measurements during the stages soap goes through as it is made and cured. Lye solution has a pH of about 14, which is why we wear goggles and protective gear when making soap. Even the batter as it starts to thicken up still has a high enough pH to burn you.

weeeeell, I may be smart , but I know I'm a beginner, therefore I have a lot to learn!
I also remember my physics lessons, and pH paper didn't range from 1 to 15 then, so I guess the kind I use is not very accurate. Or chemists would not use pH-meters.
I understand people can feel pride in what they do, but they have to have sound reasons for it; if they based their pride on a wrong pH measure, if they are intellectually honest they have to accept (even by checking on the internet) and take no offense...
Personally, if someone comes and kindly EXPLAIN why I'm wrong, I certainly hope I'll accept it...

Well, thanks again for this shared knowledge,
Happy bubbles!
Stéphanie

I like your attitude!

Thanks for the input, so I have a better idea what to expect from the soap and how it cures.
The “milk” was 16% oats in water, soaked, puréed, and filtered through a tea strainer (that held back all of the bran). The filtrate was smooth without specks (and green b/c pandan):
View attachment 56702
I blended 33%ppo of this pandan-oat milk to the oils, the added lye was at 43% concentration. I was worrying if the resultant lye concentration (23%) wouldn't be a bit on the low side, but the batter behaved nice and thickened up quickly. Unmoulding after 14 hours was possible, still soft, but kept shape and already felt like soap (rather than oily). The pieces now weigh 157.3 g, I'll watch how it'll go on.

ETA: LOL I just noticed that the pandan stained that beautiful white silicone mould! Guess it's a good thing that natural greens aren't very long-lasting!?

The contents of your strainer looks like grated cucumber, and now I want tzatziki!

 

[Tara_H]

The mould making is progressing slowly since inconvenient things such as the need to eat, sleep, work, and buy materials keep getting in the way
Finally managed today to get it to the point of gluing up:


The dummy soap loaf is sprayed with clear acrylic so it won't stick to the silicone when I pour it; once this box is set up it will get the same treatment and hopefully I'll be able to actually cast the mould by the weekend.

I've made no new soap in ages now! Possibly the cracks are starting to show...

 

[KiwiMoose]

I got everything out to make soap and then realised I didn't have enough lye - so I'm off to get some...

 

[AAShillito]

LMAO I am glad I'm not alone. Usually not EOs but my vapes. I'm constantly losing them. I wish they had built in alarm/location. I mean whenever I lose my phone, I just tell the Google lady to find it. I need this for my vapes, pens, hearing aides, everything.

Get some tile keychains and attach to everything and tie to your phone

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Hello Happy Soaper's It's been a minute sense I last posted here' I want to share my "Personal Feelings" on Pine Tar Soap i've made while back, now that i've used it.

I know "we soapers" shouldn't make any claims as to the possible healthy benefits home made soap can have on our skin' It's A Big No No' We soapers know all to well, having said this I've experienced much positive results after using my soap & i'd like to express another positive result after using my PTS just between us .

Ive had a spot on my ankle that I "think is psoriasis" that wouldn't completely go away, after using my PTS for the last couple of weeks the spot is completely gone! its truly shocking just how fast it has cleared up & I know its directly related to the soap. I'll post another picture for those of you that haven't seen the picture.
I used @DeeAnna recipe & instructions on her website @ classicbells.com if anyone is interested.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Got my lye.
Made some Green Tea confetti soap, and a wee embed to use in a future soap. First time using the embed and I remembered that some of you said they don’t stay closed properly so it was clothes pegs to the rescue!

 

[JasmineTea]

Listed some silicone molds on this forum to get rid of .

 

[The_Phoenix]

What indeed puzzles me a bit...

Har har har. Well played.

 

[Basil]

One of these days I will stop experimenting with recipes, but I’m not quite there yet. Here’s some soap I made yesterday using a tried and true lard-based recipe that has a good dose of OO. I usually soap this recipe between 85 and 90F and 35% lye concentration, but started this batch with everything at 73F and used 40% lye concentration. Wowsers! I planed the tops because they were uneven, but there was no ash. The batter stayed fluid for a quite a long time

So beautiful!!! I was happy to hear you keep playing around with recipes too. I can’t stop tweaking

View attachment 53889

 

[Basil]

Usually I make myself do “chores” before the joy of soap cutting. But today all I have for myself is throwing laundry in the washer and playing with soap dough before I get to cut FOUR! I’m super excited for my workday!!!
Recently someone on here responded to a photo of my workspace saying they’d be there all the time. I keep hearing that in my head. I feel really grateful!
(Dishes gotta wait cause saponification yada yada...)

You’re work space is soooo INVITING! I love it . It’s a true art gallery

 

[Jersey Girl]

This is what happens when you let your “well meaning” husband order something without adult supervision. Lol. Oh well...I think I’ll just draw a hyphen in there and call it a day.

 

[H.Soap]

Today I cut my bubblegum soap. Look at this beauty, I am in love with it.

 

[AAShillito]

I got everything out to make soap and then realised I didn't have enough lye - so I'm off to get some...

That's happened to me

Today I cut my bubblegum soap. Look at this beauty, I am in love with it.
View attachment 56732

Gorgeous! Looks like neapolitan ice cream!!