What soapy thing have you done today?

[AliOop]

I poured in cavity molds because I couldn't be bothered to line my mold, and when I unmolded this morning, three of them had missing corners that were wet and zappy the rest are really pretty and simple though.

They look really pretty! Castile/bastile soaps do take longer to harden up in the mold, even with the addition of the faux seawater. It's hard to resist taking them out early, so I usually pop them in the freezer to get them hard enough to remove without bunged-up corners or details. Then I quickly get them on the curing tray before they start defrosting and going soft again.

 

[Corsara]

They look really pretty! Castile/bastile soaps do take longer to harden up in the mold, even with the addition of the faux seawater. It's hard to resist taking them out early, so I usually pop them in the freezer to get them hard enough to remove without bunged-up corners or details. Then I quickly get them on the curing tray before they start defrosting and going soft again.

I didn't think that's what it was all of them were nice and hard, except a couple of corners that looked like just water, not soft or wet batter.

 

[KimW]

I'm trying to stick to my intention of making a variety of basic soap recipes, and not get too distracted by fancy designs and ingredients! On that note, last night I made Zany's no slime Castile with the added coconut and castor oil, to compare to the 100% olive oil one I made a while ago.

I have been trying to make time to soap for a couple of weeks, so once my baby was in bed and my husband was out playing with his toys (hunting), I made myself do it even though I didn't feel up to it. I don't plan on doing that again it wasn't quite a disaster, but just enough kept going nearly wrong to put me off (including a dash over to my mother-in-law's house to grab extra olive oil after I'd already mixed my lye).

I poured in cavity molds because I couldn't be bothered to line my mold, and when I unmolded this morning, three of them had missing corners that were wet and zappy the rest are really pretty and simple though.

I think those are some pretty bars of soap! Nicely done, even if there were mystery pools in the corners. Was it just the corners that were zappy? They might mellow out soon enough in a few days...

 

[Jersey Girl]

Cut this AM. Used some calendula infused OO in this along with 40% lard, CO, Shea and castor. Scented with Lemongrass and Litsea EOs. It smells heavenly! The picture of the loaf came out lighter than it is IRL. Tested out a tiny sliver and oooooooh did it lather beautifully. Can’t wait til this one is cured. It was the simplest and easiest soaping experience ever. No color, no design. I need to do more like this especially since some of my customers tell me the soaps are too pretty to use. I hate hearing that. Lol.

 

[MrsZ]

Making hot process Crayola soap.

I think I may have a bit of a Soaping addiction already. I dreamt last night that I won a prize of 1000 pounds of beef tallow, and I was excited to use it in soapmaking.

 

[Zing]

I made lots o' lip butter trying to dupe a brand name. I got a lot of practical advice from my peeps here, so I 'preciate that! I couldn't get the scent right, but the consistency is perfect. I also discovered the joys of cupuacu butter. For folks that use BTMS in lotions and potions, a microwave is MUCH better than a double boiler. Evidently my college son and all his friends are addicted to this product so I am sending a couple dozen his way.

 

[Juggsy]

I made lots o' lip butter trying to dupe a brand name. I got a lot of practical advice from my peeps here, so I 'preciate that! I couldn't get the scent right, but the consistency is perfect. I also discovered the joys of cupuacu butter. For folks that use BTMS in lotions and potions, a microwave is MUCH better than a double boiler. Evidently my college son and all his friends are addicted to this product so I am sending a couple dozen his way.

While, I do melt BTMS in microwave (melting pont is just over 80 from memory) before homogenising. I would refrain from saying melt in microwave then mix. Lotions and conditioners with BTMS should be homogenised (heating both oil and water phases at keeping them between 70°c and 80°cor at least 20 minutes). Some people use double boiler/water bath, I use a magnetic stirrer hotplate and can place both beakers directly onto the heat when homogenising. Magnetic heated stirrers are a god send for me, I have chronic pain and tend to overdo it (I'm really not good at moderating my activity.)
I don't use the term heating and holding, in fact, I only realised due to another post about heating and holding that I had been doing it all along. You are less likely to have a unstable lotion if you do blend both your phases. Of course if you are using Sucragel, Sepiplus 400 or another cold emulsifier and you follow good manufacturing processes you can get away without it. But, it is really easy to do and once it's a habit you will do it without thinking. I heat my phases to 70°c and keep it under 80°c for 20 minutes. Actually when I'm homogenising, I tend to re-sterilise my work area and put a bowl of cold water in the freezer. Helps reach cool down faster.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Planed my CX:1 soap samples into shape, and was once more surprised how transparent the abyssinia soap has turned:



I've had M&P soaps that were more opaque than that.

So happy that the first year of curing is generously more than 2% elapsed already, soon it's testing time!

 

[Tara_H]

Another not very soapy day today, although I did make some bath bombs. I also had a bit of a shopping spree so there are more EO and FO in my future!

I did some virtual soaping and made a mock up of what I would like my challenge soap to be, hopefully tomorrow I'll get a run at actually pouring it.

I also built a new vibrating table and got my casts to the point where I could do a test of the actual silicone, although I have to wait 24 hours to see how it comes out! (Worse than soap...)

 

[The_Phoenix]

Made fresh avocado and coconut milk soap. Haven’t made it in almost a year.

Also made 10,000 masterbatch of fats. And cut attempt #1 soap for the May challenge. I really like it!

Making wedding soap for a friend’s daughter’s wedding. Cannot remember who here posted about making Castile soap on wedding day with an explanation on how the soap is timeless and only gets better with age. So that’ll be my gift to them.

 

[Tara_H]

Only just, I have updated my personal stock and recipe inventory, first time including quantities. Since last october, I'm making soap at a quite constant rate of 20 g/day (oil input). This is highly unsustainable!

In another, no less tedious self-monitoring experiment, I found that I'm using up soap at a rate of 0.5 g per hand washing or about 5 g per shower.

Clearly, showering four times and/or washing my hands 40 times a day is obviously a bad idea. But which alternatives do I have? Making less soap?

Just hide it in plain sight like I do!

Here's a helpful diagram to follow...

 

[The_Phoenix]

Just hide it in plain sight like I do!

Here's a helpful diagram to follow...
View attachment 57024

That’s very funny.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

“Darling, what's for dinner tonight?”

“Idk, whatever is inside the ‘??’ box, maybe it's edible?”

“”

 

[The_Phoenix]

Thought I’d share how I gel my soap. No oven or heating pads required. Because the cooler is so well insulated, as the soap heats up, so does the internal temperature of the air in the cooler, which keeps building and puts the soap into gel phase. I soaped at about 90 degrees.

This batch is a bit hotter than normal (and got hot sooner) because I used coconut milk and a coconut FO. But, generally, this is how warm my soap gets using my low-budget method. I have a smaller styrofoam cooler for my smaller molds.

For smaller cavity molds, I use my seedling mat to get it started and then move to the cooler. View attachment 57

 

[AAShillito]

Cut this AM. Used some calendula infused OO in this along with 40% lard, CO, Shea and castor. Scented with Lemongrass and Litsea EOs. It smells heavenly! The picture of the loaf came out lighter than it is IRL. Tested out a tiny sliver and oooooooh did it lather beautifully. Can’t wait til this one is cured. It was the simplest and easiest soaping experience ever. No color, no design. I need to do more like this especially since some of my customers tell me the soaps are too pretty to use. I hate hearing that. Lol. View attachment 57003View attachment 57004

So pretty! I love Calendula!

 

[AAShillito]

This is also both how I dress and interior design our house. I think it all reflects the inner-workings of my brain.


Thanks, @Zing! It was not a peaceful process, let me tell you. Made the embeds using a column mold and a sheet of pliable plastic, of which I had to experiment with three different materials. Lots of wasted raw materials. Sadly, only a handful came out looking yinny and/or yangy. Embedded them into the red soap.

I'm still looking for the perfect material to take another crack at it.

These are cool but candle molds. Prob not soapsafe

 

[The_Phoenix]

These are cool but candle molds. Prob not soapsafe

Thank you so much for sharing this. I could use this mold to make a silicone mold. Hmmm...

 

[KiwiMoose]

Whiskey soap made with oak bark essence and nutmeg.

Lovely photo, and beautiful creamy soap!

 

[Tara_H]

I couldn't wait quite the full 24 hours, but the poured silicone was completely set when I poked it, so it's unmoulded. I have to say I'm very impressed with how it came out!

The detail is perfect, down to the rough surface of the plaster and all the air bubbles in the impression



Now that I've tried the process end to end, I'm going to make a set of 6 from the same cutting but making 6 separate impressions, so they'll be similar but not identical. I also have the little vibrating table now and some fresher wall filler so I'm hoping for a result without so many bubbles.

I also made a challenge attempt, and this tiny cosmic wave soap in an ice cube tray from the scrapings.

I videoed myself soaping for the first time too, very curious to see what crazy things I do when I'm not paying attention

 

[earlene]

Making wedding soap for a friend’s daughter’s wedding. Cannot remember who here posted about making Castile soap on wedding day with an explanation on how the soap is timeless and only gets better with age. So that’ll be my gift to them.

I am probably not the only one here who has mentioned doing that, but I did. My Castile wedding gift soap was for my husband's nephew & bride. I colored it according to her wedding colors & gave her all but one or two bars (to keep back for posterity), wrapped in lace with a fancy label. I also gave them a set of towels from their wedding registry choice to pair with the soap. Sadly I missed the wedding, because in our travels to California, I came down with the FLU and stayed behind in our hotel while Hubby went alone. I hear it was a lovely wedding.