What soapy thing have you done today?

[Misschief]

And this one is in the mold! Scented with Freshly Zested Lemon.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Today I eventually took care of my latest haul of hard fats.

• RSPO “palm wax” tea lights (6.30 €/kg). Measured the melting range (solidus temperature 39°C, liquidus temperature 54°C), and browsed through literature a bit. I'm quite sure now that it is ordinary palm stearin (as indexed in various soap calculators), i. e. triglycerides (no FFAs aka pure stearic/palmitic acid, like most other “stearin candles”), with a fair amount of oleic acid (low melting point, comparatively soft). Cheap and concentrated source for tons of palmitic acid. If this stuff is well-behaved in soapmaking (doesn't accelerate), I'll abandon regular palm oil for it; the 600 g will probably last me quite some time, and I can buy them in various nearby stores.
• Canola wax (12.50 €/kg). I had used up my last crumbs with the May challenge soap. Time for restock, and getting this elegant stearic/elaidic resource into an easier to handle shape. When all you have is chocolate bar moulds, every fat/wax looks like chocolate!

And now I also have an absurd pile of wicks awaiting some kind of successive use… 🕯

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I was curious what your plan was for the "Tea Lights Candles & RPO" depicted in a previous post?. Now i'm gonna rehash your method of creativity.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Well, I wouldn't call it “creativity”, rather “jealousy”. It's my cheap way to creep into the mega-exclusive Soy Wax Society, but without needing to buy quantities that would last decades at my domestic rate of soap making.

I've tried a few ways of becoming soaps hard, with animal fats, tropical butters, japan wax, etc. I've learned a bit about how to use either, the strengths and weaknesses, and over time got some sense of more subtle things like the difference between palmitic and stearic acid. Fractionated palm oil and hydrogenated canola are definitely some ingredients that aren't used for label appeal in the first place. I also like to use them, since they grant me maximum liberties with the other ingredients (yes, you guessed right, mostly high-linoleic recklessness) while still guaranteeing a decent bar of soap in the end.
I herewith swear that the very day I'll have settled with “my recipe [to stay with]”, I'll stop making soap altogether . I've tried masterbatching at several occasions before, but my devotion to mixing oils and melting fats is constantly reminding me that I am doing all this for the very sake of fiddling. And “harvesting”/misuse of non-food items is a vital part of this. Everyone can buy soap supplies at soap/candle supply stores. But that cannot replace the thrill of an educated guess (or a titration) of saponification values, or reverse-engineering fatty acid profiles in the microwave.

 

[Tara_H]

Haven't done a lot of soapy things in the past couple of days - my back is very sore so no lifting, bending or twisting right now. The most really has been focusing on dock root prep for the challenge.

Luckily we have lots of our on the garden, so husband has been helping me dig it up.

Here's a recent batch:


While infusing it absorbed an awful lot of the oil so I put a weighted plate on it to try to squeeze it out again. It's now infusing with another lot of oil to see how a "second pressing" comes out.

 

[TashaBird]

Haven't done a lot of soapy things in the past couple of days - my back is very sore so no lifting, bending or twisting right now. The most really has been focusing on dock root prep for the challenge.

Luckily we have lots of our on the garden, so husband has been helping me dig it up.

Here's a recent batch:
View attachment 58287 View attachment 58288 View attachment 58289 View attachment 58290

While infusing it absorbed an awful lot of the oil so I put a weighted plate on it to try to squeeze it out again. It's now infusing with another lot of oil to see how a "second pressing" comes out.

What kind of color does it give you?

 

[TashaBird]

This is my last day in FL visiting my family before I return home to CA. I’ve been here two weeks. Last night I had a dream of the mountain of new supplies and tools I have waiting for me in my soap studio. I’m super excited about it!!! I bought Fun in the Tub ebook from Lovin Soap and have reading that to learn about bath bomb making. And I even have several batches of soap prepped and ready to go when I get back. Yippee!!!

 

[aleasikes]

I’ve been trying to get my behind in gear to make a small test batch of pine tar soap. Life just keeps getting in the way of me making soap..lol

 

[Ladka]

I got the promised beef tallow from a farmer in the market last Saturday. But - although we talked about the tallow from the kidney area he brought "a bit more" - about six kilograms . Much material with added bloody pieces, containing pieces of meat ... Argh, I had to dump three quarters or even more of it in the trash container. I then diced the fine parts at home, went to my second daughter's to pass it through her manual meat grinder, now the first thick disk of renered tallow is cooling.
I have enough of cleaning, dicing, grinding and rendering tallow. To tell the truth - I also have enough tallow

 

[Tara_H]

Much material with added bloody pieces, containing pieces of meat ... Argh, I had to dump three quarters or even more of it in the trash container.

Where's @Zany_in_CO's swoon gif???

The bloody bits, meat etc all come out in the wash, so to speak, no need to dump it!

We usually do a first boil without the salt and strain out all of the (now cooked) bits - it's just about the chickens' favourite treat ever.

 

[Ladka]

Where's @Zany_in_CO's swoon gif???
The bloody bits, meat etc all come out in the wash, so to speak, no need to dump it!

We usually do a first boil without the salt and strain out all of the (now cooked) bits - it's just about the chickens' favourite treat ever.

Tara, I don't believe in cleaning all these bloody and/or meaty pieces successfully. One batch of tallow I'd rendered looked clean but when I poured lye solution into oils stringy bits formed that I had much difficulty to remove. And I have no chicks to feed these bits.

 

[dibbles]

My Wild Plantanica beveler was delivered yesterday. I don't have many soaps that hadn't already been beveled, but this one made for the OPW challenge hadn't been touched. It is somewhere around 4 weeks old. I thought the beveler was very easy to use.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

@dibbles Why haven't you showed off that top swirl yet?

 

[dibbles]

@dibbles Why haven't you showed off that top swirl yet?

No reason I guess other than I posted pictures of the two other OPW soaps I made. This one was an illegal pour into the pot (I poured some of the white batter through the black) and the accent colors were too similar.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Hello Friends'
Since last Tuesday & 2nd jab vaccination I've felt just awful' dinner last night was first meal sense last Friday. Finally today i'm feeling better. I'm not one who gets sick often & wont go to the Doctor unless i'm dying. I almost made an appointment yesterday morning, then I started feeling better so decided to wait a Day. Hopefully I'm on the road to recovery. This 2nd covid vaccination is "Toxic" If they come up w/ an annual booster for covid vaccination "No Way Will I Ever" Take It... ( If I had to do over I wouldn't of taken this covid vaccination ) especially Jab 2.

Yesterday I worked on soap piping' thats quiet an art' which I now have a newfound respect for soap piping artiest, I saved the rest of batter after it got so hard I couldn't pipe it for "soap dough" I think I'm gonna make another batch of soap & practice piping & more soap dough for our June challenge. I dreamed about this challange' so maybe I'll use my Dream for inspiration, cause frankly I'm @ at loss.

Still waiting on my soap supplies' maybe they will arrive in the next few Days?.

Great news' I sold to a friend (first time) a few months back, she contacted me this morning & said 'We love your soap & I have a few bars left, but I'm gonna place an order next month. Yay this just made my day ❤.

I'll close on that note' make it a wonderful Day friends.

 

[Tara_H]

Sorry you haven't been feeling well,@Peachy Clean Soap! I hope once the worst is behind you it will have been worth it after all.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Sorry you haven't been feeling well,@Peachy Clean Soap! I hope once the worst is behind you it will have been worth it after all.

Thank you

 

[GemstonePony]

Hello Friends'
Since last Tuesday & 2nd jab vaccination I've felt just awful' dinner last night was first meal sense last Friday. Finally today i'm feeling better. I'm not one who gets sick often & wont go to the Doctor unless i'm dying. I almost made an appointment yesterday morning, then I started feeling better so decided to wait a Day. Hopefully I'm on the road to recovery. This 2nd covid vaccination is "Toxic" If they come up w/ an annual booster for covid vaccination "No Way Will I Ever" Take It... ( If I had to do over I wouldn't of taken this covid vaccination ) especially Jab 2.

Yesterday I worked on soap piping' thats quiet an art' which I now have a newfound respect for soap piping artiest, I saved the rest of batter after it got so hard I couldn't pipe it for "soap dough" I think I'm gonna make another batch of soap & practice piping & more soap dough for our June challenge. I dreamed about this challange' so maybe I'll use my Dream for inspiration, cause frankly I'm @ at loss.

Still waiting on my soap supplies' maybe they will arrive in the next few Days?.

Great news' I sold to a friend (first time) a few months back, she contacted me this morning & said 'We love your soap & I have a few bars left, but I'm gonna place an order next month. Yay this just made my day ❤.

I'll close on that note' make it a wonderful Day friends.

Sorry you weren't feeling well! I find piping practice is an excellent reason to make cupcakes and frosting, too.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Sorry you weren't feeling well! I find piping practice is an excellent reason to make cupcakes and frosting, too.

The first time I piped was on the Soap Cupcakes' Thx so much for the reminder thats a wonderful idea. Yah know every one I'd given a cupcake to' for their Birthday they just got the biggest kick from them' much to my surprise didn't think I'd get such a positive feedback, I wrapped a single cupcake in a little box all decorated up. often times it's not so much as the gift but how its wrapped. In this case it was both.

 

[Zing]

Cut my column pour soap:
View attachment 58211

Wow. Wow. Wow. I love that teal against the black!