What soapy thing have you done today?

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

I was set up to make batch 6 this morning then I ran out of time. I had to go to a house lot that I have for sale and meet a guy with a skid steer to do some clearing work.
I did manage to get the grease for batch 7 rendered for the first round. I'm doing round 2 now. This morning I noticed some brown foam on top of the grease during the boil. I think that I had a little overdone grease in one of the jars. I've been using a spoon and scooping off little amounts of foam and putting it in the WVO jar that gets tossed. It works out that old jelly jars have been the collecting jars for the bacon grease and quart Ball or Mason canning jars, have been just the right size to store the LARD for each batch. I really can't "master batch" any of the LARD. The dorm room size refrigerator is only so big. Also I'm not going to master batch the LYE/water mix because it is not necessary for me to do it when I use 3.5 oz of LYE per batch. I'm getting 4 batches per 16 oz container (14 oz) and that leaves 2 oz to periodically treat the kitchen sink drain.
I unmolded too early the last time. I was in a hurry to free up my molds for the next batch. I like leaving the oval bars in the molds for 2 to 4 days depending on what our variable climate wants to be for the day/s. I have a cure for that small problem and I did something about it this late afternoon. I ordered another pair of molds (2x6) that match my other molds.

 

[LynetteO]

I used to unmold my single cavities after 24 hours… Now I unmold cavities at 4-7 days and I no longer get ash.

So far it looks as if mineral oil may work but it’s just been a day. I can clearly see a spot that I didn’t get well greased & ash was present as soon as un-molded. Will post pics after a few days, if ash stays away!

Oooh! I'd love to hear how it works for you! I've had a serious ash issue every time I've used cavity molds!

Upon un-molding it was successful. I see a few tiny spots I missed & they were already ashy. If it holds off, I’ll update with pic.

 

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

Why is it that I don't get an ashy residue on my bars? Is it because of my type of water?

 

[gardengeek]

Cut my confetti soap. I was worried that one batch was too thin when I poured but that's the one that looks the best! The base color on the 2nd one didn't turn out like I planned. It was supposed to be light gray but turned out more of a taupe. The confetti doesn't contrast enough but I was happy with the placement of the confetti so that was good.

Instead of spring cleaning, I made a batch of "Spring Cleaning" cookies. The recipe was in the last issue of Allrecipes magazine (from allrecipes.com). My batch had oatmeal, raisins, dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, pecans, and pretzels! I know that sounds kind of gross, but they really are good...and I'm a picky eater

 

[LynetteO]

Why is it that I don't get an ashy residue on my bars? Is it because of my type of water?

I never get ash in bars that go they full gel but my silicone cavity molds, which never seem to gel, get ashy every time!

 

[Zing]

Why is it that I don't get an ashy residue on my bars? Is it because of my type of water?

It's because the soap gods look kindly upon you.

 

[LynetteO]

I made a batch of "Spring Cleaning" cookies. The recipe was in the last issue of Allrecipes magazine (from allrecipes.com). My batch had oatmeal, raisins, dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, pecans, and pretzels! I know that sounds kind of gross, but they really are good...and I'm a picky eater

You had me interested @ cookie with dark chocolate, sold with comment about being picky! I don’t get the magazine but maybe I can find @ website. a good

 

[gardengeek]

You had me interested @ cookie with dark chocolate, sold with comment about being picky! I don’t get the magazine but maybe I can find @ website. ❤ a good

I found it on their website Spring Cleaning cookies @ allrecipes.com. yum yum!

ETA: Hmm, I just noticed the magazine gave options for the nuts and chocolate. It is also had fruit options and the recipe size was half the amount of the website.

 

[AliOop]

Why is it that I don't get an ashy residue on my bars? Is it because of my type of water?

IIRC, you soap a bit warmer and bring the batter to medium trace, yes? Both of those things will help reduce ash, along with a higher lye concentration.

 

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

@AliOop I'm mixing my LYE/water with my melted LARD anywhere in between 115 to 125 degrees F, and within 10 degrees of each other. Last time that I mixed it, it dawned on me that after I mix together and pulse, pulse, pulse the mixer then the batch is the same temperature completely. Then I have to get it in the refrigerator to go ahead and get the temperature down and to keep little flying insects out of it. Half of my process is done outside. Poring the LYE in the water, mixing that with the melted LARD and pouring into the molds is all done outside. the last pour, the batter was about like a melting milkshake instead of the instant pudding almost gelled up, if this is a good description. The bars ended up having a smoother top finish. I'm going to try that again.

 

[AliOop]

@AliOop I'm mixing my LYE/water with my melted LARD anywhere in between 115 to 125 degrees F, and within 10 degrees of each other. Last time that I mixed it, it dawned on me that after I mix together and pulse, pulse, pulse the mixer then the batch is the same temperature completely. Then I have to get it in the refrigerator to go ahead and get the temperature down and to keep little flying insects out of it. Half of my process is done outside. Poring the LYE in the water, mixing that with the melted LARD and pouring into the molds is all done outside. the last pour, the batter was about like a melting milkshake instead of the instant pudding almost gelled up, if this is a good description. The bars ended up having a smoother top finish. I'm going to try that again.

That's a pretty good trace at a fairly good temp. Both of those do help reduce ash.

 

[Zing]

I cut my borax/gardener/mechanic soap, borax soap and now have to wait to test it out. Thanks to @earlene for her recipe. I also made a batch of lotion bars scented with clove bud.

 

[Dooleykins]

I'm enjoying my post soaping IPA!

Made 4 batches today. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

Prior to today, I had been having some issues with my new recipe setting up on me too quickly. I then overcompensated on a batch and got false trace and not setting. Ended up with some very "rustic" bars...

Today's soaping went MUCH more smoothly. I'm happy that I seem to have figured out the right temperature and amount of mixing that this recipe likes.

Also got to break out my tea stash for the tops, which is always fun!

Back to Front:
Lemongrass Green Tea
Ginger White Tea
London Fog (Earl Grey + Lavender)
Lilac and Lily

 

[mx5inpenn]

My photo set-up is way more ghetto: a black poster-board and a white poster board from the Dollar Store ($1 each). The floor lamps on each side of my soaping table are angled to direct the light as needed in order to snap pics with my iPhone. It's definitely not pro level, but I was surprised at how much better my photos look with those simple changes. I have too many other hobbies and priorities to spend on photography equipment. Ok, ok, let's be honest, I'm just TOO CHEAP.

That's how I used to do it. I still was getting shadows and it annoyed me. I spent a whopping $18 and got rid of them. And trust me, I searched for the cheapest one!

 

[amitawellness]

Well attempted to make my first wood grain soap.I used olive oil, tallow (the last of my rendered ), palm kernel and castor. Blue white brown colors from bramble and tobacco bay Fo
I set everything up and then I forgot to stir the fragrance oil in the blue on the first pass. Oh my Gd. I thought it was going to be a total failure until I cut it. The bottom was weird(see pic below) but mostly im ok with it. Also the brown traced faster for some reason,but it gave a raised effect like a wood grain very slight but its there..trippy. I don't know if I could ever duplicated that but that is really cool effect. My pictures are kind of ghetto but you get the point
Lesson learned? Use less white, soap with simple colors not mica and def stir the Fo...lol

 

[AliOop]

That's how I used to do it. I still was getting shadows and it annoyed me. I spent a whopping $18 and got rid of them. And trust me, I searched for the cheapest one!

That’s a great price!! But that’s $18 I could spend on ingredients or a tool I really want. For whatever reason the photography stuff isn’t grabbing me - yet. The day may come eventually.

 

[Dooleykins]

My photo set-up is way more ghetto: a black poster-board and a white poster board from the Dollar Store ($1 each). The floor lamps on each side of my soaping table are angled to direct the light as needed in order to snap pics with my iPhone. It's definitely not pro level, but I was surprised at how much better my photos look with those simple changes. I have too many other hobbies and priorities to spend on photography equipment. Ok, ok, let's be honest, I'm just TOO CHEAP.

This sounds way more my style. I'm having trouble picturing how you set up the poster boards, though?

 

[AliOop]

Does the attached pic help? The bottom is actually a tri-fold white cardboard (Dollar Store) that I had planned to use upright with different colors clipped to it. It actually works better as a bottom piece where the soap sits. Then I paperclip the black posterboard to what should be one of the side panels of the white tri-fold. The poster-board was curly today, hence the spray bottle to prop up the sides. Told ya, I'm ghetto The two side lamps are then pulled over and adjusted to minimize shadows.

The black poster board is reversible because I added marbled contact paper to the back of it. However, I never end up liking the pics with the marbled background. The black background always shows the soap in the best detail. Probably that's because I really am photographically-challenged, and black is the most forgiving.

 

[Dooleykins]

Very helpful, thank you! I think I'm going to try a set up like that for my indoor photos.

My other plan was to literally go outside and put my soaps on things. Moss Rock on a big old moss rock boulder. Wood Shed on the wood pile.

I'm sure I'll update here with how those turn out!

 

[AliOop]

Very helpful, thank you! I think I'm going to try a set up like that for my indoor photos.

My other plan was to literally go outside and put my soaps on things. Moss Rock on a big old moss rock boulder. Wood Shed on the wood pile.

I'm sure I'll update here with how those turn out!

It is very easy to store; I fold it up and tuck it behind one of the soap cabinets.

Would love to see your outdoor photos. I'm usually rushing to get mine done for a challenge, so at that point, I have no creative ideas for outdoor settings.