What soapy thing have you done today?

[dmcgee5034]

Made a batch of soap today and used my new KD-8000 scale! Game changer being able to set it to not auto turn off on me! I think I’m getting more efficient in the whole process - less mess, less dishes and less overall time. Woooo Hooooo!

 

[AliOop]

…. promptly heads over to my DH to show off what @AliOop DH made her… possibly with a claim that all DHs of soap makers should be making them one

Love the sweet set up! Counter height and holds your molds steady - awesome!

Oh yes, I happen to have a DH who is very supportive of my soaping, not just because it benefits his skin so much, but because he loves to see me have fun.

Just to clarify, the holder is only about 14" tall. That's because the ABS molds he cut for me were originally 24" high, per my request. That put the tops of the molds about 28" high when sitting in the holder - perfect height from the floor for me to pour into them comfortably. But that was before I realized that making two 24" cylinders of soap was waaaaay too much... so he cut the cylinders down to 12" high. So the pic you see of the 12" cylinders inside the holder next to my counter is a little deceiving. The holder is actually sitting on top of two storage tubs that I stacked to get to the height I wanted for comfortable pouring. I hope that makes sense?

Anyway, YES, I highly recommend having something to hold your cylinder molds steady while you pour. If I didn't have my handy wood holder, I'd use a 5 gal bucket with some towels stuffed in them to keep the tubes upright.

 

[basti]

@basti! what did you do to clean that up? Oh my gosh!

Had to change my clothes, wipe the table & floor, and then do my best to blot the FO out of the upholstered chair I sit on while soaping. Threw a towel down over the seat and then continued working. I'll clean it a bit more thoroughly later.

On the bright side, it was a dupe FO of one of my favorite BBW smells ever (Fresh Picked Apple) so my house smells great. Just sad I don't get to use it like planned

 

[dmcgee5034]

Oh yes, I happen to have a DH who is very supportive of my soaping, not just because it benefits his skin so much, but because he loves to see me have fun.

Just to clarify, the holder is only about 14" tall. That's because the ABS molds he cut for me were originally 24" high, per my request. That put the tops of the molds about 28" high when sitting in the holder - perfect height from the floor for me to pour into them comfortably. But that was before I realized that making two 24" cylinders of soap was waaaaay too much... so he cut the cylinders down to 12" high. So the pic you see of the 12" cylinders inside the holder next to my counter is a little deceiving. The holder is actually sitting on top of two storage tubs that I stacked to get to the height I wanted for comfortable pouring. I hope that makes sense?

Anyway, YES, I highly recommend having something to hold your cylinder molds steady while you pour. If I didn't have my handy wood holder, I'd use a 5 gal bucket with some towels stuffed in them to keep the tubes upright.

Soooo helpful - glad you read my mind and knew I wanted more details

 

[Zing]

Hi,

I've been away from the forum, busy with family and holidays. But I really want to make some more soap. I've been watching videos to re-familiarize myself with the process. I'm going to make the olive oil soak because I also cook a lot and need it for removing smells from my hands.

With family here for Thanksgiving and weddings, they each with home with a bar. I also made lotion bars for a baby shower. 30 bars and the question I asked about shipping worked out fine. The bars arrived unharmed and my college roommate said they were the center of attention.

Happy 2023!

There she is!!!

 

[VikingChick]

Yesterday we finally were able to get together with my husband’s side of the family. I got my 12yo niece a M&P soap kit, which she thought was pretty cool! I also told her to look at YT if she wants to see some ideas for swirling. I proudly opened up the rabbit hole for another new maker!

 

[Blue1969]

Made my first attempt at a laundry/ dishwash soap today. Holding thumbs it turns out nice.

 

[Zing]

Made my first attempt at a laundry/ dishwash soap today. Holding thumbs it turns out nice.

Good for you! Mrs. Zing has made it several years now. I like that we use less packaging.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Cut a batch of soap and took some pics posted at:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/dmcgee5034-cp-gms-soapy-photo-gallery.89179/post-959977
I also made my first masterbatch of fats for my next 3 batches of soap. Thanks to @DeeAnna for the guidance!
https://classicbells.com/soap/masterbatchFat.asp

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I had to work most of the day, but managed to get a few photos posted for this month’s SMF Soap Challenge. If you haven’t heard of these challenges, read on! The SMF challenges are a great way to enhance your soap making skills and get questions answered in a supportive learning environment. You can read about this month’s challenge, here:

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/january-2023-smf-challenge-–-pick-a-color-any-color.89571/
This thread lists all of the challenges over the years and provides links to the tutorials that go with each monthly challenge:

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-soap-challenges-across-the-years.72159/

 

[Catscankim]

I have been working on my blog/website as my soapy thing. Its not published yet as I am still setting things up, which could take a while, but I finally found an outlet to just write stuff as I get a few blog posts under my belt. By the time I get this web-building done, my blog portion will look like I have been around for years LOL

And I guess now that I am delving deeper into this web building, I am realizing that the basic set up isn't set up for a shop. Sure it has product pages etc in the template, but when I made a dummy page for sales, I realized....well, where do they view carts and check out etc. (like shopify), so I found out that requires a plug in and an upgrade to incorporate the actual sales portion. That will come later I guess as I get other stuff, like pictures, sorted out.

I really need to start focusing on taking nice pictures of my soap. I spent a good chunk of my day yesterday browsing through other soap sellers websites just to get a feel for what draws your attention, and what looks nice and clean.... and I see a lot of them that have "photography" that are just stock photos, and I know they are stock photos because I saved a bunch of them from different stock sites to try to replicate, or at least draw ideas for my own pictures of my own soaps because I am photographically challenged. I'm over here like "cheaters" lol. Or we can give them the benefit of the doubt that the are the original photographers of the stock photos, probably not.

I am now finding that I no longer really like my logo that my sister made for me as I now see it plastered all over every page I make. Its just not the look I am going for, as proud of my logo as I was two years ago.

I took the logo over to photoshop to use the dropper to get the color # to use on my website, and was like "bingo!" I hate the color now that I have a swatch of it. I might like the logo more if it was a little more muted I guess. I don't know if I want to rebrand, or just change colors. It's not like I really had a brand per se since I mostly just sell to friends etc, so it wouldn't completely shock anybody if I changed the logo.

It is slow going, but a learning experience. And I am having fun with it with no immediate great expectation of getting rich quick lol.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I used one of my new fragrance oils - Bird of paradise: A calming, tropical blend of sweet strawberries, pomegranate, sweet vanilla and coconut milk with undertones of lily of the valley and jasmine. Here's the top:

Will cut it tomorrow.

 

[Relle]

I used one of my new fragrance oils - Bird of paradise: A calming, tropical blend of sweet strawberries, pomegranate, sweet vanilla and coconut milk with undertones of lily of the valley and jasmine. Here's the top:
View attachment 70292
Will cut it tomorrow.

Love the soap look, but can't imagine those scents going with the name, strelitzias don't have any perfume, so somebody made all that up.

 

[VikingChick]

Beautiful, @KiwiMoose!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Love the soap look, but can't imagine those scents going with the name, strelitzias don't have any perfume, so somebody made all that up.

Yes, exactly- but the scent matches the ‘vibe’ of the flower for sure.
@VikingChick - see my new thread about this disappointing soap :-(

 

[dmcgee5034]

I used one of my new fragrance oils - Bird of paradise: A calming, tropical blend of sweet strawberries, pomegranate, sweet vanilla and coconut milk with undertones of lily of the valley and jasmine. Here's the top:
View attachment 70292
Will cut it tomorrow.

Love the colors and the swirl and the scent sounds lovely…. Now off to see your update about it….

 

[Blue1969]

Laundry soap working wonderful on stains! Know they are only a few days old, but could not wait to try it. Also made little hearts to use for some Valentines soaps and some mini moon embeds I want to try for a "spaced-out" soap. Really difficult being back at work AND soaping.

 

[Catscankim]

Yes, exactly- but the scent matches the ‘vibe’ of the flower for sure.
@VikingChick - see my new thread about this disappointing soap :-(

I looked for it. I give, where is your thread located? LOL

 

[KiwiMoose]

@Catscankim in the lye-based forum. It's called Grrrrr - spotty soap or something like that.

 

[Vicki C]

Not today but Tuesday found me a “salad shooter” for grinding up old soap at Savers - AND got the senior 30% discount. I see why they stopped making these, they are super dangerous (this one is anyway) but they really do the trick. Recycled some semi failed wood soap to make cedar, patchouli, amyris, frankincense, and lavender soap (“stashed” from EO calc). Looks and smells great.