What soapy thing have you done today?

[Catscankim]

I gave my Hercules a run today. I like the way it cuts. Took me a few minutes to figure out that the bar goes under instead of on top LOL.

So I cut soaps from the slab mold, cutting out three loaves...then cut each loaf into individual ts bars. I guess it is just going to take practice, but I got 12 bars out of it. I'm not going to show pictures until I can plane and bevel them, because I want the top to really pop by planing.

An unconventional slab mold pour, cut into ts bars with the top on the front instead of the top. They are pretty though. I am happy. They are too soft to plane right now.

 

[Blue1969]

I really hate the dishes after rendering tallow!

 

[AliOop]

I really hate the dishes after rendering tallow!

I feel your pain!

 

[Kiti Williams]

Quickly rushed home during lunch to make an urgently awaited batch of "stain sticks" and clean some tallow that I started cooking last night - only to find that my wife has decided to "spring clean" the kitchen - where I make soaps! What chaos!
Well, all's well that ends well!
Stain sticks are in spare room to set and tallow is in pot - ready to go for its second purifying session when I get home tonight.

Quick question: Does it make a difference how "quickly" you insulate after pouring for gelling? I am considering making 5 loaves in my slab mold - using dividers. Since each loaf will be different, there will be some time passing after doing the first loaf untill I finish with the last loaf and can insulate everything.

OK, how do you make the Stain Sticks????

 

[Blue1969]

OK, how do you make the Stain Sticks????

Laundry type. No superfat, citric acid and lemon EO

 

[Kiti Williams]

Laundry type. No superfat, citric acid and lemon EO

Ah, like a solid laundry bar.

 

[Blue1969]

Yes. Works wonderfully on stains

 

[Servant4Christ]

I gave my Hercules a run today. I like the way it cuts. Took me a few minutes to figure out that the bar goes under instead of on top LOL.

So I cut soaps from the slab mold, cutting out three loaves...then cut each loaf into individual ts bars. I guess it is just going to take practice, but I got 12 bars out of it. I'm not going to show pictures until I can plane and bevel them, because I want the top to really pop by planing.

An unconventional slab mold pour, cut into ts bars with the top on the front instead of the top. They are pretty though. I am happy. They are too soft to plane right now.

The Hercules doesn't bevel and plane? It seems to do everything else, so I just assumed it also bevels/planes or negates the need for it. My list of all the soapy things I want just keeps getting longer and longer.

 

[Alondrielle]

Made a cold process soap that contained Macadamia oil, light olive oil, castor oil, rice bran oil, cocoa butter and cocunut oil. It was supposed to contain salt but I got too excited in the process and forgot to put it in.

This is only the fourth cold process soap I've made so far, and the batter was much darker than any of the others.

Wondering if anybody knows which oil would have produced the brown colour of the batter?

 

[Catscankim]

The Hercules doesn't bevel and plane? It seems to do everything else, so I just assumed it also bevels/planes or negates the need for it. My list of all the soapy things I want just keeps getting longer and longer.

Unless I haven't figured it out yet

However, I will say that I like my single bar cutter for individual bars better. It's just easier to get an even cut. I might change my mind with more practice.

Edit, again. since I did the longer ts bars, it was the only cutter that I could use because the single bar cutter had a stopper that didn't go as long as I needed it to

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Made a cold process soap that contained Macadamia oil, light olive oil, castor oil, rice bran oil, cocoa butter and cocunut oil. It was supposed to contain salt but I got too excited in the process and forgot to put it in.

This is only the fourth cold process soap I've made so far, and the batter was much darker than any of the others.

Wondering if anybody knows which oil would have produced the brown colour of the batter?

Someone else just recently reported getting a purple color from macadamia oil. The thread should pop up if you search on “macadamia“ using the search bar.

 

[Johnez]

Made a CP bath soap, first batch of the year, but also first batch in a LONG time. A modest 1 lb loaf that'll make four bars, no colors but scented with Cool Citrus Basil from Crafters Choice. Everything went well and now we wait.

 

[AliOop]

Made a CP bath soap, first batch of the year, but also first batch in a LONG time. A modest 1 lb loaf that'll make four bars, no colors but scented with Cool Citrus Basil from Crafters Choice. Everything went well and now we wait.

Great to see you! How are those shave soaps doing?

 

[Johnez]

Great to see you! How are those shave soaps doing?

Great-thanks for asking! I've built up a collection and they take forever to use lol. Still that's my jam, so gonna keep perfecting and trying new things.

 

[VikingChick]

....that's my jam, so gonna keep perfecting and trying new things.

I'd love to hear about your discoveries and lessons learned, if you're willing to share! I'm after the perfect shave soap for my husband and FIL, but as you've said, they take forever to use up so I don't get to make a lot of attempts.

 

[VikingChick]

Today I made my second attempt at this month's challenge. I don't dislike my first one, but I just didn't think there was enough contrast. I went away from my regular recipe, because I had some oils to use up.

Side story: I've been using oil to wash my face for several years now. It can be wonderful and balancing when you find the right oil(s) for your skin. I'd been using a 50/50 blend of castor and grapeseed oils. A while ago I noticed that it seemed to be drying out my skin, so to that half-gone bottle I added avocado oil to attempt to make it more mild (castor can be drying when using for oil cleansing). That was still too drying, so I've gone to 100% olive oil and my skin seems to be happy.

BUT - now I had this bottle of oil to use up. What could I do with it? Make soap, of course! At this point, the oils in the bottle were, in my estimation, 50% avocado, 25% grapeseed, and 25% castor. I've never used grapeseed or avocado oil in soap. So I had to play around on SoapCalc to create with a recipe that had 5-7% castor oil as well as a fatty acid profile that I liked. Here's what I came up with (the castor is still a little high so we'll see what happens):

(Side note: EEK!! I just realized that I had added more grapeseed oil to this recipe and I forgot to add it to my oils! I guess I'll be testing this batch when it's done to make sure it's not lye heavy.....ay yi yi.) I made my challenge soap, soaped at about 106 F, and it accelerated like crazy! The FO I used is well-behaved (I've used it before). It was a little hot, but not hot enough to expect this kind of craziness! Any ideas what might've gone wrong? The result will be interesting to see. It may or may not be competition-worthy, but it'll at least smell good, lol.

 

[Johnez]

I'd love to hear about your discoveries and lessons learned, if you're willing to share! I'm after the perfect shave soap for my husband and FIL, but as you've said, they take forever to use up so I don't get to make a lot of attempts.

A few things I will say-RBO did not turn out a smashing success I had hoped for. Might work well as a supporting player, but nothing to write home about when it's what the recipe is built on. The 50% steric+palmitic acid rule shall not be broken, and preferably 60%, however my best batch was at 70%! Carrie Siebert's recipe #9 is an amazing recipe, especially for lacking tallow and being completely vegan. There is something to be said for starting with a tried and true recipe before branching out, getting the feel for great ingredients and why they are great is one reason.

I'm sure there're more proficient shave soapers out there (Professor Bernardo comes to mind), but when I get my process dialed in I'll definitely share the method. I will say one thing I have really specialized in is making very small micro batches and I have all the equipment for that. Small batch is harder, especially the measuring and processing, but let's me make more different batches without having 16 ounces of a product I don't really want or was just a trial.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Yesterday I made 2 batches of soap. The second one, I tried to make a lollipop swirl in a Pringles can. The entries from the SMF challenge and I Dream in Soap video made it seem do-able… but it was harder than I thought!
The last 2 times I lined and used a Pringles can, I had no issues at all. For some reason, yesterday I decided to put the can in a secondary container, just in case, and boy oh boy, I was glad I did! Half way through the pour, I spotted leaking at the bottom! Argh
In the end, not too much leaked out, but it would have been a hot mess if I didn’t have it in a container. I’m sure the swirl, which I think was iffy to begin with, will be sloppy, but I did learn a lot for my next attempt.

 

[VikingChick]

@Johnez Thank you! Do you have a mini-crock pot for small batches?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@VikingChick Can’t help you, but I’m surprised that it accelerated given the relatively high percentage of liquid oils in the recipe.

***
I’ve been carrying on with my confetti soap marathon and have also ventured into oven re-batching. I made my first rebatch batch a few years ago which was a disaster because I didn’t add enough water. I may have added a bit more water than was necessary to the batch I made last night, but it looks okay and will probably be ready to cut tomorrow. The third and fourth batches are underway, with one in the oven and one in a crockpot. I’m going to try whipping at least one of the batches to make floating soap.