What soapy thing have you done today?

[MomInWA]

Wow, so much in common! DH also has PD, plus four autoimmune disorders (that we know of so far, lol). Diet, exercise, sleep, stress management - all of it helps. Recently he has had fantastic results from TruDose, a targeted PRP therapy. Regular PRP did nothing, but TruDose has been amazing.

Please check your PMs, AliOop! Thank you so much for this information, yes we have a lot in common!

 

[Chaiat5]

@Shelley D … please ramble away!! I love gathering these soapy nuggets. I’m still working on getting my CO soap perfect but my next is Castile, Bastile, Marseille and all the olive oil variations. I’d love to make Aleppo soap, but I’m not raising my hopes on landing any laurel oil here. I have my eye on Zany’s recipe!

For us, similar. He was exposed to chemicals. His psoriasis is part-and-parcel due to Parkinson's. We work with a naturopath and have a strict diet. Psoriasis is systemic, so topicals can only help, but can't cure. Can be managed with careful diet, stress relief, exercise, sleep. Gets better in the summer, worse in the winter. My daughter and I have mild eczema, but it's much easier to manage than psoriasis. He can't even take the meds! They make him sick. So we do our best with what we have.

Lots of prayers for your family

 

[Shelley D]

@Shelley D … please ramble away!! I love gathering these soapy nuggets. I’m still working on getting my CO soap perfect but my next is Castile, Bastile, Marseille and all the olive oil variations. I’d love to make Aleppo soap, but I’m not raising my hopes on landing any laurel oil here. I have my eye on Zany’s recipe!

I can relate to the cost, but I usually get an 8 ounce bottle and make lots of soap so I feel like it's worth the cost. I really like the smell, earthy, herbal, and a bit medicinal. I almost cried when I messed up my last big big batch, then messed up the rebatch so in my frustration I threw it all away. In hindsight, I should have saved it to use as a confetti add-in for other soaps but live & learn. Thankfully, I still had enough laurel berry oil to make a fresh batch so that is currently curing and I still have a little LB oil left so . . . I wonder what I can add it to maybe olive/laurel/shea? Or olive/laurel/shea/cocoa butter? So many possibilities!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I find the olive oil recipes to be good, but they do require a longer mold time before you can turn them out (a few days to a week) and a longer cure time (minimum of 6 months is good, up to a year is best).

That was true when making 100% Olive Oil Castile the old-fashioned way. Read on...

I have my eye on Zany’s recipe!

Zany's No Slime Castile not only reduces the "slime" factor of OO soaps made the old-fashioned way but also cures faster! I make the 10% coconut, 5% castor and 85% OO variation for a cold-cream like lather that rinses off quickly leaving my face feeling smooth and clean and not tight at all. I start using it at the 2-week mark, although "the longer the cure the better the soap". The bar holds it shape down to the very last bit. I then press it into a new bar. No waste!

Watch this video to see how soon the 100% OO batch is ready to unmold and cut.

I can relate to the cost, but I usually get an 8 ounce bottle and make lots of soap so I feel like it's worth the cost.

My first choice, even before ZNSC is ALLEPO SOAP. S'wonderful for my dry, marure, sensitive skin! I follow the ZNSC recipe for best results.

BeScented has the best price for Laurel Berry Oil - 2 lbs for $49. It has a 2-year shelf life. All its beneficial qualities are well worth the price for all all kinds of skin issues. Read the recommended recipe and cost to make here:

https://bescented.com/product/laurel-berry-oil/

I wonder what I can add it to maybe olive/laurel/shea?

My third favorite soap is my 67% SHEA BUTTER SOAP recipe

@MomInWA Shea butter is also an excellent sub for Lard and vice versa. It is also vegan and a better sub than soybean oil IMO and IME, although I like to use the 27% hydrogenated soy (NOT the wax or liquid) as a sub for Crisco in recipes that call for that.

HTH

 

[Chaiat5]

@Shelley D & @Zany_in_CO I’m so sold on this now! Really appreciate the sharing and love the passion! My soap making will be paused in Singapore (lye is a controlled substance there) so I’ll be confined to shopping for ingredients and researching.

 

[Shelley D]

My first choice, even before ZNSC is ALLEPO SOAP. S'wonderful for my dry, marure, sensitive skin! I follow the ZNSC recipe for best results.

BeScented has the best price for Laurel Berry Oil - 2 lbs for $49. It has a 2-year shelf life. All its beneficial qualities are well worth the price for all all kinds of skin issues. Read the recommended recipe and cost to make here:

https://bescented.com/product/laurel-berry-oil/

My third favorite soap is my 67% SHEA BUTTER SOAP recipe

@MomInWA Shea butter is also an excellent sub for Lard and vice versa. It is also vegan and a better sub than soybean oil IMO and IME, although I like to use the 27% hydrogenated soy (NOT the wax or liquid) as a sub for Crisco in recipes that call for that.

HTH

Ooo! I haven't used shea as the majority of the %! I will have to try that!

@Shelley D & @Zany_in_CO I’m so sold on this now! Really appreciate the sharing and love the passion! My soap making will be paused in Singapore (lye is a controlled substance there) so I’ll be confined to shopping for ingredients and researching.

The research & shopping is like the grunt work ~ you will get to do the fun part when you get home! Enjoy your family time! We'll be waiting for the stories when you get back!

 

[msunnerstood]

I just finished pouring my third and final attempt to make a loaf of soap with a new favorite fragrance. love the fragrance but it doesnt play nice and demands an immediate pour just past emulsion. Forget about scraping the sides and pour even because its the only chance you've got. Now im trying to keep it from over heating and cracking. It's Bamboo from fragrance buddy. Ive made shampoo bars, lotion and hand soap with it but Id really love to get an actual bar from it.

eta: fully gelled in 30 minutes. Lid is off and fingers crossed

 

[VikingChick]

It's Bamboo from fragrance buddy.

Candle Science has a FO called Himalayan Bamboo that I’ve used in a nice lotion but not in soap. Their site says it accelerates slightly so I’m not sure how that compares to the FB one. Might be worth a look?

 

[Blufuz]

Hi all! I wanted to finally join the party over here

Today I soaped for the first time in weeks, and compensated by making 10 different soaps!
I finally got to try single-oil soaps to learn their different properties.
I did sweet almond, babassu, cocoa, coconut, canola, grape-seed, palm, peanut, and Shea.
I also colored them so they could become embeds for more elaborate soaps later.

The tenth one is soap with watermelon juice, and the results turned out so nice, I’ll share the recipe in a separate thread after I unmold it tomorrow

 

[VikingChick]

@Blufuz Looking forward to hearing about you results!

 

[Chaiat5]

Hi all! I wanted to finally join the party over here

Today I soaped for the first time in weeks, and compensated by making 10 different soaps!
I finally got to try single-oil soaps to learn their different properties.
I did sweet almond, babassu, cocoa, coconut, canola, grape-seed, palm, peanut, and Shea.
I also colored them so they could become embeds for more elaborate soaps later.

The tenth one is soap with watermelon juice, and the results turned out so nice, I’ll share the recipe in a separate thread after I unmold it tomorrow

TEN!!!! You’re a champion!!!!

 

[Millie13]

So... I figured I should start adding what I did soap wise to this ever growing (I'll never be able to read all the pages) thread...

Today I cut my bubble gum soap... I think it looks really pretty... just a basic in the pot swirl... it smells just like pink bubblegum... It has melt-n-pour gum balls on top...

It was initially for a friend's grandkids as part of her "back to school" gift she gives them every september...

 

[msunnerstood]

Candle Science has a FO called Himalayan Bamboo that I’ve used in a nice lotion but not in soap. Their site says it accelerates slightly so I’m not sure how that compares to the FB one. Might be worth a look?

Thanks, I may try it.
Unbelievably, I just cut the loaf of bamboo. I think that's a new record for me.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I've been making different variations of LS this week to see whether I like 1% or zero SF and glycerin or no glycerin added to the cook vs the dilution phase. I still have one more variation I want to try based on what I've learned, but my poor hands need a break already! I washed my hands with good ole lard bar soap tonight and it felt absolutely divine. So, I may switch gears and make some more lard soap this week because I'm down to my last bar.

 

[AliOop]

Today's soapy thing was... making soap! I actually made a layered soap to post over in the Challenge Thread as an example of "easy layers." One solid color was used for the bottom layer, and a 2-color ITPS went into the top layer. The layers are probably not that straight, and it looks like the colors muddled in the swirl, but we will see how it looks tomorrow after gelling on the heating pad. At least the FO behaved!

EDIT: I don't know why I said the FO behaved... I meant to say that it didn't accelerate, but it did rice, so not really all that well-behaved. LOL

 

[CLMP]

I need a pound of soap to chop up so I made a quick batch of soap using a milk carton. Lol

 

[KiwiMoose]

Today's soapy thing was... making soap!

Ya don't say!

 

[AliOop]

@KiwiMoose sometimes it seems like most of my soapy things involve washing up, or printing labels, or wrapping and labeling. It's so fun when I'm actually MAKING SOAP.

 

[Zing]

Please check your PMs, AliOop! Thank you so much for this information, yes we have a lot in common!

I've enjoyed your posts here and want to say welcome to the community. But I can't help but say, YOU LURED YOUR VERY OWN CHILD INTO THIS ADDICTION?! Poh, poh, li'l lamb....

 

[msunnerstood]

This girl discovered AI for photo backgrounds!