What soapy thing have you done today?

[Shelley D]

My soapy thing today, threw away a bunch of soap. Just goes to prove that your storage conditions really affect the quality and/or whether or not you develop dos, imo.

Same batch recipe, just stored completely differently. One was on a IRON shelf, but covered in wax paper, the other in a more climate controlled bedroom on a wood shelf covered in paper towels (my usual storage). Being covered in wax paper absolutely did not prevent dos from the wrought iron shelving. Its like the iron was absorbed right through it because all of the bottoms of the soaps had it.

Live and learn I guess.

I've been storing mine in a basket with layers of cardboard between them for the past couple of years ~ so far, so good
I got the idea from a lady who said she stored her soaps in cardboard boxes in her linen closet.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I got some thin plastic trays and parchment paper at the dollar store for extra soap curing & storing space, @Catscankim - maybe that would help protect your soaps on your shelf. So sorry you had to toss your soaps

 

[Whillow]

I started out with those baker's trays but found that it is difficult to get the ones on the bottom and then they became a nuisance. I switched to cardboard boxes but have now switched to cheap Dollar Store plastic bins with lids, about the size of a shoe box. I then drill holes along the sides for air circulation and layer paper towel on the bottom and put in some silica sand packets with them. I find they do well and keeps the dusties off them. When they are ready - I box each soap up and then put it back into said container until it is ready for market and I can grab each container I want to take.

 

[Vicki C]

We have been in a late season heat wave - the heat wave that was in the Midwest finally made its way here to the northeast. I’m not a fan of heat and humidity but decided to use it to my advantage - I have an attached greenhouse and I set up four 5 gallon buckets of master batch with all the oils and butters dumped right in. I left them in the greenhouse all day yesterday, and everything melted - I whisked like a madwoman with a giant whisk at the end of the day and put them away for winter. They are each 11,000 g or 24+ pounds. Much easier than carefully microwaving the hard oils, plus the coconut oils I buy comes in containers I can’t microwave (big lots 102 ounces in PET jars that are too tall for the microwave and have foil caps that are impossible to remove completely). Very satisfying. Added ROE to protect it from rancidity. I hope.

 

[Marie_with_an_e]

My soapy thing for today: unmolded my most recent soap, Lemon+Rose Geranium. Unfortunately I didn’t take a pic of it out of the mold, so here it is in its glorious just-poured state:

 

[Vicki C]

My soapy thing today, threw away a bunch of soap. Just goes to prove that your storage conditions really affect the quality and/or whether or not you develop dos, imo.

Same batch recipe, just stored completely differently. One was on a IRON shelf, but covered in wax paper, the other in a more climate controlled bedroom on a wood shelf covered in paper towels (my usual storage). Being covered in wax paper absolutely did not prevent dos from the wrought iron shelving. Its like the iron was absorbed right through it because all of the bottoms of the soaps had it.

Live and learn I guess.

That’s a real bummer but helpful to all of us to know that.

 

[Cindy D.]

My wife has asked for a batch of the same recipe I used for the Borax and Pumice last weekend but skipping the borax and pumice....

I'm sure you will put those oils in a soap calculator first, but just in case you didn't realize the borax is in that recipe to neutralize the extra lye. My calculations at 5%sf, the oils would only need 207g of lye and 1/2 c lye is around 250g...depending on where that 1/2 cup is from. It sure is a pretty white soap!!

 

[AliOop]

I'm sure you will put those oils in a soap calculator first, but just in case you didn't realize the borax is in that recipe to neutralize the extra lye. My calculations at 5%sf, the oils would only need 207g of lye and 1/2 c lye is around 250g...depending on where that 1/2 cup is from. It sure is a pretty white soap!!

I don't believe that is correct. My understanding is that borax is a buffering solution that does not neutralize lye. I think you are confused because borax is sometimes used in liquid soapmaking to neutralize a lye-heavy soap. But I don't think it works in the way you have described. Perhaps @DeeAnna can chime in here?

Also, the purpose of the borax in that particular recipe is to add a different type of cleansing for those who need it: blacksmiths, mechanics, gardeners, etc.

 

[Cindy D.]

I don't believe that is correct. My understanding is that borax is a buffering solution that does not neutralize lye. I think you are confused because borax is sometimes used in liquid soapmaking to neutralize a lye-heavy soap. But I don't think it works in the way you have described. Perhaps @DeeAnna can chime in here?

Also, the purpose of the borax in that particular recipe is to add a different type of cleansing for those who need it: blacksmiths, mechanics, gardeners, etc.

So do you think
874g coconut oil
410g tallow
472g water
250g lye
Would be OK?

 

[AliOop]

So do you think
874g coconut oil
410g tallow
472g water
250g lye
Would be OK?

Sorry, I am not in a spot to run that through a soap calculator. If you've done that, and the numbers look good to you, go for it.

But personally, unless you are trying to create a super cleansing soap, I'd switch the amounts for tallow and coconut oil. That percentage of CO would just wreck my skin.

If you are also planning to add borax to this, I can share my personal experience if you are interested? My normal, low-cleansing recipe with added borax works wonderfully for our mechanic. He says it is the first soap that he can use that gets off the grease, and yet doesn't make his hands raw and chapped.

 

[Cindy D.]

@AliOop I'm not planning on making it, thanks. I was a little concerned after converting those cups to grams, because the amount of lye called for in that recipe when converted is 250g and Jorah said his wife wants him to make another batch of it without borax and pumice . When I put the oils into a soap calculator at 0% SF it calls for 218g. That would be enough extra lye to saponify 190g or 6.7 more ounces of the same oils. The 207g that I posted above was at 5%SF. That extra lye and because the recipe is in cups and not weighed it would be a challenge for some to convert to double check especially if they are a new soaper. @Jorah

My husband was trying to sleep just a bit longer this morning so I found something quiet to do. And when the 2 others in the house came out to look they wanted to know if I intended that thing to look like a hamburg patty....It was just some old soap dough I thought I'd let dry out so I can shred it. I'm having second thoughts, I could always give it to someone as a joke... right?

 

[dmcgee5034]

My husband was trying to sleep just a bit longer this morning so I found something quiet to do. And when the 2 others in the house came out to look they wanted to know if I intended that thing to look like a hamburg patty....It was just some old soap dough I thought I'd let dry out so I can shred it. I'm having second thoughts, I could always give it to someone as a joke... right? View attachment 74423

@Cindy D. I’ll have mine with Swiss cheese and bacon, please

 

[Misschief]

I actually made soap today! It seems like forever since I last made soap (two months-ish, in reality). An old friend called this morning and asked for a full batch of Oatmeal Milk & Honey soap. It's one of the few soaps she can use without reacting, so I'm happy to make it for her.

 

[AliOop]

I was too tired to post my soapy thing yesterday, as it was packaging up ~70 soaps for our annual Ladies' Retreat, plus labeling the lip balms that I'd previously made, as well. I also printed the bath bomb labels we previously made, but I gave them to the friend who is in charge of putting together the gift bags. Since all of this was done after a full week of work and lasted till after midnight, I was just plumb out of time and energy. My husband dropped everything off to her this morning so she could assemble the gift bags.

Well, that friend called today to inform me that all the bath bomb labels were printed on the wrong side of the label sheets! When I went to print some more, they also printed on the wrong side. I finally remembered that my darn Epson Eco-Tank likes to force everything to print double-sided, despite having all settings turned to single-sided. Sure enough, that was the issue. When I watched the next label sheet go through the printer, it came all the way out of the printer, went back in, and then came out printed on the other side. So it was treating the blank side as the first "printed" side, before printing the second side - the one with my label text.

With no time or patience to mess with it, I just loaded the label sheets into the printer backwards so they would print correctly. The issue with the EcoTank will have to be resolved another day.

 

[nerucia]

Hello, it's my first post here. I made this soap yesterday, for my friend's mother. She loves the fragrance honey and milk. This is the third batch I've made for her. I hope you like it

 

[Zing]

Hello, it's my first post here. I made this soap yesterday, for my friend's mother. She loves the fragrance honey and milk. This is the third batch I've made for her. I hope you like it

You made beautiful soap!

 

[Jorah]

I haven't done anything soapy for what feels like ages (probably a month in reality). I did go Burlington North Carolina on my motorcycle for two days of rider training.* The second day (yesterday, Sept. 9) it rained most of the day. We trained anyway, learning to do U-turns and sharp swerves to avoid objects on the road. When I took my gloves off at the end of class, it was clear that there had been bleeding; thankfully, not human blood, but dye! I washed my hands right after these photos using Dawn, & to my surprise it barely touched the dye. When I got home a few hours later I washed my hands with one of my Bastille bars, and got about 80% of it off.



I was struggling for most of August with some emotional health issues (which is part of the reason I haven't posted recently), but seem to be emerging gradually from that dark place. I'm hoping to get back to soap making after my second set of motorcycle training classes later in Sept. One of the things that gets really hard for me when I go off the rails a bit is cleaning, but before I left for my motorcycle trip I spent about 4 hours cleaning my basement & organizing & cleaning my soap bench. It's ready for my next batch, & this is huge because when the bench is a mess, it makes it hard for me to start soaping because I can't soap because it's a mess, and I can't clean because I'm depressed, and I want to make stuff, & I can't, which makes me feel worse... & down the drain I go... My soapy thing for today, once I unpack from the trip & do all of the laundry, will be to finish my soap-tester survey and send it out.


(photo shows my old workbench, mostly switched over from carpentry/repair work to soap-focused work. There are silicone molds on shelves on the left, a newly-washed plastic-covered bench, stainless steel soap pots on the shelves under the bench, colorants & additives in drawers, solid fats in bags on the top shelves, and liquid fats on shelves to the right. A stick blender has pride of place & my new paper towel dispenser has (somewhat astoundingly) actually been installed & is ready to provide towels to wipe off oil drips & soap batter drops.)

(*The class was totally worth the time & money I invested in it; shout-out to the MotoMark1 driving school.)

 

[FFLinOhio]

I haven't done anything soapy for what feels like ages (probably a month in reality). I did go Burlington North Carolina on my motorcycle for two days of rider training.* The second day (yesterday, Sept. 9) it rained most of the day. We trained anyway, learning to do U-turns and sharp swerves to avoid objects on the road. When I took my gloves off at the end of class, it was clear that there had been bleeding; thankfully, not human blood, but dye! I washed my hands right after these photos using Dawn, & to my surprise it barely touched the dye. When I got home a few hours later I washed my hands with one of my Bastille bars, and got about 80% of it off.

View attachment 74442View attachment 74443

I was struggling for most of August with some emotional health issues (which is part of the reason I haven't posted recently), but seem to be emerging gradually from that dark place. I'm hoping to get back to soap making after my second set of motorcycle training classes later in Sept. One of the things that gets really hard for me when I go off the rails a bit is cleaning, but before I left for my motorcycle trip I spent about 4 hours cleaning my basement & organizing & cleaning my soap bench. It's ready for my next batch, & this is huge because when the bench is a mess, it makes it hard for me to start soaping because I can't soap because it's a mess, and I can't clean because I'm depressed, and I want to make stuff, & I can't, which makes me feel worse... & down the drain I go... My soapy thing for today, once I unpack from the trip & do all of the laundry, will be to finish my soap-tester survey and send it out.

View attachment 74444
(photo shows my old workbench, mostly switched over from carpentry/repair work to soap-focused work. There are silicone molds on shelves on the left, a newly-washed plastic-covered bench, stainless steel soap pots on the shelves under the bench, colorants & additives in drawers, solid fats in bags on the top shelves, and liquid fats on shelves to the right. A stick blender has pride of place & my new paper towel dispenser has (somewhat astoundingly) actually been installed & is ready to provide towels to wipe off oil drips & soap batter drops.)

(*The class was totally worth the time & money I invested in it; shout-out to the MotoMark1 driving school.)

congrats on trying something new!

regarding the dye -- try hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol. see if it helps remove some of the dye. I use it all the time for permanent markers.

 

[VikingChick]

I haven't done anything soapy for what feels like ages (probably a month in reality). I did go Burlington North Carolina on my motorcycle for two days of rider training.* The second day (yesterday, Sept. 9) it rained most of the day. We trained anyway, learning to do U-turns and sharp swerves to avoid objects on the road. When I took my gloves off at the end of class, it was clear that there had been bleeding; thankfully, not human blood, but dye! I washed my hands right after these photos using Dawn, & to my surprise it barely touched the dye. When I got home a few hours later I washed my hands with one of my Bastille bars, and got about 80% of it off.

View attachment 74442View attachment 74443

I was struggling for most of August with some emotional health issues (which is part of the reason I haven't posted recently), but seem to be emerging gradually from that dark place. I'm hoping to get back to soap making after my second set of motorcycle training classes later in Sept. One of the things that gets really hard for me when I go off the rails a bit is cleaning, but before I left for my motorcycle trip I spent about 4 hours cleaning my basement & organizing & cleaning my soap bench. It's ready for my next batch, & this is huge because when the bench is a mess, it makes it hard for me to start soaping because I can't soap because it's a mess, and I can't clean because I'm depressed, and I want to make stuff, & I can't, which makes me feel worse... & down the drain I go... My soapy thing for today, once I unpack from the trip & do all of the laundry, will be to finish my soap-tester survey and send it out.

View attachment 74444
(photo shows my old workbench, mostly switched over from carpentry/repair work to soap-focused work. There are silicone molds on shelves on the left, a newly-washed plastic-covered bench, stainless steel soap pots on the shelves under the bench, colorants & additives in drawers, solid fats in bags on the top shelves, and liquid fats on shelves to the right. A stick blender has pride of place & my new paper towel dispenser has (somewhat astoundingly) actually been installed & is ready to provide towels to wipe off oil drips & soap batter drops.)

(*The class was totally worth the time & money I invested in it; shout-out to the MotoMark1 driving school.)

I’m glad you’re feeling a little better. I’ve been down that drain myself.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I’m glad you’re feeling a little better. I’ve been down that drain myself.

Me too.