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I feel like I can see a lot of colors, I often just can't tell them apart from each other. For instance, 7, 9, 10, and 12 look like various shades of the same color, but I don't know what color.
What soapy thing have you done today?
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Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Interesting. 7, 9 & 10 are indeed various shade of red; 12 is green and lies opposite red on the color wheel. Red, Blue and Yellow are PRIMARY colors that make up the complementary SECONDARY colors Purple (Red & Blue), Green (Blue & Yellow), Orange (Yellow & Red).
AliensrReal
Well-Known Member
Pic 1: Buffed out my watermelon patch soap today. I got some pretty nasty drag marks as the soap was still soft. I allowed the soap to harden up and then I got a wet paper towel to buff out the drag marks. I love the rind! My best friend wanted this soap and I’m so happy I was able to recreate it for her. The colors are intense but no staining or colored bubbles. I don’t use less than the recommended amount of the color and I still get fantastic colors!
Pic 2: Tried to make a beautiful swirl with snowy peach berry but it accelerated. I did what I could with the swirling and thought it was going to be terrible. Thankfully, it came out very pretty and I’m so happy about it.
Pic 3: Peche de Vigne started ricing and separated once I got it into the mold. It’s been years since a fragrance has separated on me. It happened after the fragrance oil was added. I had planned on yellow, purple, pink and orange swirls. I stick blended it and placed it back in the mold. It’s a pretty color and smells good. The bars were huge so I ended up cutting them in half.
Pic 4-5: Kumquat popsicles. First time doing CP soap popsicles. I unmolded them a day too early and so they are a little deformed. Won’t do that again.
All soaps were made with neon colors. I love how I can make it neon or more pastel.
Pic 2: Tried to make a beautiful swirl with snowy peach berry but it accelerated. I did what I could with the swirling and thought it was going to be terrible. Thankfully, it came out very pretty and I’m so happy about it.
Pic 3: Peche de Vigne started ricing and separated once I got it into the mold. It’s been years since a fragrance has separated on me. It happened after the fragrance oil was added. I had planned on yellow, purple, pink and orange swirls. I stick blended it and placed it back in the mold. It’s a pretty color and smells good. The bars were huge so I ended up cutting them in half.
Pic 4-5: Kumquat popsicles. First time doing CP soap popsicles. I unmolded them a day too early and so they are a little deformed. Won’t do that again.
All soaps were made with neon colors. I love how I can make it neon or more pastel.
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Wow, that is one of my favorites from OT and has always been so well-behaved. WTH?
All of the soaps look great, btw.
AliensrReal
Well-Known Member
I thought it would behave well, but for me it didn’t. I was not expecting the ricing and separation. It only happened towards the end of the pour. I will certainly try it again though. As long as a scent doesn’t fade I will Work with it again.Wow, that is one of my favorites from OT and has always been so well-behaved. WTH?
All of the soaps look great, btw.
I am completely exhausted! Headache and everything. I made two soaps today, for the first time in many years. What a stress!
I tried the heat transfer method for the first time. It sort of worked, sort of not. My hard oils did not melt completely. I think it was due to two things. My recipe had 80% hard oils and 20% soft oils, so it was a lot of hard oils to melt. And my oils also were quite cold.
I eventually gave up and stick blended it to get it to melt. Then added my soft oils and stick blended some more. Everything looked fine until I sectioned the batter in four cups. It was lumpy! Okey, back in the pot and stickblend more, and more, and more. And I got sort of panic. This will thicken up like crazy, and how am I supposed to manage to make two soaps out of it in time, I thought?!
And it was a recipe I threw together last evening, never tested before. That was also a worry. And full of lard, that I have never used before, because it has not been available.
Well, it behaved very nice, too nice, actually. So I got serious worries about false trace after it was in the molds. Because the soap was plenty fluid. And I had 80% hard oils and a 40% lye solution, plus my olive oil was almost fridge cold. But luckily I think it became fine, it has not separated yet or anything.
I just wonder, how can people be so tidy and clean when making soap? I don't get it. I made a mess all over. Like extreme mess, like never seen before in history.
And I have lye burns on my hand. Yes, I used gloves, three pairs in a row, but had to take them off at the end. They got messy and oily, and everything just slipped out of my hands. I could not even unscrew the stickblender. Mess, mess, mess, everywhere.
I guess those tidy people are experienced, and I am for sure not. And I expect the soap will thicken up too rapidly, because that is what I have experienced the most in the past. So I get a little panic even when everything is super fine. But now I know that todays recipe really behaves, and if I will make it again I don't need to panic in advance, and can take my time and try to be more clean and tidy.
My recipe was:
38% lard
25% shea butter
20% olive oil
17% coconut oil
Dual lye (6% KOH), 40% lye concentration, 3% superfat, citric acid at 1% of oils, sodium lactate, sugar and kaolin clay.
It was sort of fun to make soap again. But more exhausting than fun, actually. I guess that is partly because I make such a mess and have too much cleaning to do. But I look forward to cutting it tomorrow. That is always the best part.
I tried the heat transfer method for the first time. It sort of worked, sort of not. My hard oils did not melt completely. I think it was due to two things. My recipe had 80% hard oils and 20% soft oils, so it was a lot of hard oils to melt. And my oils also were quite cold.
I eventually gave up and stick blended it to get it to melt. Then added my soft oils and stick blended some more. Everything looked fine until I sectioned the batter in four cups. It was lumpy! Okey, back in the pot and stickblend more, and more, and more. And I got sort of panic. This will thicken up like crazy, and how am I supposed to manage to make two soaps out of it in time, I thought?!
And it was a recipe I threw together last evening, never tested before. That was also a worry. And full of lard, that I have never used before, because it has not been available.
Well, it behaved very nice, too nice, actually. So I got serious worries about false trace after it was in the molds. Because the soap was plenty fluid. And I had 80% hard oils and a 40% lye solution, plus my olive oil was almost fridge cold. But luckily I think it became fine, it has not separated yet or anything.
I just wonder, how can people be so tidy and clean when making soap? I don't get it. I made a mess all over. Like extreme mess, like never seen before in history.
And I have lye burns on my hand. Yes, I used gloves, three pairs in a row, but had to take them off at the end. They got messy and oily, and everything just slipped out of my hands. I could not even unscrew the stickblender. Mess, mess, mess, everywhere.
I guess those tidy people are experienced, and I am for sure not. And I expect the soap will thicken up too rapidly, because that is what I have experienced the most in the past. So I get a little panic even when everything is super fine. But now I know that todays recipe really behaves, and if I will make it again I don't need to panic in advance, and can take my time and try to be more clean and tidy.
My recipe was:
38% lard
25% shea butter
20% olive oil
17% coconut oil
Dual lye (6% KOH), 40% lye concentration, 3% superfat, citric acid at 1% of oils, sodium lactate, sugar and kaolin clay.
It was sort of fun to make soap again. But more exhausting than fun, actually. I guess that is partly because I make such a mess and have too much cleaning to do. But I look forward to cutting it tomorrow. That is always the best part.
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
TIP: I keep a 2 oz brown bottle of 5% lavender EO in jojoba oil handy for burns. Soothes immediately and heals without scarring. Feel free to use any oil with a long shelf life you have handy.
Thank you! Yes, you are so right! I look forward to finally have real soap again. I had just a small piece left of a soap I made a very long time ago. That one was way more trouble. I had to emergency hot process in the microwave, and the scent was absolutely awful and way too strong!
@Zany_in_CO
Thank you for a great tip! I don't have any lavender. But lye burns usually heal relatively fast. It is just on my wrist on one hand. I missed that spot when washing my hands, so it manage to become a lye burn. But nothing severe. It is already better, actually, just a little red now.
Came home early from work today and tried something new—beeswax and honey soap. The beeswax was raised/harvested by my uncle, and I'm planning to return some to him in soap form for Christmas. Used EOs instead of FO like usual, a blend of geranium, lavender, and tea tree. I like!
Also tried a mini drops swirl in my TS mold using a more regular recipe, high in lard. I fear my batter was too thick for successful mini drops, but we'll see. Tried not gelling, which I basically don't do. I think it'll be fine with this recipe though.
Pic shows extra batter. The three colored bars are from the second batch. The yellowish bar is the beeswax recipe.
Also tried a mini drops swirl in my TS mold using a more regular recipe, high in lard. I fear my batter was too thick for successful mini drops, but we'll see. Tried not gelling, which I basically don't do. I think it'll be fine with this recipe though.
Pic shows extra batter. The three colored bars are from the second batch. The yellowish bar is the beeswax recipe.
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Hey there - these look great! I am a bit worried about how long they are going to be hanging about on those metal racks though?
AliensrReal
Well-Known Member
I’ve never had an issue with them before and I’ve been using them for years. I do check to make sure the coating isn’t exposing the stainless steel.
Thanks for sharing this. Since moving to a home with pink tile in the bath, I use a lot of rose gold. Also a fan of merlot.
I find colorblindness fascinating. Does your wife help with your designs? Our youngest is colorblind. A block from our home is a huge cemetery that is bordered by cherry trees. In the spring, it is just glorious block after block of gorgeous pink blossoms. Our son sees gray!!
Me, too and me, too! Fantastic job! Those are all so nice!
That does sound pretty stressful! And it sounds like a lot of soap to make for a welcome back session - whew!
I am not the most tidy, but I do set myself up for mess clean up during my soaping - dry paper towels, wet paper towels, 2 microfiber cloths, and 2 rags.
And I channel the wise words of @Zing - the first rule of soaping is Don’t Panic. (Is that like the first rule of Fight Club??
)Double the love of BB Rose Gold!
Awww, man - that’s a bummer about gray cherry blossoms!
A tiger stripe batch is tucked away on the heating pad. Here's a sneak peek of the top.
This makes 6 batches in 7 days, with plans for another tomorrow. When the soaping bug bites...what's a soaper to do??
This makes 6 batches in 7 days, with plans for another tomorrow. When the soaping bug bites...what's a soaper to do??
AliensrReal
Well-Known Member
@The_Emerald_Chicken That is so pretty!!!
I've had a disappointing soapy day. My challenge attempt looks like a frightful mess! And I worked on tweaking my mechanic's soap based on awesome feedback from this forum. Got all the ingredients and dishes out, and realized we had no borax. Grr -- my inventory guy's failed again!!
Hey, @The_Emerald_Chicken , don't be teasing us like that, you know we want more photos!
Hey, @The_Emerald_Chicken , don't be teasing us like that, you know we want more photos!
Patience, patience
In other news, I just finished a soapy marathon, feel drained, and am gonna let the dishes sit a bit while I recover. Here's the design I was going for.
I finally made soap today, which I think the first time since September. I should have been cleaning the house, but I needed a break. The batter for my attempt at a splash swirl stayed nice and fluid. Yay!
Not today, but I made a pond hockey soap - still refining and I’m going to have another go at it. I made some extruder discs on my 3D printer and used some scrapers I had made previously, and then made a tiny hockey stick stamp. One player got sort of squished, but that’s ok.
I have played hockey for a long time - played in high school and college and after. I got into playing at the beginning of girls and women’s hockey (where I lived) and I just loved it. And I really love pond hockey most of all.
I have played hockey for a long time - played in high school and college and after. I got into playing at the beginning of girls and women’s hockey (where I lived) and I just loved it. And I really love pond hockey most of all.
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