What soapy thing have you done today?

[MomInWA]

Bravo! That looks amazing @

Thanks, @Shelley D ! I feel like I redeemed myself a little bit. I've learned so much here and making soap is so therapeutic.

 

[Jorah]

I made my first batch of salt bars, using oil I infused overnight with rosemary leaves.

Here's the oil after straining out the rosemary and two filters through paper towels.



...and here are the bars right after pouring. I'm planning to cure them for one year before testing.

Edit to add a photo of the bars out of the molds:


(I know that indoor photos under florescent lights aren't great, but the sun isn't up yet!)

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm planning to cure them for one year before testing.

That shouldn't be necessary. Why so long?

 

[Jorah]

That shouldn't be necessary. Why so long?

I read through a couple dozen posts on several threads about salt bars, and the trend seemed to lean toward very long cure times. Have I misunderstood the situation?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Have I misunderstood the situation?

Nope. I haven't been following that thread. Thanks for the explanation. Carry on.

 

[not_ally]

@MomInWA, I actually thought your pink soap was a pretty color and would have been happy with it the way it was, but this is really a beautiful and dramatic result, I love the colors.

 

[Jorah]

Nope. I haven't been following that thread. Thanks for the explanation. Carry on.

As always, I look forward to being corrected if I'm misunderstanding something; perhaps one of the other salt bar-makers can validate whether a shorter cure time can work for these bars. It's hard to believe that these will ever harden up; there is so much salt in them that they seem mostly to be mush. I made this with a bit more water than I've been using recently, figuring that might give me time to mix in the salt (2.5:1 rather than 1.5:1)

Component	%​	Grams​
Coconut Oil (Great Value)	74.75​	580.8​
Grapeseed Oil (Pompeian)	25.25​	196.2​
	​	​
	​	Total oils: (777)​
Table sugar	1​	7.7​
Non-Iodized table salt	100​	777​
	​	​
Water	​	273.5​
Lye	​	109.3​
ROE	.1​	.7​
EDTA	.1​	.7​

 

[Georgeandstella]

Had a lovely soapy day!
Tried 3 different sample batches with pure macadamia ingredients - can't wait to see how it turns out.
Then made a Christmas soap with Santa's hat and some star embeds, followed by revenge on the FO that turned my Father Christmas's beard brown - by using it to make a "Christmas cake" soap.
Currently waiting to cut/unmold.

Please please please post pics! Wanna see

 

[Misschief]

I read through a couple dozen posts on several threads about salt bars, and the trend seemed to lean toward very long cure times. Have I misunderstood the situation?

I let mine cure for 3 months. They're one of my bestsellers.

 

[AliOop]

As always, I look forward to being corrected if I'm misunderstanding something; perhaps one of the other salt bar-makers can validate whether a shorter cure time can work for these bars. It's hard to believe that these will ever harden up; there is so much salt in them that they seem mostly to be mush. I made this with a bit more water than I've been using recently, figuring that might give me time to mix in the salt (2.5:1 rather than 1.5:1)

Salt actually hardens soap. It's the extra water, not the salt, that is causing them to be mushy. That is a whole lot of water for a CP soap. It would be better to use the regular amount of water. Stir in the salt at light to medium trace if you are worried about having enough time to get it all mixed in.

 

[Shelley D]

Thanks, @Shelley D ! I feel like I redeemed myself a little bit. I've learned so much here and making soap is so therapeutic.

I'm trying to decide if I want to try the splash swirl again just because or just do an ITPS with the colors ~ but I still have some more purple clay left and I want to make something pretty for my mom with that purple clay. I also need a light colored fluid base recipe so I need some light colored liquid oils because I have EVOO for days (lots and lots!), I have some rosehip seed oil (which is a rich amber color), and some sweet almond oil (but not much, an ounce or 2 maybe). Decisions decisions

 

[Zing]

I did it! I did it!!! Here is my November Challenge hanger swirl rebatch. Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Using @ScentimentallyYours recipe "Vegan Friendly Soap, Very White Base", which is what the original recipe was that I messed up the first time. She was kind enough to tell me what I did wrong the first time, so I thank you very kindly, Ma'am! I think I got it this time!

To rebatch, I melted 17% shreds of the first batch with my oils, SB'd it to smooth, added lye water. Separated batter into three parts: Original rose pink, purple, and black. Placed loaf mold on the diagonal and poured the rose pink. Allowed to partially set. Placed mold on its back and poured purple, then black, then a bit more rose on top. Performed hanger swirl. And here it is!

Glad I wasn't the only one late to the party! Yours is ****-juss -- very dramatic colors. Real nice job there.

 

[Jorah]

Salt actually hardens soap. It's the extra water, not the salt, that is causing them to be mushy. That is a whole lot of water for a CP soap. It would be better to use the regular amount of water. Stir in the salt at light to medium trace if you are worried about having enough time to get it all mixed in.

It's a lot of water, agreed, but the consistency was nearly that of a thick slurry when I put it into the mold around 10 this morning, and I just checked at 9 p.m. and the bars are hard enough to un-mold!

On my next batch, I'll moderate the amount closer to my usual amount, see how that goes.

 

[Jorah]

After I made the salt bars, I made a large* batch of my wife's current favorite recipe, splitting it into two sub-batches, one with a light green tint (mica) and bergamot EO, the other a medium red (madder root) and patchouli EO. Pictures to follow once I slice the loaves.

This is the first time I (accidentally!) got a swirl effect. This happened because I underestimated the amount of room I'd need for mixing in the colors, so I ended up doing it in phases. I can imagine that the whole swirl trend probably started like this, and some very creative people took it to heights I could never imagine.

Here's the bergamot:



and here's the patchouli:



-=-
*Large compared with the 500-gram batches I've been making.

 

[AliOop]

It's a lot of water, agreed, but the consistency was nearly that of a thick slurry when I put it into the mold around 10 this morning, and I just checked at 9 p.m. and the bars are hard enough to un-mold!

On my next batch, I'll moderate the amount closer to my usual amount, see how that goes.

Awesome, glad to hear they hardened up nicely. If high water ends up working for your recipe, no need to change it.

 

[Blue1969]

Please please please post pics! Wanna see

Will - just waiting for the beautiful scented flavour oil to do it's nastiness properly

 

[Jorah]

Awesome, glad to hear they hardened up nicely. If high water ends up working for your recipe, no need to change it.

Thanks! I'll know more when I test it, but I'm pleased that they've come out of the molds so well. Here's a photo of sample bars from all three of yesterday's batches... this one taken in natural light. I'm pretty happy with that patchouli/madder root batch, in particular. I know that the red will fade to a reddish brown later, but it's fun to look at right now.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I watched YouTube videos of different ways to wrap and label cp soap, which led me down the rabbit hole of learning about labeling lotion bottles, which then led to me ordering that one last ingredient needed for the lotion I want to make and some FOs from Lonestar Candle Supply.

 

[AliOop]

Thanks! I'll know more when I test it, but I'm pleased that they've come out of the molds so well. Here's a photo of sample bars from all three of yesterday's batches... this one taken in natural light. I'm pretty happy with that patchouli/madder root batch, in particular. I know that the red will fade to a reddish brown later, but it's fun to look at right now.

View attachment 75562

Love these - nice work!

 

[Marie_with_an_e]

Oopsie! Here's what EO CALC has to say about that blend.

"If all of the listed usage rates below have a green background, you are good to go! However, usage rates that exceed the maximum recommended safe usage limit for Cold Process Soap (Category 9) in accordance with the IFRA Standards are marked with a red background. If you wish to use that scent strength, you will need to reduce the amount of the marked restricted essential oil(s) in the blend until the calculator returns a green usage rate."

I entered: 50% Peppermint, 50% Spearmint in 30 oz. Oils CP:
View attachment 75403

Calculate Usage Rate - EO Calc - Essential Oil Calculator

Thank you @Zany_in_CO, I’m aware of the IFRA guidelines, but this soap isn’t for sale, only family use, and none of us, including my granddaughter, are sensitive to spearmint.