What soapy thing have you done today?

I decided I need to do some deep cleaning downstairs first and forgot how much longer it takes me now that I am getting on in years to do such labor intensive cleaning. And all I managed to clean really deeply was the master bedroom and the master bathroom. But I also scrubbed the floor down on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and waxed the with hot melted wax. That takes me a lot more time than it did when I was in my 40's.

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Oh Earlene, I so identify with everything you said! In my mind, I'm the same as always, but once I start on project, it takes waaaaay longer than it used to! What's up with that?!

Lucky you! Count your blessings... I wish my dear hubby would go some place for 2 months so I could have the joint all to myself to be able to create and just leave the mess without having to clean up every time. I'd love that!

Um, yeah. Made soap. Again. My name is Cathy and I'm a soapaholic. CAN NOT STOP. Every weekend. I need to get out more...

Tried a new recipe (for me at least- lenarenee's) and used FO 25:43 from Nuture, which stopped me dead in my tracks is smells so good. Kind of a boring pepto bismal pink inside but cabernet and gold micas on the top.

Pics attached (one inside and one outside because I wanted the gold to show up).

I made six huge batches of soap for a custom order (using rose clay, turmeric, rose buds, Lavender, chamomile, calendula, cocoa powder, honey and beeswax from my beehives). Also made some beeswax votive and tapered candles for my websites. I spent over 7hrs standing in the soap room to get all these done. I have never worked in the soap room for more than 3hrs, thank God i master-batched my oils yesterday. I hope to post pictures when I cut them tomorrow.

lined up 4 log molds, and took a break )

I did nothing but post here. Today, I'm going to test my tester bars to see how they are curing. They should be about 3 or 4 weeks along but since they're lard soaps, they ain't cured yet to mine nose.

Farmers Market

I did my first farmers market in our local town, and I was surprisingly happy with the outcome as my sales were very good for just a small market and I plan on doing this every Saturday through September.

Tested 3 different black soaps I made while in Mendocino a few months back. I cannot say I like black soap at all. Too much black sudsy drops in the sink as I wash my hands. One of them might get by in the shower, but the other two are just plain too black. I began shredding one of them to use as confetti in soap. Too bad, because they're pretty enough on their own. But I just won't use them and can't see how anyone I know would want to have black suds dropping all over their sinks or showers.

Today I grated soap and then searched around for containers in which to keep the separate colors of grated soap. Cleaned out a peanut butter jar so I can put some grated soap into it tomorrow when it is 100% dry. Thought of making confetti soap, but it's the hub's day off so I did not. I'll work on that in a couple of days when he is back to work.

Took a luxurious bath with homemade soaps and ended it with a tiny bath bomb (it was a bit small for the size of the tub, but still just fine). For the last few minutes, I turned on the whirlpool jets and got lots of bubbles that I had not expected to get. Then I remembered again that I don't like cleaning the tub after a bath, but I did it anyway of course.

While making all those teachers' gifts, I was writing little notes about each batch on the printed out recipe, so I could remember which bars had which oils, etc. "Is the pink one the 100% coconut? Or is that the coconut free one?" While I didn't like the messiness of the notes all in the margins, I did like having a sort of catalog of completed soaps right on the recipe sheet. So, my soapy thing yesterday was to design sheets for myself that feature the recipe at the top and lines at the bottom for jotting down the date and distinguishing characteristics of the batches. I don't have a lot of different recipes, and most of the soap is just for us at home. However, I'd like to be able to tell my friends what's in the bars I give them.

I'm testing different recipes for milk / coconut soaps. Yesterday made olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter and castor oil soap with coconut cream added instead of water, no fragrance. 5% superfat.
Today I made coconut oil/castor oil soap with goats milk and coconut fragrance. 15% superfat.

This evening I am making coconut oil/castor oil soap with coconut cream and coconut fragrance. 20% superfat - is this too much superfat as the coconut cream has fat in it too? The specification the soapcalc shows for this last soap is as follows:

Soap Bar Quality Range Your Recipe
Hardness 29 - 54 71
Cleansing 12 - 22 60
Conditioning 44 - 69 19
Bubbly 14 - 46 69
Creamy 16 - 48 20
Iodine 41 - 70 18
INS 136 - 165 242

I do not understand this as the superfat should make it more conditioning and it shows as very low on this chart.
Also it does not show as creamy at all but I think it is as I made it once before, or is it the coconut cream that makes such a huge difference but soapcalc does not take that into account?

I am still a very new soapmaker and learning all the time. I appreciate any comments you have as I am trying to made a good creamy soap, not drying.

Thank you for your help : )

Soapstars said:

This evening I am making coconut oil/castor oil soap with coconut cream and coconut fragrance. 20% superfat - is this too much superfat as the coconut cream has fat in it too? The specification the soapcalc shows for this last soap is as follows:

Soap Bar QualityRangeYour Recipe
Hardness29 - 54 71
Cleansing12 - 22 60
Conditioning 44 - 69 19
Bubbly14 - 46 69
Creamy16 - 48 20
Iodine41 - 70 18
INS136 - 165 242

I do not understand this as the superfat should make it more conditioning and it shows as very low on this chart.
Also it does not show as creamy at all but I think it is as I made it once before, or is it the coconut cream that makes such a huge difference but soapcalc does not take that into account?

I am still a very new soapmaker and learning all the time. I appreciate any comments you have as I am trying to made a good creamy soap, not drying.

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Its not too much superfat, milks and creams don't add enough to worry about. The coconut cream will make a difference in creaminess, but soapcalc can't compute that.

Looking at the numbers in Soapcalc is a good thing and you can learn a lot from it, but it can't account for everything. Superfat is not a part of the numbers, just the saponified oils. Looking at the numbers, castille and coconut soaps are terrible, but they are well loved!

Whew that's good news! Many thanks for explaining that to me.

I made peacock swirl (screwedup) in slab mold , cause my DH made a long splitter for me and I need see how it works

I did my least favorite part of soapmaking - measuring oils and pouring into batch buckets. I am going to do a much as I can this week and next so I won't have to do it for a while.

I am making Experimental Coffee soap. Got my oils melting now, and my brewed coffee measured out for the lye. A one pound batch of soap is tiny. I'll need a much smaller crock pot unless I decide to keep using the double boiler I've got set up.

Salt Bar Maiden Voyage....wasn't a total disaster.

So, I get the hype now over the salt bar.

I finally decided to try my hand at making one and while it is not pretty, and I have some timing kinks to work out......it feels soooo good!!! Like I just went swimming in the ocean with out the sand and wind irritation kind of good. Side note, I am a hot process girl, because I prefer instant gratification. I washed my hands and arms while cleaning my soapy dishes and I am in love. I can't wait to try them in a couple of weeks.

I decided to go with my "fluid" hot process hoping the extra moisture would lend me time to mix in the salt and get it into into the mold. I added all of my salt (80%) and started stirring and at first it was all good. I had movement and then BAM! my soap was paste. I got it all glopped into the mold, mostly....and on the cut I have a ton of crumbles, but it smells nice and feels nice. Practice makes perfect right?

Any advice from fellow hot process folks? I did the typical 80% CO, 15% sunflower (I love sunflower) with a 20% SF. Water was at 38......I use half H2O and half coconut milk. Only thing I think I could do different is enlist my husband's help for an extra set of arms to get it glopped in the mold faster. Lol

I ordered micas and fragrances. Can't wait!

Paper, paper and more paper

Wrapping all my soaps

Midwitch said:

So, I get the hype now over the salt bar.

...

Any advice from fellow hot process folks?

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I don't HP, but I do make salt bars. They set up so fast that when I make a loaf, I have to babysit it and cut it as soon as it's hard enough to pop out of the mold, even if it's still hot. Otherwise, it always crumbles. If I don't think I can time it right, I use cavity molds so I don't have to cut them at all.

Good idea, I could smoosh them into puck molds with the consistency I had.