What soapy thing have you done today?

Lemon Cheesecake soap! I did three colours - yellow mica, natural, and TD and did a hanger swirl. Can't wait to cut it. AND it smells just like a slice of lemon cheesecake - I can even smell the biscuit base!

mulline said:

I started here as a totally newbie from Denmark ( i´m still in Denmark :-D )

I know I have been a quiet member, but i have been reading a lot, and made a lot of soap


i just want to show you how far i have come and say thank you for all the knowledge you have given by letting me join here on the SMF

Love you all View attachment 39779 View attachment 39780 View attachment 39781 View attachment 39782

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Wow! OUTstanding!

We spent the majority of the day yesterday in the cities, so no soapy stuff at home. But I did search for a surge protector/extension cord to replace the one I've been using (plain extension cord) all along in the soaping area.

Since moving the configuration of my soaping area, the cord for my SB was creating issues while soaping, so I needed the surge protector and a longer than 3 feet cord. So I set that up this morning.

Also got out my last box of shea butter, but haven't opened it yet. Just needed to verify I wasn't totally running out. A relief, as I didn't really want to order more just yet.

I may not get much soapy stuff done today either, because I really have to deal with bills and that tends to take me more time than I expect. Mostly because I keep needing to take breaks (or in truth, procrastinate.)

mulline said:

I started here as a totally newbie from Denmark ( i´m still in Denmark :-D )

I know I have been a quiet member, but i have been reading a lot, and made a lot of soap


i just want to show you how far i have come and say thank you for all the knowledge you have given by letting me join here on the SMF

Love you all View attachment 39779 View attachment 39780 View attachment 39781 View attachment 39782

Click to expand...

You’re certainly not a newbie anymore! Your soaps and display are beautiful!

KiwiMoose said:

Lemon Cheesecake soap! I did three colours - yellow mica, natural, and TD and did a hanger swirl. Can't wait to cut it. AND it smells just like a slice of lemon cheesecake - I can even smell the biscuit base!
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Kiwi...as always, that is one beautiful batch of soap. I love the subtle look of natural-TD swirl, and you've added just enough yellow to create interest.

mulline said:

I started here as a totally newbie from Denmark ( i´m still in Denmark :-D )

I know I have been a quiet member, but i have been reading a lot, and made a lot of soap


i just want to show you how far i have come and say thank you for all the knowledge you have given by letting me join here on the SMF

Love you all View attachment 39779 View attachment 39780 View attachment 39781 View attachment 39782

Click to expand...

You look like an old pro! Great job. I love the little card holders you can stick in the bars. Are those available on Amazon?

I found the last bar of soap from an order I placed with Ozark Herbals over 8 years ago. It was tucked into the back of the closet when I moved in 2012. It’s been stored in the original paper bag. The scent is long gone, but the soap still looks pristine. The makers are retired now. I ordered their soaps for many years after discovering them at a music festival in Kansas.

Made a few batches over the last week. Decided to make it a little easier on myself and do solid colors on these. I'm getting everything ready to try some embeds to add a little character to my single color bars.

OMH (no color added), Juicy Apricot, Rosemary Mint

All hot processed

Had 2 hours gifted PTO this morning, so got up at my usual time and tinkered in the soap lab. Did the small batch (4 bars) so I can say I am over halfway done with the 40 bar custom order. I need to MB more oil before I can finish (I think... I'll weigh out what's left in the MB bucket to verify). Otherwise have not accomplished my to do list at all this week. Will work on that this weekend.

Big soapy To Do list today, I guess.

So far today:

✓ Unmolded last night's soap (log). Actually done after midnight, so technically it is this morning's soap.
✓ Put another set of last night/this mornings soap into oven to gel (individual bars mold)
✓ Used up lard to test out Susie's 65% lard recipe (will give to family)
✓ Washed some soapy equipment
✓ Tossed/recycled more of no-longer needed soapy supplies
✓ Broke another wire on a different wire cutter & replaced it
✓ Attempted to prep another wire to be replacement, but can't seem to manage attaching the wire to the ball end beads
✓ Placed an order for some tools (to use for the above)
✓ Cut yesterday's soap into bars (3 bars)
✓ Emptied another container of soap confetti (used in one of the soaps)
✓ Prep colorant for next soap
✓ Dust-mopped, swept, mopped kitchen (soaping area)
✓ Emptied the de-humidifier reservoir (humidity has been much higher lately) hoping to bring down the internal humidity

Additional soapy To Do:

✓ unmold the bars now in oven
✓ wash more soapy dishes
- gather wire cutter wire making materials to set aside for when additional tools arrive
✓ continue inventory reduction (oils, other supplies, etc.)
- transfer more micas to jars (I think I have 2 or 3 empty jars for the bins)
- look through soap molds to assess for keeping, tossing, recycling, giving away or whatever
- update soap recipes with notes/photos as needed
✓ make soap; videotape as I go along
- continue soap lessons plan for granddaughter (materials to bring, recipes, etc.)
- bring wire cutter back upstairs - got it as far as on the steps

Edit: updated Additional soapy To Do

I unmolded my beer and cherry soaps. I did an in the pot swirl for the cherry ones, but I don't think it is showing up very well now. They will need to be cleaned up after they cure.

MarnieSoapien said:

I unmolded my beer and cherry soaps. I did an in the pot swirl for the cherry ones, but I don't think it is showing up very well now. They will need to be cleaned up after they cure. View attachment 39857 View attachment 39858

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Hey Marnie - is your cherry one just an FO, or did you use cherry juice or puree in there?

KiwiMoose said:

Hey Marnie - is your cherry one just an FO, or did you use cherry juice or puree in there?

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Cherry FO and a small amount of red iron oxide to get the pink color.

This month I made soap with black cherries. When I used cherry juice (from the cherries) as my lye solution liquid, I was reminded about how quickly lye solution can boil over! It was faster than when I used Kombucha tea and faster than beer if I recall correctly. I also used puréed black cherries. There is a photo of the rimmed black cherry soap in my media albums.

I plan to do more cherry soap because I ended up with a lot of purée!

Done so far today:

✓ unmolded one soap (overnight gel)
✓ put away clean soapy dishes

Update:

✓ wash more soapy dishes
✓ make soap; videotape as I go along
✓ deleted several files from camera memory card to make room for more video
✓ upload video to computer & started name identification of said video clips
✓ brought wire cutter back upstairs, but kept wooden mold for soap I made


Soapy ToDo's:

- gather together wire cutter wire making materials (started yesterday, but did not complete)
- continue inventory reduction (oils, other supplies, etc.)
- transfer more micas to jars (I think I have 2 or 3 empty jars for the bins)
- look through soap molds to assess for keeping, tossing, recycling, giving away or whatever
- update soap recipes with notes/photos as needed
- continue soap lessons plan for granddaughter (materials to bring, recipes, etc.)
- create soap recipe for son's request

Cool soap @earlene! Are the little bits of red in the center part bits of cherry?

Mobjack Bay said:

Cool soap @earlene! Are the little bits of red in the center part bits of cherry?

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Yes, that does appear to be bits of the puréed cherries, possibly the skin or outer peel. The overall soap is much darker now. Even new I would not have called that red, more a reddish brown. Now definitely a duller brown. I just checked the little cube soap I made with plain uncolored batter, and it is still pretty light in color. The very very thin shaving from planing of the heart soaps I made with that batter also has those bits, which appear to be cherry survivors from the purée process. I'd say that it could be avoided by peeling the skin off the cherries, but until I use the soap I will not know if it creates an undesirable effect, such as bits left on the skin or sink. And I am yet unsure if the bits will dry out and become scratchy.

I made my first salt bars today using my apparently jinxed oval cavity molds. Can’t wait see how they look in a couple of hours.

not enough time to soap today after leaving a show early due to KNOWING storms were coming. Yeah they all got hit. but I had labels and boxing to do this afternoon.
Plus exchanging new wiper blades for 2 cars

Created a spinach & green tea exfoliant bar this morning. I had to squeeze water from the unthawed spinach for last night's dinner. I looked at the water and said why not? I used the tea leaves from the green tea as the exfoliant. I'll see how exfoliant it is once I test it. I hope it's not too scratchy.

newlee said:

Created a spinach & green tea exfoliant bar this morning. I had to squeeze water from the unthawed spinach for last night's dinner. I looked at the water and said why not? I used the tea leaves from the green tea as the exfoliant. I'll see how exfoliant it is once I test it. I hope it's not too scratchy.

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If you find it too scratchy, you can label them as FOOT SOAP and use them to exfoliate your feet. That's what I did when my tea soaps were too scratchy. I use tea leaves, rather than tea from tea bags, and the longer the soap cures the drier leaves get and become quite scratchy to tender body parts. But they're great for rough feet that spend a lot of time in sandals.

Today I posted an update on my Battle of the Greens, three weeks on.

I also made a batch of soap where I tried using cacao butter, gave castor oil the flick, learnt about False Trace, and tried a new FO (smells delicious! will it discolour in my favour?). Learning, learning! Thank you all for your help, inspiration and encouragement!