What soapy thing have you done today?

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Long, stressful week at the hospital, so I came home and unwound by making a quick loaf of soap. Just put this puppy to bed. More tomorrow....
 
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I found and made what I think will be my go to bath bar--now just need to see how long it takes to dry. I tried the end piece and the bubbles were awesome--I used apple rose scent from BB what a lovely scent.
I have been thinking about making soap all day but wanted to get the bath bars down first--I miss making soap. and I have been busy trying to get the label thing down. and of course I re-organized all my soap stuff again
 
Is it ok.to.use Clay's to colour soap dought.....I ain't a mica fan at allll
Clays are actually a good choice as far as natural colorants go. They tend to stick around more than plant powders or infusions is what I've learned, but alas, they are too expensive for me for now and some aren't available here.

I'd give it a go if I had access, I'm not liking my few experiences with mica either.

Soapy thing:
Soy wax experiment going on right now!
I unmolded a bar each this morning, of my soy wax vs. lard experiment, and left the rest in the mold.

I wanted to see if I could catch unmolding it too soon, and see what the outcome would be.

Right off the bat, unmolding was easier and slightly cleaner for the lard soap compared to the soy wax soap.

Here's a sneak peak but I'll be posting more pics and an initial comparison later in the gallery after I've unmolded the rest.

Edit: soy wax soap on the left, lard soap on the right
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I unmolded a bar each this morning, of my soy wax vs. lard experiment, and left the rest in the mold.

I wanted to see if I could catch unmolding it too soon, and see what the outcome would be.

Right off the bat, unmolding was easier and slightly cleaner for the lard soap compared to the soy wax soap.

Here's a sneak peak but I'll be posting more pics and an initial comparison later in the gallery after I've unmolded the rest.
View attachment 38302
Which is which?
 
@KiwiMoose I think @earlene is right and the white is indeed ash. I was curious myself so I decided to sacrifice the side of one bar and shaved it some, trying for really thin pieces until I got to a part with significantly less ash. You can see in the pic below, I think I cut off about 2cm give or take.

The soy soap is still whiter than the lard soap, but not as white as the previous pic.
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Why did I get ash on the sides touching the mold? And why none on the lard soap? Oh btw, I wiped both down with alcohol (I only have 70% isopropyl on hand) and it didn't help much, hence the decision to shave the soap.

I have three cubes each and these are the first, unmolded at about 20hrs. I will unmold another set after 28 and the last ones maybe at 36 and compare them to each other as well as compare lard to soy.
 
View attachment 38297 Long, stressful week at the hospital, so I came home and unwound by making a quick loaf of soap. Just put this puppy to bed. More tomorrow....

Y’all, seriously, I have a big bag of bentonite clay that I’ve never used, so I decided to add it to this batch yesterday. I watched a lady on YouTube. She added about a tablespoon to 2 Tbsp of water whilst soft music played in the background and stirred with her stylish rectangular measuring spoon...it emulsified immediately and looked so creamy and smooth. Well, you should have seen mine—it looked like I was gonna lay brick. I finally got it sort of paste like. Only the Lord knows what its gonna look like in the soap. Also, I used about 2 Tbsp in about 5 lbs of finished soap thinking that would be conservative. See all that nice greenish white on my beautiful top swirl? Well, it’s “gone with the wind” this morning leaving it looking more like a 3rd grade art project.

Y’all got any tips and tricks for incorporating clays in CP?
 
My charge nurse yesterday asked if she could buy a custom soap loaf from me! She's into essential oils and wants to provide her own, so we're going to discuss what she'd like and see if I can come up with something for her. She did mention she tends to like skincare that contains beeswax, which I've never soaped with, so I'm gonna do a little research to see how to go about that.
 
messin with my bath bomb bombs from x-mas. my son had bought me a kit that really did some weird things. I let them dry and they expanded a lot--when dry I put in baggies and threw in a drawer. today I was thinking about trying bath bombs again. took those out to see if I could re-do. didn't work but added additional EOs and some poly 80 as the one I did use the oil just sat on top of the water. the originals were lavender. I am using as powder with one batch added eucalyptus and one batch added neroli and one batch just the lavender. now I have to take a bath. if it works out I will probably send it to my other son as he takes a lot of baths and is in pain alot
 
Beautiful. How’s the fragrance?
It's nice....doesn't really smell like either thyme or currant to me, but what do I know? It smells like SUCCESS.

Oh wait! I just went over to sniff it again and it's definitely fading!! I smell more soap than fragrance....interesting.....will add that to my notes.
 
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View attachment 38297 Long, stressful week at the hospital, so I came home and unwound by making a quick loaf of soap. Just put this puppy to bed. More tomorrow....
Here we go... These are the last of my hotel/matchbook/hospitality soaps promised for swag bags at an upcoming convention. Before @Zing makes merciless fun of me, YES, it’s another side swirl, but there’s method to my madness. If you read this forum regularly, you may recall that I posted a few weeks ago about striving for consistency in my soaping. Well, I can now officially do this swirl in my sleep, and it’s gotten better each time.

If you look closely, you may see specs of bentonite clay in the bars...I’d still love any tips on the best way to incorporate it.
 
View attachment 38316
Here we go... These are the last of my hotel/matchbook/hospitality soaps promised for swag bags at an upcoming convention. Before @Zing makes merciless fun of me, YES, it’s another side swirl, but there’s method to my madness. If you read this forum regularly, you may recall that I posted a few weeks ago about striving for consistency in my soaping. Well, I can now officially do this swirl in my sleep, and it’s gotten better each time.

If you look closely, you may see specs of bentonite clay in the bars...I’d still love any tips on the best way to incorporate it.
They look great! I've read people soaking their clays in water first, because they tend to absorb water (which is also why I think some people think it's the clays that accelerate trace).

I, unfortunately, have only used it in a stone soap and while I don't notice specks, even if I did I'd say it was intentional haha. I threw it in at trace for that one.

I have three cubes each and these are the first, unmolded at about 20hrs. I will unmold another set after 28 and the last ones maybe at 36 and compare them to each other as well as compare lard to soy.
Results posted here.

I also received my delivery of Cocoa and Shea butters... And I haz indigo powder! So happy I found that hehe
 
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