Ingenious way to get rid of soda ash!

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navigator9

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I was just catching up on one of my favorite soapmaker's videos.....this particular one was on swirling, and what do I see but probably the best idea I've ever seen on how to get rid of soda ash, while still in the silicone liner, before cutting. I've never seen this particular method mentioned anywhere, and it does the entire loaf at once. Maybe it's just me, and everyone else does it this way, but I've never seen it done quite like this before. I don't want to spoil the surprise, I'll let Ariane show you....
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VFVkApbQdI[/ame]
 
Well that was an eye opener. I do the same thing but with the bars- never thought of doing the whole loaf like that. I will try it out on my next ashy batch!
 
Well that was an eye opener. I do the same thing but with the bars- never thought of doing the whole loaf like that. I will try it out on my next ashy batch!

I know! I smacked myself on the forehead and said, now why didn't I ever think of that??? It's still in the liner, so only the top gets wet, and no fingerprints. Duh!
 
I enjoy Arianne too -- but I only have 1 GB of bandwidth for the next 10 days. I love living in the boonies, except for satellite internet with ridiculous costs and ridiculous bandwidth limits.

Anyway, sniveling aside ... I don't dare watch a 15 minute video! Would someone be kind enough to give me the executive summary? Pretty please???
 
I'm so going to try that tomorrow when I unmold. Thank you so much for sharing! I had seen some of her YouTube videos before, but I'd never seen that one.
 
I enjoy Arianne too -- but I only have 1 GB of bandwidth for the next 10 days. I love living in the boonies, except for satellite internet with ridiculous costs and ridiculous bandwidth limits.

Anyway, sniveling aside ... I don't dare watch a 15 minute video! Would someone be kind enough to give me the executive summary? Pretty please???
She ran warm water over the entire loaves to wash the ash off. The loaves were hard and still in their silicone liners. Arianne is awesome :)
 
Yes, it's really so simple, and yet something I had never thought of, but it's the perfect way to do it, the loaf stays dry, except for the top where the ash is. DeeAnna, she just held the entire loaf, still in the silicone liner, under the faucet and let the hot water run over it. So when you take it out of the liner, you don't have to worry about fingerprints in the wet loaf, because only the top gets wet. Perfect, just perfect.
 
Mucho thanks, all! Isn't it funny how easily we can get into a rut of thinking a certain way, then someone comes along with a sparky idea that suddenly levels out the rut! I'll bookmark the video to watch once we get more bandwidth. Arianne is a wizard....

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD
 
Can't see the video.:(

Isg, it's a video of Ariane doing a chopstick swirl, which is interesting enough, but what floored me was when she took a whole loaf of soap, still in the silicone liner, and ran it under the faucet to get rid of soda ash. I had to rewind and look again......what did she just do??? It was one of those light bulb moments when I thought, well of course that's the way to do it! My way of thinking usually takes me to the long and complicated approach to things, so I love it when I see someone cut through all the crap and make it all look so easy! I know there are soapmakers who steam each bar, or wipe the tops of individual bars, painstakingly trying to remove the ash (I've done it myself) while Ariane just goes whoosh, whole loaf done at once, no fingerprints in wet soap.....genius! I don't know if she thought of it, but it's the first time I've seen it done that way, and I know ash plagues many soapers, so it just seems like a technique that will make things so much easier for folks who get ash on their soaps.

Also, I usually spray the tops of all my soaps with alcohol to deter ash. Sometimes this makes the tops sticky. Now I don't have to do that any more....so no sticky tops.
 
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I did not watch the video yet. But what I often do that is similar, and can be done when using wood molds as well as silicon, is to use steam. I have a fantastic steam iron that produces steam like crazy. I just steam the top of the soap and the ash disappears like magic. I wait about an hour or so afterwards before cutting just to make sure it is nice and dry again. I like this method because I use both types of molds.
 
I love her videos!! She makes me want to run out and make up some soap!! :)

....pouring hand balms and lip balms today..... >>sigh<<
 
Thanks, navigator9. I can watch it now for some reason. Maybe my network was slow this morning. I always like her tutorials. She makes lovely soap.
 
I watched her videos from the M&P to embeds she very good. She's French Canadian I think.
 
Oh, she's my absolute favorite. I adore her and I've never even chatted with her, let alone met her. I suppose that's creepy, but I can't help myself.
 
She's a presenter at the Guild Conference in April. I'm looking forward to her session. I'm sure it's going to be very popular.
 

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