WomanInTheWoods
Active Member
Last night I was feelin' good~ in that happy soaping place, ready to make some awesome peppermint soap. I was using a recipe I've used before. I didn't use a water discount because I am very new to swirling and wanted plenty of time to get everything just right. I also hadn't used this fo before & figured I definitely would play it safe. Hindsight, I probably should have discounted. I used Bramble Berry's Red Velvet LabColor, which is diluted with water, so that's probably where things went wrong~ I really should have discounted to account for the water in the LabColor.
Everything went incredibly well; I soaped at room temp, brought the batch to emulsification/very light trace, separated out some into the red labcolor, then added some into the TD/oil mix (maybe about a tbsp of oil). I blended that with a spoon, then sb'd a bit, then added it back to the pot and sb'd until light trace. I then filled my 2 tubes about 3/4 full, rinsed/dried my sb, and went to the red. I brought that to light trace, maybe a smidge more, then, using a baster, I put strips/columns of red around the edges of the tubes. I added the rest of the red to the white base for an ITP swirl. It ended up being almost a 50/50 mix of red & white at that point. I poured it into my small wooden mold and it looked great! I pulled the columns of red in the tubes toward the center a bit, and set the whole batch on the counter while I put together the coffee batch next. (it didn't take very long as everything was ready to go~ I just added the lye/coffee solution to the oils, sb'd to trace, & poured.) I put everything into the oven, which was at 170*, turned off the heat, turned on the light, cleaned up & went to bed dreaming of my beautiful soap!
When I got up this morning, the coffee batch looks fine~ it's on the table waiting to be cut later. The peppermint batch, however, moves! When I tilt any of the containers the soap acts like thick stew! I left it in the oven (still off with the light on) and came here to see if it's salvageable. Will it ever harden up? It smells so good & I think it would be so pretty if I can ever cut it! I'm so bummed.
Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated!
Carol
Everything went incredibly well; I soaped at room temp, brought the batch to emulsification/very light trace, separated out some into the red labcolor, then added some into the TD/oil mix (maybe about a tbsp of oil). I blended that with a spoon, then sb'd a bit, then added it back to the pot and sb'd until light trace. I then filled my 2 tubes about 3/4 full, rinsed/dried my sb, and went to the red. I brought that to light trace, maybe a smidge more, then, using a baster, I put strips/columns of red around the edges of the tubes. I added the rest of the red to the white base for an ITP swirl. It ended up being almost a 50/50 mix of red & white at that point. I poured it into my small wooden mold and it looked great! I pulled the columns of red in the tubes toward the center a bit, and set the whole batch on the counter while I put together the coffee batch next. (it didn't take very long as everything was ready to go~ I just added the lye/coffee solution to the oils, sb'd to trace, & poured.) I put everything into the oven, which was at 170*, turned off the heat, turned on the light, cleaned up & went to bed dreaming of my beautiful soap!
When I got up this morning, the coffee batch looks fine~ it's on the table waiting to be cut later. The peppermint batch, however, moves! When I tilt any of the containers the soap acts like thick stew! I left it in the oven (still off with the light on) and came here to see if it's salvageable. Will it ever harden up? It smells so good & I think it would be so pretty if I can ever cut it! I'm so bummed.
Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated!
Carol
