I dont have a question, just showing my flopped soap

[Catscankim]

Hahaha. Still waiting on supplies to come but i had to feed my new soaping obsession lol. I have been messing with castile soap, only because its what i can get from the grocery store while i wait. I just feel like i need some practice time in...

I have made a few unscented batches, but i had a cranberry fragrance that i was dying to try, plus i wanted to try my hand at making a “mica line” which i ended up using cocoa powder for.

I had my pretty soap batter ready to go, not even at trace yet. I added my cranberry and whisked and whisked. Still no trace after a good long bit, so i zapped it with the SB for about a minute. Still nothing. So figuring this might be a while, i took off my gloves and ran to pee real quick. When i came back, it was wet cement lol. I could barely get the SB out of it.

Nooooooo..

Determined to save my soap, I started glopping it into the mold and quickly trying to get my cocoa powder lines in lol. It WAS practice after all.

It took two days of soaking, scraping, and rinsing to get my blender clean.

without further adieu, here is my ugly soap. P.S....my curing room smells wonderful. Not quite cranberry, more like a Christmas store

 

[Catscankim]

We shall call this...Charlie Brown’s Christmas lol

 

[Todd Ziegler]

We shall call this...Charlie Brown’s Christmas lol

Pretty good save and I like the name & soap.

 

[Arimara]

Can you post your recipe and the include the weighed amounts of everything you used? Also, you might want to consider actually using a mica for a mica line. I can tell you flat out that cocoa powder is going to make a much worse mess in the bathroom than any mica I have found thus far.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I like your soap and the way the lines turned out. If that’s not how you planned it, you don’t have to tell (and we won’t tell...). It was a good save. If you like a more “finished” look, let it harden up a bit, bevel the edges with a vegetable peeler, and after a bit more hardening, polish it with a microfiber cloth. If it’s 100% OO, you will want to set it aside for a good long cure.

 

[Catscankim]

Arimara, its the only soap that i have made, with consistent results until this experiment lol. Like i said, i have been waiting for my order for other butters and oils, etc.

900g olive oil
172g distilled water
115g lye

blend at 130 degrees

i got this FO from amazon just cause it shipped the next day. It was 3bottles of .33 ml, so it wasnt a whole lot at .99 ml. It instantly turned the soap a pretty pumpkin color.

 

[Catscankim]

I like your soap and the way the lines turned out. If that’s not how you planned it, you don’t have to tell (and we won’t tell...). It was a good save. If you like a more “finished” look, let it harden up a bit, bevel the edges with a vegetable peeler, and after a bit more hardening, polish it with a microfiber cloth. If it’s 100% OO, you will want to set it aside for a good long cure.

I had no real plan for the line. It was an experiment Lol.

Thank you for the idea of a microfiber cloth

 

[DeeAnna]

I use cocoa for pencil lines and also for coloring small amounts of batter as an accent color. But I use only enough cocoa to get the job done. Used in a reasonable amount, cocoa powder doesn't affect the lather color. Nor do I see cocoa powder bits on the shower floor.

If a person used a lot of cocoa, yes, I agree it could definitely be a pain.

 

[Catscankim]

Oh, and whatever i could manage to hand-scrape out of the bowl, which was almost like sand by the time i was done, i was able to pack into little seashell molds lol

 

[Arimara]

Do you have a link for the FO you used? Also, it's likely your culprit. The recipe looks fine. Since you bought it from amazon, I think I would warn you to be very careful with placing orders from them, especially if you order from their warehouse and at least look up some reputable vendors in case they set up shop through them. At one point, I know Nurture sold through them before but I don't know if they still do.

A little more on the FO- we recommend buying through known suppliers because they will let you know about your FO. Reviews and product info should be listed so you can know your FO is skin-safe and works in CP/HP soaps. With amazon, sometimes the product info (and reviews still) are questionable.

 

[Catscankim]

Heres the bottle in a different smell.

 

[dibbles]

I like the look of your soap. A lot of people purposely make an irregular mica line because the effect is so interesting. And it is hard to get a perfectly straight and level line - at least for me.

 

[Catscankim]

I like the look of your soap. A lot of people purposely make an irregular mica line because the effect is so interesting. And it is hard to get a perfectly straight and level line - at least for me.

Its the top that looks terrible lol. It got so freakin hard by that point i didnt know what to do with it except do another experiment with a fork because i just watched a video about that lol. I figured it was ugly enough anyway so why not

 

[Mobjack Bay]

If I don’t like a top, I sometimes cut it off, or try washing the top under running water, or even rubbing it a bit with a damp soft toothbrush. Mostly I leave them alone.

 

[lsg]

You soap looks good to me.

 

[Arimara]

Heres the bottle in a different smell.

Thanks for sharing that. I would test that over the next few weeks to see if the scent or anything else changes. The site says you can use it for soaps but I suspect they assume M&P soaps, which does not always translate well in CP or HP soaps. Also, I have an issue with them saying they use "Good Essential Brownie Essential Oil" to formulate those fragrances and the fact there is no info regardign their safety and usage. I would suggest looking into other suppliers if you decide to take a deeper plunge in using FO. Nature's Garden and Nurture Soaps are just two such suppliers.

 

[Catscankim]

It was an impulse buy because it delivered the next day. I ordered other FO from two other soaping suppliers, but shipping is taking forever due to Covid. It didnt smell like cranberry at all anyway lol. Pretty, but nothing like cranberry.

I also ordered a bunch of other scents...mango, coconut, pomegranate, but i was missing three bottles. I sent them a msg about the missing bottles bc i hate leaving bad feedback especially now when people are struggling. Never heard back.

I wont use the remaining FO from them in any soap. I guess they will just be used in my little candle diffusers.

Kim

 

[Malleebird]

and after a bit more hardening, polish it with a microfiber cloth.

What a great tip ! I've just been in there polishing soap...and my microfibre cloth wasn't even a new one !
Learning so much everyday on this forum...thanks for that one Mobjack Bay.

 

[ShySoaper]

Hahaha. Still waiting on supplies to come but i had to feed my new soaping obsession lol. I have been messing with castile soap, only because its what i can get from the grocery store while i wait. I just feel like i need some practice time in...

I have made a few unscented batches, but i had a cranberry fragrance that i was dying to try, plus i wanted to try my hand at making a “mica line” which i ended up using cocoa powder for.

I had my pretty soap batter ready to go, not even at trace yet. I added my cranberry and whisked and whisked. Still no trace after a good long bit, so i zapped it with the SB for about a minute. Still nothing. So figuring this might be a while, i took off my gloves and ran to pee real quick. When i came back, it was wet cement lol. I could barely get the SB out of it.

Nooooooo..

Determined to save my soap, I started glopping it into the mold and quickly trying to get my cocoa powder lines in lol. It WAS practice after all.

It took two days of soaking, scraping, and rinsing to get my blender clean.

without further adieu, here is my ugly soap. P.S....my curing room smells wonderful. Not quite cranberry, more like a Christmas store

Good save no one will have known if you didn’t tell

 

[AliOop]

I think they are pretty! As someone else mentioned, you can plane off the tops if you don’t like them. Save the scraps for rebatch or confetti soap.