What soapy thing have you done today?

[DeeAnna]

I just saw this photo posted by the National Weather Service office in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. It's a radar image of the snow and cloud cover over the upper Midwest.

My first reaction to the image was "How pretty -- it looks like a really cool colorway for soap!"

And then I read the caption. Oops.

 

[KattChaos]

I just saw this photo posted by the National Weather Service office in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. It's a radar image of the snow and cloud cover over the upper Midwest.

My first reaction to the image was "How pretty -- it looks like a really cool colorway for soap!"

And then I read the caption. Oops.

Ooo, those colors would make a pretty soap.

 

[earlene]

So I wonder what the pinkish orange is? I'm confident that's not fire and I know it's not hot anywhere close to here.

It snowed briefly here for a bit, more like just a bit of snowy mist. Nothing stuck to the ground before it stopped. I'm actually glad it's not snowing again, since it took so long for last week's snow to melt and Hubby works so late he hates getting out the snow blower when he is tired.

I got out some things to make another batch of hidden heart soap, but now I don't really feel up to it. I trimmed yesterday's soap and am happy with how they look even if a reject for the challenge. Besides the hidden heart, I also had made a slanted confetti soap with some of the extra batter. I like how the slant turned out, but I think it would have looked better if I had only added confetti to one of the colors instead of both. I'll take a photo later to demonstrate what I mean.

Here's the photo of my slanted confetti soap.

 

[SoapAddict415]

It does look like a beautifully swirled soap.

Sent from my Z828 using Soap Making mobile app

 

[kdaniels8811]

It is time to start stocking up on bar soap. Last year was over 600 pounds, wow! Here are some of my spring soaps, still wet and beautiful! from left to right Love Spell, Sunflower, Lilac, Grapefruit, Patchouli and Lavender. More to come tomorrow!

 

[dibbles]

Soapy stuff = 0. Uninspiration = 1.
I think I might be burned out. I just can't seem to even CARE about soapmaking right now. I was hoping that the January challenge would inspire me but I can't seem to be excited about it. I walk into my soap lab, turn on the light, take a look around, and then park myself on the couch to watch Shameless. I have a list of craft shows to sign up for and a pile of applications to fill out for them, but I can't even do that. I'm stuck. The husband has asked for more salt bars as he is about to crack open his last bar, and I don't want to. I have a tote full of dirty dishes to wash, and I keep thinking "I should do that and then maybe I'll be interested in making soap again" but the tote just sits there mocking me. Anyone wanna give me a good smack to the head and tell me to get over myself?

It's the weather. This long stretch of super cold weather just sucks the life out of everything.

 

[earlene]

kdaniels8811, those are absolutely gorgreous!

You mentioned Sunflower in one of your soaps. How much do you use, which supplier do you use, and how long does it last? I just made a soap with BB's Sunflower and it seems rather faint to me. I know that I did not use enough, because I forgot to change the default amount in the lye calculator. The soap is not yet a month old and of course I have not used it yet, so don't know if it will bloom with use.

 

[SoapAddict415]

I FINALLY washed ALL of my soaping bowls/utensils. They're sitting in a tote of hot bleach water waiting for me to drain them, dry them & put them away. This is the ONLY party of soap making that I don't like & as a result my bowls and things pile up until I have nothing left to make soap in. Lol, I need a dishwasher!

 

[Misschief]

I'm experimenting with a new recipe, using some leftover whipping cream. Right now, I'm waiting for my lye water to cool (stuck it in a snow bank... no danger of animals or kids getting to it); I have a nasty cold and patience is wearing thin. That's why I'm here.

 

[mx5inpenn]

Masterbatched lye with tussah silk so far. Also pulled out FO and micas for a challenge attempt after kids go to bed tonight.

 

[penelopejane]

I think I might be burned out. I just can't seem to even CARE about soapmaking right now. I was hoping that the January challenge would inspire me but I can't seem to be excited about it. I walk into my soap lab, turn on the light, take a look around, and then park myself on the couch to watch Shameless. The husband has asked for more salt bars as he is about to crack open his last bar, and I don't want to. I have a tote full of dirty dishes to wash, and I keep thinking "I should do that and then maybe I'll be interested in making soap again" but the tote just sits there mocking me.

I am in the same space and it’s not winter!
I have the time but I go into my soaping room (aka laundry) and just don’t know what to make. Big indecision time so I walk out having done nothing except beat myself up.

 

[Misschief]

I think I might be burned out. I just can't seem to even CARE about soapmaking right now. I was hoping that the January challenge would inspire me but I can't seem to be excited about it. I walk into my soap lab, turn on the light, take a look around, and then park myself on the couch to watch Shameless. The husband has asked for more salt bars as he is about to crack open his last bar, and I don't want to. I have a tote full of dirty dishes to wash, and I keep thinking "I should do that and then maybe I'll be interested in making soap again" but the tote just sits there mocking me.

I am in the same space and it’s not winter!
I have the time but I go into my soaping room (aka laundry) and just don’t know what to make. Big indecision time so I walk out having done nothing except beat myself up.

I'm so happy that my inspiration is back! It feels like forever since I've made any soap. Since Christmas, I've now made 7 batches of soap, and that includes two batches of soap dough.

I've also gotten back into Soapmaker 3 and have been updating and learning how to input my recipes into it. I feel energized!

However, I haven't been inspired to enter the January challenge.

 

[dibbles]

I am in the same space and it’s not winter!
I have the time but I go into my soaping room (aka laundry) and just don’t know what to make. Big indecision time so I walk out having done nothing except beat myself up.

Since 2016, I've made a 'to try' list. 16 in 2016, 17 in 2017, 18 in 2018. If I don't get to them all, I just roll the ones that are left into the next year's list. It can be as simple as 'make a soap with egg yolk', or make a soap with a mica line. Just some things I haven't done (or haven't done well). I tend to forget things if I don't write them down, and this way I have a reminder of some ideas I've seen or read about. For example - Lindy/Genny's shampoo bar has been on that list since 2016. I really should give it a try, since so many people seem to like it as a bath/body soap.

 

[kdaniels8811]

kdaniels8811, those are absolutely gorgreous!

You mentioned Sunflower in one of your soaps. How much do you use, which supplier do you use, and how long does it last? I just made a soap with BB's Sunflower and it seems rather faint to me. I know that I did not use enough, because I forgot to change the default amount in the lye calculator. The soap is not yet a month old and of course I have not used it yet, so don't know if it will bloom with use.

I used Sunflower from Peak Fragrance. I have soaps over 2 years old that still carry the lovely scent. Unfortunately, I have had BB fragrances fade during cure and they do not come back so I do not use the any more. I use 2.5 ounces for 10 pounds of soap. Thanks for the compliment, I am pretty happy with it!

 

[SoapSap]

My soaping today has Just to cut loaf of soap using BB Beau Bramble Cybilla scent. Did a simple two color pot swirl. The scent is new to me and I used the amount recommended for a strong scent. So far it seems rather light, but maybe it is just me. I will decide after a long cure. Later today I plan to measure some oils out for two more January batches. Sometime this week I will be cutting a loaf of Dragon's blood. The design is fantastic and I am eager to cut the bars.

 

[shunt2011]

I’m finally out of my slump. Made 50 lbs of soap but also made a huge miscalculation on the amount of oils needed in my big mold so have 15 lbs of funky shaped soap. Oh well, now they are really tall, skinny bars. The rest turned out great and making 55 lbs more today. Feels good to have my groove back since I hadn’t made soap since July.

 

[mx5inpenn]

Dumped my challenge soap in the crock pot and mushed it back in the mold.

 

[earlene]

Got up and expected my challenge soap to be ready to come out of the molds. Not. Reheating in the oven because they are cold and soft. Noticed there had been a bit of leakage from the little Mighty Mold at the point where the two sides connect. I've had this with other unlined molds with soap I poured while very liquid. I guess this is another one not suited to soaps that require a more liquid state to get those intricate swirls. Luckily I had them on cardboard so I can safely say it was not a lot of leakage. Still, it is disa]pointing when that happens. Serves me right for being so over confident about this batch.

Soaking squeeze bottles are soaking in soapy water to finish the clean up from yesterday.

 

[Misschief]

I made another batch of soap today, this time it was one of our all-time faves, Java Jumpstart. I make this one at least once a year. I want to make one more batch of salt bars and then I'll have to put away my soaping gear until next month's challenge, or we'll be inundated with soap.

 

[amd]

This weekend my daughter had swim meets Saturday and Sunday, so not a lot of time for soap attempts. I did make a batch of Amber Romance type soap using a different pour and swirl technique that I haven't done before, and adjusting my recipe to include 10% sunflower oil. The sunflower oil slows down my usual trace time, so I did enjoy having more time to work with it. Being able to slow down my soaping process has helped my lack of motivation somewhat. I need to figure out a better swirl tool, I've tried just a gear tie, but really dislike the forming process. I'd like to get something that is permanently in shape, so I've tasked my husband with figuring it out. He's pretty knowledgeable about what materials do and don't work in soap so I'm sure he'll figure it out. Actually doing it though will be another story - he's been busy brewing beer and welding.

I tackled liquid soap again, following the CPLS method talked about on this forum. Or, well, I attempted to do it that way. after an hour of alternating between stick blending and hand stirring, I turned the heat to low on the crockpot to finally get to a paste state. Turned the heat off, threw the towel over it and walked away. Not sure if it will be ok or not - it seems to be the right paste consistency this morning, so I think it's fine? This is only my second attempt at liquid soap. I used my standard base oils and recalculated with KOH, which is what made the process different this time (last time I followed the recipe in the CPLS thread). I won't have time to do anything with it until Thursday, so it's going to hang out in the (cold) crockpot until then. I have to go back to the CPLS thread to check the cure time on it because I didn't have anything in my notes. Will more than likely find a bunch of information there to relearn

Tomorrow night I will be masterbatching 24lbs of oils for future soaps. Weds I teach confirmation kids, so Thursday will be my next stab at soap making. The hubs left me a note in the bathroom DEMANDING more salt bars and asked about them twice over the weekend, so that will be first on the list. Fortunately he likes his as early as 8 weeks curing, so he should be ok with the one bar he has plus a few of mine that I've been hoarding to get them closer to the 2 year mark that I like to use them at.

Oh, and I did dig through my FO's to see what I could use for February soap challenge. I think I have a plan now. Whether I execute that plan remains to be seen...