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  1. grumpy_owl

    What soapy thing have you done today?

    OK, folks. Intimidated by all y'all, I went back to my favorite color combinations, just to play around I love orange and gray, so I committed a True Crime (soap). The picture came out kind of yellow.
  2. grumpy_owl

    Help with ombre, please

    Thank you, ibct1969! That's helpful to hear. Here's a better pic. I cleaned up the ash. Aw, geez. I don't know why it's opening on its side. The pic is fine on my desktop.
  3. grumpy_owl

    What soapy mistake have you made today?

    Aiaiaii, Traumabrew! I have a tendency not to make poop soap but rancid, yellowing fat soap or old band-aid soap. Certain FO's turn uncolored layers an unhealthy yellow, and if I calculate red colorant wrong it turns the opaque whitish soap the color of a scab or the bandage covering it...
  4. grumpy_owl

    Help with ombre, please

    Both great ideas, thank you! I try to get my spatula close to the surface of the soap but it knocks against the sides of the molds or is up too high or otherwise unmanageable. I'll try an accelerating FO rather than tracing to pudding. Jasmine ought to send the batter into hyperspeed. If that...
  5. grumpy_owl

    Help with ombre, please

    Oh, wow. Thank you, toxikon! So basically I'd be making 5 batches of soap, one at a time, to avoid the "resting" batter thickening up while I wait for the first to get thick in the mold. Sounds like math :( but I'll try it. I will beat this thing!
  6. grumpy_owl

    Help with ombre, please

    Dagnabbit. Is there a way to get very even layers in an ombre? Or should I end-run around the issue by using a bleeding colorant? Are pigments bleeders? I used BB Queen's Purple mica and traced it very thick, but got wavy lumps throughout. Too thin and the layers break through. This is my...
  7. grumpy_owl

    NY Times misinformative on soap

    Has anyone seen this? Full of incomplete or downright misleading information. I know a fluffy feature article isn't going to have the nuts and bolts of soapmaking, but I'd love to know how to send students home with a bar of just-poured CP. And as for, "You can use anything in your spice...
  8. grumpy_owl

    How NOT to make soap

    I watched every video I could find after searching for "beginner's soap," "first cold process soap," easy soap," "basic soap," etc, and read instructions as well over and over while following along with hand gestures, like a weirdo. That would be a fun thread, come to think of it--how did you...
  9. grumpy_owl

    What Do You Do to Keep the "Spark" Alive?

    Brewer, I so much get where you're coming from. I'm a serial dabbler myself, taking up something, whether it's a craft or a reading or active interest, and immersing myself fully. But then I move on to another. Soap, despite some lulls, has stuck for me, though. It has been really enlightening...
  10. grumpy_owl

    Fatty beige layer on colored soap

    Thanks, galaxy! It kind of smeared when I tried to wash it off (I use a net scrubbie for ash and it scrubs off, doesn't smear like a fatty substance) and that whitish layer you see on the bottom right soap is still there, from where it was trapped in the silicone. Also, the white-beige, old-fat...
  11. grumpy_owl

    Fatty beige layer on colored soap

    BB's Queen's Purple Mica. It's fine inside, except for the ends, but what in this green and holy land is that lardy schmutz on top?!?! Any help troubleshooting this dog would be appreciated. Oh, p.s. It's not ash. It doesn't wash off. I shall have to plane it off.
  12. grumpy_owl

    What soapy thing have you done today?

    I made my first yogurt soap, with a lovely thick yogurt my mother had made. It looks pretty sexy--creamy and whiter than I expected, and it hardened quickly, considering there is a fair amount of olive oil in it. Very pleased!
  13. grumpy_owl

    What soapy mistake have you made today?

    Hey, Doriette. It's Blackberry Sage, so it smells juicy and delicious. I used that FO because it doesn't discolor and I wanted my whites to stay whites for my glorious hidden feather... yeah. That didn't work out. I have two TAS molds my carpenter friend made for me but I think the real problem...
  14. grumpy_owl

    What soapy mistake have you made today?

    First hidden feather swirl. What do you folks think? Just kidding, it sucks. I used cardboard separators and the weight of the soap spread them before I could save the middle section. Someone described this is a bean pot for gold miners, another as "jello in a cloud." Not my finest hour.
  15. grumpy_owl

    What soapy mistake have you made today?

    Woke up ready to start anew after yesterday's overheating beer soap fiasco. Prepped everything for my first hanger swirl and...soap on a stick! Seizing! Ricing! Thunder! Locusts! Smog! Glop glop, stir stir, change mind, scooped it into individual molds and packed it in, swearing like a sailor...
  16. grumpy_owl

    Show your January 2016 Soaps!

    Bumbershoot immediately after the cut. Kentish Rain and Lavender and Herb. I am pretty crazy about the swirls, although I do see shrimp.
  17. grumpy_owl

    Show your January 2016 Soaps!

    Plumping up the men's line. This is Maharaja.
  18. grumpy_owl

    What to use to make soap brown

    I'm with DeeAnna. Use a vanilla or chocolate or coffee or coconut or honey FO and if necessary, BB's cappuccino sparkle mica to get a nice rich brown. I'm still looking for a vanilla, chocolate, cake scent, coconut or honey that does NOT discolor.
  19. grumpy_owl

    Lump of Coal

    You've been naughty! MP guest soaps/hostess gift bag. The scent is MO's Snow witch with activated charcoal and silver glitter.
  20. grumpy_owl

    Wine Soap Questions

    Don't? Like? Wine? WHO ARE YOU?? Uh, anyway, yes, boil it down, freeze the cubes, and proceed to soap as usual, with care as if you were using a milk for liquid. No residual scent was left in mine but i used BB's Bordeaux Blend FO and it needed some time to smell nice and not skanky. The color...
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