SMF December Challenge- high and low water batch

Okay, this is weird because it looks like it is gelling from the outside in.

houseofwool said:

Okay, this is weird because it looks like it is gelling from the outside in.

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And it's making halos around the different water contents too!

I can't wait to see how it turns out!

These will be guest sized soaps, so it may be hard to see the pattern. I will definitely do this again.

1. Lenarenee - pretending like I don't know what I've gotten myself into now!
2. Saponista - So many ideas, so little time to soap this month!
3. TheDragonGirl - this looks so cool and I wanted to try it anyhow
4. Dixiedragon
5. Songwind - Sounds fun, I'm in.
6. Obsidian- like I need more soap
7. Sonya-m - ooh I love a technical challenge!!
8. BlackDog - this challenge is totally out of my league!
9. dibbles - I see flops in my future!
10. doriettefarm - I'm game but frantically searching for FOs that behave in low water!
11. Judiraz- I've been wanting to do this with color...lots of ideas.
12. CaraBou - You know I'll do it anyway; might as well commit myself now so I can't back out from showing
13. Mrs Spaceship - is terrified.
14. DeeAnna. I don't have time for this -- it's my super crazy incredibly busy season at work -- but I'm gonna make time.
15. Commoncenz - Why, oh WHY do I do this to myself?
16. KristaY - I hope I have time in the Christmas craziness!
17. mazimazi - my first SMF challenge, yaaay!
18. Rowan - terrified and excited at the same time!
19. QueenBeeSoap - Count me in!
20. TeresaT - I have no idea what's going on, but my awesome math skills will save me!
21. Steve85569 - I think I got it this time. I'm still in trouble though!
22. kumudini - let the lye hunt begin!
23. Cactuslily - I've been wanting to try this since reading Auntie Claras post.
24. Houseofwool- made hers before she even officially signed up! She gets some sort of prize for her enthusiasm.

I am so frustrated. This is my latest attempt. At the last minute I decided I may get better gelling on the heating pad if I used a silicon mold instead of my wood mold. I didn't adjust for the size difference and I ended up with wide bars that are only about 1.5 inched tall!! And I love the colors in this one! Also couldn't cut a straight line...

Ha Newbie! I needed to makes couple of batches for my mom's business (she gives a bar with each order). Normally she wants lavender but I'm tired of making lavender. Soooo tired of it.

I'm curious how low water will work with a lavender blend. I can't wait to try it out.

newbie said:

Low water tends to keep itself very distinct and sharply defined from other colors, or at least that's been my experience. If it was very thin and you swirled the pants off it, no guarantee but if you had some restraint, the low water can be very sharp and crisp.

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Hmmmm. That's good to know for future reference

Got two batches done tonight -- YAY!!!! I kept it simple with just an in-the-pot swirl using just one pigment colorant per batch -- I want to see what the high/low water does to the single colorant.

I made up each batch as a low water recipe with all the colorant and fragrance added to the batch. When I got to emulsion, I split the batter into two equal parts and did my best to bring one (my "low water" portion) to a light trace. When I got the "low water" portion to that point, I added the appropriate extra water to the other portion to turn it into the "high water" batter, and mixed that portion to trace. This method seemed to work okay for me.

My only real experiment with all of this is that I used the high water portion as the "base" and the low water portion as the "swirl" for one batch and vice versa for the other.

Auntie Clara CPOPs for about 1 1/2 hours at 140 F, so that's what I'm doing to mine too. In the oven as I type this.

Tried out some new FOs -- Black raspberry vanilla and Green tea, both from Natures Garden. From what folks have said here on SMF and what I learned on the NG website, both are touted as non accelerating and non discoloring. I agree with the non accelerating for the most part. Time will tell about the non discoloring.

The BRV was really super well behaved. The GT gave me a bit of a shock at first because the batter looked like it riced just a teeny tiny bit when I added the FO, but then the batter smoothed out and took over 15 minutes to (never) come to trace. It may have been the temp drop with my high-lard recipe that gave the illusion of ricing rather than real thing.

Very curious to see how the two batches turned out and which version looks the most interesting.

DeeAnna said:

When I got to emulsion, I split the batter into two equal parts and did my best to bring one (my "low water" portion) to a light trace. When I got the "low water" portion to that point, I added the appropriate extra water to the other portion to turn it into the "high water" batter, and mixed that portion to trace. This method seemed to work okay for me.

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Omg this is so much easier than the way I did it, making two separate batches of lye water. Kicking myself for not thinking of it. Will definitely give it a try on attempt #2!

houseofwool said:

Okay, this is weird because it looks like it is gelling from the outside in.

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That's what my first batch did. It was a 1 lb. test batch with no color or fragrance.

Judiraz said:

I am so frustrated. This is my latest attempt. At the last minute I decided I may get better gelling on the heating pad if I used a silicon mold instead of my wood mold. I didn't adjust for the size difference and I ended up with wide bars that are only about 1.5 inched tall!! And I love the colors in this one! Also couldn't cut a straight line...

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I can't cut a straight line - ever. But regardless of the bar size, your colors are pretty, and nice work on the lace top.

Newbie warned that this method might backfire, so try it with caution. But I have to say mine went okay. There's some juggling involved because the high water portion traces faster than the low water portion, but that's going to be true no matter what method you use.

ETA: I put a thermocouple in one of the loaves just for geeky fun. The oven temp is 145 F (63 C) -- the lowest my oven can be set to. The center of the loaf has risen to about 175 F (80 C) in about an hour in the oven and the soap is definitely in full gel. The other loaf went into the oven at the same time, but is still not in gel yet. It got a slower start, however, so I expect it will catch up.

Made my 3rd attempt today. I used a single color for both the high and low water parts, but also used a small amount of white in the low water. I weighed my hard oils last night. but decided it was too late to start. I changed my mind on the mold, so I had extra batter that I put in my 1 lb. silicone mold, put both in the oven. Took the little mold out when the high water portion was in gel and covered with a towel. Peeking at it later, part of my top has a little pinkish-tan color. I only used purple and a small amount of white (both micas). Interesting. I also got my first alien brain in one little spot. The bigger mold is still warm, and it has been out of the oven for 6 hours! No end to the surprises with this challenge. I'll be posting pictures when I see what I've got to enter. I might not be able to get another try at this.

I will say, I love how long this low water batter stays fluid. I got some wrapping done while I was waiting to be able to start my high water part.

And also, welcome back Newbie! I hope you had a great trip.

DeeAnna said:

I made up each batch as a low water recipe with all the colorant and fragrance added to the batch. When I got to emulsion, I split the batter into two equal parts and did my best to bring one (my "low water" portion) to a light trace. When I got the "low water" portion to that point, I added the appropriate extra water to the other portion to turn it into the "high water" batter, and mixed that portion to trace. This method seemed to work okay for me.

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I wouldn't have thought to do it that way. Definitely the method I will use when I am finally able to try this.

I took the soap out of the oven to examine it more closely and take pictures. The first loaf that reached a gelled appearance is still above 170 F (77 C) and still looks on a quick check like it is in full gel. BUT on a closer look, the swirls of soap within the loaf are distinctly different. The lighter appearing swirls are firmer to the touch and drier and opaque looking, and the darker appearing swirls are translucent looking and are soft and slightly sticky to the touch.

What that's telling me (and I went back to Kevin Dunn's Chapter 22 in Scientific Soapmaking to confirm) that the lower water portion (the lighter soap) is not in gel and the higher water portion is -- even though the whole thing is at the same temperature. The saponification reaction of both soaps is what is creating this maximum temperature -- the oven heating at 145 F (63 C) is only ensuring the soap stays warm enough so the high water soap gets hot enough to gel.

I suspect if I were to CPOP the soap at a temperature high enough to ensure the low water soap also went into gel, I would not see as much distinction between the two types of soaps, both during saponification and afterwards.

This is what I was trying to show in the diagram in my Post 136. It's neat when my theorizing is proved out in real life. Cool!

I'm dying over here ... I haven't been able to make a batch of soap in almost two weeks. Uncle has been sick, son has started his Senior year of wrestling, etc. etc. Now, to top it all off, my friend gave a local salon and spa owner some samples of my soap, bath bombs and lip balm that I had given her (Not to give to anyone else, that was a surprise) ... and the owner wants to meet with me about putting my stuff in her Salon. I mean it's a good thing ... but still kinda stressful because I'm looking at my 3 molds and saying "not enough". Anyway, with uncle still sick, I regretfully will have to withdraw from this month's challenge. My apologies.

I will miss seeing the amazing soap you would make for this challenge, Patrick! Can I encourage you to just take a rain check and do the challenge soap some other time? I'd love to see what you come up with.

I hope Uncle feels better soon. It sounds like a perfect storm of stuff going on in your life right now!

Hey look - high water gels before low water! Low water was darker before gelling, lighter after.

CaraBou said:

Hey look - high water gels before low water! Low water was darker before gelling, lighter after.

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Nice looking! It's gonna have halos around the low water from the look of it. I love the effect.

This stuff takes forever to cool off!!! I pulled my last attempt out of the oven at 8:00 last night (160 F) and had to wait until 11:00 this morning to release the mold. This method will eventually teach me patience though. DW really likes the results too!

Guess I'm not in trouble after all!

commoncenz said:

I'm dying over here ... I haven't been able to make a batch of soap in almost two weeks. Uncle has been sick, son has started his Senior year of wrestling, etc. etc. Now, to top it all off, my friend gave a local salon and spa owner some samples of my soap, bath bombs and lip balm that I had given her (Not to give to anyone else, that was a surprise) ... and the owner wants to meet with me about putting my stuff in her Salon. I mean it's a good thing ... but still kinda stressful because I'm looking at my 3 molds and saying "not enough". Anyway, with uncle still sick, I regretfully will have to withdraw from this month's challenge. My apologies.

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Sorry things aren't going well right for you right now. At least you have a little silver lining with a possible client, congratulations on that. Hope your life settles down soon, and you can soap to relieve some stress.