A week of soap! part 1

[SpiralTouch]

I started soaping a couple weeks ago and used up all of my lye in about a week (4 pounds!). I have been impatiently waiting for my new order of lye and soaping oils to arrive in the mail.

I read a lot about soaping before getting started. Most said to start with very simple and easy recipes.. But I decided to jump right in. That's how I am with mist things.. Good and bad. Bad for the lavendar soap you will see.
I looked at some basic recipes online but made additions and substitutions to them all.
Here are the fruits of my first soaping week! They are in the order they were made.

A calendula and rosemary soap.

An absolutely dreamy Himalayan pink salt soap. Totally thrilled with this one.

Tea tree/rosemary/peppermint shampoo bars.

Green man soap using avocado and hemp oil. Fir needle EO

See part 2 for more photos

 

[melstan775]

Wow that's a lot for one week! But so much goodness. I notice you like the crinkle cut a lot. Any reason why? Any advice to share with new soapers as well? How many pounds were your batches? What kind of mold? How about starting a blog so my enthusiasm can be properly directed instead of clogging the board with a million questions? Thanks so much for sharing!!!!

 

[SpiralTouch]

I have really, really wanted to start a blog for so so long. To share cooking, crafts, life. I think I will soon, I will keep you updated!

Not really a good reason why I use the crinkle cutter besides I think it looks fancy . Plus it makes the milk soaps (made using milk cartons as the mold) look great on all edges. Also, it's the only cutter I have right now, I'm buying another straight one with my next supply order.

My batches were all different sizes as I tweaked recipes on the Internet and didn't calculate for my specific molds. Some I had to put extra in individual silicone molds (the flowers) and for the salt soap I actually had to improvise and line a cardboard box with parchment paper.

I bought a silicone loaf mold from wholesalesuppliesplus.com and that's what I started using first, then bought the pink silicone slab mold shortly after. I like them both, I think they are great for beginners and you can make a good amount of soap with the 2. If my soaping really takes off I'd like to make some wood molds.

Advice:
Soapqueen.com has great recipes and tutorials! I tweaked recipes on there for most of these soaps.
Have your go-to mold (slab, loaf) but buy a back up in case your batch makes more than will fit. Individual silicone molds are great and come in many fancy shapes.

 

[SpiralTouch]

Oh yeah, and calculate your batches for your mold size

 

[melstan775]

I guess I should have said you didn't have to answer all that. I am just excited as I will start batching very soon myself. Thank you though, for taking the time, and I"m glad you're having fun!

 

[dianne70]

great looking soaps....well done