Batches 8,9,11 and 12 NOT 10!

[MichaelP]

Hi All!

Learning Learning Learning here! I realize now that when I first ordered my scents I wasn't paying attention to the very important notes on trace and color morphing effects. I also realize that some manufacturers are much better at these notes than others! Learn learn learn!!!

Batches 8 and 9 came to trace really fast (8 faster than 9) due to scents used! By the time I got them to the molds the batter was very close to the consistency of mashed potatoes! I wanted to play around with the color swirls but I was lucky just getting the batter into the molds! I still like some of the colors though. Both had reds that morphed into a more orange-brown.

Batch 10: Which shall remain forgotten did not turn out well at all! I blame Covid Brain because that is what I had at the time. It will be rebatched. Lesson learned : Don't make soap when you are sick and not thinking straight!

Batch 11: First time using a large mold! It's actually one of the smaller ones that you find on Amazon. I used a coffee scent which caused these to tan but by this time I had learned to pay attention to scent effects and knew this would happen. My wife likes the smell of this one, but not the look. I told her that these were going to my male friends later as gifts. Now I just need to figure out how to tame the tan color change of the coffee scent to make a more appealing soap for my wife. Will VCS help???

Batch 12: I showed off some of my soaps to a bunch of friends we had over the other night to get feedback. Of course different people had different preferences, but a male friend of mine said he liked my green looking soaps (see previous batches). I also found out he uses Irish Spring so go figure! Thus, I tried to make this batch with more greens and added some blue because I couldn't help myself!!

Really enjoying making soap and I love the lab feel to it! I also like learning from my mistakes and figuring out the subtle nuances to saponification! Happy Soaping everyone!!!

 

[AliOop]

Those look very nice - great job!

Regarding the brown soaps with the coffee scent, perhaps the wife would like soap that looks like a fancy coffee drink, something like these:



There are also simpler designs that use cocoa powder and other colorants to make pretty swirls. IIRC, I think @Zing and @TheGecko make coffee soaps, too?

 

[TheGecko]

There are also simpler designs that use cocoa powder and other colorants to make pretty swirls. IIRC, I think @Zing and @TheGecko make coffee soaps, too?

Yes I do...or did. BB discontinued Chocolate Espresso so now I'm left with experimenting with different scents to duplicate it.

Below is my Chocolate Espresso Soap...what I do is melt my oils, add the Lye Solution and then give it just a 3 second whiz and quickly pour out what I will need for the 'whip cream'. I then add some Hershey's Cocoa, Brown Oxide and FO and then blend to a medium trace and pour. I then take some Hershey's Cocoa and make a 'mica line'. Don't add so much that it doesn't absorb.

Once that is done I add TD dispersed in OO to batter I had set aside and I blend to a thick trace and spoon it on top of the soap in the mold and play with it just a tad so it looks like whip cream and then I sprinkle Hershey's Cocoa on top.

A few of notes: Adding Cocoa and Brown Oxide makes the brown richer and consistent. And since you are not adding the FO to the entire batter, you have to adjust the amount you use. So while I would normally use 3.94 oz, I only use 3oz. The first few batches I made I did put whole coffee beans on the soap, but found it annoying having to dispose of them.

 

[MichaelP]

Thank you @AliOop and @TheGecko with regards to creating a nice coffee scented soap. My wife is quite fickle when it comes to color, not liking brown colors in general and especially dark browns. She is also exceedingly practical and having whole beans on the soap would likely annoy her as well. I like @TheGecko how you add the scent to the 'whip cream' that's a great idea. A very light creamy brown soap with a whip cream top might just do the trick! Going to talk with her about it and gets some feedback and then try to make something to match. I will post pics when it happens, although that will be a bit because the scent was a sample size! (I bought a lot of sample sized scents since I am totally new to all this and glad that I did, because now I realize that some of them are going to be difficult to work with!!!) Thanks again and happy soaping everyone!!!

 

[TheGecko]

I like @TheGecko how you add the scent to the 'whip cream' that's a great idea.

But I don't (see the Notes). The first couple of times I made it, I added a ton of TD to the 'topping' and it was a PITA because that much TD really thickens the batter to the extent that it's hard to get it to look right. Todd Ziegler's experiments with his ZVCS has changed that...I recently made a soap with Dragon's Blood and added some ZVCS to a portion and got a really nice cream swirl with using an TD at all.

(I bought a lot of sample sized scents since I am totally new to all this and glad that I did, because now I realize that some of them are going to be difficult to work with!!!

Which is exactly what you want to do. I have a couple of 4" Square Silicone Molds (20oz total) that I use to test all my FOs, colorants, additives and recipes with. When it comes to scents...I use my base recipe, nothing else. This way it allows me to check for discoloration, acceleration, ricing or other issues that might arise. I get 4-5oz bars which gives me plenty to check for additional discoloration and scent retention.

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[MichaelP]

Thanks @TheGecko! I appreciate your advice on how you test for FOs, colorants, and additives. As a newcomer I can see that at this stage it's necessary to test, test, test, to gain the insight and experience needed to make good, consistent soap the way I want it to be.

I recently made up some of Todd Ziegler's ZVCS after reading about it on the forum and am eager to do some testing

I appreciate all the advice and knowledge from this forum. For sure I wouldn't have gotten this far without everyones help!!!

Happy Soaping Everyone!!!