first cp soaps in my TOG

[leowife]

I have been reading and reading and doing more reading on doing CP soap (have been doing M&P for a few months). I received my TOG mold from Paul awhile back and I finally took this Holiday weekend to try my first CP soap. My husband was away on a fishing trip so it was the perfect time to work undisturbed.

I LOVE my mold. Thanks Paul!

I'm not thrilled with my first batch. It looked so good in my head. It's shea butter, olive oil and coconut oil.
I used soapy clean fo, pink clay for the color and the dark spots are cranberry seeds. I thought they would stay the beautiful dark red. nope. I also tried to swirl in the pot. didn't turn out as I pictured LOL.
I don't think I incorporated the clay too well either. Here is a cut pic

Then yesterday I wanted to try it again...using red palm butter. I saw a picture of a soap made with red palm and roses on top and I thought it was the prettiest soap so I wanted to try to make it.
I used red palm butter, palm kernal and olive oil. I scented it with golden poppy fo. The second log I was trying to do a swirl with the green but it was too thick and it ended up being a layer. Doesn't matter. It looks good to me.

I had a really good time! It was a lot of fun, once I got over my nervousness about the lye on the first batch. I was more concerned about the dog and fumes, should he have smelled them...but he stayed out of the kitchen and I had the windows open and the exhaust fan on.

I'm just happy that the bars seem to be OK...ph wise. I can't work up the courage to do a zap test :shock: ...so I have ph strips. The batches all came up an 8. I did get some ash on the pink log...but then I did put them in the cool basement. Next time I'll let them set up upstairs and see if that helps.

I can't wait to try a slab. That's next, this weekend

Deb[/img]

 

[Guest]

Wow!!! You've got a pretty good start from the get-go girl!!! Right from the beginning you've accomplished what many haven't even by a dozen or two dozen batches. I predict you've got a good soap making future ahead of you!

And welcome to the forum!!!

 

[reallyrita]

First Cp soaps in my TOG mold

What really beautiful soaps....you are well on your way...

 

[IanT]

WOW beautiful soaps!!! very creative too!! I love the colors!

 

[LyeSoap]

Nice looking soaps. I thought the first picture had really cool looking color.

 

[Guest]

Those are the best "first timer" soaps I have ever seen. Great job!

 

[fladais]

very pretty, but i thinik i like the pink ones the best.

 

[IanT]

yeees those are so nice, did the seeds give the only color or was there some added, I know yo usaid you tried to swirl? what did you use for colorant ??

 

[cdwinsby]

Quite often I find "what I pictured in my head" isn't what the end result turns out to be. Too many variables sometimes. Yours turned out very nice regardless. I really like the pink one...looks soft and femanine or like strawberry icecream, yum. The others are really good as well. The layered look has always appealled to me. Great Job...can't wait to see your next batches!

 

[mandolyn]

Those look great! Nice job!!

 

[kwahlne]

WOW! GORGEOUS!

 

[leowife]

Thanks everyone! The pink one is really growing on me too. Like my husband said...."why'd you ruin the other two by putting roses on it? it's going to clog up the tub"! lol...he's right...but I did those two purely for the pretty factor.

Ian...I used pink clay for the color, but I was following the recipe in Anne Watsons Smart Soapmaking book and her instructions for clay said to mix it in with a bit of your base oil. I mixed a tsp in with some olive oil and I think the brown spots are clumps that I didn't incorporate enough in the soap pot. The cranberry seeds were a very bright cranberry color, I don't think they contributed at all to the color. I think next time I'll just use them for a topper.

I'm hoping to make another batch tomorrow...not sure what yet and still wondering if I even should. What the heck am I going to do with the soap I've got when it's cured? lol. This is purely a hobby for me. I've no plans to ever sell in the future. Maybe when I retire from my job with the Post Office...but that's a long way off.

My husbands 4 closest friends all own a greenhouse together. They said if I ever wanted to...I could display some soaps there...Gardening type soaps would go over pretty well there. But I'm too new for doing that. Maybe in another few years I'll consider that If I get too overun with soap here

Those of you who don't sell soap...what do you do with it all? And how do you store it? I have plastic bin drawers in the basement...could I store it in there?

 

[cdwinsby]

I don't sell my soaps anymore and just do it as a hobby as well. I may get back into it eventually....we lived on Vancouver Island,BC when I sold soap and then moved to Regina, SK where I didn't get into it at all. We now have settled (finally) in Sicamous, BC and I'm still getting familiar with it.

So far all my soaps get stored in an old kitchen cupboard that was still in great shape. I just put it down in my "soap room". More like a room I store my stuff in. I used to have a huge room just for making and storing soaps and am trying to think up a way to convince my husband that I need one again!

As long as your soaps get some air circulation and are in a cool dark and dry place they will last a long time. I find the scent will disappear over long (2years) periods of time but the soaps are still great.

As for what I do with it all....My mother receives soap care packages in the mail that she is supposed to share with the rest of my family. I'm pretty sure she hoards most of it for herself! :wink:

This year I'm going to check out all the farmers markets in the area and maybe next year start selling at one of them on a drop in basis. Just to lower my inventory. I'm having a hard time keeping myself in check. I keep thinking up another recipe that I would like to try.

Selling the Gardeners bars is a great idea for a greenhouse. It won't take you a couple years to be good enough, either. You're already well on your way. Just keep practicing and expanding your soapmaking knowledge. You'll be ready before Christmas!

 

[Soapmaker Man]

You did a fantastic job! I'm so happy you like you new TOG Mold. Makes me another proud "papa" when I see my "kids" treating their new "mom" right!

Wishing you many, many adorable batches! 8)

Paul :wink:

 

[Guest]

This year I'm going to check out all the farmers markets in the area and maybe next year start selling at one of them on a drop in basis. Just to lower my inventory. I'm having a hard time keeping myself in check. I keep thinking up another recipe that I would like to try.

That's what I'd like to do too, perhaps in a couple years after I get better at it. I don't see how anybody could afford to pursue the hobby except occasionally unless they somehow find a way to finance buying more materials. I've spent perhaps $500-$600 in the last couple weeks buying enough materials to start up, and I can't possibly afford that much every month without making some of it back by selling. I'll have to wait though until I'm good enough for commercial sale and can potentially earn enough to afford the liability insurance.

 

[cdwinsby]

I don't see how anybody could afford to pursue the hobby except occasionally unless they somehow find a way to finance buying more materials.

I make very small batches (about one a week) and I don't drink, smoke or anything else for that matter. Soapmaking is my vice! I'm a soap geek! You could make alot of soap for the price of cigarettes and beer for a month.

Oh yeah, I am addicted to chocolate but thats normal.....right?

 

[Guest]

I don't drink, smoke or anything else for that matter. Soapmaking is my vice! I'm a soap geek! You could make alot of soap for the price of cigarettes and beer for a month.

Oh yeah, I am addicted to chocolate but thats normal.....right?

Well I don't smoke either and the anything else department has been pretty slow for me, but I'm afraid I might be one to enjoy a glass or two of wine with dinner. I like "two buck Chuck" AKA Charles Shaw Chardonnay sold at Trader Joe's Markets for $1.99 a bottle, so my soapmaking far exceeds my drinking. I guess your chocolate is my wine, and nothing wrong with chocolate except that I'm not good on will power and whenever I buy more than one serving of chocolate I always end up getting sick. :twisted:

The real problem with amateur soaping is that you build up pretty big stocks pretty fast unless your batches are really small. I prefer to not go much below 3# as a batch size, about 12-15 bars. Below that it's just too much trouble for me although YMMV.

Actually I do plan on a series of one-oil tests just because I'm curious what the individual properties of pure single oil soaps are like. I expect doing so will teach me a bit more about how each oil affects your soap. These very small batches are easy to do since you have just one oil, lye and water, no scent, no color. In fact color is one of the interesting things to find out. In fact... In fact I think I'll make one today if I can't figure what to scent a more ambitious batch with.