First time soaper, my ambitious idea

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Hey all,

For a long while i have been reading, watching and devouring many things(information wise) soap related. I have been "putting off" making my own soap, being very busy with school, as well as rather poor , again due to school; However, i have finally decided to give it a shot, and as a reward for getting all As this semester(so far) have just purchased a haul from brambleberry.

I started out with the cold processed soap making kit(comes with a mold, lye, OO, Coconut oil, Castor oil and palm oil, along with two ounces of cranberry fig fragrances oil.) I looked at that and though "this is nice and all, but i want something ambitious, something with my own spin on it" and so i purchased two ounces of ginger ail fragrance as well as some pink and green non bleeding colourants approved for CP.

The kit has enough for two, two pound batches of soap. My hope, or goal, is to separate the two pound batter , colour one pink and add cranberry fig scent, the other green with ginger ale scent, then ATTEMPT a simple mantra swirl.

What are your thoughts? I know this is a big project for a first time soap maker to undertake, but i really want to try my own idea. If it flops, rices, seizes, or any other horrid thing, i will still have enough for another two pound batch, where i will just leave well enough alone and try a "plain jane bar"
 
I'm also new & got the same kit but we used are sample @ the time and it was crisp apple rose scent from BB and we also could not stand to do a plain batch are 1st time so ordered mica's. Honestly if you been reading up and are confident give it a shot,but ours traced pretty fast and we had to goop in mold it ended up smelling great in the end and even though the purple faded it still was a nice swirl but the ph was 2 high and ended up burning my skin :( so fail :( wish i just done the plain batch cause i feel even though i had everything laid out with a helper some where something went wrong...Iv learned it takes a few batches of mess ups to sometimes get it right. Good luck either way!!
 
Im brand new to cp soapmaking as well. Ive made 2 batches so far with no real problems other than it tracing a bit too thick on my 2nd attempt to really swirl much. First batch was plain and the second was lavender/eucalyptus colored green and purple and i did my best to layer and swirl it. The swirl really didnt do too much but it came out cool nonetheless. So i say go for it, but mix slow and try really hard not to trace too much so you can swirl. I honestly cant wait to get more oil! My next order is going to be for like 28lbs of oil instead of just 7lbs lol.
 
I have been CPing soap since December. Started with just plain old vegetable shortening, lye, and water just to learn how to reach trace. It made a HUGE batch, but I rebatched most of it to play with scents. Gave a lot of it away and everyone was excited for me to continue playing with soap making. I couldn't tell you how many batches I have made since then, but I can tell you that you will be hooked! You can drop a lot of money on this hobby, but try not to in the beginning (easier said than done!). Don't try to do too many things at once! I am still just learning to play with color and fragrance, but it's a lot of fun (sometimes headaches too!)

Best wishes in your new addiction :) I'm going to be taking summer classes so I have to put soaping on the back burner for a while...I'm already going through withdrawal!
 
Go for it! You will not be happy until you try. If you don't get exactly what you are looking for, you will still get something really cool. Soap is almost always a surprise when swirling, mixing, etc... You will get more bang for your time as you will see the stages of soap and some neat color play. You can always do a plain soap later. Be sure to let us know how it turns out, that first batch is always so very exciting!
 
You seem to know the risk you are taking by not starting out plain. But since you asked: believe me, the plain jane soap WILL be enough of a challenge the first time, no matter how much reading you have done. Since you have enough for 2 batches, why not start plain, then get fancy with the 2nd batch? Believe me, you will have plenty of fun starting out this way. And as Liz mentioned, you can always rebatch.
 
Unlike most of the replies you will receive...I say go for it! You know you won't be happy until you do. Even if you try to do something interesting and it doesn't work the way you wanted it to, as long as you soap with the same temp. ingredients and mix, mix, mix until trace....you'll have something usable!

My very first batch leaked at first but eventually came together and is a wonderful success that I still use today in small chunks! I've never done a plain, unscented or uncolored soap! Go for it!
 
I'm going to make another suggestion. Istead of making the batter for two and splitting it just do one at a time. Make two seperate batches. Make them on the same day if you want. Or do one on one day and the second on another is probably better. Why? Because you will learn more from concentrating on one batch and when you finish you can write down notes and make decisions on what not to do on the next batch. If you do them both together you may not have the time to fix any problems that may arise, plus, you won't have any previous experience to draw from until the next time you make soap. Hope that makes sense.

Everyone who makes soap the first time is anxious and wants to try out something special. Soapmaking takes lots of equal parts of patience, focus, and experience.
 
I personally am the 'err on the side of caution' kind of person. I remember the first time I made soap, I was nerve-wracked working with lye. I would do the simple batch the first time and focus on safety and caution and getting it all right. I've made plenty of soap now and i still get befuddled, mess up and forget things. I say get comfortable with the process, then add the additional steps, because they are going to be more complicated than you think they are.
 
The main thing I would do if see if I could find any info on the behavior of the FOs. Do they tend to accelerate or rice......that sort of thing. So hopefully you could be prepared for what happens. Set all your things out and line them up so they are easy to grab 1,2,3.

And a big congrats on all those A's!!!!

eta: and I would try to soap a bit on the cooler side.
 
In your place, I would try the plain Jane batch (lard soap) and the more ambitious batch on the next day or that same afternoon. This way, you will know how to deal with the unexpected little things that life throws at you.
 
The main thing I would do if see if I could find any info on the behavior of the FOs. Do they tend to accelerate or rice......that sort of thing. So hopefully you could be prepared for what happens. Set all your things out and line them up so they are easy to grab 1,2,3.

And a big congrats on all those A's!!!!

eta: and I would try to soap a bit on the cooler side.

The cranberry fig oil is ,as far as the website says, one of their best sellers which doesn't accelerate. As far as the ginger ale goes , i haven't heard any horror stories about it like i have lilac or honey oatmeal, lol. I was thinking of working at closer to room temp, just because as far as im aware, working on the warm side of things seems to increase the cooky things that can happen

I may meet the advice im getting here half way and do something simpler the first try without being TOTALLY plain(soap without colour makes me sad on the insideXD), maybe just blend the oils together and use a single colourant. That way if it freaks out and starts to seize or something crazy i can just shove it into the mold with out having to worry about swirling.

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement btw everyone...man , waiting for that package is going to be hard, lol
 
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The cranberry fig oil is ,as far as the website says, one of their best sellers which doesn't accelerate. As far as the ginger ale goes , i haven't heard any horror stories about it like i have lilac or honey oatmeal, lol. I was thinking of working at closer to room temp, just because as far as im aware, working on the warm side of things seems to increase the cooky things that can happen

I may meet the advice im getting here half way and do something simpler the first try without being TOTALLY plain(soap without colour makes me sad on the insideXD), maybe just blend the oils together and use a single colourant. That way if it freaks out and starts to seize or something crazy i can just shove it into the mold with out having to worry about swirling.

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement btw everyone...man , waiting for that package is going to be hard, lol


Sounds like a good idea to start out a bit slower. And when I get impatient for my lye water to cool I just pop the pot into a bowl of ice water and it cools down in a hurry while I set up the other things.
 
The cranberry fig oil is ,as far as the website says, one of their best sellers which doesn't accelerate. As far as the ginger ale goes , i haven't heard any horror stories about it like i have lilac or honey oatmeal, lol.

FOs can react different to differing soap oil recipes, soap temps, additives, as well as behaving different in the mold.

When I buy FOs I like to read reviews on what others have experienced and use that as a gauge. But I know just because some may have a good experience with a particular FO does not necessarily mean mine will be the same.

Having said that, websites that carry reviews and the website owner who tests their own oils and publishes their own review on their site, tend to be the websites I buy from. Much of it based on encouraging reviews. Often it may be true but I still don't know the reviewers personal soap recipe or any additives they have used for testing out that FO.
 
Sorry if that sounded like a lecture. I didn't intend it to be.

It's totally fine, i mean, im new at this so i could use some lectures. The cranberry oil comes with the kit, and brambleberry(anne-marie's soaps are gorgeous) is a fairly reputable website, so i'm thinking it will go ok. As far as how it reacts with the colourants I've bought, i'm going with a "nothing like filed practice" approach, lol.
 
I didn't take it as a lecture. You are stating how you view the listed reviews on websites. And not every recipe reacts the same. That's true. But there are also other ways to find reviews that are not connected to the websites that sell the FO. You can do searches here on SMF. And there are TONS of soapmakers out there blogging and pages on fb that you can read also.

I also tend to think that websites put up 'favorable' reviews. But I'm a skeptic by nature.
 
We like pictures around here, so whatever you decide to do (and as mentioned, get everything out and ready before you start---and don't forget to line your molds if they aren't silicone!), be sure to document it all for us ( I mean you)!!
 
Haven't used any of BBs FOs but they are a reputable supplier so I would feel safe using their kits and FOs. I did buy my production molds from BB. I got a couple of the wooden slab molds that hold 5lb batches. I bought the dividers set for them too. The mold makes 18 bars at a time. Now I am eyeballing their 36 bar slab mold and drooling....
 
No matter how you prepare, there is just nothing quite like experiencing the FEEL of making soap. I would suggest a small plain jane batch first, get the feel of the soap, of trace, etc, then go crazy. If you do have any of the fast tracing, rice, or seizing issues you will be better prepared to handle them if you have a feel for what it is supposed to do. That is just my opinion. Whatever you decide, let us know how it goes!
 
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