BluebirdMama
Well-Known Member
I made these almost 1 month ago. I used Green Oxide for color. 
My Olive Oil Soaps
- Thread starter BluebirdMama
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Very nice!
JackiK
Well-Known Member
Dennis said:
Are you the long-lost Dennis we've all missed so much with the awesome soaping attire?
cheesenoodle
Well-Known Member
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- Nov 25, 2011
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Nice, how long have those been curing? I noticed mine have shrunk/changed shape slightly after curing for a few weeks. Yours look amazing!
JackiK said:
Busted! Rats! Thought I could hide out here for a while. Yeah, that's me. I am a firm believer in casual attire. 8)
BluebirdMama
Well-Known Member
they've been curing since the first week in December.
JackiK
Well-Known Member
Dennis said:
Oh, Dennis, so nice to "have you back where you belong." (Can ya hear the music in the background!!) We've missed you so.
PS - Sorry to have hijacked this thread. I was just so excited to see Dennis was back.
dieSpinne
Well-Known Member
cheesenoodle said:
Shrinkage and warping can be caused by full water content in the soap (usually defaulted to 38% of the mass of oils used).
I have learned with OO soaps that discounting the water greatly reduces time to trace and also significantly reduces the amount of shrink/warp in the bars.
And yes... those ARE beautiful soaps
dieSpinne said:
I understand that water content defaulted to 38% of the mass of oils will reduce the shrink/warp? Yes? No? Or did putting that in parentheses say that 38% was considered full content? I know, I know, no hair too fine to split. I'm interested because I just made my first 100% OO batch. Thanks.
dieSpinne
Well-Known Member
My very first batch of OO was 500 grams of oil. To that I added a lye solution with 190 grams of water (38%)
It took a long time to trace, took a long time to set up enough to unmold and cut and was extremely soft for a LONG time. By the time they cured, they had shrunk quite a bit and warped something fierce!
Then I heard about discounting the water and I tried it by changing the setting from 38% of oil mass to a proportion of water to lye (right now I use 1.5:1, though 2:1 was a little easier to control until I got the hang of it.)
Let me tell you, with OO soaps especially, it makes a HUGE difference.
Trace comes in a reasonable period of time; set up happens within 18 -24 hours (depending on house temp) and the bars don't warp. I DO have a small problem with ash on the bars, but I will be experimenting with alcohol spray to see how well that works.
It took a long time to trace, took a long time to set up enough to unmold and cut and was extremely soft for a LONG time. By the time they cured, they had shrunk quite a bit and warped something fierce!
Then I heard about discounting the water and I tried it by changing the setting from 38% of oil mass to a proportion of water to lye (right now I use 1.5:1, though 2:1 was a little easier to control until I got the hang of it.)
Let me tell you, with OO soaps especially, it makes a HUGE difference.
Trace comes in a reasonable period of time; set up happens within 18 -24 hours (depending on house temp) and the bars don't warp. I DO have a small problem with ash on the bars, but I will be experimenting with alcohol spray to see how well that works.
Thanks for the info. (madly scribbles notes while returning to secret lab>)
BluebirdMama
Well-Known Member
I always use a 1.857.1 ratio when making OO soaps, and 35% lye concentration. Works well for me.
judymoody
Well-Known Member
These are very pretty!
