Oil vs water dispersed TD

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CpnDouchette

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I have water dispersed TD and I find that even if I add a dash of boiling liquid before adding to my batter, I still need to stick blend to properly disperse it. I've heard you can add TD to water before adding lye, but this would apply to the whole batch. Today I only wanted half my batter with TD.

Is the other type much better or is it all much of a muchness?
 
I always have a bottle of pre-dispersed TD on hand (make sure you used distilled water). I just make sure it is well shaken up before adding it and haven't had much problem.
 
When you pre disperse it do you simply whizz it up in a blender? I'm thinking of my kitchen blender but I think it would end up wasting loads....
 
When you pre disperse it do you simply whizz it up in a blender? I'm thinking of my kitchen blender but I think it would end up wasting loads....

I use a tiny hand-held mixer. Similar to this: Norpro 2273 - Paint Mixer w/ 4 Attachments Cordless Handheld Mini Mixer

I actually have two; one I found for cheap at a thrift store & one I ordered from Amazon. So I keep the extra in my traveling soap bag. A milk frother works. The one pictured above is for mixing tiny amounts of paint (like for a miniature painting hobbyist.) Some come with extra attachments, like this one. Badger is the brand of the one I use at home; I don't recall the brand of the one I carry with me when I travel.
 
What's in your travelling soap bag? Do you frequently make soap away?

Yes, when I travel (in the US), which is mostly via roadtrip, I do also make soap.

Basics: Mixing containers (for soap & for lye solution); A few utensils; Stick Blender; Scale; Micas (sampler sized); FO's (also sampler sized); Lye mixing container with lid (smallish); Small bottle of dish soap; Scrubby; Soap cutter (pastry cutter); Plastic placemat; Small bottles of NaOH & KOH; Tiny bottles of: ROE, EDTA, alcohol, Vinegar; Small towels; Small mold (1 lb.) & gear tie (for swirls); Planer (an old one); Plastic Placemats (for cutting soap on); 1 or 2 individual molds for overflow; 2 squirt bottles (1 for alcohol; 1 for vinegar); Several pair of nitrile gloves; Newsprint (blank & flat-folded) for wrapping cut soap during transport; plus whatever I may want to add just prior to departing home, which usually includes a small dishpan at the very least. Sometimes I will add a particular oil I want to use that I know won't be easily found along the way, or some I want to use up soon.

In my car, I always keep the following items that can also be used with soapmaking: plastic wrap; jar of vaseline; scissors; box of plastic baggies; a roll of paper towels.

Easily obtained along the way as needed: NaOH; freezer paper; oils; small cardboard boxes to use as additional soap molds &/or to store cut soap in while traveling; most anything I may have forgotten or used up along the way.

Now since CoVid, I haven't been taking my usual amount of roadtrips, so not as much soaping on the road as I normally enjoy, but I am sure that will change again in the next year. However, another thing that may change is the number of solitary roadtrips once my husband retires, so I'll just have to wait and see on that one. Plus, I now have Kitty Baby with me when I travel, so making soap while traveling may become a thing of the past. I haven't quite figured that out yet.
 
I use a tiny hand-held mixer. Similar to this: Norpro 2273 - Paint Mixer w/ 4 Attachments Cordless Handheld Mini Mixer

I actually have two; one I found for cheap at a thrift store & one I ordered from Amazon. So I keep the extra in my traveling soap bag. A milk frother works. The one pictured above is for mixing tiny amounts of paint (like for a miniature painting hobbyist.) Some come with extra attachments, like this one. Badger is the brand of the one I use at home; I don't recall the brand of the one I carry with me when I travel.
What a cool mixer - thanks for sharing the link!
 
I'm going to go ahead an make some assumptions here that you are travelling for pleasure in which case this sounds like an absolute dream. I love the idea of travelling and using your travels as inspiration. It speaks to my inner bohemian wanderlust. I have visions of an old fashioned doctors bag with oils and fragrances and colourants.

Life goals right here.... 🥰🥰
 
I'm going to go ahead an make some assumptions here that you are travelling for pleasure in which case this sounds like an absolute dream. I love the idea of travelling and using your travels as inspiration. It speaks to my inner bohemian wanderlust. I have visions of an old fashioned doctors bag with oils and fragrances and colourants.

Life goals right here.... 🥰🥰

Yes, pleasure. The only time I made soap when I wasn't traveling for pleasure was when I traveled for a funeral. Even then, though the soap's design incorporated the redwood forest where I stayed. Some soaps I have made while traveling include "Salt Flats soap" made with salt I collected from the Salt Flats out by the great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City, Utah. Others have been projects with my granddaughter, as we also travel together.

As for an old fashioned doctor's bag, not so much. The little bag with the oils and fragrances is more like a soft make-up bag with a handle. If they won't fit in there, they don't get packed. Then that bag goes into the bigger bag with the rest. Soaping oils, though, go into a plastic baggie, then into a cardboard box to protect my car from any accidental spillage should it occur.
 
Yes, when I travel (in the US), which is mostly via roadtrip, I do also make soap.

Basics: Mixing containers (for soap & for lye solution); A few utensils; Stick Blender; Scale; Micas (sampler sized); FO's (also sampler sized); Lye mixing container with lid (smallish); Small bottle of dish soap; Scrubby; Soap cutter (pastry cutter); Plastic placemat; Small bottles of NaOH & KOH; Tiny bottles of: ROE, EDTA, alcohol, Vinegar; Small towels; Small mold (1 lb.) & gear tie (for swirls); Planer (an old one); Plastic Placemats (for cutting soap on); 1 or 2 individual molds for overflow; 2 squirt bottles (1 for alcohol; 1 for vinegar); Several pair of nitrile gloves; Newsprint (blank & flat-folded) for wrapping cut soap during transport; plus whatever I may want to add just prior to departing home, which usually includes a small dishpan at the very least. Sometimes I will add a particular oil I want to use that I know won't be easily found along the way, or some I want to use up soon.

In my car, I always keep the following items that can also be used with soapmaking: plastic wrap; jar of vaseline; scissors; box of plastic baggies; a roll of paper towels.

Easily obtained along the way as needed: NaOH; freezer paper; oils; small cardboard boxes to use as additional soap molds &/or to store cut soap in while traveling; most anything I may have forgotten or used up along the way.

Now since CoVid, I haven't been taking my usual amount of roadtrips, so not as much soaping on the road as I normally enjoy, but I am sure that will change again in the next year. However, another thing that may change is the number of solitary roadtrips once my husband retires, so I'll just have to wait and see on that one. Plus, I now have Kitty Baby with me when I travel, so making soap while traveling may become a thing of the past. I haven't quite figured that out yet.
That sounds fascinating! Do you travel by yourself? I have been day-dreaming about having a tiny house somewhere, be debt/mortgage free and go traveling with a small RV and sell soaps along the way!!
 
That sounds fascinating! Do you travel by yourself? I have been day-dreaming about having a tiny house somewhere, be debt/mortgage free and go traveling with a small RV and sell soaps along the way!!

Mostly, yes, but not exclusively. My norm has been to do about 5 or 6 roadtrips per year. Some alone, some with my granddaughter (a fabulous travel companion) and some with my husband, although usually he flies for parts of the trip and we meet up somewhere to continue the roadtrip, then he flies home so he can get back to work.

My longest roadtrip was 3 months back in 2009 and that was completely on my own, starting in the middle of the country then traveling coast to coast and back home again. Another long one with granddaughter was our epic wild horse adventure, when we traveled to search for and observe wild horses on BLM land in various states. That one was about a month or so of traveling and it truly was epic.

My granddaughter & I lived in a tiny house for several months in 2019-2020 and that in itself was an adventure. We both actually loved it, and I would gladly do it again, but I don't know if I really will. Who knows what the future holds?

The fun of roadtrips, whether solitary or with another free-spirited traveler, is the freedom, the open road, the ability to alter a route on a whim, the adventure, the ever-changing vista, the opportunity to visit a place I've always been longing to see or somewhere I've never even thought of going and turns out to be a fabulous place to be... The list goes on. Of course you have to be prepared for and expect the unexpected, like flat tires, motor malfunctions, sudden storms, roadway detours, etc. I have had to incorporate automobile maintenance (and even body repair) into several roadtrips over the years, just as if I was at home and needed auto work done. Sometimes that leads to a longer stay in one place than previously planned, but it's all part of the over-all adventure. Sometimes, I have had to use a loaner or a rental while my car was in the shop. And often, when these sorts of things happen, I get to meet kind and helpful strangers and get to know another part of my country that I may not have noticed before. Yes, I have been fortunate to be able to handle pretty much anything that has been thrown my way and lived to travel another day, and still loving it.

I hope you are able to attain your dream!
 
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