Post you ugly soap pics here - Troubleshooting thread

[makes_scents]

I don't need troubleshooting...I know what went wrong...Rose FO caused massive acceleration and morphed my pretty red to a gross color...lesson learned...I would call this Avocado soap accept there is none of the above in it...colored with Chrome green oxide and Paprika

I was going to attempt a swirl, but it go so thick I kinda had to plop it in the mold (stainless steel - no aluminum) and then it got even thicker so I kinda just mixed it.

 

[umeali]

I need a suggestion too I made my first 500 g batch soap few days back ,It was jelly like after 24 hours and even 5th day it was the same ,first picture is showing the first look.
after 5 days I tried to cut it and found the bottom part is perfectly done .so I cut them to remove the jelly like substance as shown in picture but last picture is showing when I cleaned it ,I need a suggestion what should I do now ?re batch it ?As I tried to make it for gift but uneven cutting or something wrong in recipe made it ruin .I need a process of re batching .

 

[Obsidian]

umeali, it needs to be rebatched. Chop it all into small pieces, place it in a slow cooker and heat it until its like mashed potatoes. Make sure you stir it really well then smash it into a mold. It won't be pretty but it will be safe and usable.

 

[umeali]

Obsidian thanks a lot ,yes I did it and now waiting for unmold ..

 

[TwystedPryncess]

Failed mica line. My first time, so I'll probably have more to post as I go along.

Although I was happy it stuck together, it still wasn't straight. One step accomplished, anyway. Positiveness!

Everything else I was pretty happy with. I should probably figure out a better way to embed the hearts, as my three male bosses at work made fun of the in-the-mold pic and said they looked like little butts sticking up out of the soap. (They took it back really quick when I said I planned on gifting them three of the bars, and said they were super duper cool with having Sandalwood Butt Soap. Whatever. See what I got to put up with? LOL.)

They are also starting to soda ash anyway, guess I should keep them covered the whole cure time? How do you guys prevent soda ash after the first few days? I remembered to spritz alcohol and cover, left it in the mold a day and a half (I had to work). It will come off so no biggie.


I tried to use a design that would work with a discoloring FO. The soap should darken over time, top and bottom. I will watch and see if it splotches and I should re-do the next and swirl or...what.

I have way uglier ones to post later, I just haven't got them photo'd yet (i.e. the soap from my soap mistake story.)

Thanks for looking at my Mica Fail Sandalwood Butt Soap!

 

[Obsidian]

I really like the uneven mica lines, looks more natural somehow to me. Love the little butts lol.

 

[makes_scents]

I must say I agree about uneven Mica Lines...I think they look for handmade and not manufactured.

 

[Saponomancer]

I actually break my mica lines up on purpose because I think they look better that way! the soaps look lovely

 

[TwystedPryncess]

Thanks guys! I just want to learn to do it even though! They are still plenty usable. Anyone have suggestions on how to embed heart tops and not get howls of laughter and butt jokes? (Some were worse, I won't include them, my bosses may get that soap thrown at them.)

 

[kumudini]

Thanks guys! I just want to learn to do it even though! They are still plenty usable. Anyone have suggestions on how to embed heart tops and not get howls of laughter and butt jokes? (Some were worse, I won't include them, my bosses may get that soap thrown at them.)

Sorry Pryncess that you had to endure those jokes. I kind of could see the hearts, but I think they have a likeness to ....butt, because of their roundness. Guess you made them in individual cavity molds. I think better would be to invest in a tubular heart mold as they will have sharp edges once you cut them out otherwise you could split the hearts lengthwise so they have a defined heart shape on one side.

 

[TwystedPryncess]

Oh, I laughed too. I can see it myself. I did use individuals. And also I thought embedding them very lightly on the side to make sure the points are visible would help. Won't be using that mold for that again..... Hahhaha.

 

[grumpy_owl]

I have a knack for making Scabby Wound soaps in an attractive Band-Aid color. It's kinda my specialty. The latest—failed wine soaps. I forgot to add the coconut oil, portioned out the white part, SB'd both the Inner Organ Pink and the white to trace, remembered the coconut oil, ADDED TO THE RED PART ONLY (that's the trick to a really grainy separation; take note), then poured it anyway because I can't throw it away until it hardens.
My first toss-the-whole-loaf failure.

 

[Obsidian]

Lol, band aid color :clap: thats awesome. I wouldn't toss it, rebatch and color the whole batch either darker pink or purple

 

[snappyllama]

I'm in the middle of rebatching some pine tar soap I made last weekend when I over poured OO. I was hoping it would do okay and knew I ought to figure it out then, but I made the cardinal sin of soaping while crazy overflowed the house.

It looked and cut up just like fudge before being chunked in the crockpot.

 

[kumudini]

Beeswax failure

Thought I would get it over with, this is the beeswax soap I made yesterday. It was the first time I used beeswax in soap, I was aware of the high soaping temps required, fast tracing and that I was using a new FO, I still wanted to do an orange and green ITP swirl. Well, by the time I started mixing my colors in, it was very thick pudding. It took quite a bit of elbow grease to mix. There was no way I could do any kind of swirling. So I just glopped them in to the mold, banged the heck out of it on the counter then covered with plastic wrap and tried to smooth out the top. The result, not only NOT what I wanted but positively ugly soaps. When I try to think of something that might remotely resemble this, nothing, absolutely nothing comes to mind. So, there you have it, ugliest soap I ever made.

ETA: oh, that light yellowish color is from the red Palm oil in the recipe at 20%, that was the un colored section, except for the small amount of bentonite clay in the batter.

 

[afbrat]

Vkumudini- This reminds me of war paint or maybe camouflage. Something manly. I don't think they are ugly at all

 

[kumudini]

Vkumudini- This reminds me of war paint or maybe camouflage. Something manly. I don't think they are ugly at all

Thank you for the kind words .

 

[whitewitchbeauty]

My blob, just posting to show it in its ugliness. The whole thing was a booboo!

 

[kumudini]

My blob, just posting to show it in its ugliness. The whole thing was a booboo!View attachment 16577

When you posted this pic the first time without any comment, I thought it was a dessert, something I make with rice, mung dal, jaggery and ghee with some toasted nuts thrown in, it's called pongal. It might harden up and be fine to use though, let me look at your recipe in the other thread.

ETA: I saw that you mentioned throwing it out, a missed learning op I must say. Had you kept it, you could have seen what that would be like with a long cure. Even with the substitution of palm oil with cocoa butter, the lye calculations are not very different, with 2 oz lye, it was giving you a 5 SF. And people make soap burgers with HP pot scrapings all the time, that's what yours was looking like at the worst.

 

[galaxyMLP]

When I try to think of something that might remotely resemble this, nothing, absolutely nothing comes to mind. So, there you have it, ugliest soap I ever made.

It reminds me alot of the university of south florida's logo. Here's a pic below:

Their colors are gold and green but, I think the orange complements it very well.