What soapy thing have you done today?

[Vicki C]

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-april-2018-challenge-sous-vide-hp-soap-swirling.69725/

This is great! I’m definitely doing it this way next time. Here’s how messy my process was

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I discovered a drawer full of soap made in 2002, unwrapped the bar and tried it out. Still wonderful! Looking back at my recipes from that time I was using 17% coconut oil, so they were quite mild. I also used home rendered tallow, olive oil, castor, and beeswax.

I made my own molds for the doves from Milky Way molds, but I wanted a deeper bar. I started working on doves before anyone I’d heard of using CP instead of MP for artistic colors. I warmed the molds in an oven at 100° (back in the days when I had an oven that would heat that low), used a tiny amount of soap batter to grease the mold, and then layered in the colors. I used CPOP before I ever knew that it was a thing to gel the soap in the molds.

It was fun reviewing my earlier recipes, some of which I will have to try again now that I know more!

 

[Vicki C]

I remember DeeAnna talking about a sous-vide soap method - not sure it was shampoo bars, but that might be a fun thing to try. I also am on the hunt for a larger microwave for my soap room- which is at the opposite end from the kitchen where the microwave is located (which microwave is about 1” too short for my soaping pails).

It’s such a pain… looking on FB marketplace right now

 

[violets2217]

Blue chamomile is one of my all time favorite EOs! May I ask where you got the FO?

Soapalooza.com
I saw a post on here a couple months ago maybe… like a closing sale or something. Couldn’t for the life of me find the post again when I didn’t get a email about my order and then got really worried! But they finally arrived and I’m happy with them so far. Not a bad sale either. 6 8oz bottles for $80ish including shipping.
The Blue Chamomile is not too bad, a little too “powdery” for me… not has flowery has I expected.

I made my first batch of syndet bars yesterday - it was an adventure! This was supposed to be a pourable recipe, but I couldn’t keep it hot enough to do anything but glop it into the mold. I seem to remember someone talking about making syndet bars via sous vide or boil in the bag method, maybe @KiwiMoose? Maybe @AliOop? In any case I mostly made a gigantic mess but I did like the way it performed.

I tried a pourable shampoo bar recipe and had the same issue. I kept reheating after pouring each single bar. I was so afraid I was going to overheat my preservative. I used a glass measuring cup and next time I’ll probably use my smaller silicone measuring cups just for easier pour. Once I got it all into the molds I tried using a heat gun to make the tops a little smoother, but wasn’t too successful.
It was @DeeAnna talking about the boil in a bag… for moldable shampoo bars. Just make sure you follow her advice about double bagging with tough bags (like the vacuum sealed ones) or you melt your bag and ruin you shampoo bars
ETA… link of post
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/syndet-shampoo-bar-trials.77482/post-880839

 

[TashaBird]

Playing with my MUCH newer camera/phone and trying REALLY hard to wait until oils/lye cool down.
Maybe some day I’ll learn to make an actual video!

 

[pinpointpete]

Second recipe made and poured into mold. First one still curing.

 

[earlene]

Got to cash in my rewards for making a ton of reviews on Nurture Soap!

Rewards?!? For reviews?!? I need to get in on this!!! I just realized I could get money off orders at iHerb (not soap related) for posting reviews of previous purchases & did several today. But I have to wait a month before those rewards kick in. Hope I remember. (tongue-in-cheek)

Off to look up this rewards deal at Nurture....

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Playing with my MUCH newer camera/phone and trying REALLY hard to wait until oils/lye cool down.
Maybe some day I’ll learn to make an actual video!

Yes, video is a great idea. You can easily fast-forward by X times to let the lye and oils cool down faster

Second recipe made and poured into mold. First one still curing.

That looks like a clever mould, that is super rigid, but with just two locks loosened, it comes apart with ease. DIY?

 

[pinpointpete]

Yes, video is a great idea. You can easily fast-forward by X times to let the lye and oils cool down faster


That looks like a clever mould, that is super rigid, but with just two locks loosened, it comes apart with ease. DIY?

Actually it has two more on other side but your comment got me to think maybe hinge one side and only have two locks. That way I don't have to keep track of the ends. Yes DIY. I found the idea online.

 

[TashaBird]

Rewards?!? For reviews?!? I need to get in on this!!! I just realized I could get money off orders at iHerb (not soap related) for posting reviews of previous purchases & did several today. But I have to wait a month before those rewards kick in. Hope I remember. (tongue-in-cheek)

Off to look up this rewards deal at Nurture....

I actually had a hefty sum to cash in this morning! I like writing reviews with my coffee in the morning. And I try to give info that I would find helpful.

On a marathon quadruple pill through run. I’m getting the whole process pretty dialed in. If I didn’t have to wait for my oils to cool down each batch it’d go faster. Maybe I’ll try nuking the hard oils before I start the pour of the batch I’m on. I love me a good assembly line!! I find it very soothing!! Testing new FOs in pull through a does add an unknown variable that is a bit stressful. So far today one that accelerated and one that actually DEcellerated! Both said “no acceleration”. I soap at 90F though, so I always have to try for myself.
Scrape all my left over pull through batter into these molds, swirl, then add whatever soap dough embed ends I have laying around.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I actually had a hefty sum to cash in this morning! I like writing reviews with my coffee in the morning. And I try to give info that I would find helpful.

On a marathon quadruple pill through run. I’m getting the whole process pretty dialed in. If I didn’t have to wait for my oils to cool down each batch it’d go faster. Maybe I’ll try nuking the hard oils before I start the pour of the batch I’m on. I love me a good assembly line!! I find it very soothing!! Testing new FOs in pull through a does add an unknown variable that is a bit stressful. So far today one that accelerated and one that actually DEcellerated! Both said “no acceleration”. I soap at 90F though, so I always have to try for myself.
Scrape all my left over pull through batter into these molds, swirl, then add whatever soap dough embed ends I have laying around.

I love a good decelerator, me.

I tried a pourable shampoo bar recipe and had the same issue. I kept reheating after pouring each single bar. I was so afraid I was going to overheat my preservative. I used a glass measuring cup and next time I’ll probably use my smaller silicone measuring cups just for easier pour. Once I got it all into the molds I tried using a heat gun to make the tops a little smoother, but wasn’t too successful.
It was @DeeAnna talking about the boil in a bag… for moldable shampoo bars. Just make sure you follow her advice about double bagging with tough bags (like the vacuum sealed ones) or you melt your bag and ruin you shampoo bars
ETA… link of post
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/syndet-shampoo-bar-trials.77482/post-880839

@Vicki C and @violets2217 - message me to discuss : )

 

[AliOop]

@Vicki C and @violets2217 - message me to discuss : )

oh oh please include me, too!!

 

[TashaBird]

Finished! What a run!! Turns out if I heat my hard oils before I start a pour, then by the time I finish pour and cleaning up, those oils are perfect temp! No more waiting 20 minutes for them to cool back down. Yay! My process gets a little more fine tuned each time. LOVE having me a full bucket of soaps!! Yay!

I love a good decelerator, me.

I do too! Black raspberry vanilla decelerated! winter wonderland had a normal working time, but felt like it’d accelerate if I mixed it much. And, smell the rainbow accelerated a little, but I could work with it. If I mixed it less next time it may work better. I do love the fruity skittles smell!!! May save it for bath bombs.
Edit: all FOs from NS.

 

[earlene]

On a marathon quadruple pill through run. I’m getting the whole process pretty dialed in. If I didn’t have to wait for my oils to cool down each batch it’d go faster.

Or you could sub out the tranqs with some bennies. LOL Drugging your soap!?! Isn't that a drastic solution to the whole slow-moving vs acceleration of batter situation? Better watch out you don't have to get it approved by the FDA!

 

[TashaBird]

Or you could sub out the tranqs with some bennies. LOL Drugging your soap!?! Isn't that a drastic solution to the whole slow-moving vs acceleration of batter situation? Better watch out you don't have to get it approved by the FDA!

You’d think my device would know me by now. *sigh*

thoughts of soap woke me up this morning. Just put 4 PULL throughs in the freezer. It’s gonna be a good day!

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

My first soap dough! I didn't set out to make it, but after a Monday-evening-semi-soapy-disaster-that-actually-turned-out-pretty-well-despite-the-well-behaved-FO-accelerating, I ended up with extra soap batter that was to a stiff pudding-like trace. Not knowing what to do with it since I'd already filled my excess-soap mold, I did a bit of hasty online research on soap dough and put it in ziploc bags as a doubtful experiment. Yesterday it looked pretty hard, but I decided to try kneading it anyway...and here you have it!

I really don't have a good idea of how to use it, but nevertheless I sense that I may be hovering on the edge of a deep, deep rabbit hole. Should I turn back?

I've always had mixed feelings about soap dough. I admire the creativity that soapers display through it, but I think some creations look pretty impractical as functional bars of soap.

So we'll see...

 

[Mary M.]

I'm rendering today, my favorite thing to do!

 

[TashaBird]

Bummer that my butterfly plate didn’t get much detail. But that’s what I get for trying a new FO. Maybe someday I’ll learn not to trust when the website says “no acceleration”. I do love the scent though! Smell the rainbow from NS. So I’d for sure use again! The rest I’m happy with. Love the deceleration of the black raspberry!!! Not sure what other color schemes work with that smell though…

View attachment 62328
My first soap dough! I didn't set out to make it, but after a Monday-evening-semi-soapy-disaster-that-actually-turned-out-pretty-well-despite-the-well-behaved-FO-accelerating, I ended up with extra soap batter that was to a stiff pudding-like trace. Not knowing what to do with it since I'd already filled my excess-soap mold, I did a bit of hasty online research on soap dough and put it in ziploc bags as a doubtful experiment. Yesterday it looked pretty hard, but I decided to try kneading it anyway...and here you have it!

I really don't have a good idea of how to use it, but nevertheless I sense that I may be hovering on the edge of a deep, deep rabbit hole. Should I turn back?

I've always had mixed feelings about soap dough. I admire the creativity that soapers display through it, but I think some creations look pretty impractical as functional bars of soap.

So we'll see...

One of my favorite and easy ways to use soap dough is to hand roll embeds. It’s easy to make either raindrop or circle shapes, when they’re cut.

I'm rendering today, my favorite thing to do!

I usually buy my tallow. But, I’ve been given a bunch of fat for free! How much do you render at once? Wet or dry render?

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I usually buy my tallow. But, I’ve been given a bunch of fat for free! How much do you render at once? Wet or dry render?

I don't really like rendering tallow so I do put much as will fit in my insta pot at once. I wet render it- outside! It's my favorite oil to use in soap.

 

[Mary M.]

I get my 4 crockpots going at once, its pretty easy, I will try to send a pic