I cut my Aleppo-style soap and unmolded my pine tar loaf. The pine tar is still soft and zaps. But here's a photo of a bar of the LBO soap. It smells great.
What soapy thing have you done today?
- Thread starter FlybyStardancer
- Start date
Help Support Soapmaking Forum:
I cut my pine tar soap yesterday and it's grainy. I've never had grainy soap before and I'm not sure what I did. Here's a cut and paste of my Evernote notes.
03/20/2016. Made two pounds of pine tar soap. Measured all oils into the bowl and added two tsp SL to bowl of oils. Did not use master batch lye. Made fresh lye solution and added 24 gm SC to the lye solution so it would dissolve. Added two tsp honey to 36 gm of the water from the lye solution, added into the oils instead of the lye water. Mixed the lye into the oils and mixed by HAND until it reached a medium trace. Poured into the mold and covered with plastic. Put into the bathroom to set up.
03/21/2016. Unmolded today after work. It was still a bit soft and some of the soap stuck in the corners on one end. I decided to test zap test that by using it to wash my hands. EPIC FAIL!! My hands were on fire. Not quite finished saponifying yet. Dang that hurt!! I couldn't rinse fast enough or with enough water. The loaf is in the curing room on the rack waiting for tomorrow night to see if it has hardened enough to cut it. Not sure what the problem is since I used fresh lye solution, not the master batched solution. My guess is the pine tar slows down saponification. I'll have to check the forum though to find out. That doesn't make sense since the pine tar speeds up trace.
03/22/2016. I cut the soap today. I got seven full bars, one good sized end piece and a small end sliver off of the loaf. I used the soap stamp to stamp all of the bars. I did it through plastic like Navigator suggested and it worked well. I also discovered I only need to strike once gently with the mallet to get a good impression. Not all of the Ivy shows, but it's nice anyway. I still love my stamp and will continue to use it. Alright, I used the end sliver to check for zap. It did not zap; however, the soap fell apart and crumbled. That has never happened to me before and I noticed if you look closely at the photo of the cut soap, it is kind of grainy looking instead of smooth looking. Since the soap is very young, I will just monitor it. However, I will have to check with the SMF gurus to find out about the granularity of the soap.
03/20/2016. Made two pounds of pine tar soap. Measured all oils into the bowl and added two tsp SL to bowl of oils. Did not use master batch lye. Made fresh lye solution and added 24 gm SC to the lye solution so it would dissolve. Added two tsp honey to 36 gm of the water from the lye solution, added into the oils instead of the lye water. Mixed the lye into the oils and mixed by HAND until it reached a medium trace. Poured into the mold and covered with plastic. Put into the bathroom to set up.
03/21/2016. Unmolded today after work. It was still a bit soft and some of the soap stuck in the corners on one end. I decided to test zap test that by using it to wash my hands. EPIC FAIL!! My hands were on fire. Not quite finished saponifying yet. Dang that hurt!! I couldn't rinse fast enough or with enough water. The loaf is in the curing room on the rack waiting for tomorrow night to see if it has hardened enough to cut it. Not sure what the problem is since I used fresh lye solution, not the master batched solution. My guess is the pine tar slows down saponification. I'll have to check the forum though to find out. That doesn't make sense since the pine tar speeds up trace.
03/22/2016. I cut the soap today. I got seven full bars, one good sized end piece and a small end sliver off of the loaf. I used the soap stamp to stamp all of the bars. I did it through plastic like Navigator suggested and it worked well. I also discovered I only need to strike once gently with the mallet to get a good impression. Not all of the Ivy shows, but it's nice anyway. I still love my stamp and will continue to use it. Alright, I used the end sliver to check for zap. It did not zap; however, the soap fell apart and crumbled. That has never happened to me before and I noticed if you look closely at the photo of the cut soap, it is kind of grainy looking instead of smooth looking. Since the soap is very young, I will just monitor it. However, I will have to check with the SMF gurus to find out about the granularity of the soap.
HoneyLady
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2013
- Messages
- 144
- Reaction score
- 172
1.) Used honey/oatmeal soap in shower. Made 12/15. YUM!
2.) Visited SMF on break @ work. *No* time to soap last week, this week, or next week. Going thru withdrawal . . . :cry:
~HL~
2.) Visited SMF on break @ work. *No* time to soap last week, this week, or next week. Going thru withdrawal . . . :cry:
~HL~
Was on a FB soaping forum when someone posted "have you used ice cream to make soap?" I had to immediately respond: "Are you nutz? Fat gurl here don't waste no ice cream!" Back to work.
biarine
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2014
- Messages
- 895
- Reaction score
- 499
I just cut my neem and lemongrass shampoo. I used 2% neem and 3% lemongrass but the neem is really strong that I can smell it 10 feet away. My husband don't like the smell but I don't mind. And I add some moringa powder too. I love it
Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
Interesting you went for lemongrass as I've got plans this weekend for a neem soap and lemongrass is my hope of masking the smell. Oh well, it's not for my use anyway!!
biarine
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2014
- Messages
- 895
- Reaction score
- 499
SuzieOz
Well-Known Member
Well, I have yet to smell neem, maybe not on my soon-to-do list!
I made a batch of what was meant to be Star Anise & Orange and did a hanger swirl with my brand new "gear tie" - (I'd never heard of such a thing before I joined the soaping community) - only to discover (after putting in mould) - the Star Anise EO still sitting in it's little bowl :evil:
I left the soap plain orange.
So I immediately did another, this time same the colours but trying my first "Clyde Slide" - Well! ... guess what I found after I'd poured my carefully orchestrated slide into that mould?? ... that same little Star Anise EO sitting smugly in it's little bowl ... :evil: :evil:
This time I poured the EO straight into the mould and took to it with my little coffee frother - totally destroying said Clyde Slide ...
Oh well.
:cry:
I made a batch of what was meant to be Star Anise & Orange and did a hanger swirl with my brand new "gear tie" - (I'd never heard of such a thing before I joined the soaping community) - only to discover (after putting in mould) - the Star Anise EO still sitting in it's little bowl :evil:
I left the soap plain orange.
So I immediately did another, this time same the colours but trying my first "Clyde Slide" - Well! ... guess what I found after I'd poured my carefully orchestrated slide into that mould?? ... that same little Star Anise EO sitting smugly in it's little bowl ... :evil: :evil:
This time I poured the EO straight into the mould and took to it with my little coffee frother - totally destroying said Clyde Slide ...
Oh well.
:cry:
nickbar
Well-Known Member
I just made some cow milk soap!!!
Pounds Ounces Grams
Full fat milk 0.352 5.63 159.48
Lye - NaOH 0.165 2.65 75.05
Oils 1.257 20.11 570.00
#√Oil/Fat%
Almond Oil, sweet 10%
Olive Oil pomace 70%
Palm Oi 15%
5% Coconut Oil
I used also 1-2tbs honey and some oatmeal on light trace...
Of course in the end i put the mold on the fridge and i am gonna let it there for about 20-24 hours...
Pounds Ounces Grams
Full fat milk 0.352 5.63 159.48
Lye - NaOH 0.165 2.65 75.05
Oils 1.257 20.11 570.00
#√Oil/Fat%
Almond Oil, sweet 10%
Olive Oil pomace 70%
Palm Oi 15%
5% Coconut Oil
I used also 1-2tbs honey and some oatmeal on light trace...
Of course in the end i put the mold on the fridge and i am gonna let it there for about 20-24 hours...
Last edited:
A
amd
A soapy marathon.... Second batch of lilac citrus, carrot coconut milk, grape soda (it was supposed to be lilac but I didn't have enough FO), and finally mastrbatching more oils... They're just so pretty all melted in the pot...
Cleaning up my soaps to get ready to be wrapped and labeled. I have my largest show to date the first weekend in May. So much t do. Here are some of the soaps I made last weekend. Won't be ready for several more weeks 
h
h
Navaria
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2016
- Messages
- 505
- Reaction score
- 490
What kind of swirl is that? They are so pretty!
Thank you. Most are just random drop swirls. The yellow/orange one started as a tiger swirl but then took my chopstick and swirled from one end to the other.
susiefreckleface
Well-Known Member
I purchased 12 ozs of pink Himalayan salt to make salt scrub as part of a gift birthday basket for my boss.
susiefreckleface
Well-Known Member
Working on fizzy bath bombs.. later will do a salve/balm.
And... waiting on my very 1st BB purchase so I can proceed with salt scrub next week. I hope it arrives in enough time to make the salt scrub before my boss's birthday. It took so long for me to decide to order because I've just been hemming and hawing on preservatives. A great point came up in conversation that it's much safer for the recipient if I use a preservative in a hand crafted body product that will probably sit in a steamy shower possibly collecting unfriendlies over time.
.
And... waiting on my very 1st BB purchase so I can proceed with salt scrub next week. I hope it arrives in enough time to make the salt scrub before my boss's birthday. It took so long for me to decide to order because I've just been hemming and hawing on preservatives. A great point came up in conversation that it's much safer for the recipient if I use a preservative in a hand crafted body product that will probably sit in a steamy shower possibly collecting unfriendlies over time.
.
MySoapyHeart
Bee Happy
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2015
- Messages
- 1,002
- Reaction score
- 1,335
This is probably only interesting for me, lol, but I have gone through aaaaaall my recipes ( so many of them...gasp) and have found the ones that are my absolute top 20 best ones (used a hard hand in selecting them) I went to soapcalc and printed them out with larger measurements so they are perfectly portioned to go in my 2.5 pound basic silicone/wooden mold from Nurture. Now all of my staples are glued in one huge black book, with room for expanding the "line" if need be (oh, it`d be needed alright, love to play with soapcalc...)
Also have sections in the book where my lipbalm recipes, bath fizzies, footsoaks, my personal recipes for essential oils that stick in cp soap are, etc. All sorted neatly, secured and with small drawings, stickers and extra tidbits of usefull info so it is a nice book to "read" for someone who doesn`t soap, they can go through it and look at everything shiny and colorfull. Sort of my scrapbook of soaping. Man that felt good to get done. Took me over a week to get done *phew*. I should add that I am adicted to stickers...*blush*.
Have been putting it off for a long time, just had them in plain plastic pockets, and all sorted, but now I have them all in my secret book of soaping (no, I don`t call it that, it doesn`t have a name. Yet...)
Also have sections in the book where my lipbalm recipes, bath fizzies, footsoaks, my personal recipes for essential oils that stick in cp soap are, etc. All sorted neatly, secured and with small drawings, stickers and extra tidbits of usefull info so it is a nice book to "read" for someone who doesn`t soap, they can go through it and look at everything shiny and colorfull. Sort of my scrapbook of soaping. Man that felt good to get done. Took me over a week to get done *phew*. I should add that I am adicted to stickers...*blush*.
Have been putting it off for a long time, just had them in plain plastic pockets, and all sorted, but now I have them all in my secret book of soaping (no, I don`t call it that, it doesn`t have a name. Yet...)
Sonya-m
Well-Known Member
I made a soap for my friend with sensitive skin which has 20% neem - it's reeks!! She reckons she likes the smell!
Also had the soap demons attack my travelling faux funnel soap! Ended up glopping it in
Also had the soap demons attack my travelling faux funnel soap! Ended up glopping it in
I unmolded my first ever beer soap. I made it with an oatmeal stout so I put some oat "flour" in it for exfoliation. I actually zapped some of my oatmeal in my coffee grinder a little too long. Instead of fine oats, I got flour. I still used it. Then I put some whole oats on top for decoration. The stout was almost black (and stinky!), but the soap is a beautiful creamy tan and has an earthy smell.
Try this link. I'm not sure if it will work, but it is a tutorial on an amazing wood grain soap that is done as an ITP. (Nope, not ITP. That's a different video. Still looking.) It's in an Asian language, though.
http://haocheng.pixnet.net/blog/post/42465886
ETA: This is the ITP swirl. Also in an Asian language very brief, but gives a good idea of the process. https://www.facebook.com/epin1010/videos/615585111878486/
Last edited:
Similar threads
