What soapy thing have you done today?

[CTAnton]

Received my order from Nashville Wraps with assorted sizes of shrink wrap bags.
My siblings are emptying THEIR houses of baskets,"Spray it green or red!"....and then there's all the ones I've bought at second hand stores...
I work during the christmas holiday season at my friend's coffee fasting shop and have seen the buying hysteria on the days leading up to Christmas...if I can just get some baskets out of MY house!

 

[artemis]

Oooooh Sweetgrass! I really like that FO. Haven't used it in ages ... If this was your first order from MMS, what did you think of the way they package their goodies?

Can you tell me how the Sweetgrass behaves? They give so little information about the FOs over there. I bought it for a friend who is learning to soap. I'd like to be a little prepared.

My others are this"Books Abound" and Lilac. I think I can guess what the lilac is going to do. Books will be a wild card. Maybe I'll start a thread in the fragrance section.

The packaging seemed to work. Just lots and lots of bubble wrap.

 

[VonnieDeak]

Neem Oil Soap Recipe Anybody?

Well, I recently bought some Neem Oil. I wanted to make a shampoo bar/bodywash bar. Here is the recipe that I came up with in the lye calculator that has perfect 165 INS but wanted to know if anybody has a better recipe:

Total oil weight 18 oz
Water as percent of oil weight 38.00 %
Super Fat/Discount 10 %
Lye Concentration 26.449 %
Water : Lye Ratio 2.7809:1
Sat : Unsat Ratio 45 : 55
Iodine 49
INS 165
Fragrance Ratio 0.5
Fragrance Weight 0.56 oz
Pounds Ounces Grams
Water 0.428 6.84 193.91
Lye - NaOH 0.154 2.46 69.73
Oils 1.125 18.00 510.29
Fragrance 0.035 0.56 15.96
Soap weight before CP cure or HP cookMore info 1.741 27.86 789.89
# √ Oil/Fat % Pounds Ounces Grams
1 Castor Oil 22.22 0.250 4.00 113.40
2 Coconut Oil, 92 deg 38.89 0.438 7.00 198.45
3 Neem Seed Oil 11.11 0.125 2.00 56.70
4 Olive Oil 16.67 0.188 3.00 85.05
5 Shea Butter 11.11 0.125 2.00 56.70
Totals 100.00 1.125 18.00 510.29
Soap Bar Quality Range Your Recipe
Hardness 29 - 54 43
Cleansing 12 - 22 26
Conditioning 44 - 69 52
Bubbly 14 - 46 46
Creamy 16 - 48 37
Iodine 41 - 70 49
INS 136 - 165 165
Lauric 19
Myristic 8
Palmitic 9
Stearic 8
Ricinoleic 20
Oleic 26
Linoleic 6
Linolenic 0
Additives Notes

Basically it uses this:

Castor oil 4 oz
coconut oil 7 oz
neem oil 2 oz
olive oil 3 oz
shea butter 2 oz
aloe gel 7 oz
lye 2.50 oz

I want a high concentration of coconut oil because I have oily skin and we have hard water. I just like the way it bubbles more and cleans more. Does anybody have a better recipe with the same ingredients? Supposedly this is perfect INS according to the lye calculator.

 

[earlene]

VonnieDeak, perhaps if you start a new thread for feedback on your recipe, more people will see it and respond. Not all members participate in this thread.

Maybe in the Beginner's forum, but probably okay in the Lye forum if you prefer. Anyway asking for feedback on a recipe with your own thread will get you answers directed to you and easier for you to find later rather than having to wade through all the unrelated posts in the 'what soapy thing have you done today?' thread.

Today I planed & beveled a couple of soaps and thought up a new-to-me design I want to try, which was inspired by BattleGnome's entry in this month's challenge. Sunflower design on top of a slab mold soap using a variation of the scales technique to get the petals. I would do it today, but my husband is home sick from work, so I think soaping is out of the question until he is better.

 

[Kittish]

I actually did this yesterday. It's the rebatch of my mermaid tail soap.

Right now I've got my design trial and experimental coffee soaps grated up together in my crockpot. I haven't decided yet just what EOs I want to use to scent it. I'm kind of thinking ylang and patchouli. I'm also thinking of trying to recolor it with red iron oxide.

ETA: The second rebatch is in molds and cooling. The scent works I think. The soap smelled just a bit odd before I added the scent, from the coffee infused oil, I think. Not quite fruity, slightly tart. Nothing at all like coffee. Red iron oxide might not have been the best color choice, however. I'm hoping the final effect leans more toward red soapstone and less toward freshly ground meat.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Can you tell me how the Sweetgrass behaves?

Use MMS Fragrance Calc to get recommended use rates and notes on what to expect.

https://www.thesage.com/calcs/FragCalc.html

 

[lenarenee]

Cut 3 more loaves of soap and the 4 color tiger swirl with moderately accelerating fo (the one that make me swear off anything but making red and white candy cane tiger swirls) actually turned out pretty well....so I can't call it The Drunken Juniper Sage Bush. I promised someone a picture (Kittish?) but I'll need some sunlight to do that. That's 15 pounds of soap freshly curing, 15 more to go to make everyone happy...then there's Christmas. No, there is no selling in my future!

 

[artemis]

Use MMS Fragrance Calc to get recommended use rates and notes on what to expect.

https://www.thesage.com/calcs/FragCalc.html

Ya. I did that first. There really wasn't any info on how it behaves, just how much to use. I was looking for wether it accelerates and discolors.

 

[Dahila]

packed for Saturday market

 

[divinegoddessoaps17]

what I did recently!

I made soap almost every day! I have fall festivals coming up and want to be ready!

 

[penelopejane]

Ya. I did that first. There really wasn't any info on how it behaves, just how much to use. I was looking for wether it accelerates and discolors.

I'd ask in the FO section. Not everyone reads this thread.

 

[earlene]

Well, I recently bought some Neem Oil. I wanted to make a shampoo bar/bodywash bar. Here is the recipe that I came up with in the lye calculator that has perfect 165 INS but wanted to know if anybody has a better recipe:

<snip>

I want a high concentration of coconut oil because I have oily skin and we have hard water. I just like the way it bubbles more and cleans more. Does anybody have a better recipe with the same ingredients? Supposedly this is perfect INS according to the lye calculator.

VonnieDeak, perhaps if you start a new thread for feedback on your recipe, more people will see it and respond. Not all members participate in this thread.

Maybe in the Beginner's forum, but probably okay in the Lye forum if you prefer. Anyway asking for feedback on a recipe with your own thread will get you answers directed to you and easier for you to find later rather than having to wade through all the unrelated posts in the 'what soapy thing have you done today?' thread.

VonnieDeak, there is a recipe feedback section here: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34

where I think your new thread for feedback would fit best. It's a little hard to find (at least for me) because it is sort of buried in the tutorials area. Anyway, that's probably the best place to repost your question as a new thread.

I have no feedback as I have never used Neem Oil, and as far as threads about using Neem oil in shampoo I suggest you copy & paste this phrase into Google and you will come up with a lot of threads addressing the topic: Neem Shampoo site:soapmakingforum.com

Most of the threads are old, so posting to them would not be appropriate, but you might gather some background information from them.

I hope you start your own thread because it makes for an interesting discussion. Also you might want to mention a bit about whose hair will be washed with your intended soap and the condition of said hair. Example: oily, dandruff, short buzz-cut hair style, brunette. Another example: fine, straight, color treated (lightened), waist-length. Your feedback may be more specific with different situations.

 

[lenarenee]

Here's the pic I promised. BB juniper sage.

 

[Kittish]

Here's the pic I promised. BB juniper sage.

Oh wow, that's beautiful! I'm gonna say maybe you were a little hasty swearing off four color tiger swirls?

 

[lenarenee]

Yes I was hasty. Or apparently tiger swirls still end up looking good despite many imperfections? I may do this more often as I suspect its hides a multitude of problems. I've only done candy cane tigers and assumed you had to have a perfect pour to get it right but obviously not. This one had many "oopsies" in it where the lip of my container caught on the lip of the silicone mold and caused a flood of batter in the wrong place, but none of that shows up.

Truth be told, I didn't say "oopsies" when that happened. And by the time the mold was half full, I was ready to just throw the remaining batter into the mold and be done. It took a lot more than time I expected to pour, even before the batter thickened up. I'm very pleased with the colors I choose because they meshed very well with each other and I don't always have the work out.

 

[Cindy2428]

Very nice - your color choices were wonderful.

 

[artemis]

I'd ask in the FO section. Not everyone reads this thread.

I plan to. I only asked here because in her response to my previous post, Zany said she had experience with that particular FO.

 

[penelopejane]

Here's the pic I promised. BB juniper sage.

Really beautiful. The colours are great.

^^^artemis,
Sorry I should have known you would. I just didn't want your post to be missed.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Today I have peaked at some soaps I made day before yesterday. Will post pictures when they are ready to come out.

These soaps are resting in individual molds. I got two new 4-cavities mold from ebay, with a lovely swirling on the bottom. They are very similar to the Two wild hares swirling molds (if not identical?) but at a better price (especially with free shipping, as supposed to $50 to Norway. Yay.)
They are very thick and very sturdy, no bowing whatsoever. These will last me absolutely forevah unless I throw them in the woodchipper...

Can`t wait to see how the soaps turn out. But since it is the first time I am using them I am going to be a good girl and wait, so I am sure the soap has set up firm enough and doesn`t leave soap behind in the swoils`. Just have to be patient...*_*

I used the Sun and Sand fragrance from NG, which was mellow OOB. It bloomed a bit when I added it into the batter, and it was a really nice fragrance, like suntan lotion and a warm, clean breeze with hints of sweetness from flowers and tiny bit musk lingering in the background.

First impression of Sun and Sand:

Went ahead and sniffed the top of the bars today, and it is a veeeery soft, mellow scent. Very mild, non-intrusive, and I am looking forward to see how it cures out since it is so mellow. It can come out of hiding and punch me in the face soon, we`ll see. I decided to go ahead and use 6% in my soap instead of 5%, because these are just for my personal use to get a feel for if it is too much or just right. I actually don`t think it is too much at all, but we`ll see.

I can`t imagine anyone not liking this fragrance. Had this fragrance been a person, it would be someone easygoing. Just like a cool person that is so easy to hang out with, easy to talk to, goes with the flow, wether it`s just hanging around, chillin`, or share a meal with. Someone who doesn`t bug you with millions of questions, interrogate you about your familytree after only knowing you for 5 minutes. Someone who doesn`t tap you on the shoulder every living second just to share some of the latest gossip. Someone who fart in your general direction so you have to hold your breath passing him as you run for the hills.

Then again, if you want a fragrance that is in yoh face, this probably isn`t it. Probably suitable for someone sensitive to sharp/sweet/strong fragrances.

I will update after cure (scribbles down a reminder on paper).

 

[Millie]

Yesterday I masterbatched lye for the first time. Then I made FIVE!! batches of soap! Until yesterday I thought anyone who made more than two ar three batches in a day was superhuman. Now I'm concerned about how much I can produce when the soapy mood strikes. Gotta slow down!
Yesterday was also the first day of soaping room temp. Today is my first day of CPOP after the fact... for five batches... :roll: ...

Penelopejane, hope you feel better now !