What soapy thing have you done today?

[shunt2011]

Finished beveling and shrink wrapping my 300 bars of soap. I have plans to get at least 6 more batches done this weekend, maybe 12 if I get lucky. That will give me a good lead for upcoming shows. I also want to try making a soap that was mentioned in another thread. 2 different types of soap in one bar. I'm going to make one of my regular recipes then once set put a salt soap on top of it. I figure doing the regular recipe first and letting it do it's thing, once I put the salt soap on top I should be able to cut it in about 2.5-3 hours. Hopefully I'll find time to do this.

 

[SoapySuds]

I found a small box of the first soap I ever made. I have dubbed it: Original Soap. I was sure I had used all of that soap. Apparently not. It’s hard. Smells like unflavored soap (shhh nobody eats soap). And it keeps appearing, like a nun’s bad habit.

Is it possible for DOS to be one giant DOS? nah, it’s unexpected colorant! Yes... yess... unexpected color.... let your soap sit for years and it colors itself! Yes... colors itself...

That’s my utility soap experiment underneath. It’s a lot. I need to convince my sister to use my utility soap for laundry. Yes... my next plan.

I didn’t do a swirl yesterday, but I did convince my handy neighbor and his power tools to repurpose some wood into a soap form. I may have traded some cheesegrater soap for some screws, time, and a hinge.... and as my husband confessed, the cheese grater soap is actually good soap, once you get around the giant chunks of steel cut oats.

 

[amd]

I'm going to make one of my regular recipes then once set put a salt soap on top of it.

Oooh! Let me know how this goes! I tried it once with a cupcake: Salt bar in the base and regular CP piped on top. It's the only time I've ever had cupcakes separate, so I assumed the two would not stick. Now I'm wondering if I had done the reverse, if they would have stuck... like maybe there's some magic in the timing of which is poured what. (Please tell me you know what I mean and that I do not sound like a rambling drunk who started with his wife leaving him and ended with a duck crossing the road...)

My tallow and cocoa butter order came in yesterday. I'm hoping work is slow enough today that I can leave work at noon. I'd like to get the cocoa butter tempered and portioned out, maybe even start getting the tallow portioned into baggies for masterbatching. This is my first time buying a huge 50lb block of tallow, so I was a tad bit shocked when I saw it! And... now I just realized that said 50lb block is sitting in the porch and there is no way I'm going to be able to lift it to the kitchen, much less get it down to the soap dungeon, so I'm probably going to have to wait for hubby to get home to tackle that.

Hubby and I are off for a weekend trip, so no soapy stuff happening this weekend. Next week will probably be packaging some soap, and maybe working on some soapy projects. I want to revisit the water absorption test, maybe do a side by side of castile, bastille, and the no-slime castile to test curing times (although I don't know how well that will really go, given that I didn't manage to revisit the water absorption test I was doing...), and make some small test batches of soap for a few FO's I have hanging around. And still need to edit those dang videos...

 

[SoapySuds]

This is my first time buying a huge 50lb block of tallow, so I was a tad bit shocked when I saw it! And... now I just realized that said 50lb block is sitting in the porch and there is no way I'm going to be able to lift it to the kitchen, much less get it down to the soap dungeon...

You had me at ‘soap dungeon’



I have a friend that asks me why I buy in super large quantities, 10lbs of cocoa butter, 20 packages of vegan chocolate chips, 35lb boxes of coconut oil that will never be liquid in my soap dungeon.... Seriously, I’m stealing that term.

 

[cmzaha]

My tallow and cocoa butter order came in yesterday. I'm hoping work is slow enough today that I can leave work at noon. I'd like to get the cocoa butter tempered and portioned out, maybe even start getting the tallow portioned into baggies for masterbatching. This is my first time buying a huge 50lb block of tallow, so I was a tad bit shocked when I saw it! And... now I just realized that said 50lb block is sitting in the porch and there is no way I'm going to be able to lift it to the kitchen, much less get it down to the soap dungeon, so I'm probably going to have to wait for hubby to get home to tackle that.
.

At 70 my 50lb boxes of lard and tallow are getting harder to get down 14 steps to my house, but I do still make it. Will see what happens at 71 Biggest problem I find with the boxes is they are just so bulky and hard to hold onto, mine are square boxes.

I once again have made no soap and customers are starting to ask if I am going out of business. I have to get my mom and sister out of my mind and make product.

 

[shunt2011]

@cmzaha I hope things get better for you soon! You've been in my thoughts.

@amd I'm hoping by making and gelling my regular recipe then adding the salt soap and hoping it gels will keep them adhered. We'll see.

 

[SYT]

Not soaping today, we are heading to a cousins reunion this weekend. My sample FO's arrived yesterday and I'm looking forward to using some next week.

 

[cmzaha]

I worked on my Avocado Soap. Made two different batches. The 3rd photo their all from the same batch it seized up on me because of EO had to work fast got a lil burnt along the way with the last photo one, nothing serious but it stinged .

Your bars look very nice. But hopefully you did not grind up the avocado skin to use in the soap since it gets very scratchy. Did you use AVO puree along AVO oil?

I'm hoping by making and gelling my regular recipe then adding the salt soap and hoping it gels will keep them adhered. We'll see.

@shunt I used to make a layered soap with a salt soap being a little over 1/4 of the bar. I would make my regular soap using a hard tallow/lard recipe, pour in the mold holding back a little for a thin layer on top of the salt layer. I then mixed up the salt bar layer separately and poured it over the regular soap, poured on the thin layer and fully gelled it. I had to use a hard fast setting up formula for the regular because they still had to be cut soon like a salt bar or pour them in individual molds. They actually sold real well but just got tired of fussing with them.

 

[Aquamarine56]

Cute soaps! What were your soft oils?
It will be lovely. All my soaps bar the ones with lard have those three as hard oils too and they feel very nice I must say.

I use olive, castor oil and rice bran oil and sometimes a dash of something like argan or apricot kernel.
Glad to hear you use the same hard oils as well.

 

[Meena]

View attachment 37510
Well, I aim for an excess of lye.
Since it’s older oil, I want to make sure all the oil is completely saponified.
The lye will eventually lessen over time, leaving delicious bars of pure soap.
.

Oh now I am really confused. :/
I'm a new soaper. You're the first person I've come across who wants a lye heavy soap. Why, because the oil was old? Is that going to stop the soap from going rancid?

I'm further confused because everything I've read here about a lye heavy soap stated that the soap had to be thrown out (80%) or rebatched (20%) ... of course, roughly speaking, but you get my drift.

Last question is, how can the lye lessen over time if there are no materials, i,e., oils, to use the lye, i.e. saponify?

 

[Dawni]

I use olive, castor oil and rice bran oil and sometimes a dash of something like argan or apricot kernel.
Glad to hear you use the same hard oils as well.

I use those soft oils too hehe.. Let us know how your soap turns out

 

[Baqn]

Hi guys. My soap from last week. I saw the video of "from Grace to you" - Making "Lemon lovers". I was so excited to do that design. Accidentally I made lemon scented essential oils blend which is similar to Grace's. I hope you will like it.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Hi guys. My soap from last week. I saw the video of "from Grace to you" - Making "Lemon lovers". I was so excited to do that design. Accidentally I made lemon scented essential oils blend which is similar to Grace's. I hope you will like it.

Love it! Gorgeous colours and design.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

love how all the colors work together, good job!!!!

 

[Meena]

Hi guys. My soap from last week. I saw the video of "from Grace to you" - Making "Lemon lovers". I was so excited to do that design. Accidentally I made lemon scented essential oils blend which is similar to Grace's. I hope you will like it.

Very pretty!! I'm curious if that was HP or CP?

 

[lenarenee]

Oh now I am really confused. :/
I'm a new soaper. You're the first person I've come across who wants a lye heavy soap. Why, because the oil was old? Is that going to stop the soap from going rancid?

I'm further confused because everything I've read here about a lye heavy soap stated that the soap had to be thrown out (80%) or rebatched (20%) ... of course, roughly speaking, but you get my drift.

Last question is, how can the lye lessen over time if there are no materials, i,e., oils, to use the lye, i.e. saponify?

If I remember the previous SMF experimentation; excess lye in a soap made with high water (full or excess - I don't remember) does eventually neutralize given plenty of time and exposure to air. The lye migrates to the surface of the soap.

 

[KiwiMoose]

The lye migrates to the surface of the soap.

AKA Soda Ash?

 

[steffamarie]

AKA Soda Ash?

Yup! Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is what you get as a precipitate when sodium hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. 2NaOH + CO2 -> Na2CO3 + H2O. The water evaporates off and leaves behind the Na2CO3 which you see on the surface of the bars!

 

[SoapySuds]

Ah chemistry!



Steffamarie responded and said it best.

Oh now I am really confused. :/
I'm a new soaper. You're the first person I've come across who wants a lye heavy soap. Why, because the oil was old? Is that going to stop the soap from going rancid?

Yes! To stop the soap from going bad, soaping with an excess of lye will ensure all oil particles get saponified.

Because I am unclear as to what the oil is, rough idea, not absolutely sure, I’m doing it at a slight excess, which does make a lye heavy soap.

I'm further confused because everything I've read here about a lye heavy soap stated that the soap had to be thrown out (80%) or rebatched (20%) ... of course, roughly speaking, but you get my drift.

Total misunderstanding about NaOH and how it reacts with CO2 in addition to oils, H2O, etc. Which is why NaOH is purchased in small quantities, because it reacts with CO2 and becomes another substance no longer doing the thing that NaOH does to make soap, because it’s no longer NaOH.

Last question is, how can the lye lessen over time if there are no materials, i,e., oils, to use the lye, i.e. saponify?

Yup! Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is what you get as a precipitate when sodium hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. 2NaOH + CO2 -> Na2CO3 + H2O. The water evaporates off and leaves behind the Na2CO3 which you see on the surface of the bars!

If you are selling soap, this is probably not something you want to monkey around with, as yes, there might be some rebatching later on, but not necessarily. I don’t plan on keeping my beautifully swirled loaf, a beautiful swirled loaf. It may be months before I feel comfortable about scrubbing any portion of my body with a hunk of it. It depends on how much ash forms and when it stops forming crystals.

TBH, I unmolded it way too soon, I should have unmolded it today, as it’s firmed up and more solid instead of feeling like a really soft cheese. I got impatient

But there is no need to throw away a batch of soap because it’s lye heavy. It involves patience, a small understanding of chemistry, and willingness to use it yourself.

As you being new soaper, I recommend sticking to superfatting and in small soap batches, until you see how gel phase and non gel phase affect soap, etc. make a small batch of 0% SF for utility bars (laundry, cleaning, etc). Read every book on soap making. Read chemistry books. Pick up a chemistry kit and play with it.

Focus on the art side of soap after you get a solid understanding of the chemistry side of soap.

Happy soaping!

 

[Misschief]

I made another (small) batch of Solid Dish washing detergent, as in this thread:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/solid-dish-detergent.74170/

I love this stuff and I found out from my granddaughter that they have a dishwasher but it isn't working. I think my daughter would appreciate this stuff. I love it.