What soapy thing have you done today?

[Misschief]

Well it's being very inconvenient now. I ordered a brace for it and for now am just trying not to move my hand and wrist to aggravate it. This getting old thing sucks. I turned 46 on the 11th and now I'm falling apart. lol

LOL.. talk to me when you're 66.

 

[Catscankim]

I was trying to figure out how to add cocoa butter into my vegan recipe, so i followed BB recipe for her slab mold on yt, except i robbed 2% olive oil to add 2%castor to make it a bit more bubbly.

Guess i needed a softer recipe. 18 hours and it was impossible to get through, and since i dont have a loaf splitter, i ended up cutting with a knife, which is a disaster. The more i try to fix it, the smaller the bars become lol. Guess i will wait a few days and try washing them. Right now they are about 4oz bars. The ones i really screwed up are about 3oz after “fixing”.

Next time, I am following my own recipe without the cocoa butter. Or just stick with my lard recipe. But i was on a vegan kick this week. Leave it to me to use a new recipe with a new mold and cutter...

44% olive oil, 25% palm oil, 20% coconut oil, 6% cocoa butter, 5% castor.

Something weird about these soaps. They are chalky looking and feeling (dry). I just washed my hands with one of the pieces, and it actually felt nice and already had some nice lather, but they really look weird.

They were cpop in a wooden mold w/liner. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary while soaping.

btw, the Bourbon Street that i raved about oob smells like a cedar closet now...not a fan. As a matter of fact, these are going to be curing out in the spare bedroom in the garage with the pine tar soaps lol.

 

[TashaBird]

Something weird about these soaps. They are chalky looking and feeling (dry). I just washed my hands with one of the pieces, and it actually felt nice and already had some nice lather, but they really look weird.

They were cpop in a wooden mold w/liner. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary while soaping.

btw, the Bourbon Street that i raved about oob smells like a cedar closet now...not a fan. As a matter of fact, these are going to be curing out in the spare bedroom in the garage with the pine tar soaps lol.

They look pretty! Like marble!

I haven’t made soap in two weeks! This has been the longest I’ve gone without soaping since march. My tallow supply issue really messed me up. I got a lot of other things done though, but I miss making soap!
New tallow arrives today, fingers crossed!!
But, now my garage soap making studio is SO much colder than it was!!
How can soaping in a cold space affect the process?
I”m going to take the temp down there today. But my guess is 50-60F.

 

[Misschief]

Something weird about these soaps. They are chalky looking and feeling (dry). I just washed my hands with one of the pieces, and it actually felt nice and already had some nice lather, but they really look weird.

They were cpop in a wooden mold w/liner. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary while soaping.

btw, the Bourbon Street that i raved about oob smells like a cedar closet now...not a fan. As a matter of fact, these are going to be curing out in the spare bedroom in the garage with the pine tar soaps lol.

Just a thought.. do you spray them with rubbing alcohol?

 

[AliOop]

Something weird about these soaps. They are chalky looking and feeling (dry). I just washed my hands with one of the pieces, and it actually felt nice and already had some nice lather, but they really look weird.

They were cpop in a wooden mold w/liner. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary while soaping.

btw, the Bourbon Street that i raved about oob smells like a cedar closet now...not a fan. As a matter of fact, these are going to be curing out in the spare bedroom in the garage with the pine tar soaps lol.

They look great! And the smell may morph back during cure - let’s hope!

As for the chalky look, could it be ash? Couple things could contribute to more ash than usual: Did you leave top uncovered while you played with the design for awhile? Do you know if the soap gelled?

If it isn’t ash, and this is your normal recipe, my next guess is that the FO isn’t playing nicely with your oil combo or your colors.

 

[Catscankim]

@AliOop im pretty sure they gelled. I didnt actually look at them but they were well insulated and cpop...no partial gel. And i washed my hands with a piece earlier, if it were ash, that woulda washed off, i would think. It dried up and still looks weird.

@Misschief i normally spray will rubbing alcohol, but i was out, so no

i couldnt get the wire cutter through them...and they are crumbly around the edges. Super hard at 18 hours. I was originally blaming the recipe, but i think i am going to blame either the fo (did 6% + a few grams that i overpoured and didnt pour back, maybe 6.5%?) Or i mis-measured something. I am leaning towards the latter. Will never know unless i repeat the recipe i guess.

 

[Guspuppy]

btw, the Bourbon Street that i raved about oob smells like a cedar closet now...not a fan. As a matter of fact, these are going to be curing out in the spare bedroom in the garage with the pine tar soaps lol.

That's a shame, they are so pretty! Hopefully they scent does morph back!!

How can soaping in a cold space affect the process?
I”m going to take the temp down there today. But my guess is 50-60F.

My basement averages 58F. (My upstairs is between 60-65F. Hot flashes are MISERABLE) I just have to make sure I soap pretty warm, which does cause some recipes to accelerate. Once I soaped with cold lye (sat overnight) and barely melted oils, in the cold basement. The batter seemed to trace instantly and I was afraid it was going to be false trace but the end soap came out fine. I do CPOP everything upstairs in the oven though!

 

[AliOop]

@AliOop im pretty sure they gelled. I didnt actually look at them but they were well insulated and cpop...no partial gel. And i washed my hands with a piece earlier, if it were ash, that woulda washed off, i would think. It dried up and still looks weird.

@Misschief i normally spray will rubbing alcohol, but i was out, so no

i couldnt get the wire cutter through them...and they are crumbly around the edges. Super hard at 18 hours. I was originally blaming the recipe, but i think i am going to blame either the fo (did 6% + a few grams that i overpoured and didnt pour back, maybe 6.5%?) Or i mis-measured something. I am leaning towards the latter. Will never know unless i repeat the recipe i guess.

Yes, sounds like an FO problem or a mis-measurement, then. I've had that when I accidentally put in the SL twice. Does the crumbly area zap at all?

 

[Whillow]

I cut these this morning before heading to work.

 

[The Park Bench]

So excited to discover that my labels will stick if I wet them and smooth them on the bars!. This is a great labeling hack for me and will save me a ton of time!

 

[AliOop]

@The Park Bench Do they come off easily after they've been attached for a bit? I would hate to end up with label bits all over my soap, but if they do come off, that's brilliant!

My soaping thing yesterday was watching a bunch of acrylic painting string pull videos, gearing up for my string-pull attempt tomorrow evening. Some of those videos are set to beautiful music and are super relaxing. In fact, they might make you fall asleep on the couch after dinner... but I admit nothing since there is no proof.

 

[earlene]

So excited to discover that my labels will stick if I wet them and smooth them on the bars!. This is a great labeling hack for me and will save me a ton of time!

I would test it over time. I have noticed that my soap continues to shrink (evaporating water) for quite a long time after I have wrapped them. Sometimes I have to tighten the packaging, bit it shrink wrap &/or paper labels.

It seems likely that as evaporation continues and the soap shrinks, your water-glued labels would wrinkle and possibly begin to come loose or fall off.

If you test it over time, you'd have a better idea if they will still adhere & how they look at the 2-month; 3-month; 6-month mark (or however long.)

 

[marehare]

I made a Peppermint Soap w/ EO Peppermint from Natural Oils Growers Group ( Amazon) & Winter Wonderland FO from NS both behaved wonderful. I used confetti for base then solid Color for top half in a beautiful color turquoise from NS. I added TD to heated oils I saw on a video' it seamed to mix evenly w/ a smoother texture, I seam to have an issue with TD totally dissolving even when premixed. cant wait to cut it tomorrow.
It's A Soap Thing' They Don't Understand...

I found this pic on Pinterest... I use the last one I think! The one with lard, cause I love my lard! But not only are they slow soaps but soft too! At least the ones I’ve tried! You want me to make you my handy dandy log splitter? Lol!

Edited to insert image! Silly me!
View attachment 51813

I've just finished my soap making for the season. My scents (EO), are clove, rose geranium. lavender litsea, bay lime, rosemary spearmint, pink grapefruit, mocha mint (only soap with FO), and cinnamon orange. I add in extra cocoa butter, shea butter, beeswax pastilles and palm oil. This soap recipe is a never fail if you use fresh oils. I learned the hard way last year when I had to toss out two full batches after I used an oil that was iffy. Never again.
Been making soap for 25 years. Love it!

 

[TheSoapStudioLLC]

I have a pop up shop coming up, and I made fizzy bath crumbles (I suck at making bath bombs, and hope these crumbles turn out okay), and some bath salts.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm pretty sure she uses Soapers Choice.

Correct. Home | Soaper's Choice

 

[Bobbie Brian]

Made my 1st batch ever of soap. My mother and I sat down and decided what we wanted in it. Hopefully we did this right. We pick fresh rosemary and put it in a cockpot and cooked it for several hours with (1 batch had olive oil other batch had coconut oil) Strange greeny color once it had cooked for awhile. This was used in the soap. Not sure how long till we will be able to use it?

 

[starlightsteward]

Just pondering whether to do a 100% Coconut oil salt bar for my first attempt, or do 5% castor

 

[Shellonian]

I received my logo! Very excited as it's really cute. My stepdad drew it for me since he can draw a hundred times better than I can.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Correct. Home | Soaper's Choice

Thank You

I've just finished my soap making for the season. My scents (EO), are clove, rose geranium. lavender litsea, bay lime, rosemary spearmint, pink grapefruit, mocha mint (only soap with FO), and cinnamon orange. I add in extra cocoa butter, shea butter, beeswax pastilles and palm oil. This soap recipe is a never fail if you use fresh oils. I learned the hard way last year when I had to toss out two full batches after I used an oil that was iffy. Never again.
Been making soap for 25 years. Love it!

Sounds like your soap smells fantastic'

 

[Catscankim]

I just finished a batch of rosemary mint (fo), charcoal soap. After i stared at so many pretty pictures and watched one or four yt videos for ideas all morning...I whimped out and went with the charcoal bar lol.

I worked overnight, I am tired, and after taking too long to make up my mind, I had to make a decision lol.

I planned on making this one anyway.