What soapy thing have you done today?

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No stupid question. There is something called an infared Temp Gun. You can lift the cover a bit "point and shoot" and it will read back. I haven't done temps on insulated soap in years. No need to. If I know we are going to have a cold night I just put over an extra blanket so the temp don't drop and cause soda ash.

Check Amazon, Ebay or Home Depo. I love the guns its easier than a thermometer.

Thx again - learned something new - low temps can cause soda ash. That must be why no soda ash since november. I must say this is great site as Ive learned so much from everyone- I have not posted much yet but have read a lot with troubleshooting my bloopers. And I understand frustration I see with people not doing research and wanting answers instantly. I am still newbie with soaping - researching for over year and soaping about 8/9 mths. One day I will give back as you guys do.
 
I was one of the originals when this site first opened. I left after I stopped running my original business. Over the years I still made soap but I didn't come back to the forums. I finally decided to come back and hang out for a while.. and see if I was able to assist anyone. Give it time. Just know things that are available to you now were not around way back then. Enjoy your learning.
 
Today I made a beautiful soap batter that flowed smoothly and looked delicious...UNTIL...I used a new fragrance oil that seized my batch to paste! Grrrrrr!!!! All I could think about at first was assessing the cost and the value! DOUBLE GRRRRRR!
 
Studying and registered for Certification exams at Guild Conference. This year Basic CP/HP and Basic MP tests. Goal 1 - Pass. Goal 2 - Take advanced exams next year
 
Made 2 batches of salt bars today. Had to make 2 cause I accidentally knocked the first one all over the floor and killed my stick blender in the process. Its not fun cleaning up so much raw soap batter. I'm just glad I hadn't put in the salt or FO yet. :S
 
I entered the spin swirl challenge even though it didn't all swirl and cut up two test batches I made for a FO selling friend. Oh yea, and I ordered a single-wire Bud Cutter from the proceeds of selling a bunch of soaping stuff to a new soaper. Woo-hoo!
 
I made some more blue doves...used a different recipe this time...it's the first recipe I used when I first started soaping and everyone that has used it loves it. But I'm still looking for a royal blue color. I'm about to give up and just go with blue jean color of doves. Ugh boss lady won't like it I'm afraid.
 
I made a loaf of palm, olive, coconut, and castor (40/40/15/5) in peppermint and a touch of orange scent to round it out.

Half is a white band, 1/3 a green band, and the top remainder is white. No photos yet as it's in the loaf.
 
Wrapped and labeled 300 bars of soap. Getting ready for the upcoming season. This weekend will be more soapmaking. Need to make 8 batches. I want to be as ahead as of the game as possible this year. My New Years promise to me. Not to get behind the 8 ball like years past.
 
Did my first tallow soap after injuring my shoulder back in Sept.

I used my little tester mold {of course}

I think I may have created a lethal throwing object hehehehe

Mind you I am running a test of my own rendered tallow {which btw has been sitting in my fridge for a few months in stainless steel bowls and was rock hard and very cold}

Today I decided that I would start a cleaning process of said tallow..which oddly really didn't seem to need a cleaning of much, but I did one bowl of it anyway. Really was no smell to it that I could tell, but it 'did' have tiny specks on the bottom which I scraped off. I suspect these were little particles of left overs from frying my suet to begin with that slipped by the straining process. {Am I the only one who frys it first? :think:}

At any rate, while I was getting ready to start cooling the 'washed' tallow, I decided to test the one that was only initially rendered without a water wash...

My results surprised me while making this soap {No color or fragrances}

Slow-Med trace..plenty of time to work..smooth and creamy while pouring
Color stayed white
The smell reminded me of when I make my soaps with coconut milk..weird no? No 'dead cow' lol

Now, I used 70% tallow, 20% CO, and just for giggles cuz I was out of castor, I threw in an oz of soybean oil

Im not happy about the bubble numbers..since Im a bubble freak and love big fluffy bubbles...but the other numbers are ok I think {except for that HUGE hardness number hahahaha..this baby will need to be cut in a matter of hours me thinks..Im watching it. It actually began to set after about 5 mins in the mold}

So soapy guru's..what ya think of this recipe? Could be better, could be worse etc etc..??

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