What soapy thing have you done today?

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View attachment 40953 View attachment 40954 Then I changed my mind part way through chopping off all the green part and left a sliver of green.

I think these look really nice! It may not have been what you planned - but they are beautiful soaps. I love the colors.

Been busy with my dragonfruit trial and error for three days straight. Hah! No luck with getting a color. Might have to give up and use pink clay instead. Thinking of an ombre pattern.

Today's batch produced a similar result as attached.
I love white soaps. These look great!
 
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I had nanny duty for my grandson all weekend so I wasn't even home. No soapy stuff for me till next weekend. On the plus side - most of my soaps are ready to come off the drying rack so I lots of room to make more. I'll worry about what to do with it all some other time. :D
I told myself that.... Then some other time came and then some more others haha
 
I agree with everyone else the soap is lovely!!!!

Thank you @Marilyn Norgart.

I love the little dragon fruit seeds! It’s a very pretty soap.
Thank you @Mobjack Bay.

I love white soaps. These look great!
Ahah. You're into white soaps. Thank you @runnerchicki

Will do my 4th and fifth run today. One I will try to color with dried and powderized dragonfruit meat whilst the other I will use pink clay. Still going to put actual dragonfruit meat on both. Pics to follow.
 
I made my first tiger swirl! I'm so happy with how it came out! I used activated charcoal for the black half of the batter and didn't color the other half. I'm not sure how I know if it gelled or not, but it was covered and quite warm for many hours after I made it. And I was able to cut after 24 hours.
 

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  • 20th batch - Activated charcoal tiger swirl 1.jpg
    20th batch - Activated charcoal tiger swirl 1.jpg
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No soapy thing today....

Tried making a chili/turmeric/ginger balm though.... I think I used too little of each lol, didn't feel a thing.

Will do my 4th and fifth run today. One I will try to color with dried and powderized dragonfruit meat whilst the other I will use pink clay. Still going to put actual dragonfruit meat on both. Pics to follow.
Looking forward to your pink clay one. I've noticed different shades of pink from different sources of pink clay.
 
Last week, I soaped in a new location for the first time! However it was out of necessity because my house is currently being renovated due to water damage so I'm staying with relatives.

I made some more cupcake soap bases and star embeds last week, and over the weekend, made a batch of bars using lilac fragrance for the first time, and it smelled so good!

I had a few family members watch me make the soap and I've never had an audience before, so it felt like I was teaching a class, haha! The purple in the bars turned out a bit more blue and less pink than I wanted, but now I know for next time! I'm also a bit worried that I may have used too much color for the stripe, so fingers crossed it doesn't bleed.

I also had a slight whoops moment when I accidentally knocked over a container of oils and colorant that I use to make the colored stripe in my bars (see profile pic), but luckily no lye was in it yet and I was able to scrape it all back into the container and only lost about 4 grams total!
 
I made my first tiger swirl! I'm so happy with how it came out! I used activated charcoal for the black half of the batter and didn't color the other half. I'm not sure how I know if it gelled or not, but it was covered and quite warm for many hours after I made it. And I was able to cut after 24 hours.
Nice! What did you use as colorants?
 
Just started the cook on my second batch of HP. Timer set for every 10 minutes to check the stew pot, [Crock] but I keep hovering over it anyway.

Possibly no colorant and carnation scent. It looks like a pretty beige color anyway.

Get to use my new silicone/wood loaf mold for the first time [and some of my fragrance hoard].
 
Made a big batch of Eucalyptus Spearmint - everyone who smells it just falls in love! I can't keep it on hand. I gave some to my physical therapist today and she about fell over herself with excitement. Here's the new batch:
Eucalyptus Spearming 3.jpg
Also, I received an 85lb Soaper's Choice order...if you ever wondered what 50lb of lard looks like all divided up, here you go! Stick blender head for scale.
Lard.jpg
 
Made a big batch of Eucalyptus Spearmint - everyone who smells it just falls in love! I can't keep it on hand. I gave some to my physical therapist today and she about fell over herself with excitement. Here's the new batch:
View attachment 41050
Also, I received an 85lb Soaper's Choice order...if you ever wondered what 50lb of lard looks like all divided up, here you go! Stick blender head for scale.
View attachment 41051
:eek: Wow - that's a lot of lard!
 
Made a big batch of Eucalyptus Spearmint - everyone who smells it just falls in love! I can't keep it on hand. I gave some to my physical therapist today and she about fell over herself with excitement. Here's the new batch:
View attachment 41050
Also, I received an 85lb Soaper's Choice order...if you ever wondered what 50lb of lard looks like all divided up, here you go! Stick blender head for scale.
View attachment 41051
The soap looks pretty and smells good :). And, yes, that’s a lot of lard. I guess it didn’t melt in transit!
 
I finally caught up on the posts here at SMF. (Reading mostly, a bit of responding.)

A couple of days ago I ran across a couple of single oil soaps I made 3 or so years ago. I had assumed I had tossed these two out. They are: 100% Castor oil soap with 0% SF, which is quite hard, and 100% Canola oil soap. I hand wash tested the Castor soap, but not the Canola yet.

As usual, the first washing was disappointing, primarily related to the ash on the soap's surface. But the second washing was more pleasant. Although there are virtually no bubbles whatsoever, and no visible lather, the feel of what should be lather was slippery. After the first wash with ash-covered soap, the skin of my hands felt dry. But after the second washing with no ash on the soap, my skin felt normal again. It was how hard the soap is that was a surprise. So often soapmakers say, too much Castor oil will make your soap soft and sticky. This bar of soap is not in the least sticky nor soft.
 
Castor at just 5% ups bubbles but at 100% has no visible lather.... I guess this is a prime example of how castor oil sustains bubbles, but isn't bubbly in itself, yes @earlene?

I have a high canola oil soap hidden away somewhere.. Haven't tried it. I'm curious to see how yours feels for you.

Soapy thing: Given how my soap made with rice water is my hardest soap, considering neither lard nor the two butters amounts are not high at all, I decided to test my theory that the starches in that water contribute to a harder bar.

I'll write about it more n put together a post after I've done some more testing, aside from today's.. I need to also test longevity, but my rice soap lasts longer than a lot of my other soaps so I need to confirm that.
 
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