blucrsr
Active Member
I think this picture tells the story. These are the last 4 soaps I poured. I'm hoping the resolution makes it clear which one is done with the new stick blender.
What soapy thing have you done today?
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luluzapcat
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I just tried my ~even split coconut, olive, shea (+ 5% castor) oil soap for the first time. It's only been 4 weeks, but I couldn't wait, so I cut a bar in half for a tester. Nice and hard, decent lather, but I'll withhold judgement for a few more weeks.
The exciting thing is that I added powdered pomelo peel (dried in gas oven that's always warm from the pilot light; powdered in a spice grinder) to part of the batter. And I can smell a little grapefruit-y scent from the lathered soap! I'll definitely experiment with this more.
The exciting thing is that I added powdered pomelo peel (dried in gas oven that's always warm from the pilot light; powdered in a spice grinder) to part of the batter. And I can smell a little grapefruit-y scent from the lathered soap! I'll definitely experiment with this more.
AlexanderMakesSoap
Well-Known Member
I've used 3 different stick blenders so far, and one of them actually sucked air down through the stick (their was a seam in it) - constantly adding air bubbles. Super annoying! I haven't had an issue with the little bit of air that gets trapped in the other two blenders I use and I may just drill some escape holes in them to eliminate that.
What a great idea! I love pomelo! How long did you have to leave it in the oven? How did you know when it was ready to grind?
Nurture Soap
I've been at my daughter's for 4 days but I was too tired to soap today. Instead I cleaned up a couple of loaves done before I left and rearranged fragrance oils. I tweaked my 'go to' recipe for the Cranberry which is scented with Cranberry from Candora and smells amazing. The second is my failed attempt at the cosmic wave design... it is scented with Peppermint Bark from Candora and if I was blindfolded, I would eat it - it smells just like the real thing!
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I really like the colors, and I love the little Leprechaun molds.Used a Costco snack carton to create a wider loaf mold so I can take another crack at this month's Challenge Soap.
Unmolded the one that I poured in my TS mold yesterday (pic below). It definitely doesn't have enough of the third color, nor any S-curve. But it smells good, and I do like the colors. @cmzaha you can see I'm still using my leprechaun mold for leftover batter.
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LilianNoir
Well-Known Member
Welp. Cut yesterday's batch. It's... not quite the effect I was going for but it was also the first time attempting layers. I'm willing to give myself some slack there.
I am a bit perplexed by the texture. The ends have a bit of "alien brain" texture on the inside, for part of it but not all.
I suspect this is because I used an accelerating rose FO for the middle two layers(pink and purple, should have used it in the black too honestly) to get them thick enough to layer, but didn't use it in the top. I DID also put it on a heating pad for an hour to encourage uniform gelling.
What do you guys think?
You can see the texture on the bar to the right, but not the other two bars. I was also surprised to find that it was still warm this afternoon, after 16 hours, and put it in the freezer for a bit(probably a mistake)
I am a bit perplexed by the texture. The ends have a bit of "alien brain" texture on the inside, for part of it but not all.
I suspect this is because I used an accelerating rose FO for the middle two layers(pink and purple, should have used it in the black too honestly) to get them thick enough to layer, but didn't use it in the top. I DID also put it on a heating pad for an hour to encourage uniform gelling.
What do you guys think?
You can see the texture on the bar to the right, but not the other two bars. I was also surprised to find that it was still warm this afternoon, after 16 hours, and put it in the freezer for a bit(probably a mistake)
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LilianNoir
Well-Known Member
These are beautiful.
Everyone makes such lovely soap.
Thanks so much! I particularly love the cranberry - the scent is awesome.
Im making rosemary mint shampoo. Ive been playing with different recipes and ingredients for months. Hoping this is the final tweek
The_Emerald_Chicken
Well-Known Member
Here's the cut of Blueberry Thyme from yesterday.
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People, people, people! Today was a soapy day but not the one I planned! After watching the zig zag cosmic wave videos 100 times, I felt confident to do it! But then encountered so many challenges. We have a relative that moved in and is quarantining for 14 days in the basement where my soap shop is, so I had to haul up everything to the kitchen (also nervous to use our beautiful new kitchen, plastered everything with newspaper), so nothing was 'in its spot.' Mrs. Zing wanted to soap for her 2nd time so was tutoring her at the same time I was trying to soap. Her trace went to thick like KABOOM (I think it was the shea butter) so I had to regroup her design from an in-the-pot swirl to a plop/spoon swirl. I also based my volume measurements for two soaps on my only 10" loaf so had to scramble for different molds. We were using the same lye/water container and I poured too much into my oils (please don't read my panic-stricken post in another thread, I sound like a crazy man!).
And then I was sooo pleased with my slow stirring and conservative stick-blending in awe that my batter looked like all the YouTube videos. Then just one more 3-second burst.... It went to thin trace. Then even thicker with more stirring of the scents and colorants. So "zig zag" turned into a hanger swirl. Must. Master. Emulsion.
Oh well, I will still have soap and it smells great (anise/peppermint) and the colors look great. I'll be under the gun to enter the challenge tho'!
And then I was sooo pleased with my slow stirring and conservative stick-blending in awe that my batter looked like all the YouTube videos. Then just one more 3-second burst.... It went to thin trace. Then even thicker with more stirring of the scents and colorants. So "zig zag" turned into a hanger swirl. Must. Master. Emulsion.
Oh well, I will still have soap and it smells great (anise/peppermint) and the colors look great. I'll be under the gun to enter the challenge tho'!
tommysgirl
Well-Known Member
They are both gorgeous! I really love the cranberry one, though
Nice work!
Soap makes us all crazy at some point.
I have made 3 attempts at the challenge using HP and failed lol. Not sure ill try again, but maybe
Stopped by the butcher and asked if they had any extra fat, “pork or beef”, I said. Wasn’t expecting a bag of beef fat but that’s what I got! Things moved quicker than I expected but I’ll give tallow soap a shot! I’ve used tallow from essential depot before but overall I’m new to animal fats. I’m thinking CO, canola oil, and tallow.
LilianNoir
Well-Known Member
I think every batch I have made has made me crazy in some way or another.
So far, only one batch has turned out exactly the way I thought/wanted. XD
Granted I've only made like 10 CP batches, but yeah.
Crazy.
luluzapcat
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I probably left it at least 24 hours; maybe more, and ground it when it felt really dry. I might have left it in some AFTER grinding too. I just aimed to get all the moisture out so I could store and use it as a powder. I'm sorry I don't remember better; I'll keep track next time!
