What soapy thing have you done today?

[The Park Bench]

Boo!
This really took me aback! I think of you as a long-time veteran and thought you were on this forum long before me. Your soaps are so advanced and all that natural colorant stuff. You must have had a super steep learning curve! And how old is your little one? Like were you learning soaping while parenting a baby?!

@Misschief Awesome display!! What products are in the jars and bags? And are those baby feet soaps?! You are a good friend to do that.

So many firsts for this soaper today! First time using my mini-column mold to make a moon for tomorrow's soap. First time not using my stick blender and just hand stirring to emulsion (as always, fingers crossed it's truly at emulsion!). First time CPOPing (must. not. open. oven. door.) It's a white and gray in the pot swirl.

It was so weird to soap with such small volumes! Everything cooled so quickly. And I didn't have 1/16 teaspoons for the colorants. My learning is that next time I will make enough for a mini-cylinder and a loaf mold. And I don't usually soap in the mornings. When can I have my post-soaping wine? Isn't it after 5 p.m. somewhere?

I so appreciate your responses and how much of an encourager you are! #goals

 

[Basil]

whew, finally have enough. some have one leg up, others have both and some both feet down. the soap will be a little silly but hopefully fun

Adorable!

 

[The Park Bench]

Well, i just made my champagne soap. It did NOT go as planned. It was supposed to be 3 layers...Top and bottom pale yellow, and a swirl in the middle. I had everything measured out just fine, which is the first time i separated oils and lye pre-soaping.

Then i had an idea lol. To add my yellow to 2/3 of the batch of oils so that the two batches were the exact same shade for both layers. The mica didnt mix well with just oils. I just needed to get things to trace at different times, so it made sense to me to put it in the oils first, then split and soap 3 different times, in three containers, well six after i split the middle batch.

Apparently this is beyond my skill set.

The yellow did not mix with the oils no matter how much i stirred. Then i had a brilliant idea to sb them (still just oils). Stupid bubbles. Ok... not in a terrible time crunch, except i have league at 5:00. So i stirred until the bubbles were gone. Mica is still not mixed in well with the oils. I tried separating into the two batches, one was yellow tinted oil, the other had most of the whole yellow. Uggh. So poured them all back together...repeat. I cant add lye yet, because one is the top layer and i dont want it to set up.

Plan B. Put all the yellow back into one pot and soaped. Yellow is way too yellow. Doesnt even matter at this point, i gotta be at pool league soon. Poured this 2/3 batch and waited for it to set up.

No idea now what to do with the last third, so i added td and did a gold mica swirl on top. Hopefully it looks like a glass of champagne lol.

Then i realized my oven and microwave clocks havent been set yet. So i still had an hour to play with. I was rushing for nothing.

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO ... I felt your building anxiety and then boom, you still had an hour!

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

These are two different plates. I am going to document the plate with the design this go around. I have no idea which plate does what.

That will be nice' i'll keep an eye out for your post.

 

[rdc1978]

Ha! I'm halfway around the globe and it will set you back more than buying a big amount of that clay for yourself lol but thank you for thinking of it

So.. It's storming but I'm wrapping up lotion bars to send once it's safe for the delivery guys to use their motorbikes outside. I should have made slightly shorter tags. Oh well..

May I ask how you're packaging your lotion bars? My mom asked me to make a few for her to give as gifts for Christmas, and I'd like to make them in Christmas theme molds, but if I'm gonna do all that, I want to put them in some sort of clear packaging.

I purchased some shrink wrap bags and a heat gun for my soap, but I cannot imagine I can heat up shrink wrap bags for lotion bars. I guess I just just shove it in a bag and use a ribbon on the end, but I thought there might be a better way. TYIA!

 

[Zing]

I use small tins from Joann Fabrics or Michaels for lotion bars. My molds are bullet-cake-pops or mini-muffins.

 

[Dawni]

Hallo @rdc1978! I'm trying to promote less waste so my customers choose whether they get a naked bar, or to buy a small tin in which to house em (which doubles as their container if they don't have something cute to rest them on).

Here's the batch I'm sending out right now in fact. The bars are wrapped in wax paper, and then cut up brown paper bags from the supermarket, and tied with twine.

These are fine for short distances (bike messengers hehe) but I'm also struggling with eco friendly packaging for far away deliveries.

If they want tins they look like this

Not a very good pic lol it was night and my son had gotten his hands on this one coz he loves em but you get the idea.

That's also my soapy thing for this morning haha, getting this order ready. I needed to make soap. Sigh..

 

[rdc1978]

Hallo @rdc1978! I'm trying to promote less waste so my customers choose whether they get a naked bar, or to buy a small tin in which to house em (which doubles as their container if they don't have something cute to rest them on).

Here's the batch I'm sending out right now in fact. The bars are wrapped in wax paper, and then cut up brown paper bags from the supermarket, and tied with twine.
View attachment 51180
These are fine for short distances (bike messengers hehe) but I'm also struggling with eco friendly packaging for far away deliveries.

If they want tins they look like this
View attachment 51181
Not a very good pic lol it was night and my son had gotten his hands on this one coz he loves em but you get the idea.

That's also my soapy thing for this morning haha, getting this order ready. I needed to make soap. Sigh..

So beautiful! Well done! I'm not that artsy, but your stuff looks just beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

I use small tins from Joann Fabrics or Michaels for lotion bars. My molds are bullet-cake-pops or mini-muffins.

I got some small tins from amazon, and for my normal lotion bars, I think they are totally fine. But for these holiday ones, I'd kinda like to use cute holiday molds so they are in the shape of a christmas tree/candy cane/snowflake/snowman.....and so I'd like for the person getting the lotion bar to be able to see the christmas theme lotion bar so it would be nice if it was in something clear.....I just don't know what......

 

[Dawni]

I got some small tins from amazon, and for my normal lotion bars, I think they are totally fine. But for these holiday ones, I'd kinda like to use cute holiday molds so they are in the shape of a christmas tree/candy cane/snowflake/snowman.....and so I'd like for the person getting the lotion bar to be able to see the christmas theme lotion bar so it would be nice if it was in something clear.....I just don't know what......

See if you find something here that you could do.. Lots of suggestions from others.

 

[Catscankim]

Decided to give my stickblender a workout and make some castile soap. I used Zanys no slime recipe. No fragrance. Its going to double as my soaps for this months string pull challenge, which now i gotta make a micro batch of castile soap to do the string pull in a few days...to keep it castile.

I hope its ok. I had some issues with the lye solution.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Looking for any hacks or tips on how to handle soap that goes above the loaf mold.

Here’s what I do. The length is adjustable .

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Today & the next couple of days i'll be waiting for soap supply's to arrive. I was able to watch videos on string pulling art method, its truly just amazing & beautiful! looking forward to this months challenge i've got many flat soaps I can practice on, meanwhile i'll clean house & pay bills today, ugh never fun' i'd rather be soaping.

 

[TashaBird]

Today & the next couple of days i'll be waiting for soap supply's to arrive. I was able to watch videos on string pulling art method, its truly just amazing & beautiful! looking forward to this months challenge i've got many flat soaps I can practice on, meanwhile i'll clean house & pay bills today, ugh never fun' i'd rather be soaping.

I had to google that method. Cool! It’s like painting. They look like flowers!

 

[AliOop]

I had to google that method. Cool! It’s like painting. They look like flowers!

It is this month's SMF challenge! Would be fun to have you sign up and work on it with the rest of us

 

[toomanydogs]

Joined this forum! Also cut and stamped my pumpkin soap. Waiting on a WSP delivery due tomorrow. I'll be finishing off the pumpkin soap with a vanilla chai icing drizzle, and trying out a new fragrance for another soap.

 

[TashaBird]

It is this month's SMF challenge! Would be fun to have you sign up and work on it with the rest of us

My soap project cue is full up. Maybe after the holidaze. It looks like lots of fun!

 

[GemstonePony]

Joined this forum! Also cut and stamped my pumpkin soap. Waiting on a WSP delivery due tomorrow. I'll be finishing off the pumpkin soap with a vanilla chai icing drizzle, and trying out a new fragrance for another soap.

Welcome, and that sounds fabulous! Posts in this thread get buried pretty quickly. Please introduce yourself in the Introduction Forum when you get a moment, so we have an idea of who you are and what your soaping experience has been so far.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Lol - maybe I should name this after Van Gogh’s Starry Nights instead of Ocean? The stearic spots coupled with the oatmeal have made it very spotty!

 

[earlene]

It’s not my own thread. I found that one! Hahaha Although I do lose my own things all day long.
This is an actual soap that i saw that blew my mind. I wanted to post a pic and the tutorial because i thought y’all would dig it too.

Your's is the first post; that usually indicates the person who started the thread is the first post in the thread. So I'm confused. Soap Inspiration Pictures (non soap)

Is there another one?

Looking for any hacks or tips on how to handle soap that goes above the loaf mold. This was my first time doing so. I'm used to putting a piece of cardboard on top of the mold and then towels for gelling. Today, I put a couple of teaspoons on the edge of the mold, then cardboard, then towels.

@TashaBird: I have no words. Nada. What you do is beyond all get out.

I have not gone over the mold height, when I pour, so I can't help you there. But I can help you avoid it if you want. You've probably already figured this one out on your own, but if I end up with extra batter, I put it into an individual mold.

I keep a couple single soap individual molds on hand just for the occasional overflow.

As for insulating soap that is close to the rim or has raised piping, an inverted cardboard box is a suitable cover to protect the top of the soap.

 

[Zing]

I have not gone over the mold height, when I pour, so I can't help you there. But I can help you avoid it if you want. You've probably already figured this one out on your own, but if I end up with extra batter, I put it into an individual mold.

As for insulating soap that is close to the rim or has raised piping, an inverted cardboard box is a suitable cover to protect the top of the soap.

Thanks, @earlene! I almost always pour to just under the top and I have individual yogurt cups for my overflow. For this particular soap, though, I intentionally went over the top. In the future, I'll try in inverted box, that is unless cough cough hint hint @Mobjack Bay sends me hers....