What soapy thing have you done today?

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I cut last night's soap. BB Pineapple Papaya. Colors are Andy the Money from MM, Magenta, Yellow, and TD. ITPS.

Andy the Money really freaks me out with the baby poop color when pouring LOL. But the green it turns into is phenomenal, especially after the soap has cured for a few weeks.

I purposely did not pour the first layer all the way out on the bottom, because for some reason in my head I thought it might add a little interest. But now I think I wish I did.

I love this scent.

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Hi Kim, I made a very similar soap for my entry into the SoapChallengeCkub.

Oh goodness. Looks like I’ll be rebatching today. Don’t have a slow cooker so asking around my neighborhood for one.
I always rebatch on my stovetop. Just have to be careful to keep the heat low.
 

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Can someone remind me why I do this?
it was fun leaving town spontaneously for a day after I’d already put my dishes in hot soapy water to soak. (Usually I wash them as soon as the water cools enough.) It was less fun having to deal with the cold water and giant sink full of mess when I came home.
 

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Have sixty bars of salt soaps curing for their second month, will sell when they're at least three months cured.

Switched gears last week and have been making emulsified sugar scrubs (lavender eucalyptus, lemongrass, and sweet orange so far). Totally in love with emulsified sugar scrubs. Today I'm making a batch of coffee scrub with avocado oil, cocoa butter, cetyl alcohol, emulsifying wax, coffee grounds, just a hint of coffee bean fragrance and Optiphen, with of course plenty of sugar. Waterproof labels.

Have also been hard at work perfecting my salve recipe for helping with arthritis, joint and muscle pain. Have given away a dozen testers and awaiting more feedback. Won't even think of selling these yet. 40 percent CBD oil and 60 percent orange peel/lemon oil that I've extracted with The Source vacuum extractor. Very potent percentages of the therapeutic oils. In a salve base of babassu, cocoa butter, beeswax, sweet orange essential oil and vitamin e. Have heard that bitter orange oil is superior in healing qualities than any other orange oil, so switching to that when plant material arrives. With bitter orange essential oil for fragrance. Having soooo much fun! Back to salt soaps in a few days.

Also changed the name of my little business from Dragonphlies to Aspen Native Spirit (I'm a native) and made all new labels. That was a lot of work but I love the new look!
 
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The last couple days I’ve been making little tiny flower embeds for the top of a loaf I plan to make. This is very tedious and time consuming but they are so cute! View attachment 53662
Super cute, you are one patient grasshopper my friend!

Have sixty bars of salt soaps curing for their second month, will sell when they're at least three months cured.

Switched gears last week and have been making emulsified sugar scrubs (lavender eucalyptus, lemongrass, and sweet orange so far). Totally in love with emulsified sugar scrubs. Today I'm making a batch of coffee scrub with avocado oil, cocoa butter, cetyl alcohol, emulsifying wax, coffee grounds, just a hint of coffee bean fragrance and Optiphen, with of course plenty of sugar. Waterproof labels.

Have also been hard at work perfecting my salve recipe for helping with arthritis, joint and muscle pain. Have given away a dozen testers and awaiting more feedback. Won't even think of selling these yet. 40 percent CBD oil and 60 percent orange peel/lemon oil that I've extracted with The Source vacuum extractor. Very potent percentages of the therapeutic oils. In a salve base of babassu, cocoa butter, beeswax, sweet orange essential oil and vitamin e. Have heard that bitter orange oil is superior in healing qualities than any other orange oil, so switching to that when plant material arrives. With bitter orange essential oil for fragrance. Having soooo much fun! Back to salt soaps in a few days.

Also changed the name of my little business from Dragonphlies to Aspen Native Spirit (I'm a native) and made all new labels. That was a lot of work but I love the new look!
I aspire to start making emulsified sugar scrubs! What ingredients do you use for yours? Is it your recipe or a purchase one? I want mine to be as natural as possible but also have a preservative for sure!
 
Of course I don't mind sharing but everyone here probably knew about it before me. I have been wet rendering in the past and the butcher gave me many kilos and what a mess, boiling over on the floor (it went well the first time, but after that.....) so this time I used the crock pot and did it without water. Low setting, checked the temperature it was 200 degrees. I have always been afraid of a roasted scent in the tallow but it did not happen. It is a little golden in color. I will do it again with baking soda in some water then through a pantyhose for the last step. I don't know why I think I have to do 20 kilos at a time, it was so much better working smaller. I am picking up more today and will be set for a while. I will ask him about the lard, I have not tried that yet. Thanks for asking!
Gotcha, thanks! Yes, I dry render for the first round in a large turkey roaster. If I have leaf fat, it comes out super clear the first time, except for the dregs that I press out of the cracklins. Those or other dirty fats (usually from cooking) are wet-rendered with some baking soda.

I agree that small batches are easier, but I hate cleaning up after rendering, so I do several big batches at once so I only have to clean up once every few months. Kinda like master-batching lye - just gotta do it so I can get on to the fun stuff! 😊
 
Hi Kim, I made a very similar soap for my entry into the SoapChallengeCkub.
Beautiful!

I aspire to start making emulsified sugar scrubs! What ingredients do you use for yours? Is it your recipe or a purchase one? I want mine to be as natural as possible but also have a preservative for sure!

Here's the recipe I use, it's a half batch, I can't remember where I found the recipe, maybe Soap Queen
132 g avocado oil
60 g cocoa butter
30 g butter of your choice (I use mango or coffee butter)
30 g cetyl alcohol (or use 30g mango or other butter if you don't want the cetyl alcohol)
30 g emulsifying wax
no more than 1/4 teaspoon mica if you want color

Melt, heat 20 minutes more (I use a large Pyrex cup with a silicone potholder under the cup and about 3/4 pot of water), remove from heat, cool and then place in freezer until a crust forms.

Whip scrub on high with a mixer (5-10 minutes). When it's fully cooled soft peaks will form.

Add essential oils of your choice (9 g total) and preservative (3 g) and mix on low with mixer.

Fold in 300 g sugar with a spatula. That's it! Spoon into jars. It makes 16 ounces and perfectly fills four 4-oz jars.

It's wonderful, not greasy like most scrubs and leaves your skin soft and polished.
 
Cut the rebatched soap this morning. I have to say, it was really easy in the crockpot. After monkeying with if for three days (from initial pour, rebatch process, and cutting), the scent of if (CC's Mahogany Teakwood) is making me nauseous.

Wow! I think they look great. I can’t imagine piping them!
It was a terror. I made about 70 of them and it took a total of three days. I had a hand cramp by the time I finished. :nonono:
 

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Bored and running low on one of my favorite bars that I’ve been making forever! Shea Butter and coconut milk. Added some pink clay and a wee bit of activated charcoal just cause! Today I made something to help make cutting my soap easier and want to try it out... so obviously I had to make some more soap to cut! This one is an Avocado and Aloe...stole some of my daughter’s avocados and whipped it up. I was going to put some green jojoba beads in it but couldn’t find how much to use anywhere, so I’ll save them for something else! Should be a nice and creamy soap! I immediately put it in the freezer and it’s still overheating and cracking! Can’t wait to cut it!
87826557-B257-4077-9C2F-27A96B8E57E1.jpegD5EDFC55-21BC-45D3-8464-AD44A1E6C721.jpeg
 
Bored and running low on one of my favorite bars that I’ve been making forever! Shea Butter and coconut milk. Added some pink clay and a wee bit of activated charcoal just cause! Today I made something to help make cutting my soap easier and want to try it out... so obviously I had to make some more soap to cut! This one is an Avocado and Aloe...stole some of my daughter’s avocados and whipped it up. I was going to put some green jojoba beads in it but couldn’t find how much to use anywhere, so I’ll save them for something else! Should be a nice and creamy soap! I immediately put it in the freezer and it’s still overheating and cracking! Can’t wait to cut it!
View attachment 53676View attachment 53677
The pink one is really stunning.
 
I attempted a Taiwan swirl with 3 colors and 3 Micas in oil. I had a batch yesterday that I didn't mix well enough and it separated, so I over-mixed today and trace became thicker than ideal. Colors partially inspired by Tree Marie Soapworks on YouTube, but my own recipe. I'm pleased I was able to get it this good with how fast I got it moving. FO 1:3 Living Coral Reef: Guava Fig from WSP.
Also, just poured: An Oatmeal Honey soap with beeswax, and it was my first time soaping with Stearic Acid. The recipe was also 25% Mango and 10% Shea butters. The lye mixture turned the texture of thick, sticky taffy, and I had to pry it out of the pitcher with a popsicle stick. I simplified my design because I thought I might get soap on a stick, but I got everything blended including blending down the bits of oatmeal, and was able to split it for colors and get a decent pour. I got too excited by the fact that I had multiple colors after all to really do a wood pour until the end, but I'm happy!
ETA: the Oatmeal Honey soap FO was 1:1 WSP Mystical Woods and Sandalwood FO/EO blend. While I was still considering whether I could even soap the oatmeal lye mixture, I discovered the oils and slippery elm bark counterpart made a fantastic body butter. Regardless of how the soap comes out, I might throw together that component again for other purposes. I screenshot the recipe, if anyone is curious. The Rice Bran oil is because I ran out of Sunflower oil and that was the next closest thing I had on hand, so I added it in for the remaining percentage and recalculated the lye.
Oh, and I used 80 grams of oatmeal, hence the higher water amount.
 

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I made a 3 layer lavender soap - special request from a friend, and she wants to buy all the bars.View attachment 53567
This soap is gorgeous.

There is nothing as aesthetically pleasing as a tidy line.

Um, ya want glamor? Slip on your heels. If you've ever seen movies of homemakers back in the 50's, they did dishes while wearing a house dress and heels -- like in Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver. (Really dating myself here, aren't I. :rolleyes: )

LOL, the only way I'm washing dishes in heels if its someone's birthday gift. And not my birthday gift. LOL.

Hey can i used expeller pressed coconut oil to make soap?


What did you do to not get it anymore? did you reduce the amount of colour?

I'm 95% sure thats what I'm using. Lemme check.

ETA - I checked and yes, my coconut oil is expelled pressed.

5 months ago feels like so long! These salt soaps are so super pretty! I’m kind of heart broken about the red lather and not sure what to do. Some folks don’t mind it, and some actually like it. Maybe if I’m just really clear about it so it’s not a surprise. I’ve learned a lot since I made these!
I don’t get colored lather anymore.

I think honesty is key.

When my mom asked me to make her Christmas soaps for gifts I sent a letter with each one explaining "mica transfer" because I had used some reds that "transferred" and didn't want people to freak out. The soaps id used with the red lather were fine and it washed out of my washcloths so I felt okay sending it out.

I like it! I have a grandchild on the way I think I’ll suggest it. ❤

The name always reminds me of a classy British man.....or the guy in the Austin powers movies (but I think he was classy!)
 
@Jersey Girl That soap is gorgeous. I just made a test batch with NS Satsuma earlier this month. I had a wee bit of ricing. Did you have any issues? Do you know how the scent holds up over time?

Haha, here’s a completely different take on an orange soap - from my crunchy line. First, I‘m very happy to report that I survived the triple threat of soy wax, orange wax and an EO blend with 18% ylang ylang. I was mentally prepared for the challenge, had everything lined up perfectly and had the soap in the mold in time to texture the top. The orange scent from the wax is not as bright smelling as orange EO, but it holds better for me than any orange FO or EO I’ve tried. The color here is from the orange wax at 5% of oils plus a little yellow from the shea I used.

EC9D06B2-1910-4A74-BB35-FFA0774D4616.jpeg
 

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