What soapy thing have you done today?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Some new oils came today. Rice bran which I have never used and Sunflower which I have rarely used. I have to create a new recipe now.
I use Sunflower oil in my "standard" recipe. I use 15% and I think the general rule of thumb is no more than 25% (at least that's what I found doing some research).
 
I cleaned my saved cooking fats and ended up with almost two quarts of golden yellow solid fat: mostly tallow and lard, with a smidge each of schmaltz, duck fat, and olive oil (the source of the yellow, along with some of the turmeric that was used to season the chicken).

I affectionately call this my Barnyard Soap, but it is actually my husband's neem-molasses-colloidal oat bar. He lost his sense of smell several decades ago, so the neem smell doesn't faze him at all. The tallow-lard-oatmeal neem combo seems to agree with his eczema and psoriasis, too.
 
Yes! Beautiful soaps and lovely new picture of you as well. Glad you had some nice time with Dad!
Aww thank you! It's probably the only time during this pandemic that I got to dress up, wear jewelry and makeup too haha. That pic was taken on my cousin's 18th birthday, in our (semi-outdoor) garage lol coz we couldn't go anywhere... We DIYed all the decorations using whatever we had in the house, we put together her (and other family members' outfits) outfits from mine n my sister's clothes - theme was boho - and for souvenirs, they got my soaps and lotion bars hehe. That kept me busy for half of January too.

Here's a shot of her n my son where you can see more
IMG_20210213_111116.jpg

@Dawni totally missed you! Gorgeous soap!
Missed seeing your stuff, good thing I see em on IG lol
 
Aww thank you! It's probably the only time during this pandemic that I got to dress up, wear jewelry and makeup too haha. That pic was taken on my cousin's 18th birthday, in our (semi-outdoor) garage lol coz we couldn't go anywhere... We DIYed all the decorations using whatever we had in the house, we put together her (and other family members' outfits) outfits from mine n my sister's clothes - theme was boho - and for souvenirs, they got my soaps and lotion bars hehe. That kept me busy for half of January too.

Here's a shot of her n my son where you can see more
View attachment 54006

Missed seeing your stuff, good thing I see em on IG lol
Missed you girl!!! I was thinking just last night that I got to IG you! Glad all is well.
 
Hugs @Catscankim :)

I rebatched all my soap scrapings from the holiday batches (and some before that). The white bits are probably the salt bar pieces that got mixed in when they shouldn't have been lol.

The green is some weird colorant included in the destash I got some time back, labeled "organic mineral colorant" so I figured what the H let's use it - my rebatches are for me and mine anyway. Also I figured it was a good time to try one of those old FOs I posted about. So far so good. I have no idea what scent this is but my kitchen smells like a spa lol, and so strong at just 1.5% FO.

IMG_20210213_112107.jpg

I also practiced my bevelling on one side of one bar. Emm.. I need a lot more practice lol
 
Last edited:
Second attempt at February SMF challenge in the oven. This recipe moved faster than I expected, which was fine. If I decide to do a 3rd attempt, I've got a recipe that I know traces painfully slow and uses oils that I'm trying to clear out anyways.
 
Last edited:
Hugs @Catscankim :)

I rebatched all my soap scrapings from the holiday batches (and some before that). The white bits are probably the salt bar pieces that got mixed in when they shouldn't have been lol.

The green is some weird colorant included in the destash I got some time back, labeled "organic mineral colorant" so I figured what the H let's use it - my rebatches are for me and mine anyway. Also I figured it was a good time to try one of those old FOs I posted about. So far so good. I have no idea what scent this is but my kitchen smells like a spa lol, and so strong at just 1.5% FO.

View attachment 54009
I also practiced my bevelling on one side of one bar. Emm.. I need a lot more practice lol
I like that!

I found that when beveling my soaps, just don't be too careful. Get your spot and just do it LOL. Like you are peeling a potato. I get better bevels that way. Before I was carefully going at it and ended up with stop marks. When I stopped thinking about it, my bevels got better.

However, I don't like most of my bars beveled. Personal preference I guess. I leave them the way they are and soften the edges with a cloth (or not do anything at all except clean them up from crumbs etc), or if they are really bad, I "wash" them in a bowl of distilled water and let them dry for a day or so. I think beveling makes them look so much smaller, even though they are pretty much the same weight most of the time...just a few grams off.
 
I like that!

I found that when beveling my soaps, just don't be too careful. Get your spot and just do it LOL. Like you are peeling a potato. I get better bevels that way. Before I was carefully going at it and ended up with stop marks. When I stopped thinking about it, my bevels got better.

However, I don't like most of my bars beveled. Personal preference I guess. I leave them the way they are and soften the edges with a cloth (or not do anything at all except clean them up from crumbs etc), or if they are really bad, I "wash" them in a bowl of distilled water and let them dry for a day or so. I think beveling makes them look so much smaller, even though they are pretty much the same weight most of the time...just a few grams off.
I like mine the way they are as well. They usually come out softer anyway, after I cut, coz I always run my finger around all the sides, with a little but of pressure hehehe. But I've never bevelled soap before haha so I wanted to see what it was like haha
 
Did y'all miss me? I sure missed you all! Hehehe

Made 3 batches of soap so far this year.. All of em custom lard soaps
View attachment 53992
First one for a friend's husband. Made uncolored soap, separated out parts after the cook and colored with oxides.
View attachment 53993
Second n third for a couple. Purple n blue are again oxides, but the yellow is turmeric added straight to the oils. Used my triple slow cooker thing here.. Uncolored soap was separated a few minutes after it traced, then the colors were added.
Me, me! I missed you! Just love your soaps - especially the top one. Such a shame you used lard ;) Is that hot process still? You're very clever doing that with hot process y'know.
Good to have you back girlfriend.
 
Whew! Today was my second time doing 4 pull throughs at the same time. Doing a few small recipe adjustments and experimenting with kaolin clay vs no kaolin clay. I meant to take a pic of the bucket with all 4 in it. But I forgot.
Vacuum sealed most of my extra batter so I can make soap dough. I’ve got new extruder discs coming that I’m super excited about! 2” diameter!!
Also with some extra batter filled my fancy mermaid molds and my dragon mold.
I’m tired!!!
Cutting tomorrow will hopefully be fun! Sopamine rush!!
These look so cool. I keep forgetting to order mine. I need to do it NOW, otherwise, it will be another week before I remember...the fate of getting old!
 
Me, me! I missed you! Just love your soaps - especially the top one. Such a shame you used lard ;) Is that hot process still? You're very clever doing that with hot process y'know.
Good to have you back girlfriend.
Thank you for posting the numbers where I could see your soaps! I just put out a post as I have not seen any of the pictures folks put out there to show what they are doing. I looked in the picture places and couldn't find anything connected with the Taiwan Swirls everyone is getting ready to enter..boohoo! Your soaps are so very pretty.
I just went to my local organic grocery store and talked to the meat market manager and bless his heart he is having the butchers toss all the beef and pork fat into tubs for me to pick up for Free! I paid $1.89/# when I bought a bunch of grass & grain-fed beef from my girlfriend when they had their steer butchered, then I tossed it in the oven and rendered it till it was lovely, then I thought I would let it go just a tad longer and burned the crap out of it! I was really mad at myself and my son could have killed me, the house smelled atrocious, to say the least! I love tallow and lard with my goat's milk.
 
Hugs @Catscankim :)

I rebatched all my soap scrapings from the holiday batches (and some before that). The white bits are probably the salt bar pieces that got mixed in when they shouldn't have been lol.

The green is some weird colorant included in the destash I got some time back, labeled "organic mineral colorant" so I figured what the H let's use it - my rebatches are for me and mine anyway. Also I figured it was a good time to try one of those old FOs I posted about. So far so good. I have no idea what scent this is but my kitchen smells like a spa lol, and so strong at just 1.5% FO.

View attachment 54009
I also practiced my bevelling on one side of one bar. Emm.. I need a lot more practice lol
I love that soap! Pretty green color in time for St. Patrick's day.😊
 
Did y'all miss me? I sure missed you all! Hehehe

Made 3 batches of soap so far this year.. All of em custom lard soaps
View attachment 53992
First one for a friend's husband. Made uncolored soap, separated out parts after the cook and colored with oxides.
View attachment 53993
Second n third for a couple. Purple n blue are again oxides, but the yellow is turmeric added straight to the oils. Used my triple slow cooker thing here.. Uncolored soap was separated a few minutes after it traced, then the colors were added.
There she is! Missed you! The top soap is stunning, great colors.
 
Did y'all miss me? I sure missed you all! Hehehe

Made 3 batches of soap so far this year.. All of em custom lard soaps
View attachment 53992
First one for a friend's husband. Made uncolored soap, separated out parts after the cook and colored with oxides.
View attachment 53993
Second n third for a couple. Purple n blue are again oxides, but the yellow is turmeric added straight to the oils. Used my triple slow cooker thing here.. Uncolored soap was separated a few minutes after it traced, then the colors were added.
I adore the blue. 😍
 
I’ve never “glued” enbeds into a bar of soap before, but sometimes things don’t go according to plan🤣 We’ll see if this works. This is Raw Honeycomb from brambleberry with beeswax, honey and buttermilk and let me tell you it moved quickly!
 

Attachments

  • 9AD7A9A6-3865-4B37-AF4E-440696313319.jpeg
    9AD7A9A6-3865-4B37-AF4E-440696313319.jpeg
    135.9 KB · Views: 28
  • 830EE835-A3BD-4729-ACE6-A479BFFBB859.jpeg
    830EE835-A3BD-4729-ACE6-A479BFFBB859.jpeg
    175.3 KB · Views: 36
Back
Top