What soapy thing have you done today?

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@KiwiMoose's #21287 put the idea into my head to finally make some oatmilk soap. Well, technically today ā€¦ 2am šŸ˜“šŸ˜µ ā€¦ Soaked rolled oats in water, and threw in some pandan leaves that were still around, too. SB'd, filtrated, blended into oils (not exfoliating). And a new silicone mould had to be inaugurated ā€¦ Pandan Puzzle!

pandan_puzzle.jpg


What indeed puzzles me a bit is the open surface. Not quite like soda ash, it rather looks like mm-sized fat crystals (can be smoothed out with the finger and feels greasy). I'm not worried, I just haven't seen such a thing yet. It's a classic trinity recipe (palm oil as hard fat, melted at >50Ā°C), cast at thin trace, and CPOP'd (oven heat re-use from another round ā€œdisposing ofā€ Lollipop margarine). Other surfaces are unaffected.
 
What indeed puzzles me a bit is the open surface.
Too much CPOP? I can't tell from the picture if it's the same thing but my first CPOP came out with what I thought of as a 'fizzy' looking surface; I think I did it a bit too high for a bit too long. When I planed it off the rest was fine.
 
Most definitely not. Barely a CPOP at all, close to ā€œsoaping at slightly elevated temperatureā€: the oven only was at most 50Ā°C, and I let it there for less than two hours.
 
@KiwiMoose's #21287 put the idea into my head to finally make some oatmilk soap. Well, technically today ā€¦ 2am šŸ˜“šŸ˜µ ā€¦ Soaked rolled oats in water, and threw in some pandan leaves that were still around, too. SB'd, filtrated, blended into oils (not exfoliating). And a new silicone mould had to be inaugurated ā€¦ Pandan Puzzle!

View attachment 56688


What indeed puzzles me a bit is the open surface. Not quite like soda ash, it rather looks like mm-sized fat crystals (can be smoothed out with the finger and feels greasy). I'm not worried, I just haven't seen such a thing yet. It's a classic trinity recipe (palm oil as hard fat, melted at >50Ā°C), cast at thin trace, and CPOP'd (oven heat re-use from another round ā€œdisposing ofā€ Lollipop margarine). Other surfaces are unaffected.
I don't know if this is relevant, but my oatmeal soaps with cooked, blended colloidal oatmeal (granted, I don't filter out the oat material) tend to be wrinkly, especially as they dry, and they stay squishy longer than my other soaps. I'm not sure what your filtering process involved though, so maybe it's something other than oat material.
 
Shampoo is something you'd need to measure because the pH can be anything depending on the ingredients used, and the pH can and should be adjusted to acceptable levels. For my shampoo I use a proper pH meter, not strips, just so I can measure more accurately. I've never even used my meter to measure the pH of the soap I make.
OK, I'll keep it in mind for shampoo! :)

No, it does change. But it changes from 14 to about 10-ish. Certainly no lower than 9.
OK. My very first soaps were on the verge of Hot Process, which means normally the saponification has finished when molding, and afterwards I still haven't have high pH even with CP. Do you know why it is so ? Can it depends on the recipe, or rather the temperature?

You are very welcome! A lot of people become upset when they hear that their soap isn't as low a pH as their strips tell them and won't believe their strips aren't accurate, I'm glad you're not one of them and that you're open to new information.
weeeeell, I may be smart šŸ¤ŖšŸ¤ŖšŸ¤Ŗ, but I know I'm a beginner, therefore I have a lot to learn! šŸ¤—
I also remember my physics lessons, and pH paper didn't range from 1 to 15 then, so I guess the kind I use is not very accurate. Or chemists would not use pH-meters.
I understand people can feel pride in what they do, but they have to have sound reasons for it; if they based their pride on a wrong pH measure, if they are intellectually honest they have to accept (even by checking on the internet) and take no offense...
Personally, if someone comes and kindly EXPLAIN why I'm wrong, I certainly hope I'll accept it...

Well, thanks again for this shared knowledge,
Happy bubbles!
StƩphanie
 
Thanks for the input, so I have a better idea what to expect from the soap and how it cures.
The ā€œmilkā€ was 16% oats in water, soaked, purĆ©ed, and filtered through a tea strainer (that held back all of the bran). The filtrate was smooth without specks (and green b/c pandan):
pandan+oat.jpg
I blended 33%ppo of this pandan-oat milk to the oils, the added lye was at 43% concentration. I was worrying if the resultant lye concentration (23%) wouldn't be a bit on the low side, but the batter behaved nice and thickened up quickly. Unmoulding after 14 hours was possible, still soft, but kept shape and already felt like soap (rather than oily). The pieces now weigh 157.3 g, I'll watch how it'll go on.

ETA: LOL I just noticed that the pandan stained that beautiful white silicone mould! Guess it's a good thing that natural greens aren't very long-lasting!?
 
OK. My very first soaps were on the verge of Hot Process, which means normally the saponification has finished when molding, and afterwards I still haven't have high pH even with CP. Do you know why it is so ? Can it depends on the recipe, or rather the temperature?
I do know that soaps made with different oils have different pH levels, depending on the oils used. Heat will also speed up saponification, which brings the pH down as the lye gets used up. If it gels, or if you cook the batter (hot process), this speeds up the process and the lye gets used up faster. As soon as the lye is completely used up, the pH from that point on won't change very much. If the batter is still liquid, the pH will still be pretty high just because the free lye in the batter makes the pH higher.
If you have a pH meter, or one you have access to, you may be interested in taking accurate measurements during the stages soap goes through as it is made and cured. Lye solution has a pH of about 14, which is why we wear goggles and protective gear when making soap. Even the batter as it starts to thicken up still has a high enough pH to burn you.

weeeeell, I may be smart šŸ¤ŖšŸ¤ŖšŸ¤Ŗ, but I know I'm a beginner, therefore I have a lot to learn! šŸ¤—
I also remember my physics lessons, and pH paper didn't range from 1 to 15 then, so I guess the kind I use is not very accurate. Or chemists would not use pH-meters.
I understand people can feel pride in what they do, but they have to have sound reasons for it; if they based their pride on a wrong pH measure, if they are intellectually honest they have to accept (even by checking on the internet) and take no offense...
Personally, if someone comes and kindly EXPLAIN why I'm wrong, I certainly hope I'll accept it...

Well, thanks again for this shared knowledge,
Happy bubbles!
StƩphanie
I like your attitude!

Thanks for the input, so I have a better idea what to expect from the soap and how it cures.
The ā€œmilkā€ was 16% oats in water, soaked, purĆ©ed, and filtered through a tea strainer (that held back all of the bran). The filtrate was smooth without specks (and green b/c pandan):
View attachment 56702
I blended 33%ppo of this pandan-oat milk to the oils, the added lye was at 43% concentration. I was worrying if the resultant lye concentration (23%) wouldn't be a bit on the low side, but the batter behaved nice and thickened up quickly. Unmoulding after 14 hours was possible, still soft, but kept shape and already felt like soap (rather than oily). The pieces now weigh 157.3 g, I'll watch how it'll go on.

ETA: LOL I just noticed that the pandan stained that beautiful white silicone mould! Guess it's a good thing that natural greens aren't very long-lasting!?
The contents of your strainer looks like grated cucumber, and now I want tzatziki!
 
The mould making is progressing slowly since inconvenient things such as the need to eat, sleep, work, and buy materials keep getting in the way šŸ™„
Finally managed today to get it to the point of gluing up:
IMG_20210429_205423.jpg

The dummy soap loaf is sprayed with clear acrylic so it won't stick to the silicone when I pour it; once this box is set up it will get the same treatment and hopefully I'll be able to actually cast the mould by the weekend.

I've made no new soap in ages now! Possibly the cracks are starting to show...
 
LMAO šŸ¤£ I am glad I'm not alone. Usually not EOs but my vapes. I'm constantly losing them. I wish they had built in alarm/location. I mean whenever I lose my phone, I just tell the Google lady to find it. I need this for my vapes, pens, hearing aides, everything. šŸ˜‚šŸ¤£
Get some tile keychains and attach to everything and tie to your phone
 

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Hello Happy Soaper's It's been a minute sense I last posted here' I want to share my "Personal Feelings" on Pine Tar Soap i've made while back, now that i've used it.

I know "we soapers" shouldn't make any claims as to the possible healthy benefits home made soap can have on our skin' It's A Big No No' We soapers know all to well, having said this I've experienced much positive results after using my soap & i'd like to express another positive result after using my PTS just between us šŸ˜‰.

Ive had a spot on my ankle that I "think is psoriasis" that wouldn't completely go away, after using my PTS for the last couple of weeks the spot is completely gone! its truly shocking just how fast it has cleared up & I know its directly related to the soap. I'll post another picture for those of you that haven't seen the picture.
I used @DeeAnna recipe & instructions on her website @ classicbells.com if anyone is interested.
 

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One of these days I will stop experimenting with recipes, but Iā€™m not quite there yet. Hereā€™s some soap I made yesterday using a tried and true lard-based recipe that has a good dose of OO. I usually soap this recipe between 85 and 90F and 35% lye concentration, but started this batch with everything at 73F and used 40% lye concentration. Wowsers! I planed the tops because they were uneven, but there was no ash. The batter stayed fluid for a quite a long time

So beautiful!!! I was happy to hear you keep playing around with recipes too. I canā€™t stop tweaking šŸ˜©

View attachment 53889
 
Usually I make myself do ā€œchoresā€ before the joy of soap cutting. But today all I have for myself is throwing laundry in the washer and playing with soap dough before I get to cut FOUR! Iā€™m super excited for my workday!!!
Recently someone on here responded to a photo of my workspace saying theyā€™d be there all the time. I keep hearing that in my head. I feel really grateful!
(Dishes gotta wait cause saponification yada yada...)
Youā€™re work space is soooo INVITING! I love it . Itā€™s a true art gallery
 
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