A new Hobby Soap making Love it
- Thread starter BamaChicken
- Start date
I make soap also and I LOVE IT! I made my own wooden moulds so that the sides come off. Really easy, really cheap and they'll last a long time! People can't get enough of it! when word gets out that I have a batch ready, people are frantic about buying some! I use it on my hair too! I love opening the mould the next day and seeing how it looks! I just purchased a dehydrator and cant wait to dehydrate some flower petals for use in my soaps. Calendula, rose... I do all of my soap making in the basement and it smells like a Bath and Body Works down there!
ITS SOAPING DAY!!!
The Plan:
#1 put olive oil and chamomile in crockpot to infuse
#2 soap up a batch of OMH this am
#3 nap (just got off work)
#4 soap up a batch of chamomile/neroli
Wish me luck!!
The Plan:
#1 put olive oil and chamomile in crockpot to infuse
#2 soap up a batch of OMH this am
#3 nap (just got off work)
#4 soap up a batch of chamomile/neroli
Wish me luck!!
Well, I made my first batch yesterday. I used the recipe that Joy sent me, and added lavender EO and oatmeal that I ran through a blender. The lavender and oatmeal made a delicious smelling soap! Recipe calls for palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and castor oil. It traced really really fast, though. It was really thick, very fast, and wasn't a smooth consistency. I was able to pour/scoop it out into my mold, and it seems to be fine this morning. It has a couple of small shiny spots, but other than that, looks good. I guess I'll know when I cut into it. What are the shiny spots?
Morgaine, you said something about the palm oil that I was using accelerating trace-you know, the palm oil shortening from HEB. Could that be what happened? It got really thick in less than 2 minutes. The only other thing is that I didn't let my oils and lye water cool to 110. I blended them at 125. Could that have had anything to do with it?
I can totally see getting addicted to this thing. I wanted to make another batch last night, and had to stop myself.
Morgaine, you said something about the palm oil that I was using accelerating trace-you know, the palm oil shortening from HEB. Could that be what happened? It got really thick in less than 2 minutes. The only other thing is that I didn't let my oils and lye water cool to 110. I blended them at 125. Could that have had anything to do with it?
I can totally see getting addicted to this thing. I wanted to make another batch last night, and had to stop myself.
Ahh you're right! I need to keep that crockpot to infuse herbs! I plan to try infusing thyme. Do I ever love thyme! And might try basil too just to see if it holds up. Could you infuse canola oil rather than olive oil? Or any oil that you'll use in the soap? I love olive oil soap but I'm going to be making a few batches without it for various reasons and I'm just wondering it if works as well with the other oils.
I think I remeber reading that I'd you blend the two while still pretty warm they trace faster and that's why some soap at cooler temps. Seems like I remember Morgaine soaps at 90-100 but I may be thinking of someone else. He oatmeal may have thickened it up some too? Bet it smells awesome.
In Joy's recipe, she says to let it cool to 110. I'm kinda thinking that's what I did wrong. I did see online in lots of videos, that some blend at 135-145 degrees. I wonder if it depends on the oils you're using. I knew better, knew I should follow the recipe, that Joy's been doing this for years. But I got anxious. Next time I'll do the ice water bath.
And I didn't add the oatmeal and EO right away, not until it traced, so that rules that out.
And, boy, does it smell awesome!! I just want to dive in. lol Good luck on your soap, Kassandra!
And I didn't add the oatmeal and EO right away, not until it traced, so that rules that out.
And, boy, does it smell awesome!! I just want to dive in. lol Good luck on your soap, Kassandra!
I've uploaded a couple of pics of my first soap, hoping the experts can tell me what happened, and if it looks like it will be ok-or should I scrap it and start over.
It looked this way in just a couple of minutes. Hubby was blending-I made him help with my first batch. Of course, he pretended not to enjoy it, but I know better.
I added my EO and oatmeal, blended a little more, then poured/scooped into the mold.
This is what it looks like this morning. See the couple of shiny spots?
It looked this way in just a couple of minutes. Hubby was blending-I made him help with my first batch. Of course, he pretended not to enjoy it, but I know better.
This is what it looks like this morning. See the couple of shiny spots?
Yes, soaping at a higher temp will make it trace faster. I like to soap at 100, this gives me the most amount of time to swirl ect. Recipes high in Olive can be soaped at temps higher than ones a lot of hard oils, Lard is also a slow tracer while palm in high % can move a little fast.
The palm from HEB does trace much faster than the palm I am getting now from Columbus Foods. I was having 10lb batches trace in 2 minutes when I used that. It's still good soap though, just remember to pulse the stick blender instead of leaving it on the whole time you are mixing. That helps to slow down trace too.
The spots, are they oil, fragrance or lye? I would zap test it just to make sure it's not lye. Lick your finger, swipe the spot and lick your finger again. If it zaps your tongue it's lye and you need to rebatch. If it doesn't zap it is eo or oil and most likely will soak back into the soap with cure. That can happen sometimes when the soap gets too hot.
Your soap looks fine. It's at very thick trace in that first picture. You don't have to bring it to that thick of trace but it doesnt hurt it as long as you can still get it in the mold. Band the mold up down to keep air pockets down helps.
The palm from HEB does trace much faster than the palm I am getting now from Columbus Foods. I was having 10lb batches trace in 2 minutes when I used that. It's still good soap though, just remember to pulse the stick blender instead of leaving it on the whole time you are mixing. That helps to slow down trace too.
The spots, are they oil, fragrance or lye? I would zap test it just to make sure it's not lye. Lick your finger, swipe the spot and lick your finger again. If it zaps your tongue it's lye and you need to rebatch. If it doesn't zap it is eo or oil and most likely will soak back into the soap with cure. That can happen sometimes when the soap gets too hot.
Your soap looks fine. It's at very thick trace in that first picture. You don't have to bring it to that thick of trace but it doesnt hurt it as long as you can still get it in the mold. Band the mold up down to keep air pockets down helps.
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