Soap Makers Help!

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
If indeed it has already fully gelled (deep into all four corners of the mold), and is cooling, then yeah, just leave it be, uncovered, and it will cool faster.

Yep....it's fine. As long as you did not use milk...you are all set. This soap will be SUPER filled with glycerin and NICE and silky. NON-gelled soap is velvety in texture when fully cured....and harder...it will look almost chalky/milled when finished curing. But non milk gelled soap is super luxurious!! This batch may have soda ash because it was exposed to the air....no worries....just wash and shave the bars after cutting. A lot of work....but it does make a difference. There are molds that are upright and prevent air exposure and soda ash formation.

I JUST purchased mica...so I'll post pictures of my first couple batches!

I LOVE THIS THREAD and I LOVE everyone's pictures.

 

[redhead83402]

Quote:
If indeed it has already fully gelled (deep into all four corners of the mold), and is cooling, then yeah, just leave it be, uncovered, and it will cool faster.

Yep....it's fine. As long as you did not use milk...you are all set. This soap will be SUPER filled with glycerin and NICE and silky. NON-gelled soap is velvety in texture when fully cured....and harder...it will look almost chalky/milled when finished curing. But non milk gelled soap is super luxurious!! This batch may have soda ash because it was exposed to the air....no worries....just wash and shave the bars after cutting. A lot of work....but it does make a difference. There are molds that are upright and prevent air exposure and soda ash formation.

I JUST purchased mica...so I'll post pictures of my first couple batches!

I LOVE THIS THREAD and I LOVE everyone's pictures.

AWESOME!! Thanks ladies!! I appreciate all the help!
This was my recipe (maybe it was crazy to try this on a 2nd batch.....but if it's going to work...)

Oils:
Coconut oil 15 oz
Olive Oil 15 oz
Soybean oil 60 oz

Fats:
Lard 30 oz
Tallow 20 oz

Liquids:
Spring water 35 oz
unsweetened grape juice 10 oz (but it didn't turn it purple, dang it!)

Essential oils:
lavender eo 5 drops
thyme, lavender, eucalyptus & balsamea eo blend 1/2 oz
( the whole dang bottle, lol, I didn't want the scent to dissappear on me again!)

Other:
1/4 cup dried lavender buds, crushed ( couldn't bear the ~mousepoop ~ look,lol)

Question ~ I used the grape juice because I read on this thread that someone uses it to tint their soap, so I thought I would do that, however, I added it with the water & the lye solution. (Scared me at first, since it turned a brilliant pumpkin orange, then went back to ruby purple.) Is there a different/ better time to add this?

 

[redhead83402]

here is a pic of how the lavender batch turned out when cut ~ I assume that white-ish layer is the soda ash, then, eh?


BB ~ how did your lavender batch turn out?? I am hoping for pics!!!

NP & Cheeptrick, THANK YOU for helping me out there in my hour of need! ;-D
~Red

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Very NICE Red! They look great! Isn't it amazing to look at them and realize that you made 'em??

What size are you cutting them? Mine have been weighing in at 4.5 to 5.8 oz. each when cut, mostly because I'm freehanding it.

I'll take pix after I get them cut this afternoon. It has been a h-e-double toothpix sort of week so it may take me a day or so. The fuel pump went out in my car on Tuesday. Worked fine going in to the grocery store but when I came out with milk, meat, and frozen food, it was not working. Then, when the mechanic came out to check it, it worked fine.

Hubby said he'd get it checked, but wanted to wait until it acted up again, which it didn't until this morning. I heard him in the driveway and knew it was all wrong. I told him not to take the car, but did he listen? Noooooo. As he was pulling out, I told him to call me WHEN he broke down. He didn't even make it 100 feet.

'Course that then meant that he had to push a Suburban out of a major street while I tried to steer it with no power steering.

So anyway, if I get a chance to take pictures today, I will. Otherwise, I'll be sure to do so in the coming days.

 

[cheeptrick]

I use juice quite a bit...the lye does change the color of the juice. It is scorching it...actually. My applejack peel is made with organic apple cider and people LOVE it. I use carrot juice, orange, and grape juice (once). Did not like the color of grape...I wanted purple too. But LOVE the natural earthy colors of the juice. I just bought some mica and oxides....I'll post photos of when I soap again. I'm taking a BREAK~ Working on my website and photographing my bars....
If you want to incorporate juice into your soap recipes...use this technique.
Discount your water 1/4 and mix with lye....when the lye solution is super cooled to 80 degrees ADD your 1/4 of juice to the lye solution. This will make your lye solution heat slightly...but NO worries...it will go up a few degrees. Mix lye with oils at same temp and wait for trace. With the different juices you will get different trace rates...so be prepared to SIT and stir. REMEMBER when it starts tracing it starts heating up...so checking temps when you are stirring is beneficial because you can tell when it starts to trace when temps start rising.

You all should reallly purchase the Essentail Oil Dictionary/Reference guide. I LOVE essentail oils...but some of them ARE NOT good for you *carcinogens etc...which I why I blend with synthetic fragrance oils that have been deemed safe by the FDA.
Red...I did some research on your incense sticks...you actually CAN use these for steeping in the lye. JUST be careful and look up the materials data sheets on these sticks and it should tell you if it safe for cosmetic use. They are made in Japan....and are not regulated by our FDA....and probably do not have material safety data sheets. But I did find a site that said it was possible. Some use the ASH in the lye...it was interesting. I cannot find it though...I'll hunt it out for you.

 

[cheeptrick]

OH...If you use ANY citrus juices at all...be prepared to let it cure for 3-4 days BEFORE cutting. IT does take longer to set up.

RED those bars are gorgeous. I too love your cut!

Maybe I'll cut a few bars like that too...I've been playing around with NEW labels....different sizes/cuts...I'd gladly forward any of my templates to others who want to SWAP their templates or ideas. I've found a lot of great ideas off etsy.

 

[redhead83402]

Thanks! I have to admit it, I'm hooked!! My square bars are measuring out at 4.5 to 5 oz. I thought that I had to account for shrinkage, so I was cutting them a little large.

Cheeptrick, thanks for the info on the incense sticks ~ I would be very interested to learn about using the ashes, I assumed that the oils would simply be burned out if I went that route, and therefore opted for the soaking method. Perhaps I will have to add them to a soap concoction afterall....lol. And thanks for the info on the juice! I am thinking of using some of my unsweetened crapapple juice as well ~ I've concocted a scent I call ~crabby apples~, I think it's reminiscent of crab apple juice.

Also, some of my Bath & Body scents got here today!!! YEEHAAWW! I am going to purchase a number more from the same seller on ebay, she is a real sweetheart, & I just can't wait to get them!

Tonight I am going to try out the ~honeydew~ scent. What should I use to tint the soap a natural-looking olive color?~Red
ps ~ tsk tsk tsk ~ look what you all have started,lol, this is bad as chicken fever!!! AND ~ once my daughter & my newly acquired daughter ( my girls' friend, she has come to live with us, until she graduates, another yr & 1/2) smelled some of those scents, they started scheming about soap too!! lol ~ they said " Now I'm starting to get excited about this whole soap thingy, mom".

 

[MissPrissy]

It is as addictive as chickens.

 

[ninjapoodles]

redhead--yeah, if you just shave the whitish layer off the tops of the bars, they will be perfectly uniform.

Honestly, I have tried every trick in the book to "prevent" that from happening, but I've come to the conclusion that in some climates, it just is not possible. So now, I just plan to sacrifice that very top layer, and use it to make soap balls for personal use, or cut it up as "confetti" to put in other batches.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I just cute my third batch of soap! I made a buttermilk soap yesterday and I am hoping that it will be ready by December 18. It turned out better then I thought it would thankfully. We are using soap I made from my first batch and DH really likes it. He laughs at it because the shape isn't very good but it got gear oil off his hands real easy. He was nice and suprised that it worked so well. And our boys think it is neat. Score for mom. lol I'm still cool hehe