Soap Makers Help!

[Backyard Buddies]

chiknwhisperer - Those bars look great! I love the rustic look for the same reason that cockadoodlemom said - They just scream homemade! When you wrap them, simply give them a wrapping that matches the rugged style of the soap, natural colors, perhaps some raffia. Just don't do girly French style wrapping that wouldn't match the soap.

Welcome to the thread, CrimsonRose! Glad we could help enable yet another soapmaker! I can't wait to see what you make!

 

[chiknwhisperer]

lol I couldn't do girly if my life depended on it. DH says i'm just fine the way I am becasue I'm me. I used to not be high maintenance lol until I got chickens and now I make SOAP

I need money for supplies until I can start selling lol. He's my bankroll

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
Depending on how high of a percentage you use in your soap, it could last you quite a number of batches. I also ordered 7 lbs and still have plenty left even after 7 batches of soap. The oil I'm using in the highest percentage is OO, and I am at the point where I either need to go out and buy more or find a recipe where I can cut down the OO and use something else I have around here since I probably have only about 20 ounces left and I've been using a bit more than twice that per batch. I bought Canola and haven't yet used it. Would that work?

I was thinking of trying this recipe: http://www.millersoap.com/soapallveg.html#Sherry'sFantastic
but I don't have the cocoa butter. I do have Avocado Oil, but that would be swapping a saturated fat for an unsaturated fat. I know I need to get some cocoa butter, but that was one of the things I sacrificed when I was trying to save money on my first order.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Question gals . . .

The Oatmeal, Milk, and Almond recipe I made on 11-16. . . Remember I said that there were drops of oil on the surface of the soap when I opened it? It wasn't much and cheeptrick said not to worry that it'd absorb as it cures. How long is that supposed to take?

The soap is still slippery when I touch it, but you cannot *see* a slick or anything on it. There is no oozing and no oily spots that are visible. It's all by feel.

I superfatted at about 8%, but I didn't adjust any for the goat's milk. Is it overly fatted or will this settle down as it continues to cure?

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Is there anything that makes a good substitute for OO? I have the TSC book but I wanted to double check wit hyou gals first to geet your opinions.

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
Tongue Test Time (I know you don't believe us

)! I'd wait it out, give it a few more weeks...I still think it might be your fragrance/essentail oils. 8% is higher. Photos?? Is there soda ash forming on top?

Hope it works out for you...

 

[cheeptrick]

There are substitutes....but nothing as good as olive oil IMHO. Canola oil can be substituted...but only 1/3 of the olive oil should be substituted in the recipe. There are other recipes with vegetable oils, Crisco....etc but I think you are sacrificing quality. Olive oil is the best. IMHO

For those tops with soda ash...I'd spritz the tops right before cutting with isopropyl alcohol. JUST a hint....they'll look pearlescent after.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I'll go ahead and stick wit hthe OO then. I was wondering becasue of the price but I don't want to sacrifice quality either. I plan on eventually being able to sell my soap.

DH hasn't said its a bad idea yet and my MIL actually seems like she would help and was giving suggestions the other day.

 

[redhead83402]

well, I tried my crabby apples recipe tonight ~ as well as using a few interesting plastic soap molds ~ I am hoping I insulated enough, & that they will turn out. I added the 10 oz of unsweetened crabapple juice after the lye had cooled , as you said, cheeptrick ~ and it worked perfectly, it heated up the lye to almost exactly 100*F. The thing is, I was SO excited, because it immediately turned the loveliest color of green ~ but then, darn it all ~ lol ~ it turned back to a somewhat muddy natural pink. Hopefully that pinkish tint shows up a little in the cured product.

Also, I noticed that the more the soaps cure, the more they sort of come back to the colors I was hoping for in the beginning. For instance , the grape juice soap has a slight tannish-lavender color to it, I would call it a tan with a lavender undertone, lol. And the soap I tried to make a green does actually have a greenish undertone. So I am hopeful with this pinkish stuff. If nothing else, I guess it gives each soap a different tint & adds interest, in being different colors ~ lol.

On the husband front ~ hehehehehe ~ he actually went with me tonight & helped me pick out different oils & then bought them all for me ~ wooohoo!!! ( he's hooked!)
~Red

 

[redhead83402]

oh yeah ~ forgot to add ~ I also covered the top of my third greenish soap right after I poured it, & guess what? NO WHITE LAYER! However, I had to monitor it, I took the lid off for awhile, because it was getting mughty hot ~ then I put it back on so it could finish gelling ~ & the bars were rather soft when I cut them, but they are curing so nicely ~ to me, they feel a lot like that glycerin Nutrogena soap. One drawback to the plactic cover, however, is that the tops of the soap have that wrinkled plastic look. I guess it's one or the other, eh?
~Red

You can see where the plastic didn't quite cover it there on a few of the edge bars ~ and there is some white layer.