Teach Soap

Sounds good enough to eat
Good job ............

Hi all! Here is one more pic -- this one has rose kaolin clay. I love the way it smells (black cherry) and I think it will cure nicely. Sorry the pics aren't the best, I would love to be able to clean them up nice for pictures but since I don't sell, etc. I haven't invested in a planer/beveler, etc. I'm just enjoying making lots of soap lately (and of course once again I should have left it in the mold maybe another day).

Nice job rittek!

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thank you so much!! It's very addicting!

Lovely! You can use a handheld vegetable peeler to bevel the edges if you want. For several years I used a peeler to bevel and a cheap IKEA mandolin to plane my soaps if necessary. Finally upgraded to a "real" soap planer/beveler just a few months ago.

_________________
~Kelly~

Very nice .........
I made me a little device to bevel the edges, but wind up
doing the old standby method = long steak knife = quick .......

Thank you all for sharing your tips/tricks. Thanks for all the kind words!

Hello soap makers

I was pointed in this direction by a friend and member in here 'CabraVieja'
I am in to show my first attempt at soaping under her tutelage and to similar a recipe of hers, with slight differences.

I rendered my own tallow for it. I got 970g+ from 2Kg of fat. So i have a wee drop left for cooking with (been reading a bit about the paleo diet)


Tallow - 750g - 50%

Coconut oil - 375g - 25%

EV Olive oil - 150g - 10%

Cocoa butter - 150g - 10%

Hemp oil - 75g - 5%

It had a superfat of 5%

I used a lye calculator. When mixing the lye, I used half plain water, then blended some dried nettles with the other half water, and squeezed it through a muslin. I then froze it and added to the lye water to stop it burning, but it still went brown rather than green.

Next time I might add the nettles without squeezing them out. I will add at trace to ensure it doesn't roast it.

I added the 5 teaspoons of Oats, I didn't grind them down any, just left them course

I also added a wee mix of esential oils - Lavender, and a wee drop of frankinsense, patchouli, sandalwood and a citrus or two. Just winged a wee mix, smells fine maybe a bit lavender heavy. CabraVieja already told me it should mellow out as it cures.
I have a towel wardrobe, and am usng it to cure the soap, as it is nice and hot and dry.





I used my silicon loaf mould for the bigger bars, and an Orange juice carton for the smaller ones.
I love the colour of this, was worried about the brown nettle water, but didn't have much effect looks beautuiful. The oats look cracking too, can't wait to try it. 5th of March will be 6 wk cure.


It is very addictive. I am desperate to get another batch made, I think I'll try some swirly gear this time. Ordered more fat from the butcher, it will be here in a few days time, so i'll render it down and refrigerate for future experiments.

I also just ordered some clay chalks for colouring, french green and white kaolin and bentonite, and I am going to go in the garden to get some nice red clay, I'll need to seperate it from the muck n other organic matter, I will use a water extraction method, should be easy enough as there is some lovely big lumps of red clay in the soil up here. With that I can use it red or mix with white to make pink.

Congrats on your batch DapperDan!

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks soapbuddy

Looks great, DapperDan! I've had the pleasure of using some of Cabra Vieja's soap. You're in good hands.

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Decided to run off a batch today = came out OK ........

Looks good to me Oxbo!

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I just wanted to take time and share some of the soaps I've done in the last several months! I haven't been commenting much, but I've learned a lot from previous threads!



Orange, lemongrass, and litesa cubeba

Energy (Bramble Berry's FO)

Lilac

Chamomile Bergamot

I've been using a combo of olive, palm, coconut, and some butters. I'm pretty happy with my recipe, but after reading the single oil review on Soap Queen (https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body ... her-tests/) I've decided to go back to the drawing board and add in some almond oil. That batch isn't close to being done curing, but from the few small tests I've run, the results are promising.

I've also developed a creamier recipe with oatmeal and clay, and it's pretty nice too!


Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey (BB FO)

Awesome ! ! ! ! !
Very nice ! ! ! ! !