Teach Soap

Was learning to post some pics here & thot I'd show off my sea water soap with pink clay & sea algae...



I put this to answer a question about sea water for lye water... but I think it's good enough to show here. Have more, but taking the pics is the thing.

Gotta get the young eyes to help with the job...

Need more better clearer pics .......
Looks pretty good on sides ....
Need more better clearer pics .......

Need better eyes... I'm legally blind, so gotta rely on some neighbor kids to shoot pix for me. Jajaja.

Fresh cut batch of Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey:


Current shot of what is on my little drying rack - don't mind the encroaching laundry room mess! OMH on the right, oval bars on the left are scented with BB's 10x Orange EO.


Nothing fancy but it is immensely satisfying to stock back up on the basics.

Very nice .......

Good job WistfulRidge!

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

Hi Northforksoap;
This is the recipe I used for that granit-looking soap.
So far they haven't developed DOS. I don't recommend using lard and am surprised at myself
that I had used lard in that recipe, but, guess I did = probably experimenting for some
reason.
Totally unexpected results with it granit-looking = Hope you can re-produce to your liking, etc, etc .......

[quote="Oxbo"]Hi Northforksoap;
This is the recipe I used for that granit-looking soap.
So far they haven't developed DOS. I don't recommend using lard and am surprised at myself
that I had used lard in that recipe, but, guess I did = probably experimenting for some
reason.
Totally unexpected results with it granit-looking = Hope you can re-produce to your liking, etc, etc .......




Thank you for posting this recipe--

I will be trying it with the lard--
I have not made anything yet with lard and this will be my first--
My grandparents were on the farm back in the 60's and the 70's when I was a kid and grandma would save the tallow and lard from any butchering that they had done-
She would make her soap in her old maytag wringer washing machine. Her soap was greenish/yellow and was alien to any soap that I had ever seen.

Made this yesterday and unmolded/cut this evening... I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out (especially because it's the first swirl I've done, ever!) I did an ITP swirl, coloring my soap with Yellow Oxide Pigment and Burgundy Pigment. This is the first of my "officially for Christmas Present" soaps and I wanted something pretty/festive, yet subdued to go with the scent (BB's Cranberry Chutney - I have to get a larger bottle of this. It smells amazing and was very nice to soap with.) I probably should have left this one in the mold for another handful of hours even though it came out of the mold so nicely the middle was still a little tacky which made it hard to cut evenly. Sigh. C'est la vie.

The whole batch:


A close up of one of the bars:


We had my parents and most of my siblings over dinner and I was chatting with my dad about my grandma (his mom). He was getting all misty eyed because she and I were always such kindred spirits when she was alive and now that she's gone I've picked up two hobbies (garment sewing and soap making) that she had enjoyed all throughout his childhood. I hadn't known that she'd done either so it was such a special moment for me.

Have been browsing through almost every single page in this thread, so many lovely and awesome soaps

PS. Sorry about strange pics, used my instagram photos as I haven`t had time to do a "modelingshoot" for this thread

This is one I did 5 days ago, had some fun with the top using oil and mica for some pizazz. The soap came out sooo soft after unmolding.
This needs to sit for at least three monts to get hard enough, as it is squishable if I press on it. Not lye heavy, and no zapping after three days. 7% SF.
Saved a thin end piece to test (quarter of an inch thick) that was just a trimming from the end. That is hardened up ok, and when using it makes our hands so soft washing with it, hubby loved it to bits (seriously, he rubbed that poor thin soap into tiny soapy bits.)
It produced well in the sudsing dep. happy about that.



Cut it up in bars, and look - glycerin rivers My first time that happening, and it was probably because I used Titanium Dioxide that I thinned out with a bit too much water. Not doing that again, although it looked real cool. I don`t mind, will keep as is. If it`s still to soft after three months I will prob. rebatch! (but prefer not to)



Here are all VOO Castille soaps. Will be ready for use in early december (6 months cure). They became rock hard in two days, glad I cut them early.

Looks good!

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

Awesome ! ! !

I've been pondering doing another batch the last few days, been
laying off for awhile, got a closet full now.

My try at shaving soap.



60% beef tallow
20% castor oil
10% olive oil
10% avocado oil

5% superfat
Scented with BBs Tobacco and Bay Leaf, bit of green clay for slip.
Hot processed (my first time!) into the crocks.