Teach Soap

first of all big thanks to soapbuddy who tweaked my recipe!

now I'm not sure how well this shows, seems real small... but anyway this was scented with peppermint and coffee and I really wanted to try a swirl obviously 3 colour swirl was way too ambitious... even two would have been much. as soon as I added my scent the whole thing started thickening up so quickly I had to scoop each colour and push into the plain base and then just wiggled with the spoon... As per advice I read here I cooled down my oils to about 40C and my lye down to about 38C... perhaps it should have been even cooler?

I read that some of you add FOs to oils before mixing with lye water so I might try that next time. I've seen all these amazing swirls you all do and I desperately want to try (and in a few centuries become as good ) ... dont get me wrong I think my soap is ok considering my inexperience but it just isnt what I wanted... guess I'll just be patient, maybe next time

anais

I think your soaps turned out lovely. That is a very pretty color combo

OH I JUST LOVE YOUR SOAP. IT'S REALLY BEAUTIFUL, YOU DID AN AMAZING JOB!!!

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Whatever you do, do it with excellence!!!!!

Those are amazing! I think some really greats soaps have come from unintentional happenings! I really like the look of these.... great job.

Congrats! Good job! Sounds like your FO accelerated trace. Next time you use the same FO, add 1 tsp. of lecithin to your raw soap before you add the FO.

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

Your soap is beautiful , well done

Kitn

Your soap looks terrific. Really! And as another forum member taught me, nobody knows that's not the look you're going for unless you tell them. There's no rule that swirls must all be uniform or look a certain way. I was looking through Indigo Wild's winter catalogue earlier today and they have all kinds of eclectic, non-traditional swirl patterns in their soap. I loved 'em.

Woooo. Those are FAB.

Wow!!! my friends liked my soap but you guys actually know what you’re talking about!!!! So I’m thinking I’m awesome Seriously though thank you all very much I would never have even tried this if it wasn’t for you – my little scrap book is full of pictures of your soaps, tips, accidents etc I’ll definitely be trying lecithin next time… that’s if I can find it…to be honest I’m not even entirely sure what it is

Kate I just had a look at Indigo Wild web page, gosh I see what you mean great stuff! + they seem to be having loads of fun!

Oh and are FOs more likely to accelerate trace then EOs?

Thanks everyone so much for your compliments it was the nicest thing to wake up to (I know I should really get a life:)

That's some pretty incredible looking soap. You deserve the compliments.

If you're in the U.S. you should be able to find liquid (soy) lecithin in your local health food store. It's a soybean derivative that's used as a supplement. Whole Foods, Trader Joes, GNC, Walmart Vitamin and Supplement section etc. Or you can order it from Vitacost super cheap. http://www.vitacost.com/Fearn-Liquid-Lecithin Shipping is never more than $4.99 regardless of the size of the order. I usually buy more than one item on a monthly basis and it's a lot less expensive than getting the same items from my local health food store. If you're not in the U.S. you might try the equivalent of a health food store or pharmacy.

Some FO's accelerate trace and so do some EO's. In general, I've had fewer problems with eo's than fo's but it depends on the fo or eo. IMLE, nothing says "I'm going to rice your batch" quite like a Jasmine eo. I add my eo's or fo's to my cooled down oils, not at trace. Using more than the minimum recommended amount of water (per whichever lye calc you're using) can also help.

Keep soaping. You're doing great!

Spice fragrances or EO's tend to accelerate trace. So do floral FO's.

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

Thanks Kate but no I’m not in US, all the way in Europe I’m afraid… however you were right our local food store has it… so does every supermarket in town I just never thought about it…

so I used lecithin as suggested by soapbuddy 1tsp ppo and it definitely did slow the trace down. However once I added FO (different this time and floral) it thickened within a minute, not as hard as the previous batch but still too quick to try to swirl so I’ve ended up with something that very much resembles a carrot cake (did layers instead). This time I soaped at around 100 as oppose to last times’ 115. I used stick blender for about 10 seconds only, then hand stirred.

Next time I plan on adding my FOs to cooled down oils, then add lecithin and perhaps soap even cooler then 100, what do you think? I am determined to try my hand at swirling!!

p.s. I’m sure by now you all already know this but I just found out – this hobby is ridiculously addictive!

Soapbuddy's got all kinds of handy tips. I used to take lecithin and I never thought of using it in soap either. Glad you found some!

I soap at 100 and add my eo or fo to my cooled down oils. I have florals that I don't get a stick blender in. I have long enough to whisk & mix well and that's it. If you poured layers with a floral you got me beat Florals are notorious for accelerating trace. You could try adding your fo or eo to your cooled down oils, soaping a little cooler and whisking, not using an SB, but I don't know how much it's going to help with a floral. You seem determined though. Maybe Soapbuddy will have some more handy tips.

I hear ya on the addicting part. Oh, how I hear you.

I'm glad to hear that the lecithin helped, at least a little bit.

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

Those are beautiful! Love the colors-I want to make color soaps now even more!!!! I would be happy with A color lol!

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