Category Archives: Random

This week in searches…

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benefits of using less water in cp soap making

Soap is harder when unmolding – This is great for when you are using silicone molds and individual cavity molds especially when using a high percent of soft oils. Using a water discount makes the soap less sticky, harder and easier to pop out.

Gel phase can more easily be prevented – According to Kevin Dunn, soap with less water is less likely to go through gel phase. Want to learn more? Get his book, Scientific Soapmaking. I know some soapers who prefer un-gelled soap because of how it effects colors or fragrance.

Soap is hard and can be cut earlier – I’m one of those soapers that likes to make a soap and cut the same day. When you are using less water, the soap is initially harder faster and can be cut sooner.

The cure time is shortened – Cure time is all about giving time for evaporation of water and the last bit of saponification to happen. If you initially use less water then there is less to evaporate out during the cure. You still need to allow time for the soap to become milder. I typically cure discounted water soap for three weeks.

On the flip side…the disadvantages are…

Makes your soap trace and move faster. Just keep that in mind if you are wanting to execute a complicated swirl. You can counter-balance this by using a high percentage of liquid oil…especially olive oil which is slow moving.

Can be harder to force gel (If you prefer gel like I do) – I use a heating pad a lot to force gel!

why goat milk does not make enough lather

It’s probably nothing to do with the goat’s milk. Especially since milk contains natural sugars that actually help to boost lather. I would take a look at your recipe. What oils are you using? Use more coconut oil to boost lather and castor oil to help suspend it. But goat’s milk shouldn’t be to blame.

the best mold for cold process soap

This is all a matter of opinion…but at the moment my favorite molds are silicone loaf molds. I like the one from Bramble Berry but many suppliers sell them.

how to pipe cold process soap

Here is a tutorial on cupcakes.

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/07/piping-soap-cupcakes-another-palm-free-recipe/

Check out youtube for piping techniques for cupcakes and cakes (not necessarily soap) and you’ll find all sorts of great videos. Also, check locally for a Wilton Cake Decorating class. The techniques you learn for sweet confections can easily be done with soap.

best soap recipe with rice bran oil?

Certainly a matter of opinion…but this is one of my favorite recipes using rice bran.

The recipe:
Almond oil – 5 oz
Avocado oil – 5 oz
Castor oil – 4 oz
Rice bran oil – 5 oz
Olive oil – 18 oz
Shea butter – 5 oz
Coconut oil – 18 oz
Water – 12 oz (I did a discount since I have all of the soft oils)
Lye – 8.4 oz

I love rice bran in soap. It is a good replacement for some of the olive oil and seems to contribute a sheen or shininess to the soap.

my cold process soap is oily

See my troubleshooting page – http://www.lovinsoap.com/troubleshooting/

Oily cold process soap could be caused by a few different reasons.

Overheating – Overheating in the mold can cause oils to separate out and cause an oily film on the top or sides of a soap. Usually if you let it sit…it will reabsorb in a few days.

Fragrance oil – Some fragrance oils can be finicky in cold process soap and do weird things. I have seen a fragrance oil seep out of or almost separate from soap. Usually it is a very thin film and the soap will reabsorb it if you let it sit for a couple of days.

Mis-measurements – If you cut your soap and it is really oily and spongy then you might not have used enough lye. Check your scale, if you need to change the batteries and try to see if you might have mis-measured the lye. Also, lye that is old and clumpy (soaked up moisture from the air) can easily be mis-measured and mess up your recipe. So check your lye.

hot to tell if hot process soap is done

Hot process soap is done when it is translucent and doesn’t zap. The easiest way to check for zap is to dip out a little hot process using a popsickle stick, swish it in the air to cool and harden, touch it to your tongue and see if it zaps. If it doesn’t…it’s done. If it does…keep cooking.

safe clean up after soap making

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/08/cleaning-up-after-a-soapy-session/

palm oil versus shea

Palm oil and shea are similar but different in soapmaking. Palm oil is high in palmitic and oleic fatty acids. Shea is high in stearic and oleic fatty acids. The palmitic and stearic properties both contribute to the hardness of a soap. However I don’t consider them one-to-one subs for each other. I like to use a mixture of (additional) olive oil and shea as a sub for palm oil. The two reasons I like to use a mix of shea and olive is that shea butter doesn’t seem to make as bubbly as a soap as palm and it can also be quite expensive to sub that much shea butter into a recipe. Olive oil is soft upon un-molding but cures out really hard so helps with the hardness of a bar.

does felted soap get moldy

No, it doesn’t. Wool dries quickly between uses and is anti-microbial so it doesn’t grow yuckies! Check out this felted tutorial… http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/10/fuzzy-felted-soap-balls-and-bramble-berrys-spectacular-givember-promotion/

can i use palm oil in my salt bar recipe

Absolutely! But do I? Nope. Salt kills lather so you need to use mostly coconut oil (if lather is important). So if you do use palm oil, use 10-20% palm and 80-90% coconut oil. I personally like a butter or specialty oil in a salt bar instead of palm.

is palm oil and palm kernel oil the same in soap making

Nope. They are two different animals in soap. The only thing they have in common is that they make a hard bar of soap. Palm oil makes a hard long lasting bar of soap. Palm kernel is similar to coconut oil and makes a hard bubbly bar of soap.

Happy Soaping!
Amanda

This week in searches…

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I love that my stats tell me the search strings that are being used to lead people to my blog. Some questions aren’t completely answered so I want to start a new feature where I go into more details on some of the topics searched. So…this weeks searches include:

cold process soap how long to umold in freezer

Sometimes we use molds for CP soap that can be tricky to unmold. These molds include silicone loaf molds (usually non-glossy) and individual cavity hard plastic molds such as Milky Way Molds and ELF molds from Bramble Berry.

If you find that you can not unmold from your silicone loaf mold, simply stick it into the freezer until it is frozen solid. Usually a couple of hours will work. Then pull the sides away from the soap. Turn it upside down and press on the bottom. If you find that your fingers go into the soap…it isn’t frozen enough. Put it back into the freezer.

If you use individual hard cavity molds for CP soap you might find that when you unmold your soap the details break off. Freezing can sometimes help with this. After your soap has been in the molds for 24 hours and has hardened up…place the molds in the freezer for about an hour. Remove from the freezer and set on the counter. This will cause the soap to sweat a bit. Turn the mold upside down and press on the bottom of the individual cavities to push the soap out. Hopefully the soap will come out with all of the details intact.

soap will not reach trace

Zoinks. Okay…I have to ask. Did you add your lye water? I only ask because I’ve been there…done that. I get distracted…start stick blending…nothing. I glance over to the sink and there is my lye water sitting in a cold water bath waiting patiently. Oops.

If you did add your lye water and you are still not reaching trace…take a look at your recipe. Is it high in olive? Olive oil is slow to trace…so keep mixing. If you’ve been mixing with a stick blender for more than 30 minutes then something is probably wrong.

How much water did you use for your lye solution? A recipe high in olive and a lye solution with too much water can prove almost impossible to trace or when you do trace it will un-trace. But I’m talking about 4 times the lye amount or more. You probably aren’t using that much water.

Did you find a new or maybe shady source of lye? If you are using new lye…where did it come from? Did you buy it off of Craig’s List? Maybe its not really lye. Always buy lye from a reputable supplier.

what cp oils and their percentages will create more of a white bar of soap?

Some oils that create a white bar of soap include lard, tallow, coconut oil, babassu, mango butter, refined avocado, sunflower, grade A olive (not pomice or virgin which can have green or yellow hues) and castor. Aim to have at least 70% in your recipe but it is really a matter of preference and will just take some experimentation to find your right mix.

Shea, cocoa butter, rice bran and sweet almond can lend to a yellow hue. Un-refined avocado and pomace olive can lend to a green hue.

If you are not opposed to using lard, I would recommend starting with a recipe that looks something like this: 35% lard or tallow, 20% coconut oil, 30% regular olive oil and 5% of a butter, 5% of a specialty oil such as sweet almond and 5% castor.

If you do not like using animal fats then I would recommend a recipe that looks something like this: 40% regular olive oil, 30% coconut oil, 10% sunflower, 10% refined avocado oil, 5% butter and 5% castor oil.

You can also whiten up a bar of soap by using titanium dioxide or white mica (which contains TD).

Ungelled soap is typically whiter than gelled soap. So make sure your soap does not go through gel phase to keep it white and bright. You can put your loaf into the fridge or freezer after you pour it to keep it from gelling.

oil characteristics chart soap making

Check out my chart here.

mixing lavender flowers in to soap

Awww…lavender soap.

I personally do not have issues with lavender buds in soap but I do want to mention that it can look like mouse poop. The lavender buds lose their beautiful purple/blue color and turn brown almost blackish. Just keepin’ it real. Don’t think you did something wrong…it happens to most herbs added to soap.

I like to top loaves with lavender buds as they have a better chance of keeping their color. It’s all just a matter of preference.

how to make artistic soap

Check out my tutorial selection. Also do a search for soap making on Youtube. There are some incredibly creative soapers on there that offer all types of creative videos.

cp soap troubleshooting, layer of liquid on the top

Check out my troubleshooting chart here.

Typically a layer of liquid on top of your soap in the mold can mean two things. Overheating or emulsion issues. If your soap has been in the mold for 24 hours and when you go check on it the next day it has a coating of liquid on top it could mean that the soap overheated. Let it sit and it will usually reabsorb this liquid.

If there is a large layer of oil floating on top and the bottom is mooshy like pudding then you probably have an emulsion issue. Your soap separated and fell out of emulsion. If this happens soon after molding I would dump it back into a bowl and stick blend. If you find it the next day I would dump it into a crock pot and try to HP it. As long as you measured all of your ingredients correctly…this can usually be fixed.

overheating soap

Check out my troubleshooting chart for info and pics on overheating soap.

make soap with mailing tubes

Why yes you can… and I sell the liners that you can line the mail tubes with. They make for easy to use, inexpensive molds!

how long does lard soap need to cure

I cure most of my soap for a minimum of 3 weeks…though 4+ weeks is better. Try a bar after 3 weeks, see how you like it…but keep curing and try it after 4. You might see a difference but might not…depending on how much water you used.

Soaps higher in olive oil (50% +) need a longer cure and I like to cure these for 5+ weeks.

can you pipe cp whipped soap onto m&p?

This is a great question…and I don’t really know the answer! I would assume that you could. Would it stick okay? Not sure. I would almost have to think it would because the whipped CP is moist and when you pipe it onto MP it wets the MP so that it sticks when it dries. But I haven’t tried it!

using juicer pulp in soap recipes

Check out my ginger soap that I made with ginger pulp from my juicer!

If you have any tips or thoughts on any of these topics please feel free to post in the comments!

Thanks!
Amanda

Charcoal Facial Bar with Mango, Avocado and Babassu

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I received an email recently about soaping without coconut oil. I have some recipes sans coconut oil but most are really high olive/bastille/castille type of recipes that don’t produce many bubbles. I wanted a bar that was nice and bubbly. I know that babassu is similar to coconut oil in its fatty acid makeup so I got some babassu to try.

I wanted to make a face bar with charcoal. I like to have at least one butter in every soap that I make and that butter is usually shea. I’m not a big fan personally of shea on my face…so I thought I would try mango in this recipe. I also love avocado oil in a facial bar…so included that as well.

Charcoal Facial Bar with Mango, Avocado and Babassu Recipe

Avocado oil – 4 oz
Babassu oil – 8 oz
Castor oil – 2 oz
Mango butter – 4 oz
Olive oil – 12 oz
Rice Bran oil – 2 oz
Water – 9 oz
Lye – 4.35 oz
1/2 Tablespoon Charcoal

If you are new to soapmaking…start here.

Melt the mango and babassu. 

Add all of the other liquid oils to the melted oils.  Add the charcoal to the mix as well.

Add the lye solution and mix to trace.

I added about .75 oz of tea tree oil.  Then pour it into your mold.  I prefer facial soap to be round.  Facial soap and beer soap…  I’ve always gone with round bars for those types of soaps.  So I am using a mail tube with a liner (more info on the liners).

Unmold and cut after 24 hours. Let cure for at least four weeks.

So…the verdict. Its been several weeks since I made these and I have to say that I LOVE this recipe. Its bubbles amazingly well even though there isn’t any coconut oil. The charcoal helps suck up excess oil. When I use this soap I make a nice thick lather in my hands, put it onto my face and let it sit for a minute (almost like a mask) and then rinse it off.

If you give it a try…let me know what you think!

Happy Soaping!
-Amanda

ps….  Bramble Berry sent me a goody package with some exciting products to try out!  They are running a promotion during the month of November called GIVEMBER!  (Make sure you are on their email list for the newsletter!)  And I get to be a part of the fun.  I’ll share the details with you soon! 

pss or is it pps?…. Check out the new pourable silicone from Bramble Berry!  Guess who wrote the eZine that accompanies the kit!  (MOI!)

Don’t forget SOAPMAKING CLASSES!

Supplies by Star – Happy News!

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SUPPLIES BY STAR is staying open!  YAY!

So if you have taken one of my classes recently…I think I mentioned that she might be closing.  I just want to make sure that everyone knows that she is staying open.

Click here to download a pdf of her interview from Lovin Soap Ezine 2. 

I get at least five emails a week asking about where to find supplies in the DFW area so…

www.suppliesbystar.com

 

Happy Holidays!

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Happy Holidays! 

As you’ve probably noticed…the blog is a bit slow right now.  It will probably continue being slow for a bit during the first part of this year.  I’m back doing marketing full time for my old boss and need to focus on that at the moment. 

I want to thank all of my readers that follow this blog and the Ezine!  I appreciate all of your support.  I want to wish you a Merry Christmas (a little late), Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!     

Here’s a little free project download for you from Ezine volume 2!  Enjoy!  (click the picture below)

 ~Amanda

Awesome Weekend!

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Whew! I had a busy weekend. It was a beautiful weekend…Spring was in the air!  The dogs enjoyed being outside…there was plenty of frolicking, wrestling and stick chewing…

 

The Japanese maples are budding and growing beautiful leaves!

I made a couple of batches of soap.  Once castile…

And one swirled…

I recieved a shipment of beautiful papers for an upcoming project…

 On Sunday we grilled fajitas with family over!  It was a wonderful weekend!  I hope you had one as well. 

-Amanda

2 new logs

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First, I have to say THANK YOU to all that have bought my E-Zine!  And for the wonderful and kind emails/comments I’ve been getting.  I really appreciate all of you!  :)

I made a couple of logs of soap yesterday for some friends.

Neither of these came out very exciting.  I did an in the pot swirl for both but the colors didn’t hold well.  I used some micas I hadn’t used before and I guess they weren’t very stable or I didn’t use enough.

Anywho…the soap on the left smells awesome!  It is a mix of 2 parts Bramble Berry Sheer Fresia, 1 part BB Mangosteen and 1 part BB Rain Cybilla.  (All samples I had received in various orders/swap.) 

The other log was Kumquat from Taylored Concepts.  It was very different than other Kumquats I have used.  It almost seemed to smell like bubble gum.  This soap is for some friends with kids…so I know they’ll be happy when they get it. 

Sorry my pictures aren’t that great.  This yellow table I have just isn’t the best background for pics.  Usually I use a brown table cloth but I had a transparent crock pot soap volcano all over it the night before  and I’m having trouble deciding how to wash it.  I think there is too much sticky soap on it to throw it in the washing machine so I should probably throw it in the tub first to soak it. 

I also tried out a new recipe.  It’s similar to another one I love but has more shea and some palm kernel.  Because of all the solid oils/butter it does get thick fast. 

Olive oil – 8 oz
Palm oil – 8 oz
Coconut oil – 6 oz
Palm Kernel oil – 4 oz
Shea butter – 6 oz
Avocado oil – 2 oz
Castor oil – 2 oz

Water – 11 oz
Sodium hydroxide – 4.8 oz 

Today is like Christmas for me.  I’m anxiously awaiting a delivery of a new soap mold which should deliver tonite!  I can’t wait to play with it over the weekend.  I’m sure I’ll have plenty of posts coming up about using it.  :)

Happy Soaping!

Amanda

I’m a lucky girl

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I’m lucky ;)   I happen to have a personal mold maker (when I can tear him away from making guitars).  One that never questions why or says…”Good lord, girl!  I just made you a mold last week!”  I really wanted a small test slab for making swirly patterns.  One that made about 3-4 bars.  So I went to Home Depot, came home and 15 minutes later (he’s got it down by now)….Voila!

I love my mold maker!

And what’s a mold maker without an assistant?

Yep…I’m a lucky girl.

In the dish – Fantastic Giveaway

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Looking for that perfect soap dish to go with your handmade soap?  Check out these soap dishes that these wonderful Etsy artists created!

andrewsreclaimed

 

Andrewsreclaimed offers “Reclaimed wood to new purpose for your home and garden”.  They use blocks of mill end surplus wood that would be used for firewood in most of their products.  They have a wide array of products including soap dishes, bird/bee houses, seed boxes/planters and more! 

KbOriginalsetc

 

This shop has some wonderful items.  What really strikes me are the colors and the way the colors are blended and layered creating some amazing original pieces of art.  The soap dishes are very reasonably priced and would make a perfect pairing with your handmade soap.

lemonglaze

 

I love the texture on these soap dishes.  Raised bumps, deep grooves and also…fish!  The colors are amazing as well.  LemonGlaze also offers cute buttons and ornaments for the holidays.  

IntentionalGlass

   

This soap dish is adorable.  With the raised bumps and contrasting colors, this dish would make a great gift for a teen’s bathroom.  IntentionalGlass also offers the cutest glass magnets, coasters and slumped wind bottles. 

claylicious

 

Claylicious has a ton of adorable gifts besides soap dishes.  Jars, tumblers, plates, figures, mugs, cups, candlestick holders and more!  I’m a huge fan of owls and they offer the cutest owl figures.  The soap dishes they offer have cute little pictures including owls, birds, dragonflies and sayings.  They have a bit of something for everyone here!

dbabcock

 

This shop has one of the most unique and probably one of my favorite soap dishes!  Its a soap dish that features worms standing up to hold your soap.  Appropriately called “After the Rain Soap Dish with Worms and Bird”, this whimsical dish would surely bring a smile to your face every time you pick up that bar of soap.  She also offers an endless array of charming pieces including casserole bakers, jars, plates, salt/pepper shakers and more.

bprdesigns

 

BPR Designs features hand crafted, unique fused glass creations.  The colors are amazing.  I love the raised bumps on the dishes so that your soap isn’t sitting in a puddle of water. 

Creativewithclay

 

Creativewithclay offers unique one of a kind handmade pottery inspired by Indian designs, fabrics, embroidery, colors and Bollywood.  They offer butter dishes, tumblers, jars, trinket boxes, mugs and more! 

Now for the super exciting part! Four of these shops (KbOriginalsetc, lemonglaze, IntentionalGlass and claylicious) have graciously agreed to participate in a giveaway! Four lucky winners will recieve one of four soap dishes!

   

To be entered please visit any one of these four shops, look through their fantastic items, come back and post a comment telling us what your favorite soap dish (or other item) from their shop is.  Let us know what shop, the item name and why you like it.

We’re accepting entries until midnight (CST) on 09/19/2010.  No purchase necessary.  All entries will be entered into a random drawing and results will be posted 09/20/2010.  Open to US residents only. 

UPDATE:  I’ve extended the time to post until 09/19!  The website was down all last weekend.  Thanks!

Good luck! 

Amanda