Sponiebr Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 So I'm actually MAKING some damned soap! ('bout frigg'n time too! ) I'm making some sort of i-dunno-whatsit-orange-ish scented sump'n-or-other... Anywho, for the first time EVER... (ever!) I'm using tussah silk in the lye water. I strained it, and I would not have normally associated lye water with ANYTHING that was nice, but that worm spit smells GOOD!!! It has this delicate almost jasmine fragrance to it. I was really shocked. I strained it out and I pulled some stuff out that appeared to be protein and I'm wondering if that wasn't a waste... Whatever! PRESSING ON! Other revelations encountered today are: HOLY SMOKE! You CAN disperse mica in WATER!!! o.O My life is like a roller coaster right now! Totally exhilarating heady fun! (Yes, I know I'm a SICK sonnamabectch....but WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! ) o.O Back to the CROCK POT IGOR!!!! -Sponiebr 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 I loved the smell of silk in lye water too. It is beautiful. and how bout that mica in water? Told ya. ? Don't believe everything you hear in soaping boards. ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 13 minutes ago, TallTayl said: I loved the smell of silk in lye water too. It is beautiful. and how bout that mica in water? Told ya. ? Don't believe everything you hear in soaping boards. ? I know! It's just feels so, so.... WRONG though!!! OMG! Is this what Free Will feels like!? O.O WOW!!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Okay.... I must confess I love the smell of silk dissolved in my lye water. I never mentioned it because I thought I was the only one and others would think its weird. But it has this clean fresh fabric laundry type scent that smells so nice. Here's a hint... take your piece of silk that you are going to use, flatten it out a bit, then roll it up into a tight little ball. Then snit off tiny pieces until you have cut up the entire ball of silk. Have your snipped silk in your bowl before you add your liquid. Then stir the silk as you add the liquid to saturate the tiny pieces. Then add your lye and stir making sure you seperate any pieces that may clump together. I found my silk dissolves much better using this method and I almost never have to use a sieve to filter it. But the absolute best way is the prepare your lye solution a day ahead of your soapmaking and its all ready to use and at room temp if you leave it out. Re the mica, haven't tried that trick yet. Hmmmmm...... giving me some ideas. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 (edited) I was always told that mica MUST be dissolved in water. I was told the "golden rule" is if your colorant starts with an "M" (mica's, marine's, etc) it's for water, and if it starts with an "O" (oxides) it's for oil. I have no idea where I heard that, or if it was true, but for the most part I've always dissolved my micas in water, and my oxides/dyes in oil. I do 12lb master batches of lye and always add silk - I soak the silk in the water for about an hour, (silk doesn't really absorb the water, but eventually it will get wet) It will usually float on top so as I'm adding my lye to the water, I try and target the silk and add it on top of where the silk is floating. It takes a while, but when doing that big of a batch it gets real hot which helps dissolve the silk in the lye. I never thought about the smell of the silk/lye scent, but it definitely is not unpleasant like beer or milk lye solutions can be. LOL It's one of those things, it just is what it is. Edited April 7, 2017 by Jcandleattic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 All these "rules" that become gospel make me shake my head. Push the envelope, I say. I have always used water for my soap colorants. In pottery glazes we don't use oil, and most glaze colorant minerals are oxides. They mix readily with water. How soapers decided the oil rule is beyond me. Even seasoned soapers. Maybe it is because paint artists used oil with the minerals to adhere colors to canvas? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 10 minutes ago, TallTayl said: All these "rules" that become gospel make me shake my head. Push the envelope, I say. Right?? I've used water for both before, and I've used oil for both, i've never had problems with either method. Sometimes using the oil makes it easier, because I just pull the oil out of the my oils I'm soaping with, that way the superfat isn't affected (not that it would be with that little amount, but still) and because I'm not using an oil I don't use in my formula I don't have to list out a separate oil on my ingredients list. Mostly I do this when I'm not using water for my lye solution, like when I'm using fresh goats milk or something. Which brings me to the question, and I need to consult my labeling book - when using beer, do you list out all of the ingredients of that beer on the label too? Honestly, I've never done that, and I may not be in compliance with my beer soaps. I literally just now thought of that as I was typing this out. I would think you probably have to list out all of the ingredients of the beer right? Dang it, now I have to research this, which I should have already done long ago. Sheesh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 16 hours ago, TallTayl said: All these "rules" that become gospel make me shake my head. Push the envelope, I say. I have always used water for my soap colorants. In pottery glazes we don't use oil, and most glaze colorant minerals are oxides. They mix readily with water. How soapers decided the oil rule is beyond me. Even seasoned soapers. Maybe it is because paint artists used oil with the minerals to adhere colors to canvas? AMEN TT!!!!! Hells YEAH! Push the envelope! Better yet! Push some money into the envelope!!! Then PUSH That flap CLOSED!!! Oh!Push that stamp onto the envelope!!!! Take that pen and PUSH my address onto the front of the envelope! Then you PUSH that ENVELOPE right INTO THE BIG BLUE MAIL BOX!!!! PUSH IT!!!!!!! Push it real good... (wait... a Salt'n'Pepa reference!? REALLY? Wow. I'm one upping myself on the bad ideas... SHEESH!!!) -Sponiebr: the exce... Ah, push it (ow, get up on this)! o.O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 On 4/5/2017 at 9:22 PM, Sponiebr said: So I'm actually MAKING some damned soap! ('bout frigg'n time too! ) I'm making some sort of i-dunno-whatsit-orange-ish scented sump'n-or-other... Anywho, for the first time EVER... (ever!) I'm using tussah silk in the lye water. I strained it, and I would not have normally associated lye water with ANYTHING that was nice, but that worm spit smells GOOD!!! It has this delicate almost jasmine fragrance to it. I was really shocked. I strained it out and I pulled some stuff out that appeared to be protein and I'm wondering if that wasn't a waste... Whatever! PRESSING ON! Other revelations encountered today are: HOLY SMOKE! You CAN disperse mica in WATER!!! o.O My life is like a roller coaster right now! Totally exhilarating heady fun! (Yes, I know I'm a SICK sonnamabectch....but WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! ) o.O Back to the CROCK POT IGOR!!!! -Sponiebr I don't have the foggiest clue of what you are talking about Sponey as I don't do soap and don't care to so don't even tell me about anything I won't understand..... I just love looking at them....but hey I wanted to tell you I'm glad you are having a magnificent day!!!!! Where have you been? Trappeur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 6 hours ago, Trappeur said: I don't have the foggiest clue of what you are talking about Sponey as I don't do soap and don't care to so don't even tell me about anything I won't understand..... I just love looking at them....but hey I wanted to tell you I'm glad you are having a magnificent day!!!!! Where have you been? Trappeur Trappeur, I was in fact making an "artsy" "one-off" kind of soap... (snerk.... sorry! I'm a BAD BOY... I just HAD to though! ) I would elaborate though on this soap, because you might actually like a silk soap for yourself, it's VERY luxurious and VERY artsy...(must fight the urge...) Ahem, as I was saying, basically there is a way to dissolve silk fibers into the soap while it's being made and this imparts the silk protein to the soap which is just really dang nice stuff to rub all over yer naughty bits... (Why do you think I make it!? ) Silk soaps are da bomb! Look for them in a nearby real online (but not brick and mortar) store sometime maybe soon or in the far distant future. Where have I been? Well, you already heard about the wreck... So my new car has turned me into a full time mechanic, and by full time mechanic, I mean EVERY SINGLE SPARE MINUTE I have has been under that oh-it's-perfect-there's-nothing-wrong-with-it-except-a-bad-temperature-gauge-in-the-instrument-cluster-I-checked-it-out-thoroughly-it's-a-great-car-you-can-trust-me-I'm-your-mechanic, since I bought the damned thing. Sunday, for example, I was running low on fuel, so I had to rebuild the evap canister (yes I actually rebuilt it). Now, because of my modifications to a disposable (a VERY EXPENSIVE disposable) component, I can rebuild the damned thing if it ever goes wonky again! It took 11 hours start to finish to basically remake that evap can. So I guess to answer your question Trapp... I've been hiding under a car against my will. How're you? Slainte Sponiebr THE executor of, (nope... Strike that! Do over!) Sponiebr: Grease Monkee, (HeY HeY he's a Monkee!!!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 1 hour ago, Sponiebr said: You funny and you IS a bad boy....... Trappeur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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