GrandmaArial

They will make a dramatic presentation.

Ummm... Yup! LOL My second batch is tucked in its mold, all bundled up and waitig for morning. I bet I make a different mistake with this batch. LOL

I had the same problem and did some searching and found thiis http://www.summerbeemeadow.com/ scroll down o the lye calculator, enter your recipe and calculate, then scroll down to the resizer, select the shape of your mold, plug in the dementions... and click resize. Hope it helps you as much as it has me

Thank you. You all are encouraging my newest addiction... But... I have to admit... that pretty blue... was supposed to be forest green. I used vegetable dye because it's cheaper than the pigments, and I had it handy, and I knew I would mess the first batch up anyway. I knew the vegetable dye would change, I just didn’t expect it to change to such a pleasant tone. I was expecting some funky grey or something. Really, I just wanted to see if I could do a swirl because my daughter in law likes the swirled soaps she’s seen here so much. I don’t think the swirl is bad for a first try, though I think I can do better with a bit of practice.

The colors and the swirles just look like they belong with fig. Those are great!

The top looks nice, I hope you wil post pictures of it cut soon... i think it's going to be very dramatic. I just tucked my second batch in a few hours ago, so hurry up and slice yours to keep me entertained so I dont go in and mess mine up!

Yes, the outside is plain old clear glycerin soap. The inside is clear glycerin I added just a tiny tiny pinch of titanium dioxide to, and green dye. One thing I’ve found useful with the clear glycerin is that if you heat it slow and cool it fast it seems to make it clearer; if that’s the effect you want. I use my double boiler and just bring the water to a simmer and then wait patiently for the soap to come to temperature before adding anything to it. You’re going to have so much fun! Thank you all for the encouragement... They are wrapped and will be opened tomorrow... I think she will like them... well, especialy since theres also some green paper (cash) in with them!

Thank you. I was thinking of 7% superfat for my next try, and work myself down as I gain experience and self confidence. Maybe I’ll compromise with 6%. LOL

Thank you. I think she will like it. Green is her favorite color, and I scented it with cucumber mint (also her favorite). Its a good thing I only have the one box mold, bought on a whim. These are fun to make, but one at a time slows me down. LOL. I have made her a set of 3, and will keep this one, the first because of the dent from where our "sweet kitty" decided it looks like a hocky puck and smacked it across the room.

Oh, and I will be attempting my second batch of CP probabaly tomorrow. I'm trying to talk hubby into makeing me a wodden mold tonight.

Only half of it, and I plopped the rest in molds I got for MP soap figureing it might solidify when it cooled down. It has, though seems very wet compared to the bars I had moved to the drying racks earlier. That is probabaly because the humidity in the kitchen was about 90% and over 100F. I have to say, it is starting to look decent... not as pretty as yours... but better. Here's a picture of 3 of the molded soap I "saved". from left to right, average, the best, and the worst. Oh well, It won't atter what they look like when they are used.

decided to play with my M&P today. Wanted to make something pretty for neices house warming, she is getting her first apartment. I think this will dress her bathroom up.

You're going to have so much fun! I love playing with the M&P, it's like clay but you dont get dirty. And clean up is water.

Thank you. That sounds like good advice. These silly little roses I doubt I would bother going through that much trouble, but I have one from my Daughter-Law that is wonderful.

Thank you very much. I feel like I learned a lot with this first batch. I had almost everything already on hand (except the scale which my wonderful daughter in law gave me, and gloves and lye). But now I think I’m going to have to spend some money! Going to need a real mold (used an old cardboard box) and a stamp like firegirl’s, and.. well... EVERY THING. LOL Firegirl, that is not a tiger, that is our 22 lb rotwielder, Neelix. We had to convince our big dog Brutus, a 90 lb lab mix the kitten is a puppy as his former owners had taught him to kill cats. It worked, they all believe Neelix is a rotwilleder. And yes, Neelix hates cats as much as Brutus does. He also chases cars and runs to the door to bark with the rest of the dogs. Creative … thank you, but I’ve seen your first 2 tries, and make me look like a piker. I especially like your second, the lemon custard looking creation. The colors and texture are so smooth. That’s what I want mine to look like. As for the swirling all I did was pour the colored soap back in my mixing pot varying the height so some went to the bottom and some stayed high, like I have seen described here, then poured into the box (mold). Next time I think I will try running a knife through it and try to get it to look like the first picture of your first batch. I LOVE the way that looks. Thank you to Anita. I apreciate the encouragement. :-) Well, I better go and write out my shopping list. Not sure how I’m going to convince hubby we need 3 gallons of oils so it comes out house account and I can spend my own money on a real log mold and a soap stamp, some CP safe pigments and scents… maybe some herbs…some of those wonderful expensive oils I have been reading about… I have the feeling I’m going to be making a LOT of soap (guess what everyone’s getting for the holidays)

WOW! Those look so good! And shame on you, now there's something else I'm going to just HAVE to get.. well, once I figure out how to make soap pretty enough to deserve to be stamped. Really, your soaps are beautiful.

Yes, the outside is high density gel (Penreco Gel Candle Wax CHP). The tea light is EcoSoya CB-Pure Soy) I did burn one, and the gel seemed to stand up to it, at least its didn't melt or even seem to get soft. The high density gel melts at something like 160F (pour at 180F to 200F) accordeing to the paper it came with (I'll have to find it to verify) but the soy (which I had on hand as I use it to make lotion bars) melts at about 120F. My logic is that with 40 degrees F difference, even if the soy wax manages to heat to 140F (unlikely) it is still well below the melt point of the gel wax. Testing seems to have proven my logic sound. As for dust, well, I have tested that as well, though it wasn't part of the plan. We have 200 lbs of fuzzy monster children, who shed... a LOT. After I made these I set them on the cart with intentions of putting them in boxes that evening, and got distacted for about 2 weeks. When I finally got around to it they were coated in pet fur. So I ran them under cool water. after words the consistancy seemed.. well... mushy, but after a few hours they dryed out and seem fine. They are now boxed, except the one in the picture which is on a table in my liveing room.

Forgot to ttach the picture... lets see if i can do it right this time.

No, I'm not into making candles, but did want to play with the high density gel. it measures only 3 inches diameter and 1 1/2 inches tall. The white speckles are where the soy wax over flowed the tea light cup and touched the gel… strange, I didn’t think it would do that. I think I made it worse by trying to clean it off. Suggestions? Input? Yea? Nay? Think they will make good gifts for the inlaws?

Very pretty! And the lable is so profesional!

Ok…not as nice as many of the newbie’s first tries, but I’m satisfied. What I don’t like… I rushed and took it out of the mold and sliced it to soon… so bars are very distorted (leaving them in the kitchen with dishwasher running on a really hot day didn’t help). That’s a mistake I will never make again. Also very fine riceing I think. Tiny little specs of semi translucent bits through out. What I like about it. Very soft to the skin, even now. Nice thick, creamy bubbly lather. I super fatted to 9%, figuring I would have lousy lather, but being my first try I would rather be way fat heavy than to chance being even a little lye heavy.

They do. They look like a lemon custard dessert my mom made. With a little whipped cream dabbed on... hmmm... maybe i should go cook some now.

You might want to avoid the soybean oil for someone allergic to coconut, and walnut oil. As I remember studies done in the late 90s indicate an immunological cross reactivity with proteins from both of these. Though it is probable that concern for all of this is moot, as one would assume the lye would desiccate any proteins in the oil, provided the soap is not supper fatted with the offending oil.

Ok, I’m new to CP, but palm kernel oil has almost identical properties as coconut oil. It seems to me you should be able to substitute PKO with adjustments to lye, of course, and get a very similar product. Am I wrong in my assumption here you experenced soapers?

Ok… I made soap. My very first try at CP. Waited 48 hours to unmold. Was kinda soft, ok, very soft (I know I way over super fatted but was worried about lye) but cut it anyway… moved half of it to the back room where I set up a drying rack… got distracted and forgot the rest. Cooked diner, cleaned the kitchen, thought about moving the rest but got distracted again and turned the dishwasher on. I need to note it was VERY HOT here yesterday, and humid. I have the ac vent to the kitchen closed and I have the water heater set to 145F, and I forgot to hit the “no heat dry” button. When I went back to the kitchen a couple hours later the kitchen was like a sauna and my pretty soap… melted! LOL. It was about the consistency of the hand cleaner stuff my husband likes to use. I used a spatula to sort of push the ones that didn’t look to bad back up into a bar like shape and plopped the rest into a mold and seems to be working. The good news is its very soft (of course with 9% superfat) to the skin with a nice rich lather.