Nan_in_Tucson

Thanks, everyone!

The mold is an old Nordic Ware bundt cake pan that my mom had. It was one of the original pans for the microwave, made with something that Nordic Ware called Gemstone. I was hestitant at first to use it, because I couldn't find out just what "Gemstone" is made of. I did find one article that referred to it as a polymer, so I figured I would try it. I coated it with mineral oil first. It took about 4 days before the cake would come out of the pan.

Yeah, I had a hard time visualizing how to do the icing, but I just spooned the coconut soap at a light-med trace, just kind of let it drizzle.

Whaddaya think?

Ginger snap fragrance with a couple of tbl of pumpkin spice mix. The icing is fragrance free 100% coconut oil soap.

I've seen them in Michaels in the wedding favors section.

oops, sorry..... I thought you were trying to get my attention!!!

:laugh2:OK, it took me a few seconds to get it! But it's darn funny! :laugh2:(Still gigglin).

Do you put the label over the tube and the cap, so folks can't open a tube until they buy it??

Nan

OHhhhhh, well, I let it set in the mold for about 36 hours, so ... there ya go! Lesson learned.

Nan

ok, here's the salt pile

Yeah, it was full trace. Took a while, but it was full trace.

I didn't check for zap. I'm one of those that just can't bring myself to lick soap. I used it on my hands, and it feels fine, lathers wonderfully.

Oh, hey, I've got my camera out taking pics of something else, let me get a pic of the salt pile.

Nan

So sometimes I like to try something extreme, to see what it does. I thought this was a bit extreme, but I made it anyways.

40oz olive oil

20oz coconut oil

10oz jojoba oil

22oz water

9.3oz lye

at trace

2oz rosemary eo

1oz sage eo

7oz sea salt

I made it on Wednesday, today I am trying to cut it, and it is just crumbling all over the place, I can't cut a whole bar, they just come apart.

Dear, dear. I think I may just have to crumble it all up, put it in muslin bags or something.

This recipe is NOT a keeper! Although it does smell good.

Nan

Well, THAT was entertaining!

The last time I was in Walmarts, I was looking around for silicon bakeware to use as molds, as so many people here have said good things about them. All I could find was a 24-mini-muffin pan, and 12 regular sized muffin "tins". I bought them. Today I made my regular 4 lbs of oil batch, scented with Apple Spice, whipped it right up to a nice creamy frosting trace and proceeded to fill said muffin pans. Well it was quite a scramble to find a couple of other quick molds because I had WAYYYYY more "batter" then muffin pan and muffin tins. But I grabbed a couple of drawer storage thingies and made it before things could harden up on me.

The muffins looked pretty neat! I sprinkled cinnamon on a few of them, just for har hars. I'm hoping they'll make cute gift soaps, maybe in a take-out box, or an origami box (which I make).

I'll take pics when I unmold them. Right now they are all wrapped up and resting.

Nan

Doris, that is exactly what I am going to do. I was going to just put it on my big cutting board, borrow some of hubby's tools, and hack away at it. Putting it in a big box first sounds like a good idea ... a little less messy.

No concrete floor in the house to slam it on, and I don't think it's a good idea to take it out in 108 degrees to slam on the sidewalk. I just envision a big glob of melted cocoa butter setting on my sidewalk.

Nan

LOL, Jeri! How can something that sounds so easy be so difficult?

I did a batch of salts, too, this week. Used Paul's 75% recipe. Just covered them for an hour, then cut. Very moist and soggy. Not what I was expecting at all. Even now after a couple of days, they're still moist. I used coconut lime verbena fo, and they smell quite wonderful, but I don't know if they are going to end up the way they should.

Nan

ah-soy, you've been cracking me up! I feel like we all will have to surround you and chant

"DO it, DO it, DO it" until you actually make some soap!

When I mix my lye, I use the kitchen sink. Measure my cold water into a plastic container, put that in the sink, measure my lye into another plastic container, and slowly pour it into the water. I use a long handled spoon so I can stand away from the sink a little. I can't open windows either, it's been 100+ degrees for a couple of weeks. As long as you don't have a teeny tiney cramped kitchen, you'll be ok. You only need to stir it for about 10 seconds after adding all the lye. Then you can just leave the kitchen for a while.

OK, all together now ... "DO it, DO it, DO it !! "

Nan

Well, I thought with temps being well over 100 here in Tucson, and no way I can keep the house cooler then 80 degrees (which is why the coconut oil is melted) that the cocoa butter would be softened. It's not, though! I probably should take the whole thing out and chop it into reasonable pieces and store in smaller pieces of tupperware.

Nan

ok, I thought dealing with a gallon pail of melted coconut oil was a pain to deal with, but a 10lb slab of cocoa butter is a real pain! I only needed 4oz for 1 recipe and 8oz for another, so I just chipped pieces out without taking the whole thing out of the box or the plastic wrapping it came in. The good news is, I now have the softest hands in Tucson. The bad news is I have a very slippery floor.

How do the rest of you deal with this?

Nan

Well, I just realized last week that Snowdrift Farms is just a couple of blocks down from where I do my grocery shopping.

Oh, no! That is just WAY to convenient. I now have a small box full of EO's and FO's.

Shhhhh, don't tell my husband. :tiptoe:

Nan

So when you are weighing out your premixed oils for a session of soap making, do you ladle or pour? I can just see me fooling around with a 5 gallon bucket full of oils. One BIG mess comes to mind.

Yellow rain slickers come to mind.

Nan

I've started using my first made by myself from scratch CP soap (first batch EVER made May 23). It's still a little soft but useable. I've also been using it on my hair. Love it ! Here in the desert, it's soo dry that I have had flat hair since moving here 1 1/2 years ago. Now I at least have a little fluff to it ... not as much as it does when I'm back home in New England, especially when I'm near the ocean. But certainly more then when using commercial shampoo. AND ... I haven't had to use conditioner ! My hair feels so soft.

Anywho, I took some bits and pieces of the soap, threw them in a small tupperware container, poured boiling distilled water over them, covered them and let them set a day till it became a gel. I've been using it for shampoo instead of working a bar of soap. Now I'm wondering, do I have to worry about bacteria, etc ? I'm assuming that since I'll use this up in a week or two, I'm ok. Am I ok??

Nan

Ha ha! Hear ya on lowering the credit card limit! Now that I know what I want to use, I'll be ordering stuff online instead of buying it at the natural food stores. But I see molds, cutters, other good stuff in my future.

Guess I better plan on adding a table for soap when I take my jewelry to the farmers market and craft shows.

Nan

I made my first batch of cp soap on May 23rd. Today I made my 9th and 10th batch. If someone had told me a couple of months ago I'd be making soap, I'd 'a said "naw". And now .... I'm crazed!

Today I made a chocolate coffee batch. It looked sooo darn good, like creamy fudge. I just wanted to eat it! Can't wait to unmold it!

Nan

Oh, goody! Thanks for the quick replies. First recipe today is an olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, apricot kernel oil superfatted with castor oil and scented jasmine (this one is for my hair). And if I have time, second recipe is the same as above except almond oil instead of apricot kernel oil, superfat with apricot kernel oil, add some oatmeal, scent with lemon.

Nan

Newbie here. I just started making CP soap last week.

I have some Spectrum Almond Oil. Is this the same as sweet almond oil?

Even though this is my first post, I would like to thank everyone for all the info I have found on this board! I have been reading for days now!

Nan