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We made two new batches that are a little different, and a lot of fun. The first was all Billie's work. I just watched in wonder. She saw something similar from someone else and wanted to try. She basically tilted the mold on a board in opposite directions between each layer, except the last layer was done flat. By the time the next color was made ready, the last layer was firm enough to tilt without running. It turned out really cool. The FO she used is Wild Berry Zinger Tea. They do have some weird arching on top like a smiley face. The mold is very narrow and deep (2 1/2" wide by 4" deep by 12" long). The top layer seemed to have crept up the sides during saponification. Fortunately, we over filled a little so have room to trim that off for our 3 1/2" length bars. I think they are cool. The second batch, Billie let me do by myself. :rolleyes2 Of course it was her master batch mixture, her recipe, and her instructions, but I felt important doing the work. These turned out pretty good as well. The FO is Very Sexy For Men. I used my homemade 3" round PVC pipe mold. I cut a piece of cardboard 3" wide and about 18" long to divide the tube in half. I (we) mixed both color batches at the same time, then poured blue in one side and yellow down the other at the same time. OK, I did not do it all completely by myself. :rolleyes2 I then immediately pulled out the divider, stuck a small rod all the way to the bottom, and spiraled once from the outside towards the center and removed the rod. Then we went to bed. :smiley2: Of course the next morning my amazing complex "tube and valve mounting platform system" did not work. My plan was to hook my air pressure hose to the tire valve at the bottom and push the soap right out. Nothing happened. I guess I won't patent that idea. :rolleyes2 So I used a can of corn and a stick (real high tech) and pushed it right out. Anyway, it was fun and turned out OK.

Welcome. It is great fun and addicting.

I love it. They turned out really cool. :smiley2:

Good luck. It will no doubt be outstanding. But even if it is not, keep trying and you will soon become addicted and making beautiful soaps. Remember, it is a clean addiction. :rolleyes2

Wow, you really did it. The balls remind me of one of our redo projects. We had a batch of Cream Brulee that turned the whole lot so brown it was not usable. We ran the entire batch through a salad shredder. We then made a new batch with titanium oxide to get a light cream color, stirred in the brown shreds, used some heart and cameo molds, and presto - some OK and usable soap. It seems like a lot of folks hate Cream Brulee, but I just love that FO. I guess I am weird...

They all look wonderful. Very nice work. Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the addiction.

I got this off eBay from Gene Wilkeson (PopDisplays) up in South Bend, IN. He seems like a good guy and even refunded me $5 on shipping because he said the eBay estimate was too much. I would have never known. He has a variety of sizes and thicknesses. I used the 1/32" X 16" X 48", which can be cut with a good pair of scissors. http://cgi.ebay.com/030-1-32-LEXAN-SHEET-CLEAR-48-X-16_W0QQitemZ110316249829QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Plastics_Equipment?hash=item110316249829&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50 I am thinking about getting some 1/8" thick, and try making some dividers for the inside so we don't have to cut the 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" bars from the soap slab. Yes I am lazy..... :rolleyes2

Who said this was addicting? Billie (my better half) started a couple years ago after a lot of research with candles. They turned out really great and I became interested. First it was containers from wax, then soy, then blends, then votives and tealights, then round pillars, square pillars, hexagon pillars, hurricane candles, ... with wicks, colors, and FO's of every variety. OMG... :smiley2: Then as if that was not enough, she researched soaps. That looked like fun. Oh yes; hot process, cold process, jelled, non-jelled, log molds, round molds, hearts, cameos, and more FO's. (just shoot us)... Then (oh yes), skin lotions, lip balms, and fragrance sprays galore. SOS... :rolleyes2 It has now taken up the majority of our basement, our budget is shot, and we LOVE IT. Oh yes, we need professional help...

Very nice. We have not done any translucents before. These look really cool.

This is our third batch from the new mold we lined with Lexan. I think we have to change our last statement about absolutely no sprays or oil coatings needed. This last batch came out OK, but was more difficult. The sides came off just fine, but it did not just slide off the base like ice as before. We had to use the flat side of a wood ruler against one end of the soap and slide it off with some force, while holding the mold base in place. It did not leave any marks on the soap or lose chunks, but was a dryer soap and just did not want to slide. It could be differences in FO. The first batch was Sugared Raspberry, and the second batch was Rapture. This last one was Fierce which traced much quicker than the first two. Maybe that is a factor somehow. Anyway, we think we will be using a very light coating or spay in the future, but are still pretty happy with the Lexan, and very happy with this batch of CP soap..

That is cool. Very nice work.

I did happen to see some Lexan at Menards, but it was much thicker (like 1/8"). You definitely would not be able to cut that with scissors or a box knife. I am just lining (gluing) the inside bottom, and four sides of wood molds with this 1/32" thick Lexan. It is relatively cheap. It looks like I might get three 12 bar molds (10" X 10 1/2") done out of one 16" X 48" sheet. If the Lexan was thick enough (like 3/8" or 7/16"), I suppose you could make the entire mold from Lexan. My guess is that would cost a lot more than just a thin liner on wood. This stuff is really slick and so far has had no soap stick. As Billie said, on this second experiment we used no sprays or oil coatings at all, and the soap came out perfect. Hurray!!!! I think we can start using our freezer paper for steaks.

Vanilla is bad about turning brown in soap. There is vanilla stabilizer that you can buy (about $8 for 16oz). Our experience is that it helps, but results vary depending on what other FO's you mix in.

No. SoapHutch uses plexi-glass or HDPE. HDPE is what the Logan Bear molds are made from. Plexi-glass is similar to Lexan, but is an acrylic base where Lexan is a polycarbon (mush tougher). They look the same, but plexi-glass is more fragile. It tends to crack and chip easily. Lexan can be impacted continuously with minimal or minor wear. Like I said, they make airplane windshields and bullet proof glass out of this stuff. However, this difference may not mean squat with soap molds. I am thinking the Lexan surface, being very strong and dense, leaves little for the soap to bond too. However, I am guessing on this point... :rolleyes2 Plexi-glass may work just fine.

I did find that the silicon adhesive was probably not the best choice. Maybe I did not let it dry long enough, but found I can slide the Lexan slightly with enough pressure. I think I will use a thin coat of "Liquid Nails" adhesive on the next one. Do and learn.... :rolleyes2

The credit goes to Billie. I'm just the laborer... :rolleyes2

We did use a VERY light brushing of mineral oil. With other surfaces, we still got some sticking with mineral oil, but none with this Lexan. So the next batch we make, we will not use any coating at all and see how it goes. We'll let everyone know, but it sure seems like it will work.

We were tired of cutting freezer paper, or trying foam and vinyl that still has some sticking or develops small wrinkles. This pulls chuncks out of the sides or ugly blemishes on the bottom of the soap when we peal it off. Billie did some research and came across something call Lexan. It is similar to plexiglass, but very slick and strong. They actually make aircraft windshields and thick bullet proof glass out of this stuff. We bought a couple of .030 (1/32") X 48" X 16" sheets to try out. We got them from Gene Wilkeson of Pop Displays up in South Bend, IN, at $11 per sheet (plus shipping). We used a metal yard stick and a box cutter (razor knife) to carefully cut out the four sides and bottom, to fit an existing 12 bar flat wood mold. Warning: You have to apply gentle blade pressure against the metal ruler to keep the blade going in a nice straight line, being very careful not to slip and remove one of your fingers. :rolleyes2 And it takes several swipes to cut all the way through, so don't move the ruler until the cut is done. You could probably cut this with a table or scrool saw as well, but be careful that the blade heat does not start to melt the Lexan. I believe you could actually cut this carefully with a good pair of scissors. We then glued the pieces onto the wood using a thin coat of 100% silicone adhesive. There is a protective plastic film on both sides of the Lexan sheet that must be pealed off before gluing. We only have a test sample of one, but so far it worked great. There was no sticking anywhere. In fact the whole slab slid off of the base like it was on a sheet of ice, and almost onto the floor (picture 3). Look at the lower right bar in picture 4, which shows the bottom. The entire bottom of the slab was this smooth. The cloudiness you see on the wood in these pictures is the glue on the underside of the Lexan. The top surfaces (the soap sides) are like glass. We will probably be lining everything with this stuff now. :yay:Love it...

Our first scale was a Walmart special that really was not too bad, but could not measure down to 1 gram. Sorry I don't remember that brand. The second one turned out to be a surprise. I did not remember that brand either, so I looked up the paperwork. The brand is also "My Weigh", but was a model KD-7000. It was horrible. We used a 100 gram standard weight to test it and watched the readout vary from 98 to 109 grams (11 gram variance). We sent it back for a replacement, and got the same result so asked for a refund. I did not realize until your question prompted me to look it up. The new scale that we love so much is also a "My Weigh" brand, but it is model 7001-DX. Wow, what a difference a number and a couple letters make. This 7001-DX is awesome.

Just FYI We went through several scales that turned out to be junk. One of them was so unstable that it would change value a few decimal points if you looked at it cross eyed Once we bought a "My Weight" 7001DX from Willow Way (about $45), we never looked back. We have had it about seven months and love it. It goes up to 15.4lbs/7KG in .05oz/1gr increments.

Yes, your answer is weighing. The issue with volume is that most measuring cups are scaled for water. Oils and water DO NOT weight the same for a given volume, and not all oils even weigh the same. If you tear out a measuring cup, pour in 16 ounces of water according to the cup and weigh it, it should be pretty close to 16 ounces. Now do the same thing with an FO and it will not weigh 16 ounces, even though the mark on the cup says it is. Always use weight.

Yes, your answer is weighing. The issue with volume is most that measuring cups are scaled for water. Oils and water DO NOT weight the same for a given volume, and not all oils even weigh the same. If you tear out a measuring cup, pour in 16 ounces of water according to the cup and weigh it, it should be pretty close to 16 ounces. Now do the same thing with an FO and it will not weigh 16 ounces, even though the mark on the cup says it is. Always use weight.

Very cool. Nice work...

Here is a picture after cutting up this 30 inch'er. We had a couple of issues. One was we miss calculated the batch size, so the bars came out thinner than we wanted (OOPS). Second, the colors morphed during saponification. The pink is now sort of gray-pink, and the lavender became grayish as well (oh crap...). The mold and pattern works great, but we need to review our chemistry. Anytime I get my fingers in there something is likely to go wrong. :rolleyes2

Thanks for all of the kind comments. We can't hardly wait to try another batch. Yes, we are addicted....