It has been a while since I did a soap challenge and of course I decided to get back to business during Michigan's heat wave and high humidity. Soaping in a hot kitchen (no air in this old farmhouse!) proved to be a challenge all by itself.
First day of trying out the Thorns & Roses challenge my friend Judy came out to help. A big thank you to her husband who cut some pvc pipe pieces for me out of his scrap pile. Judy even sanded the edges so they would be smooth!
I know that the heat and humidity can be a problem when soaping. The lye takes forever to cool down for one thing. And of course the soap set up much quicker than anticipated. Then as I am mathematically challenged I did a visual for figuring how much colored soap I would need for the pipes. Hmmm they filled much quicker than I expected - right to the top of the 3 inch column. Ooops.
After the second one set up too quick I began to wonder if maybe there was more going on than just the heat and humidity. Both were recipes I have used several times for swirling or designs. Then I wondered if it was the palm oil as I was down to the last 3/4 pounds in my big giant 5 gallon bucket. Next batch would be a simpler recipe with lard replacing the palm oil.
Below are the first two batches we tried and after the cut. As you can see they set up way too fast to get any photos of the process with the pvc tubes! Judy came up with the name of "Detour" for the first batch since it definitely was a detour off the original route! The second batch follows the same construction zone. Both are scented with orange, lemongrass and clary sage essential oils.
First day of trying out the Thorns & Roses challenge my friend Judy came out to help. A big thank you to her husband who cut some pvc pipe pieces for me out of his scrap pile. Judy even sanded the edges so they would be smooth!
I know that the heat and humidity can be a problem when soaping. The lye takes forever to cool down for one thing. And of course the soap set up much quicker than anticipated. Then as I am mathematically challenged I did a visual for figuring how much colored soap I would need for the pipes. Hmmm they filled much quicker than I expected - right to the top of the 3 inch column. Ooops.
After the second one set up too quick I began to wonder if maybe there was more going on than just the heat and humidity. Both were recipes I have used several times for swirling or designs. Then I wondered if it was the palm oil as I was down to the last 3/4 pounds in my big giant 5 gallon bucket. Next batch would be a simpler recipe with lard replacing the palm oil.
Below are the first two batches we tried and after the cut. As you can see they set up way too fast to get any photos of the process with the pvc tubes! Judy came up with the name of "Detour" for the first batch since it definitely was a detour off the original route! The second batch follows the same construction zone. Both are scented with orange, lemongrass and clary sage essential oils.
Soap in the mold and barely had time to push the dividers down into the soap it was setting up so fast.
Batch #1 is named Detour and it definitely was a detour!
The soap in the mold with the pvc tubes pulled out and a swirl of sorts.
The end result of batch #2 named Road Block!
So the next day I tried again using a simpler recipe of just four ingredients (olive, coconut, lard and rice bran oil). I set up the mold with the pvc pipes while my granddaughter hovered over to watch the process.
Well this recipe set up just as quick! So it must be the high degree temps and humidity playing a game with me. Batch number 3 is below with the best that I got for photos along the way. Once soap starts to move it's not the best time to be grabbing the camera for some scenery shots! Even my green and white colors didn't want to swirl by the time I had finished pouring. I had one ounce of the WSP's Farmer's Market Vine Ripened Tomato fragrance which wasn't quite enough for the batch. I blended in a bit of sweet basil, holy basil and black pepper essentials oils to bring out that herbal garden scent. The tops have been planed to bring out the color and smooth them out from setting up quick.
Time has run out for this challenge. We will go with the last batch for an entry. It's not even close to what I had hoped for but all three batches will be fun to add to the fall soap line.
Well this recipe set up just as quick! So it must be the high degree temps and humidity playing a game with me. Batch number 3 is below with the best that I got for photos along the way. Once soap starts to move it's not the best time to be grabbing the camera for some scenery shots! Even my green and white colors didn't want to swirl by the time I had finished pouring. I had one ounce of the WSP's Farmer's Market Vine Ripened Tomato fragrance which wasn't quite enough for the batch. I blended in a bit of sweet basil, holy basil and black pepper essentials oils to bring out that herbal garden scent. The tops have been planed to bring out the color and smooth them out from setting up quick.
Time has run out for this challenge. We will go with the last batch for an entry. It's not even close to what I had hoped for but all three batches will be fun to add to the fall soap line.
PVC tubes were pulled out as this batch was setting up quick just as the first two batches did. You can see the round circle of reds where the tubes were.
After the swirl of the "roses" and "thorns". It really doesn't look too bad as the color combo is nice and reminds me of the holidays....
And the cut, still a bit soft, of batch number 3, Holiday Garden!
Have you read about our new soap line on our blog named after the K-9's of Michigan Search and Rescue? At the beginning of each week we will be featuring one of these awesome dogs along with the soap that was created with their name! You can follow their stories through our blog and the soaps on our Facebook page.
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