Tuesday 3 January 2012

Be Careful...


when playing with water discounts and reductions... that you don't go too low!

Broke the soap cutter with this one...

Oh well, this one will be grated for laundry soap.

Happy Soaping everyone!!
xoxo
Jen

20 comments:

Tara said...

Oh no! At least it will be pretty laundry soap.

Amy@10th Ave. said...

Ouch!! I keep experimenting higher and higher with my water discounts, so thanks for the visual! Poor soap cutter!!!

The Soap Sister said...

Oh No!! I hope you can replace the wire -that's such a bummer. I would rather have a bit too much H2o for that veryreason.

The Lazy Lacquerist said...

I did a water discount once, didn't like the effect... I'd rather wait and have it all cured out nicely than break my cutter... hope the cutter gets better very soon xx

Shieh Design Studio said...

Oh wow~ how low is too low? I don't discount water that much, I'm always soaping with some additives or fragrance that accelerate trace. But it is good to know what would happen if liquid discounted too high. Though it doesn't mean lye heavy at least!

Two Blooms Design Studio said...

Oh poor you, I made a soap yesterday that was floral and traced fast but it turned out fine.

I use Summer Bee Meadow for calculating soap and when compared to Soapcalc it's about 34% or 34.5%. I spent a bit of time trying to figure out what percentage Summer Bee Meadow used and even asked them. I've never gone lower then that myself.

I keep a huge bin of soap shavings and usually make laundry soap or sometimes a rebatch. My own laundry soap is all I use now.

What kind of soap was it? Did you add any new additives, colours etc.?

Michelle

Jennifer Young said...

Hi Tara, Thanks! That's optimism wow! xox Jen

Tenth Avenue, Thanks for your comment. I have a new programme that I am learning and calculating the lye and water is totally different. Challenging! but fun. xo Jen

Soap Sister, When I bought the cutter, I also bought wire replacements so it's not too much of a tragedy but a wrecked batch of soap is still a wrecked batch of soap. Happy New Year!! xo Jen

Celine, Thanks for the well wishes for my cutter!! He is better already (new wire)!! xo Jen

Shieh, I can't say exactly how low because my programme has different numbers all around and I am just figuring it out! I believe it has about a 40% discount! A mistake of mine. I made a shampoo bar today with beer, honey and egg all trace accelerators! But it went well... I was prepared. Happy Soaping!! xo Jen

Michelle, It was a soap I had mad a ton of times before. Just figuring out my new Soap Maker program, which calculates numbers different than I did. So, a lesson learned!! Haven't heard of Summer Bee Meadow before. Happy New year!! xo Jen

Julia said...

Vaya, la verdad es que da mucha rabia que esto ocurra. Pero seguro que encuentras una buena forma de utilizar estos jabones.
Un abrazo y Feliz Año Nuevo.

Jennifer Young said...

Julia, Si... creo que los utiliaré rayada para lavar la ropa! Feliz año!! xo Jen

Coco said...

Ooops. Glad the cutter is fixed.

I keep meaning to make laundry soap. Share your recipe?

Jennifer Young said...

Hi Coco, I have been using this recipe for about a year now, using all my not-so-perfect soaps. Here it is (all ingredients weighed):
- 240gr dry grated soap
- 120gr washing soda
- 120gr borax
(optional - 40gr baking soda)
- FO or EO 15gr
You need to put them all in together and blend blend untill you can get the soap down to the smallest possible. I wish I had a super blender. Wear a mask when blending. I use up the FOs that were given to me (I don't like to use non-natural things in my products but was gifted some), and the EOs I don't like. The scent does NOT stay in the clothes if you dry your clothes outdoors. The wet clothes smell brilliantly but then it goes away with the fresh air. So you could make this without any FOs or EOs. Let me know how it goes!!! Julia from Cocobong tried to explain "salting out" of the soaps before adding them to lanudry soap but I tried and tried and was not successful so I just grate the soap as is. I think there is a way to turn this into liquid soap too. I tried but it didn't work as nice as the dry version for me. Good luck!! xoxoxo Jen

Unknown said...

Thanks for the warning, gonna give your laundry soap recipe a try!

Patti said...

I'm so sorry! If I put soaps in individual molds I've gone up to 38% lye concentration, but I've been sticking to 33 to 35%.

Jennifer Young said...

Cynthia-Rose, Let us know how your attempt at laundry soap goes!! xo Jen

Milla, I usually soap around 33 as well. Thanks for your comment. xox Jen

Anonymous said...

Glad your cutter is fixed now! I'm a bit of a coward about water. I've never used lye at higher than 30%. Gives me more time for designs.

Amy Warden said...

I did a little cringe when I saw your photo...glad to hear your cutter is fixed and the soap will go to good use!

Jennifer Young said...

Sironasprings, Thanks for your commnet! Happy New Year. xo Jen

Amy, Ah yes, luckily the cutter was saved and i learned something new. Heppy New Year! xo Jen

Nitya said...

Sad that the water discount ruined the soap and the wires too. What is water discount though?? I use about 30% of the weight of oils. Now how much is that in terms of water discount?? Can you please explain. Pretty please!! :) I feel like a complete idiot when everyone is talking water discount and I have no idea what that is.

Jennifer Young said...

Hi Nitya, Thank you for your comment. No problem. I am still learning about this as well. Glad you asked! Here are some links with info... let me know how you get on with it!! xoxo Jen
http://www.aquasapone.com.au/soapmaking/discountedcp1.html
http://www.lovinsoap.com/2010/07/discounting-water-a-cold-process-soapmaking-tutorial/
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61719.asp
http://edgewatersoaps.blogspot.com/2010/03/scientific-soap-making-part-ii-curing.html

Nitya said...

Thank you so much for the links!! :)