Answers: Lye Heavy, Alkanet/ Ratanjot for colouring.
Here's what happened.... I wanted to
- use up some of my soap shavings that I have been collecting.
- throw together a new scent, maybe using up some of the Essential Oils that I need to use up before their due by date!
- try out some new mould lining paper.
- work with Alkanet/ Ratanjot in something new to see how it would come out this time... I love how it surprises me...
Soap Shavings - As for the soap shaving part, that was the easiest and most successful. No problems, except when I was pouring into 3 moulds I had lined and it only filed 2? What the ((!!))? Could I have mis-measured........?
New Scent - Awesome. Pink Grapefruit, Ho Wood and Vetiver..... nicer than I could have imagined and oh-so-intense becuase of mis-measuring....
Mould lining paper - found a fabulous new paper for lining the moulds! Recently the supplier of my previous mould lining paper changed their sizes and it made it twice as hard to work with. So I have been looking for another option for some time. I have even been looking for silicone liners (my dream) but am not prepared to buy ready made wooden moulds with fitted silicone liners as I don't want to change the size of my soaps. If anyone knows of who I can get custom silicone liners from, please pass on details!! Then i found this awesome post: http://innerearthsoaps.blogspot.com/2013/06/lining-your-mould-with-contact-paper.html and my husband hunted down similar looking paper. Didn't really know what contact paper was in Spanish, so he brought back 3 different types. I lined 3 moulds, each one with a different new mould lining paper. One of them came out perfect!!! And the beauty of it is that the paper is so sturdy, I don't even have to use tape. It just stands up itself!! So thank you Inner Earth for the tip!!
(Here - my old paper in the background and new paper in the foreground)
Alkanet/ Ratanjot - As the pink grapefruit oil is so orange, it must have reacted with the alkanet to produc green-blue.... now turned army green. It is also the olive oil I work with.... I just can't get a pretty purple any more because of the deep colour of the organic extra-virgin olive oil I soap with. Oh well...I kind of already new that.
So I picked up a great new scent, a wonderful new lining paper and reinforced what I already knew about Alkanet/ Ratanjot.
The only real disappointing thing about this batch was that I won't be able to use it as soap as I mismeasured... I looked at the 1-mould column when I was measuring some of the oils instead of the 3-mould column... so VERY LYE HEAVY.
What will I do now with it? Grate it into laundry soap.
Happy soaping, Happy experimenting everyone!!
xo Jen
13 comments:
Hola Jen:réfundirlo!!,rallarlo, pesar el total de jabón rallado, agregar agua, o alguna infusión, añadirle mas aceite por si está pasado de lejía y algo de EO,enmoldar, eso sí, con mucha paciencia porque cuesta, y dejar secar,seguro que al queda un jabón estupendo, ÁNIMO, besos ISABEL
Hi jen. It's really interesting to see how soap color changes everyday. Sorry to hear that this batch is lye heavy. But on the bright side, you'll have great smelling laundry!
Isabel, Muchas gracias!!! Me gusta la idea... pero como no se exactamente como medi el aceite, no exactamente como refundirlo ahora para que salga con la sosa correcta... asi que prefiero convertirle a jabón de lavadora. Nunca entendi eso de refundir un error... si tiene demasiada sosa el jabón, como puedes corregir eso con el refundido? xo Jen
SoapJam, Thanks for your awesome comment!! xo Jen
Interesting, Jen!
I was too late for this game, but I am content that I have learned some more through your post!
Thank you!
Oh no! I've hate it when I make mistakes while soaping! Now you can say "I've done that!"
Good luck with your next batch!
Natalia, Thanks for your comment!! Glad to know you learned something!! Xoxo Jen
Andee, Thanks for your sweet comment!! xo Jen
How did you find your new baking paper? I'm interested in making the switch from acrylic to wooden molds. :)
Mabel, the new lining paper has save us a LOT of time because we can use it several times. So I am loving it!! I love wooden moulds. They heat the soap in a way the acrylic ones don't. xo Jen
Jen, I must check out wooden moulds then! Thanks for the input. :)
Hi Jen,
I don't remember if I've ever commented on your blog, but I've been reading it for ages. I've only made two batches of soap so far (plus one lip balm, a couple of (semi-)solid sugar scrubs and a slightly failed lotion, but I've been researching like mad and you've been a big inspiration. So thanks for that. I've seen the work of a lot of different styles of soaper (lots of research = lots of soap porn), and find myself gravitating (mostly in my head so far as, like I said, only two soaps in) more towards your end of things than the more ornate (but no more or less artful) style.
Anyway, babbling now. I saw this video about making your own silicone mould liners just the other day, and I don't know if it would be something you'd be interested in doing, but I thought I'd pass it on anyway in case you decide to give it a shot.
Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKClapkhZxo&feature=share&list=UU6NFc1XyVdzuyQw-f9HG42g
It's from that Soaping101 channel on youtube, and it says part 2 but part one is about making your own custom moulds, so a bit less relevant, though also interesting.
Bagatha, Every now and then I get some wonderful comment or an email from someone I may have inspired somehow and I love it. Nice to hear that you have been enjoying following my blog. Can't seem to "follow" yours as I need the followers section there? Sounds like you are getting your "soap identity" which is so important i think. Also thank you for the link you sent. This would be SO AWESOME. We recently had a quotation from a silicon mould making company for 1 mould liner - 150€!!!! !! So I may experiment with this on my own?? Thank you! xo Jen
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