My first one was Green Irish Tweed by Oregon Trail Soapers Supply. It thickened up slightly more than I intended, but all in all I like the look of the soap.
I decided to cut a few bars open to see the pattern inside. It looked pretty neat as well.
The next one I did was Lavender Forest by Bramble Berry and a little Cedarwood essential oil to give it a deeper forest smell. I loved the progression of this swirl, and I think the final swirl took away some of the neatness of the middle step swirls. Live and learn. Knowing when enough is enough is a fine art with soaping swirls.
Next swirl is a bugger. I tried Bramble Berry's Summer Fling fragrance. It had some floral notes, so I decided to use 33% lye concentration instead my typical 40%. Well not only did it thicken, my swirl was quite less than stellar, and the ash that ensued was nothing short of amazing. Here it is in mold. Then is a pic of cut bars that I attempted to plane the tops off of. I also did a hot water bath to try and rid the ash. Two bars in the back are not cleaned up, and you can see how heavily ashed it was originally. I also made extra batter, and those three soaps are gray white with a very thick layer of ash (originally colored black with activated charcoal).
Sigh. When making soap, as so many of you know, knocking out a disappointment can grate on the nerves. So being disappointed, I decided to have another go at swirling. I chose Fragrance Buddy's Patchouli Passion. I am not a member of the soap scent review board, so the only thing I knew about potential discoloration was there was 0% vanillin. Unfortunately it does go quite yellow on you, however, it behaved well for my 40% lye concentration. I like it in mold here. I can see two bird like creatures up top and a flower at the bottom.
Really lovely !
ReplyDeleteThank you! Slow start to the new year, apologies for the delayed response.
DeleteThank you! Slow start to the new year, apologies for the delayed response.
Delete40% lye gives you a low lather ? So the 33% gained u more lather and less ash.
ReplyDeleteNot a lower lather. The combination of oils and fats coupled with superfat determines lather (as well as additives used). In general with regards to ash, using less water like 40% lye concentration tends to cut out ash tremendously over a higher water soap. Gel your soaps and it works even better. Lower water with a perfectly behaving fragrance can slow trace as well. Beware, however, fragrances that behave in higher water do not always do so in lower water. It took experimenting on my part and another soap maker, from the blog howler soap, to determine fragrances that behave in low water.
DeleteNot a lower lather. The combination of oils and fats coupled with superfat determines lather (as well as additives used). In general with regards to ash, using less water like 40% lye concentration tends to cut out ash tremendously over a higher water soap. Gel your soaps and it works even better. Lower water with a perfectly behaving fragrance can slow trace as well. Beware, however, fragrances that behave in higher water do not always do so in lower water. It took experimenting on my part and another soap maker, from the blog howler soap, to determine fragrances that behave in low water.
DeleteYou did a really good job. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Delete