Trying to get back our regular schedule, with some new toys!

August 4 - 8, 2014

Why are we lumping a whole week together in one blog entry? Well, because we didn't make much soap, but we did have fun with kids and grandkids!

This week was the last week of summer vacation for Habersham County schools, and classes started on Friday the 8th. 

I had two Grandchildren who were suddenly without a sitter, and Alison had teenagers to clothe, open houses to attend, and school supplies to buy.  Plus we wanted to do some fun stuff together, think miniature golf in nearby Helen where we discovered Alison should be called Arnold, as in Palmer. Who knew she was an expert miniature golfer?!  (Alison here, reluctantly admitting that the fact that I putted last and could see everyone else's mistakes MIGHT have helped a wee bit...)

During the week several packages arrived including some scents from +Natures Garden.  We were excited about a couple of new scents we want to try - Shiraz and Capri Oliveo (both to try when we make more soap with wine).  The other scents were ones that we had made soap with earlier using a small 1oz "trial sample" size. We really liked the fragrances, so we bought larger quantities this time.

New and old scents arrived this week.

If you have been reading this blog very long, you will know we make double batches of soap frequently.  When we split a batch in two we take our 16" wooden log mold and create a divider in the middle.  Sometimes it works beautifully, sometimes the divider slips, or other times the soap batter seeps under the divider and the colors run a bit.  We've made do because new molds are pricey, and when we say we operate on a shoestring, it's not a joke. We make do whenever we can.  

BUT, finally we took the plunge! Molds were on sale, and we bought two.  They are from +Bulk Apothecary and are the perfect size for half batches.  No more cardboard dividers! YAY!

 As an additional splurge we bought a soap cutter. Using a knife has worked fine, except that the knife is almost too short to reach across our cutter, and pushing the tip down through the soap is somewhat rough on finger tips.

Our new silicone molds and soap cutter.

The sides are reinforced so they won't bow 

out with the weight of soap.  We 

can't wait to try out the molds.

The other packages that arrived weren't nearly as exciting as the scents and molds.  We needed more labels for our soap, and they arrived. Honestly, they really aren't picture worthy; they're just Avery oval labels.

After our fun, hectic, last week of vacation we got down to the business of making soap on Friday.  Of course we decided to make a split batch so we could use our new molds.

We chose scents that have gotten some very positive feedback from a variety of sources.  First was Amazingly Grace (described as Italian bergamot and sparkling lemon sweetened with freshly picked citron and neroli.  A white floral jasmine, orange blossom and rose are blended with sheer musk and cedarwood).  

And the second choice was Sweet Patchouli (described as an earthy blend of patchouli and green grass intertwined with fresh lavender and hints of licorice with crisp notes of menthol softened by amber).  

These descriptions are right from +Natures Garden where almost every scent they sell is described in like fashion. Now you know how hard it is to choose a scent; they all sound heavenly.

As both of these soaps are remakes we decided to keep the colors as close to the original bar as we could.  Sweet Patchouli would have no color and Amazingly Grace would have pink, yellow and purple.

Referring to the work sheets from the first batches, we mixed our colors for Amazingly Grace.

For the pink we combined TD, fired up fuchsia, ultramarine pine and light gold mica to add sparkle.

The purple was a mix of TD, ultramarine violet and light gold mica.

And for the yellow, fizzy lemonade softened with TD and light gold mica.

Before we divided the batter we added a combination of TD and light gold sparkle. 

The recipe we used was old faithful, combining palm, olive, coconut and castor oils with lye/water, we forgot to add the silk to this batch, next time we will.  Both batches will have a hint of a sparkle, Amazingly Grace more so, due to sparkle mica added to all the colors.

We mixed up the oils and lye/water until it was at light trace, we added in the TD mixture then divided the batter.  

 

Alison added the sweet patchouli scent to her batter then removed about a cupful (for the top).  Into the cup of batter, she mixed about a teaspoon of sparkle mica just to give a soap topping a little shine and shimmer. 

To the remaining batter Alison added three tablespoons of colloidal oatmeal which turned the batter a light gray color.  She thoroughly mixed the oatmeal into the batter then poured it into the NEW mold. After tamping it down to release any possible air bubbles, she topped off the soap with the white batter she had removed earlier.

White shimmery batter tops off the Sweet Patchouli soap.

As you can see half a recipe of old faithful fits into the NEW mold perfectly! 

We are doing the happy dance!!  

(Really...we are. Just be glad that we didn't force you to watch it!)

I have to apologize for the lack of pictures, in addition to making two batches of soap at the same time, a repairman was in the kitchen fixing my stove, so we were a little distracted.

The same time Alison was soaping I had added the Amazingly Grace scent to my batter then removed about three-fourths of a cup for each color.  I poured white batter in the bottom of the mold then made a layer of pink, yellow and purple batter, then repeated the layers.  I left enough batter to design a swirl on the top.  

At this point there was a layer of white, all colors, then white again, I added another layer of colors, then white to this.

After all layers were in place I used our hanger swirl tool to swirl the colors.

Once the batter was swirled I added the remaining white batter on the top.

I scraped and scraped to get every drop of white batter on the top.

I dribbled the remaining colored batter in random order on the top.

I began swirling then Alison had the great idea to do a video.

Our favorite part of soap making - swirling!

We put the soap in the curing box and spritzed them with alcohol several times to prevent ash build up - we hope.  

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. 

This is what the soap looked like in the molds after it cured for 24 hours.

We unmolded the sweet patchouli first. It came out of the mold slick as can be. The edges are sharp, there are no ugly tape lines, no uneven sides; the NEW molds are great!

Now we try our new cutter, which worked like a champ. The only problem is that the wooden sides of our homemade cutter are too high.  The handle of the new cutter hits the top of the guide leaving the edge of the blade about 1/2" from the bottom of the soap.  We had to pull the soap out to complete the cut.

This can be fixed!

Sweet Patchouli soap - looks almost identical to first batch we made and smells great.

Amazingly Grace soap, looks very similar to first batch and smells just as good.

These soaps will be cured and ready for sale in six weeks.