Feeling better after yesterday's adventures but I still didn't feel quite up to doing anything too crazy...
So I made a double batch of soap!
A customer had ordered a batch of "Sweet Magnolia and Orange Blossom" and I thought that I might as well just double it and have an extra batch for the shop. It's a popular soap and I've made it numerous times, only this time, I wanted to do a little bit of improvisation with the design.
I also have plans to make a new baby soap in the future, so I wanted to get a head start on the oil infusions for that batch. I sterilized two mason jars, and started my chamomile infusion in one, and my calendula infusion in the other. There are a few different ways to infuse oil, but I didn't want to wait the 8 weeks for the "slow" method, so I went ahead and got it infusing using the crockpot method.
After that, it was time to start prepping for my batch.
I decided to film this batch for my YouTube channel, so I had to pull out my video equipment as well. Batteries were charged for my camera, and my tripod was ready to go, unfortunately, one of my lights had broken so I had to make due with a single light. (I think I'll bump up the brightness and curves later in editing.)
Got everything all laid out and started measuring my oils. The hard oils, of course, go in their own separate bowl for melting before they're added to the liquid oils, and the lye solution is made separately in a stainless steel pitcher placed in an ice bath. (The lye solution heats up so fast and the ice bath helps to keep the temperature manageable.)
Once melted, the hard oils are added to the soft, the lye solution is added (when it's within 15 degrees of the combined hard/soft oils), and it's stick-blended to emulsification. Once emulsified, the fragrance oil can be added and the batch can be split, colored, and then dropped into the mold and swirled as you would like.
For the first of the batches, I did my traditional swirl of pink, orange, and white. A hanger swirl moving up and down and then finishing in a swoopy "S"-pattern. Topped the white top with a bit more of the leftover pink and orange and then textured the top with a plastic spoon. This first batch's design was 100% like my original... top and all.
For the second batch, I was running out of time. I had had to pause the filming when I took a call from animal control (rabies test came back negative, thank goodness!) and the batter had thickened up more than I had wanted with the wait and the water discount I had done. I ended up keeping it a three-color soap, but doing a random "plop" and then a "spoon swirl", only using the handle of a large plastic spoon/ladle to make the swirl more dramatic. After that, I textured the top by doing a flat, non-raised top that swirled the pink, orange and white together. (I may decide to plane it after I cut it. I'll have to see.)
So I made a double batch of soap!
A customer had ordered a batch of "Sweet Magnolia and Orange Blossom" and I thought that I might as well just double it and have an extra batch for the shop. It's a popular soap and I've made it numerous times, only this time, I wanted to do a little bit of improvisation with the design.
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| Oil infusions before going into the crockpot. |
After that, it was time to start prepping for my batch.
I decided to film this batch for my YouTube channel, so I had to pull out my video equipment as well. Batteries were charged for my camera, and my tripod was ready to go, unfortunately, one of my lights had broken so I had to make due with a single light. (I think I'll bump up the brightness and curves later in editing.)
 |
| Hard oils before being melted. |
Once melted, the hard oils are added to the soft, the lye solution is added (when it's within 15 degrees of the combined hard/soft oils), and it's stick-blended to emulsification. Once emulsified, the fragrance oil can be added and the batch can be split, colored, and then dropped into the mold and swirled as you would like.
For the first of the batches, I did my traditional swirl of pink, orange, and white. A hanger swirl moving up and down and then finishing in a swoopy "S"-pattern. Topped the white top with a bit more of the leftover pink and orange and then textured the top with a plastic spoon. This first batch's design was 100% like my original... top and all.
For the second batch, I was running out of time. I had had to pause the filming when I took a call from animal control (rabies test came back negative, thank goodness!) and the batter had thickened up more than I had wanted with the wait and the water discount I had done. I ended up keeping it a three-color soap, but doing a random "plop" and then a "spoon swirl", only using the handle of a large plastic spoon/ladle to make the swirl more dramatic. After that, I textured the top by doing a flat, non-raised top that swirled the pink, orange and white together. (I may decide to plane it after I cut it. I'll have to see.)
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| Double batch of "Sweet Magnolia and Orange Blossom" cold process soap. |
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