Adventures With The Sage

Transparent Melt and Pour Soap
Loofah
Orange Pigment Powder
Green Pigment Powder
Yellow Pigment Powder
Citrus Blend Fragrance
Scale
Pipette
Rubbing Alcohol in Spray Bottle
Mold
Microwave safe Dish

Instructions:

1. Cut loofah into 3 slices; small enough to fit into mold

2. Weigh and then melt soap base in microwave or double boiler (I used 7 oz)

3. Add Fragrance oil to melted soap.

4. Divide soap and pour into 3 separate cups. Add pigments to each cup of soap.

5. Pour a thin layer of soap from each cup evenly between the three cavities. Spritz on top of soap with rubbing alcohol to disperse air bubbles. Allow to cool.

6. When a film appears on each layer of soap (blow top of soap to check) spritz loofah slices with rubbing alcohol and then place onto the thin layer of soap. Pour the remaining melted soap over the loofah slice.

7. When soap has completely cooled and hardened, pop out of mold and your done!

Hope you enjoyed!

Nina

I gathered ingredients and tools to have everything handy.

I used an electric soap melter that I picked up at a local thrift store. It takes a little longer to melt than the microwave but makes pouring a breeze.

Then I colored a small amount of the soap with violet mica.

Filled mold about 3/4 of the way full.

I scooped Melt and Pour Transparent Soap. I use a sturdy ice cream scoop. It seems to cut through it a little easier.

I started with filling about 1/2 of this mold with transparent Melt and Pour Soap.

Stirred until all clumps of mica are distributed.

I let the soap set a few minutes to harden slightly. I sprayed the item to embed with alcohol.

I placed the item into the soap being sure the entire item would be completely covered by the soap.

Items waiting for next layer.

I stirred until all clumps are dissolved.

Here I added copper mica to melted soap. (My Grandson helped me with this soap.)

Added Oak Leaves and Acorns fragrance.

I placed item to embed into soap being sure it was upside down!

I covered the item with the remaining soap being sure to fill all the way to the top of the mold.

I let the soap sit a couple of hours to harden. Because this mold was not flexible I had to put it in the freezer for a few minutes but then the soap popped right out.

You can see where we didn’t have the mica completely dissipated so it left a few spots but we think it adds to the charm of the soap. The spider turned out great. He’s completely covered with soap but you can still see him.

The soap was still a little soft and the ring wouldn’t stay where I wanted it so I used a straw to help keep it afloat.

I added black mica to a small amount of soap.

I then added black soap to the top of the mold filling it completely.

I stirred until I thought no clumps remained.

I poured a small amount into my mold and let it sit a few minutes to harden slightly so the item would not sink.

Creepy!

Spraying lightly with alcohol to reduce bubbles.

I added a layer of copper mica colored soap to this mold. I let it sit for a few hours and then unmolded it.

You can see the Dinosaur really well through the crystals in this mold.

Oooohh, Aaahh!

You can barely see the ring through the crystals in this mold but enough to make it look like a real “treasure”!

Ingredients/Equipment needed ~ for EMBED soap:
37 oz Clear M&P soap base
8 – 9 oz clear, short SOLO cups (PETE)
8 – .15 cc Scoops
Fractionated Coconut Oil
7 Neon Pigments – Blue, Purple, Pink, Green, Yellow, Orange & Red (Oil soluble & non-bleeding)
1 Mica – Rose Pearl (optional)
Packing paper to protect your counter – Neon’s will stain!
Measuring Spoons
4 cup Pyrex
1 Stainless Steel pot lid that fits over your Pyrex, it will be loose
1 Fat Popsicle stick (to stir soap base in Pyrex)
5 Qt Stainless Steel Pot filled 1/2 way with distilled water
Cutting board
Paring knife
Pot holder for counter
Scale
Embed molds – I used:
Tiny Cubes = tiny ice cube trays (easy to unmold)
Bottle Cubes = bottom half of water bottle ice cube trays (easy to unmold)
Circles = Wilton Candy Melting Plate (this was the hardest to unmold – go figure!)
Alcohol in a spray bottle
XACTO knife to trim embeds – if necessary

Instructions:
Cut up clear M&P soap base and place into a Pyrex cup. Place Pyrex into the 5 qt pot of water – don’t overfill or the water might get into your soap. Turn the stove on to Medium heat. I prefer to melt M&P with the double boiler method rather than using a microwave. Use the method you’re most comfortable with. As the soap begins to melt, stir it with the Popsicle stick once in awhile until completely melted.

While your soap is melting, place packing paper down on your counter. Set out 8 – 9 oz SOLO cups and 8 – .15 cc scoops. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Fractionated Coconut Oil to each cup. Add one .15 cc scoop of each Neon Pigment colorant to each cup. I used 1/4 teaspoon of the Mica in its cup. Using the .15 cc scoop, stir each one until there are no more lumps that you can see. (Note: The Blue & Purple Neon Pigments could have used two .15 cc scoops) Leave the .15 cc scoop in each cup.

While you’re waiting for the soap to melt, stir each colorant/cup again – just to make sure it has dissolved completely – we don’t want any lumps of colorant to show up in our embeds! According to Andee, this is called “Mulling Pigments” – that’s a new word for me!

Once the soap is melted, turn the stove down to Low, but keep the Pyrex in the hot water between pours to keep it melted. Pour some melted M&P into your first SOLO cup/colorant about half full (I’m going to guess around 4 to 4.5 oz for each cup). Put the Pyrex back into the hot water. Using the .15 cc scoop, stir the colorant/soap base quickly (but thoroughly) and pour into your embed molds. Spray with Alcohol to remove any bubbles. Repeat this until all 8 colors/SOLO cups are mixed and poured. Do NOT pour your M&P soap base into every cup upfront – it will solidify quickly! I could only do 4 colorants/cups a day because I did not have enough EMBED molds to complete this part! Save the SOLO cups after you’ve poured your colored M&P soap!

I waited 24 hours before unmolding my tiny cubes, bottle cubes and circles. Then I had to remelt my M&P to finish the last 4 colors…next time (next time?) I’ll buy more ice cube and bottle cube trays so that I can finish this in one day! After unmolding, I stored each colored M&P embeds in their respective (used) SOLO cup.

Ingredients/Equipment needed ~ for OVERPOUR soap:
52 oz Goatsmilk M&P soap base (should be white M&P but I didn’t have any)
1 Fat Popsicle stick (to stir soap base)
5 Qt Stainless Steel Pot filled 1/2 way with distilled water
3 Qt Stainless Steel Pot
Cutting board
Paring knife
Pot holder for counter
Scale
Milky Way Loaf Mold (12 x 3.5w x 3t)
1 oz Blowing Bubbles Fragrance Oil
1/2 teaspoon FDA Approved Brilliant White Mica
12 Embed Circles
120 Embed Tiny Cubes (15 of each color)
9 Embed Bottle Cubes
40 Embed Tiny Cubes (5 of each color)
Alcohol in a spray bottle
LOTS of ventilation!!

Instructions:
Cut up Goatsmilk M&P soap and place in the 3 Qt stainless steel pot. Place this in the 5 Qt pot of water – don’t overfill or the water might get into your soap. Turn the stove on to Medium heat. Stir M&P soap with the Popsicle stick. While this is melting, add 1/2 tsp of the Brilliant White Mica into a shotglass. Add the Fragrance Oil to the shotglass and stir until it is mixed thoroughly.

Once melted, add the Mica/FO to the soap base. Stir well. This really didn’t whiten my Goatsmilk M&P base that much. Should have used White M&P, then I wouldn’t have to use any whitener. Turn the stove down to Low.

Important: Figure out your layout in the mold before you start!

Are you ready??!! You can not afford ANY interruptions for this part! OK, here we go!!
1) Pour small amount of Goatsmilk M&P soap into Loaf Mold – about 1/2″ thick.
2) Spray with alcohol.
3) Spray each circle with alcohol liberally and place on top of Goatsmilk M&P soap, flat side facing you — do this quickly before the M&P has a chance to set up. Also, push each circle down into the Goatsmilk M&P soap.
4) Once you have all 12 circles in, spray with alcohol again.
5) Wait 15 minutes.
6) Make sure you keep your Goatsmilk M&P soap in the water between pours to keep it warm/melted.
7) Pour large amount of Goatsmilk M&P soap.
Spray with alcohol.
9) Grab a handful of tiny cubes and spray liberally with alcohol and dump into Goatsmilk M&P soap.
10) Spray and dump – spray and dump — try to remember where your last dump was!
11) Keep doing this until all tiny cubes are gone (I used 120 tiny cubes).
12) Spray top with alcohol again.
13) Wait 15 – 20 minutes.
14) Spray a bottle cube with alcohol liberally and place on top of loaf, flat side down.
15) Keep doing this until all bottle cubes are gone (I used 9 bottle cubes).
16) Spray the loaf with alcohol again.
17) Pour the rest of the Goatsmilk M&P soap into loaf.
18) Spray with alcohol.
19) Grab a handful of tiny cubes and spray liberally with alcohol and dump into Goatsmilk M&P soap.
20) Spray and dump – spray and dump — try to remember where your last dump was!
21) Keep doing this until all tiny cubes are gone (I used 40 tiny cubes – could have used more than this).
22) Spray top with alcohol again.
23) Ta Da!! You’re done! Now let it sit for 48 hours – do not move it!

Now you’re ready to unmold and cut!

Supplies needed:
Wooden Loaf Cutter (or whatever you have – a miter box might work!)
Crinkle Cutter
2 – 4 x 6 Shrink wrap bags (for ends of loaf)
10 – 6 x 6 Shrink wrap bags
Heat resistant cutting board
Heat Gun
Impulse Cutter/Sealer

After cutting your bars, place each bar in a 6 X 6 shrink bag. I had to cut the bags on the sides and top. The 4 x 6 bags were just too small for my bars. After cutting the bag, I wrapped it against the bar and taped it shut – like wrapping a present. Or use an Impulse Cutter/Sealer, if you have one. Turn the heat gun on Low. Shrink the sides first, then the top and back last. Do this quickly or you run the risk of melting your soap. I don’t worry about this with CP, but M&P is a whole different beast!! ;o)

Enjoy!

Notes:
If you don’t have the tiny ice cube trays, pour your colored, M&P soap into drawer dividers about 1/2″ thick. Let it cool then cut into strips, then cubes ~ wish I had thought of that on Day 1 ;o)

If you use the double boiler method, I found that melting M&P in a stainless steel pot melts a lot quicker than using a Pyrex cup.

I did not use the freezer for any part of this. The freezer method tends to leave dew on the embeds, plus it’s too cold to use as embeds in a warm/hot over-pour.

Remember ~ alcohol is your friend! If you don’t use alcohol, your layers will come apart. The alcohol dissipates – so don’t worry about using too much! You cannot smell any alcohol whatsoever – just that wonderful fragrance oil!

Do not scent your Embeds ~ I have alot left over which I can use on another batch. It’s best to over-scent your overpour soap.

Rules:
1) Submit a picture to show the soap. You can show us the whole process or just the finished soaps.
2) Tell us about your opinions of the process.
3) Any mold, soap, or embeddable is open.
4) Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Submissions will be due by October 18th. Each guest writer will receive a $25 gift certificate for their participation.

Happy Soaping!

Bacon Style Soap for Father’s Day

Here my trial at the bacon soap contest for Father’s Day. It doesn’t look as similar to bacon as the one you showed on your blog, but I hope my dad will enjoy using it.

Ingredients:

- 100 g of Coconut Oil (20%)
- 75 g of Vegetable Shortening (15%)
- 250 g of Olive Oil (50%)
- 50 g of Safflower Oil (10%)
- 25 g of Beeswax (5%)
- 170 mL of Water
- 66 g Lye (about 5.5% excess fat)

At trace:

- 1.5 tsp of Blueberry Flavor Oil
- 3 tbsp of reduced red wine for the red color of the soap

Equipment:

- Safety equipment (goggles, rubber glove, long sleeve shirt, long pants and covered shoes);
- Molds (I use little plastic containers) and mineral oil for coating;
- Stainless steel cooking pot;
- 2 spatulas;
- 2 thermometers;
- Scale;
- Graduated measuring cup for measuring water;
- Heatproof glass container for mixing lye solution;
- Whisk;
- Old blanket
- Sponges

Directions:

1- Prepare the workspace. Make sure there are plenty of clean working space and good airflow.

2- Gather all safety equipments. I use a long sleeve lab coat, pants and covered shoes that I won’t mind get ruin if a spill happens. A pair of rubber glove and safety goggles. I also make sure that I am close to a source of water and have some vinegar and sponges in case of a spill.

3- Gather all your ingredients. Measure each ingredient. I make sure I am wearing all the safety equipments from the moment I start working with the lye. Prepare the molds. I use mineral oil to coat my plastic molds.

4- Mix the water and lye in the heatproof container until total dissolution of the lye crystals. Make sure you don’t breath the fumes coming out of the solution. They are temporary. Set aside.

5- Slowly heat the oils in the stainless steel pot until everything is melted. Take the pot off the heat source.

6- Once the oils and the lye solution are about 110 F, slowly pour the lye solution into the oils stirring constantly with the whisk. Keep stirring at a good pace until a light trace occurs. With a whisk it takes me about 10 to 15 minutes.

7- At light trace, add the flavor oil and mix well.

8- Take about half the soap solution into another container. Set aside. Add the reduced red wine to the other half of the soap solution and mix well.

9- Pour the soap with red wine to fill half of the plastic molds. Then slowly pour the other half of the soap solution to fill out the rest of the molds.

10- Cover the soap molds with the old blanket and let sit for at least 24 hr or until firm.

11- Take the soap out of the molds, cut in desired size and let cure in a cool dry place for four weeks.

Personal notes on the recipe:

The ingredients in my vegetable shortening included canola, soybean and palm oil. I use soybean to calculate the amount of lye needed since it is the oil that takes the less lye among the three.

I use red wine that I simmer until all the alcohol was evaporated and the liquid reduced by half. I was hoping the red wine would give a light red color to the soap. However, the slight yellow color of the olive oil and the blueberry flavor oil gave the soap more of a brownish color than red when mixed with the wine.

To transport my soap I wrap it in a dry wash cloth, that so it can breathe. I once used plastic bags but my soap would become wet and slimy. I keep that specific wash cloth dry during my travels so I don’t chance mildew beginning to grow.

I want to see how everyone else travels with their soap. Therefore, I have a challenge for everyone. Write a description and send some photos on how you travel with your soap. I will post them next Thursday so everyone else can see your ideas. I am so excited! I am sure I can find some gifts for those that send in ideas.

This recipe uses bacon fat. This isn’t the best soap recipe out there and there are several issues with this recipe.

Issues:
1) This recipe uses volume measurements! Ack! Volume can vary in weight and each person scoops ingredients differently. For example, a cup of flour that has been packed into the measuring cup has a different weight than a cup of sifted flour. Check it out and see for yourself!

2) The author, Tim King, doesn’t discuss the safety measures of making soap. The most he mentions is a brief warning about wearing gloves when handling the lye. He doesn’t mention eye protection at all!

3) He cools his both his oils and lye mixture to 100° Fahrenheit! “The temperature of a hot shower,” he says. Is he inviting people to stick their bare hands into the lye solution? We have found that making soap at that low of a temperature can lead to the soap not being able to produce enough heat to saponify the fat correctly.

4) He handstirred this soap, while this isn’t a bad thing, I’m just not willing to dedicate 2 or so hours to hand stirring the soap just to reach trace. I told some of the gals in the office that I love my immersion blender now and they just laughed at me.

5) He didn’t mention needing to coat the mold/glass baking pan with something that will allow the soap to come out easily. I’ve told many of you before, that in order to have your soap come out of the mold smoothly, use a non-saponifiable oil such as Mineral Oil, Vaseline, or Silicone Spray. This is critical when the mold is inflexible.