Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Soaping update

Three week update on my first batch of soap that was then rebatched into this
The color has richened deeeeply into a dark, DARK brown.
The smell remains ABSOLUTELY amazing, but due to the high HIGH amount of Dark Rich Chocolate fragrance added in comparison to the Turkish Mocha, it resembles chocolate more-so, with an underlying mocha.  Did you know that in rebatched soap, you don't need to add as much fragrance as in the initial cold process (CP) soap?  So, yes folks... these bars pack a whopper of smells!!!!!

Two little slivers of edging had been cut off the ends, and being almost three weeks into curing, I jumped into testing the soap out yesterday!
NOTE:  Go EAAAAASY on the coffee grounds, folks!  This most definitely is going to be a soap I keep in the kitchen, which is typically where we wash up after being outside in the garden.  The coffee grounds are an EXCELLENT exfoliating and scrubbing additive!
Recall: 1/4 cup of grounds had been added to the 850g batch

Three week UPDATE on the original FIRST-EVER bar of soap, made by yours truly:  
There were a few things that lead me to rebatching my first soap...
#1)  There was a concerning 'off' odor, almost like spoiled milk, that the bars had.  Uggghers!  {{Come to find out, that odor was nothing to be concerned with.  The one lil' bar I kept no longer had the odor about 2 weeks into curing.}}
#2)  The cuts were horrendous!  Check out the rebatch post to see if you agree!
#3)  Jeni, my soaping MENTOR, dropped off an old 2 lb mold she no longer used AND a small collection of fragrance oils she wasn't interested in.  I mean---hel-LO!  It was like divine intervention!  I HAD to play with a rebatch!!!!!

Anyway---that one lil' bar I kept out of the rebatch has now reached its three-week old birthday.  It was time for a test-run!!!!!
This was a simple recipe of 30% coconut oil and 70% olive oil, with the additive of coffee grounds.
Lathered and bubbled decently;  no burning;  a bit 'drying' sensation about 15 minutes after washing (I've read that high amounts of coconut oil may cause this, therefore suggestions say to keep coconut oil amounts <=30%).
After placing it in the soap holder and picking it back up a minute or two later, there was almost a slime-like appearance to it, but after another 10 minutes of drying, it was back to a muted, solid bar of soap.  

No other soaps have been test-run yet; they (not-so?) patiently await their turn...
Caitlyn's Lemon Energy yogurt soap

Spiced Amber Ale yogurt soap
(with parsley flakes)

Oatmeal & Honey yogurt soap
Ginger Patchouli Oatmeal & Honey yogurt soap

Cherry Explosion yogurt soap
(my first experience of a soap partially gelling -- I'm not a fan)

2 comments:

Deb A said...

Oh, sounds yummy! Is it normally a three week wait on trying out the bars? I'm curious to see how that yogurt one comes out =)

gayle said...

The follow-up information is very helpful! That's the kind of thing I've never seen on soap-making sites - it's mostly just 'Soap is Wonderful' and 'Here's How to Make It!', but nothing much after 'let it cure'...
I'm really enjoying your adventures in soap!