# tonight is the night!



## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

I have all of my oils/butters/scents in and my Lye FINALLY got here(I think that it took 4 weeks!) I have put my recipe thru soapcalc. I have my molds to use, bowls, mixers and so much goat milk frozen that I have no more room to freeze more. I need this soap so badly for my horses/dogs that it will be my first soap. I figure if they do not think it is pretty that it will not matter 

If I pour my bars thinner will they "cure" faster? My log molds are not in yet so I was going to pour into drawer dividers.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

In theory you would think a smaller bar might cure faster but I don't know that it does. I prefer discounting the liquid but I wouldn't recommend that for your first batches.


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## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

I did it!!! The goat milk handled much easier than I expected. The neem oil was much more stinky than I expected. I made much more mess than I expected. What do you use to get the EO's out of the bottles? They do not pour well - also EO's dissolve plastic.


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## kidsngarden (Oct 28, 2007)

Isn't it amazing what those eo's can do? It's why I laugh when people think that EO's are "safer" than FO's! I've had some serious irritation from eo's direct contact before, but never FO's so I always laugh at that.

Take a drinking straw, cut it into about a 2 inch length, hold the straw over the top of the bottle opening so it goes across (like a straw "bridge" over the opening) and pour while holding the straw on top with your index finger. The liquid will follow the length of the straw, not dribble down the bottle. 

I hope I explained that right. I got it from another board and it has saved tons of expensive spills!

It would seem to be a thinner bar would cure faster - less thickness to evaporate out of.

Neem is very smelly, pair with patchouli and it does ok.


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## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

Thanks for the straw suggestion! The smelly neem combined with the Karanja Oil and Citronella EO is overpowering in my kitchen - I will let it cure/dry in my AC tack room. Hopefully this will be a winner to use on my horses - Humidity = fungus here - always a battle.


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## Faye Farms (Sep 14, 2009)

Congrats on your first soap! If you are measuring out a smaller amount of EO/FO you can also just take your straw and dip it into the EO, put your finger on the top of the straw and then pull it out. The fragrance will stay in the straw as long as you keep your finger on the top of the straw. I like to do this if I have a really full new bottle of fragrance. Even with Bethany's trick (which I do) if you have a really full bottle of EO is doesn't pour out very good until the level is down a bit.


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## Carolyn (Oct 27, 2007)

We have some glass custard cups that we use, some little stainless cups that we got at WM. Yeah Dragons Blood melted the litte cup the first time we used it. What a mess.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Hmmm, I'm not following the straw suggestion. I hate it when I dribble/spill fragrance or EO. I will use pipettes for smaller amounts and with something I do frequently I will figure out how much I need in liquid measurements (tablespoons, 1/8 cup, etc). I find that easier than weighing. because I can put the edge of the bottle right on the measuring container. Hmm, thinking about that, I should figure that for all my FOs. LOL

I learned about EOs melting plastic early on but never thought to mention it to customers who think they only want EOs.


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## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

Boy did I panick (actually I was in tears) I had put my soap in a 150 degree oven last night. This morning my son came out and upset me so much that I forgot about the soap and turned the oven on. By the time I remembered the oven was 270, the mold tops had started to melt and the soap was a soft oily mess.

Luckily by the time I got back upstairs(after feeding horses/goats/chickens/dogs/cats and birds) It had firmed up enough to cut it and to get it out of the melted mold. I do think that my lye was a little low due to the surface oils - or I put to much spray on the mold.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Oh Cathy!!!! EVERY TIME I put soap in the oven I put a piece of tape with the words "DO NOT USE" over the oven temp knob. I don't trust myself not to forget and there are too many here to might use the oven besides myself.


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## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

Well the soap survived and the molds were only a couple of $. I did make another batch yesterday using a cardboard box as a mold with a new scent - actually all of my EO's are new - Euphoria from Crafter's Choice - I now go around sniffing my hands it smells so good. 

When I combine my lye to my GM it stays a light creamy color but when I combine the lye/gm to the oils it turns tan then in the oven it turns dark brown. Do you have to CP only for a light color gm soap?


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## kidsngarden (Oct 28, 2007)

What oils are you using? I have predominately lard soap and it can stay pretty darn white. I've never had the soap turn when I've added the lye/milk to the oils. Are your oils hot? I do think OP makes it darker, that was my experience, but it could be your FO too.


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## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

My oils were coconut/Olive/castor/shea & mango butter/jojoba. They were all mixed together and 100 degrees. The Euphoria is an EO blend.

Maybe I should try using lard.


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## kidsngarden (Oct 28, 2007)

High amounts of unrefined shea or olive won't produce a really white bar, but that's like 50% or so. I heat my oils until the are melted enough to mix together and then they are generally cooled to Room temp and used at RT. I make masterbatches so my oils are always room temp. I don't go by the 100 degree thing. I never use a thermometer - ever.


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## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

Well that is good to know. My first batch was only 80 degrees and I thought that I had messed up by not having the oil hotter. My gm/lye was also at 80 degrees so I went for it. I am going to try a different recipe tonight. This is very addicting. My Vicki molds get here next week!


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