My previous post about my horrible experience with 16 pounds of failed soap made me mad and this is a follow up on what's happened since. So if you haven't read Sixteen Pounds Of Heart Breaking Soap Do-Overs Or Throw-Aways? then you might feel lost reading this.
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My dear soap has been put to bed.
{Stupid head}
I cooked that sucker with oil and water and some coconut milk and I stirred and stirred and I stirred and it started to look like a beautiful vat of cooked fudge. My hopes got high and my spirit lifted, but the smell wasn't right... almost ammonia-ey. I tongue tested and zapped myself into oblivion.
I kept cooking added more water kept cooking. I was determined. I smushed every little soap bit into mush and I stirred and stirred and stirred.
Fudgey. Smooth. Got zapped again two hours later. You know, soap tastes revolting if you've never tasted it, I'll save you the trouble of feeling the urge to know if maybe it tastes good. Nope. This was chocolate soap and soap is soap, no matter what scent it is. I'm sure it was nice to watch me make a nasty face, spit a few times in the trash can and run over to grab a lollipop to kill the flavor. Bleh.
My arm was exhausted, my hand cramped and I even think I wrecked a nerve between my thumb and my index finger because it hurts like a MUTHA! So now I am mad at my soap.
I've learned my lesson. Don't leave lye solution out for three days and expect to make soap with it. I'm still learning.
That was just a ton of soap to learn with. I still say: BAD SOAP!
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10 comments:
UGH! I'm sorry that you had to go through that Joanna. What a pain!
I've never really had a GOOD experience with rebatching. Left one of the oils out of a double batch (50 bars) of Oatmeal, Milk & Honey once. Realized it when the mold wasn't quite full. It was painful, but I threw it out. I hope your arm & hand feel better soon!!!
bum!
x
You poor thing ... I find it heart-breaking if I have to throw soap away too.
oh poop
oh no - that just SUX! I felt for sure you'd be able to save it. You're not alone though, I lost 12lbs of chocolate soap once and still haven't gotten over it! We live and learn right?
It really is so painful to lose a batch though I've never lost a batch of that size I feel for you. This one is going to sting for a while I'm sorry :(
I feel your pain.
Last week, I decided to use the extra virgin type of olive oil from the same manufacturer I use straight up olive oil from.
Bad idea. Brittle, shitty soap ensued.
3 batches of soap in the trash. Bye-bye green French clay and other expensive additives, too. You would think that extra virgin wouldn't cause this problem. It was the only variable, so it had to be the culprit.
This is what I said to myself for consolation, and it actually worked: This is not the first time you have to throw soap away and it won't be the last.
It stinks, but sometimes, you just have to rip the band-aid off and move on. It's the nature of the business we are in. Imagine how much gets tossed at Lush. I bet a lot.
OK - here's a question for the experts. I was making a split batch of soap (by split I mean I doubled the batch and split it for two different scents/colors at the correct stage in the process - but it was a lot of soap). When I was about to add the scent at trace, I stopped in a cold sweat because all of a sudden I started thinking that I had quadrupled instead of doubled the lye. As you know this is a bad time to start questioning measurements. But I wanted to do something to verify that I wasn't crazy and that the amount of lye was either correct or over. So I quickly weighed the tracing soap again and then calculated how much it should weigh based upon the oils, etc. I had added. It seemed correct, though a bit under. I chalked up the lower weight to water evaporating. Does anyone know though whether the chemical reaction that occurs should or should not change the weight of one's soap and in what direction?
Happy Soaping
Heather
Casadeolivia
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"Don't leave lye solution out for three days and expect to make soap with it. I'm still learning."
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