So, Blogtober rolls on and, to be totally honest, here at the halfway point, I’m suffering from a bit of blogging apathy. I’m certain it’s temporary, and I’m absolutely not giving up (are you cheering or groaning?? 😀 ) but I am glad that today is my usual weekly update day and I don’t have to come up with something new!
Despite only having a few more weeks in which to squeeze in Christmas soap making, I only managed to make two double batches this week – Clarity & Tutti Frutti:
You probably won’t remember that I made two batches of Clarity the week before too. Unfortunately they proved, shall we say, problematic – the first one I cut had developed soda ash throughout the bar (or is it a partial gel?) which in a black bar is really ugly. How bad does this look?!
I’ve seen photos of this before, but never experienced it, and I was absolutely gutted – it’s throughout BOTH loaves. I had read that it could be because the oils & butters weren’t completely transparent when I added the lye (ie too cold) – which is perfectly possible as I soap at room temperature, so for my second lot this week I made sure that the oil mixture was completely, utterly, thoroughly, melted… And the same thing happened again. 6kg of soap spoilt… Gahh!! I’ve ALWAYS made this the same way – nothing has changed. Anyway, I’ll be upping the temps for the next batch and hope that that does the trick.
I released the Christmas soaps (Candy Cane, Frosted Christmas Tree & Warm Gingerbread) for pre-orders this week – they’ll be ready by the 21st October and orders, both wholesale and retail, have started coming in…I KNOW it probably feels early to many of you but I got caught out last year – retail outlets wanted to stock Christmas items immediately after Halloween, so really, I’m only just ready…
The rest of my time has been spent wrapping and labelling LOADS of bars for the *crosses fingers* Christmas rush.
Oh, and I think I have redesigned my labels. I’ve not been totally happy with mine for the longest time, and I’m quite excited about the new look, but all will be revealed in due course.
Thanks for reading – I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully reinvigorated and ready for another fortnight of daily blogging!
Vickx
Jeez – I hope I didn’t put the mockers on you!! Sounds like my sort of CP problem (and the reason for my progression to HP). LOVE those Christmas soaps tho’ – nice work!!
Ah I just think it was my turn lol… Thanks 🙂
Me? I’m cheering – and loudly too! I love your blog.
Soap gremlins, huh? Man, I hate it when they visit.
Assuming it is a partial gel, how about a limited edition of ‘whispering cauldron’ ? !!! Chopped up or grated for embeds? Can you tell I get a lot of practice trying to put a positive spin on stuff?Though my usual response is to hide under the duvet until it feels safe to come out again!!
Aw, too bad. 🙁 I can’t tell very accurately from the picture whether it’s soda ash or partial gel. I am guessing partial gel due to the black in the center. Could it be they changed one of your ingredients like your fragrance without you knowing? I get partial gel when the fragrance misbehaves. Even had this happen with a fragrance that I used many times and come to find out they had made changes to it. It will still be viable soap, but at least it discolored in a pretty pattern. Maybe a halloween soap possibility (I like your witches cauldron thought).
Ok, I could swear just moments ago reading your article and thinking you said you could repackage it as a Halloween soap and call it “witches cauldron”. Now I re-read the article and don’t see it. I guess it was my thought. No wonder I liked it. I am losing it! Clearly!
Oh that would be a great idea EXCEPT it won’t be ready until the end of Nov… hmmmm…
I’m veering towards partial gel too…but I’m using the same bottles of EO’s that I’ve used before. Anyhow, I’ve mustered the courage to try it again this morning and I’ve gone so far as to CPOP it – it’s in the oven as I write, so we’ll see!!
Hi Vicki!
I know how frustrating this can be. I have a few ideas – I hope they work (let me know).
Soapish has a YouTube video on how to fix partial gel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_8a-nIiHdU
I would try steaming them – you may have to do that several times. I would also plane a few and see if it’s just on the top.
Hope one of these works…otherwise I see a chunky embed soap in the future and or a soap sale (or donation). Just don’t throw it out!! You will come up with some other ideas too!
Your tops are SO gorgeous – you need to do a little video on the making of the tops! (In all your spare time, of course 🙂
Sly
Oh thanks so much for your input Sly – I’ve just watched the video – AMAZING! I’m going to try that tonight – watch this space!!
I’ve tried making (yet another) fresh batch this morning and CPOPped both batches in the hope of forcing gel, keep your fingers crossed for me 😉
[…] what to do with the other 6kg of spoiled soap? Well, in the comments section of this post where I also shared my ‘fail’, Sly of Soaps by Sly was kind enough to share a video of […]