A Soap A Day Project: Day 15

 

Soap From Friday! This actually took the weekend to make. The reason: I was making it in between other production so I only had time to pour one color each hour. Making just one soap like this is actually more difficult than making a whole loaf. In a loaf mold this would be a cross section, but because this was the flat top of one soap, I had to pour the color, then cut a strip and pour color next to it, then cut, then pour, then cut, and so on.

So, the whole time I was making this I was thinking about how inefficient it was to create. Efficiency is not the point of this project so I wasn't worried about that, but all weekend I thought about ways to make my processes more efficient so I can produce more with the same or fewer resources, including less man power, simpler but equally as gorgeous design, less time, and less packaging. I especially focused on packaging and resources as they are my little hang up with making soap.


Water: I think I can save 75% - 80%!
Water is a HUGE concern for me. We are so wasteful with potable water! I live in a dessert and people here want to make it look like the UK with all the grass and other water sucking plants that we maintain. My husband and I rent a house and it has a lawn which makes me a little sick. REALLY! There isn't much I can do about it except let it go brown and dormant during the summer, which I do, and which annoys my neighbors. Oh, well, I am not wasting 100 gallons of drinking water a week to maintain a lawn that I don't use and that shouldn't be planted here anyway. When I see hug complexes with rolling emerald patches of lawn it hurts me inside. REALLY!

I currently use too much water to wash soap making dishes. How can I run the water less?
1) Soak, melt and pour melting containers immediately when the soap is still liquid. Run the sponge over them to clean with the soaking water and then rinse quickly! Or, let the soap set up a little then peel it out of the container so there is less to wash.
2) For Cold Process, soak the utensils in soapy water and again, clean off with the soaking water then rinse quickly.
This is all to prevent me running the water as I am scrubbing with the sponge.
3) For the Cold Process pots, let them sit overnight until the soap sets up and then scrape most of it off. They can then be soaked and cleaned with the method above, but I can do it outside over the lawn and ornamental plants. I have done this before when soaping in 5 gallon buckets and the soap doesn't seem to harm the plants so I am just going to to this with ALL of my CP batches. I am going to say this will keep the tap off 75% - 80% more than it currently is!

This will take more time, and I will need more pots and containers as some will have soap setting up in them when I need a pot for a new batch of soap. Saving potable water is worth a little extra time, but I can still be productive while pots and containers are soaking. As with everything it will be more efficient in an assembly line fashion so I will just make washing an assembly line task!

Packaging is the next task to overhaul! I am moving towards all biodegradable and less less less! Stay Tuned!

The Art of Soap - a book by Debbie Chialtas of Soapylove

I am constantly amazed by how much people love soap! I get emails, chats and posts on my Facebook fan page from lovers of soap, users with new appreciation and budding soapmakers looking for advice, all praising the idea of soap and the process of making it. Since its invention soap has been here to stay. Soap, that utilitarian staple of human cleanliness (modern usage also for cats and dogs), that modest brick in standard scents like “Dove” and “Irish Spring”. After entering the world of soap making almost four years ago, I felt like I was stepping into the beginning of a soap revolution. I have watched soap making evolve into an exploration of custom fragrances, exotic and ancient ingredients, and wild to mild colors, with soap makers pushing the boundaries of artistic soap design, each with a unique visual perspective – an intimate expression of themselves. After all, as soap makers don’t we all dream of making what we ultimately would like to bathe with?

Soap is no longer modest but is screaming to be front and center.

A woman at the forefront of this soap revolution is Debbie Chialtas of Soapylove, a good friend and a master artisan of glycerin soap. She has conceived an idea in the process of fruition. A book dedicated to the varying aesthetics in soap and the stories behind the bars. Simply: The Art of Soap. When she asked me to photograph the book I didn’t hesitate.

Follow the progress of the book here: http://theartofsoapbook.blogspot.com/

You can see Debbie's amazing soaps here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soapylove/

Debbie's blog: http://soapylove.blogspot.com/

Tutorial: Sweet Treats Mini Soap Chocolates

I always love to give handmade goodies for holidays and I think these little soap chocolates are the perfect Valentine's Day gift for a sweetheart or even friends and co-workers. They are simple and budget friendly! I hope you enjoy it!

Materials:

• 12 oz. of Bright White glycerin soap

• 8 oz. of Naturally Clear plus 4 oz. of Bright White glycerin soap

• two, 2 cup microwave safe glass measuring cups

• 2 plastic droppers

• Wilton Bite size brownie squares pan

• Strawberry Fragrance Oil

• Dark Rich Chocolate Fragrance Oil

• Non Bleed Red Liquid Color

• Brown Oxide Liquid Color

• two, 2 or 4 oz. Plastic Squeeze Bottles

• Rubbing Alcohol in a Spray Bottle

a simmering pan of water (optional)

Directions:

1) Melt 12 oz of white soap in microwave - about 2 minutes. Add 6 drops of Non bleed red color, less or more depending on how light or dark you would like your pink, and 4 ml of Strawberry Fragrance. Set aside

2) Melt 8 oz of clear soap base plus 4 oz. of white soap base in microwave - about 2 minutes, Add 30 drops of Brown Liquid Oxide, more or less depending on how light or dark you would like the chocolate color, and 4 ml of Rich Dark Chocolate Fragrance Oil. 

here are the colors you are looking to get

3) Pour about 1 oz of pink soap into one squeeze bottle and about 1 oz of Chocolate Brown soap into the other squeeze bottle. If the soap starts to set up, place the bottles in a pan of simmering water until the soap is liquid again.

4) Working in only 12 of the mold cavities, make thin lines of soap across the mold in a diagonal motion using one of the soap colors. You may get a little pooling depending on how hot the soap is – this is ok! Repeat in the remaining 12 cavities with the other soap color. Let set for about 5 minutes.

I make the lines across the entire mold but if you are less messy than me,  you can concentrate the lines within the individual cavities. The lines will just be thicker if you do that.

5) Make sure the soap in the glass containers is at about 120 degrees, not too hot to melt the soap and not too cool to look goopy. Let cool or heat as needed. Spray the brownie mold with a generous amount of rubbing alcohol coating all of the soap lines. 

6) Pour the pink soap in the mold cavities with chocolate brown stripes and the chocolate brown soap in the mold cavities with the pink stripes. Spray with rubbing alcohol to remove air bubbles and let set about 1 hour until the soap is completely firm.

 

 

7) Pop out of the mold and you are done!

Variation: Once you get the hang of the squeeze bottles you can make other designs such as hearts, swirls or dots.

Packaging ideas:

Stack soaps in a wide mouth glass apothecary jar. Decorate with an antique key to your heart and a handmade heart tag and finish with ribbon!

 

4 soaps fit perfectly in a 3.25 in square by 1 inch box. Add a little paper shred in the bottom of the box, place soaps, and finish with a ribbon and handmade tag.

Add pink wood shred to the bottom of a shallow tin and fill with soaps! What  a nice surprise when the lucky recipient opens the box!

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