Session 3, Using some colour...

Soaps made 12/09/2015 but first a few equipment updates....

Look what I found by accident in my potting shed herb boxes, perfect for soap molds.

Even with a liner full of bugs and webs.

Unfortunately when I scrubbed the boxes the writing scrubbed off too, I would have like to keep that.

I made liners out of cutting boards thanks to Iona for the tutorial on that idea. 

I also made myself a wooden mould/mold to hold my tall skinny silicone liner, yup, made it myself!

It could have been just a quarter inch taller but this was the size wood I had available and at least the bottom of the mould will keep the bottom of the loaf flat, that is, the liner isn't hanging in the mould.

Soap 5....

So, this session I wanted to add some colour and a little fragrance.  I'm still using my original, years old supply of essential oils but have added some colours to my supplies, this batch I'm using white glitter, carnival green and purple passion coloured micas and Titanium Dioxide (not shown) along with Lavender, Bergamot and Roman Chamomile essential oils.

My own dried lavender sprinkled down the middle

Update 24/10/2015

Min net weight 150gms

 Soap 6....Next batch....

Eucalyptus, Lemon and Bergamot essential oils with carnival green, tropical green, white glitter, black pearl and lemon yellow micas and Titanium Dioxide for the colours.

Making a frame to hold the towels.

Decided this time to gell my soaps up on the back of my Aga stove, they are not sitting directly on the stove but on a counter top at the back, it is warm up there but I left the soaps there overnight then moved the loaves to a cooler spot to cool down.

Un-molding the loaves after 24 hours, maybe should have waited a little longer for the lavender bar, it was still a little soft but I was impatient to see what was inside.

I made a slight modification to my naive cutter to help me cut straighter bars.

I used my own dried lavender to decorate the tops of the lilac bars, I maybe wish I hadn't as the buds oxidised but apparently this always happens, I'm going to add a bit of mica and glitter to disguise this and may rethink for next time....

I'm a bit disapointed that I didn't keep any white to brighten the tops of the green eucalyptus bars, there will be a next time.

I'm really pleased with the swirls hidden inside on both of these soaps, I think they look fabulous, I can't wait to try this technique again to see what hides inside next time.

In this session I tried out both sizes of my new moulds, the tall skinny one and the large wide bar mould to see which I like best? Verdicts in, I like them both, at first I thought the bars a little big but over the last few days I have gotten used to the size. The lavender bars wiegh in at 5-5.5oz before curing and the green eucalyptus and lemon bars weigh in at around 5oz before curing.

I will have to wait a few weeks before trying these, but don't really want to use them, I like to just look at them, I have a couple of small of cuts/samples that I could try soon......

Update 24/10/2015

Lilac and Lace Min net weight 150gms

Celtic Swirls Min net weight 130gms