05.25.07
Posted in Everyday Journal at 6:38 am by admin
I have a few soaps that require special recipes or care, and today I did the Orange Cinnamon soap, which is so popular wih one of my retail shops. It must be made in small batches because it has a slice of orange on the top. Not only do I have to slice those oranges thin enough, they must look pretty and uniform. Then they must be perfectly placed, and finally I have to cut the batch so that each cake of soap is as uniform in size as possible, given the varying orange slice sizes. It never comes out right! Oranges are too big or they mush up as I slice. They’re too thick or too thin. Or even though I think I’m putting them on straight, there’s no way to cut the bars in a straight line.
For each batch I plan a new strategy. And I always wait until I have a day where I can devote full attention to what I’m doing. This time I changed the essential oil blend slightly and added guiacawood, which has a nice, spicy fragrance. And I “notched” the top of the soap after putting it in the mold to help place those slices. Actually, the whole process went remarkably well today, so I head home tonight a happy camper … green tea on the drying racks and cinnamon orange waiting to be cut … in relatively straight lines!
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05.08.07
Posted in Everyday Journal at 10:47 am by admin
The Green Tea soap did lighten as it set up. I’m not sure the fragrance combination is what I was going for, but probably it’s too early to tell. Sometimes you have to wait to see how the essential oil blends develop as they live together.
One of my new favorites, I’m pretty sure — Green Tea & Mint Soap
A few days later — Now that the Green Tea soap is on the drying rack, it’s growing on me. As the essential oils blend, I like the delicate lime and mint combination. Of course, nothing is as good as getting it out there and seeing how people respond to it. The color looks OK too. The brown has faded to a golden tan shade. If anything, I’d use less green next time for the swirl.
Sharon
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05.02.07
Posted in Everyday Journal at 7:36 am by admin
It was a good production day. I managed to get out two big double batches of soap with two more to go before I’m ready for the farmers’ market season to begin. I finally got to the new soap I’ve been wanting to develop — Green Tea Mint. I’ve been thinking about it since I got back from last year’s soapmakers’ conference in Texas.
For the fragrance, I’m trying a combination of lime, spearmint, ginger and a few others. I brewed green tea before I came to the studio and used that as part of the water in the lye solution, adding the green tea extract after saponification. I don’t know if the anti-oxidant capacity of green tea will survive the saponification process, but I hope so, or at least that some will.
The tea turned the lye water very brown, like thin coffee. I had planned on a green swirl, but the brown color will turn the oils dark. Not sure what will happen.
Later … The soap came out OK I think. It’s in the mold now. As I worked with them, the oils turned a pretty chestnut brown color, with a reddish tinge. I thought I would have trouble mixing green with it and it might look like mud. I had already decided to add some lemongrass shavings I’d just made, which were white, so I divided them in half and put half of the shavings in the green color and mixed it all up with some of the green tea soap. I mixed them into the soap pot along with the white shavings, just in case the soap got real brown when it cooled. At least there would be color or contrast.
But the green seemed to take well in the oils, so I think I’ve got a nice swirl in there. I won’t know for sure until tomorrow when I cut the slab. I just went in and checked it and it appears to me the brown color is lightening as it sets up. We’ll see. At least it doesn’t look chocolate anymore.
Two more batches done today…sandalwood sage and green tea mint. It’s always a good feeling when they are in the molds and setting up.
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