Thanks Weedwacker! I did spray the molds with isopropyl alcohol before pouring the melted soap in them (As suggested by my cousin who also makes her own gift soap) and that definitely didn't work. I think maybe my issue was that I tried to take them out too soon. Next time I make some I'll wait 24 hours before attempting to remove them.

When I finish this kit, I'm going to purchase a couple of silicon molds so removing soaps will be easier.

Duh, you're right about the design messed up by wax paper. I had my brain upside down on that idea! I'd look at no stick spray. And what about chilling the soap, then setting the mold briefly in warm water to expand it?
Or, buy silicone molds

sallyg said: Duh, you're right about the design messed up by wax paper. I had my brain upside down on that idea! I'd look at no stick spray. And what about chilling the soap, then setting the mold briefly in warm water to expand it?
Or, buy silicone molds

Chilling it was one of the ideas in the link Weedwhacker gave me; I might do that next time if the refrigerator isn't too full during the time. Actually, as freezing as it is outside I could just put the soap outside and it might harden pretty quick.

I hope you'll post pictures of the new soaps. I'm a bar soap FREAK!

Hi sallyg

I sometimes use row covers when planting in late fall for same-year harvest but not when winter sowing for spring, except for temporary coverings during periods with lots of rain.

sallyg said: Looks good, Matt! Will you put row cover over, or you just mean soil over seedsm

I grow a few different greens and generically call then greens when I cook them, mixed (tatsoi, chard, arugula, mustard) or if I want to avoid a specific name that may get hesitation about eating (mustard being a name we are most familiar with for yellow mustard that goes on hotdogs, which tells you nothing about how my mustard greens taste.) But I also have a weakness for precision and would find it hard to ignore someone saying turnip greens when I've served them my nustard greens. I can generalize in the one case but find it hard to ignore specific statements. Today I think I will be cooking greens (mostly tatsoi, some arugula) with white beans and garlic.

Deeby said: I hope you'll post pictures of the new soaps. I'm a bar soap FREAK!

The second bars I just made look no different than the first ones other than maybe I made them a shade darker with the yellow glycerin coloring that came with the kit. After the holidays are over I'll make more and experiment by putting some orange essential oil in the soap instead and not color it. Perhaps even tea tree. Those are oils we've had in the bathroom for years; the tea tree was supposed to be for my acne issue but it didn't work of course which was ok because I can't stand the smell of it, ha ha!!

I guess I'm sort of a soap bar freak to, as I've collected pounds of them over the years. Thing is I very rarely use them. I use body wash gel in the shower and softsoap at the sink. Recently after gathering up all my soap bars (including the homemade ones my cousin sent me) I told myself not to buy anymore shower gel until I use every bar of soap in that heavy Zip-Loc bag!! The reason I prefer gel to bars is because gel lathers much better and goes farther. I have used some bars that barely lathered at all.

I do promise that if I start making more soaps out of new molds I'll post pics. I have my eye on a silicone mold that features a beautiful design of roses. Thing is if you make your soap TOO pretty to the eye, it might make someone not want to use it! Around Valentine's Day I may make new soap for gifts, make them rose scented and make the bars red or pink in color.

Soaps make cute gifts, but I too got out of the bar soap habit and had to retrain myself last year when my son gifted me one. What use are they in a bag in the closet? If still wrapped, give to goodwill.

sallyg said: Soaps make cute gifts, but I too got out of the bar soap habit and had to retrain myself last year when my son gifted me one. What use are they in a bag in the closet? If still wrapped, give to goodwill.

True!! But I am literally trying to use them all since I already own them. It'll save a dab of money on shower gel until I finish the bars. I want to use one of my new ones so badly for myself but I just found out minutes ago that I must make an extra bar or someone will get left out this Christmas! Next year, (if every one likes the soap gifts this year) I plan to get more seasonal and make a set of red and green bars. Red will be cranberry scent and green will be Christmas wreath or tree scent. What's fun about making your own soap is you get to choose your own color and scent for the bars. There are some scents out there that I definitely wouldn't want to shower with though. There's literally smoke scents out there and one that someone said smelled like hot dogs cooking.

Anne, perhaps more important than the cost savings of giving up liquid soap products is keeping all those plastic bottles out of the oceans and landfills.

NMoasis said: Anne, perhaps more important than the cost savings of giving up liquid soap products is keeping all those plastic bottles out of the oceans and landfills.

True! Wouldn't help in this house though. My mom drinks water from plastic bottles all the time. If I could've recycled all that plastic just imagine the stuff I could've remade from it all!!

I'm on Team Bar Soap for life. Shower gels feel slimy to me. Like Dove soap and the old Zest. Shudder...
At the kitchen sink is a bar of Dial antibacterial and in the bath, name the non-slimy bar, I have it!

Deeby said: I'm on Team Bar Soap for life. Shower gels feel slimy to me. Like Dove soap and the old Zest. Shudder...
At the kitchen sink is a bar of Dial antibacterial and in the bath, name the non-slimy bar, I have it!

Not a fan of softsoap either?



Here's a photo of all the bars (minus one) I've made so far. I had to make another oatmeal vanilla so one family member won't get left out. While I had my soap stuff out, I experimented and made 1 and 1/4 bars out of Sweet Orange scent. Those are the two white bars at the top. Disregard the fact that one says 'vanilla'. It's orange scented.

@Weedwhacker thanks again for the link you gave me!! I followed the idea of chilling the bars; they popped right out easily!!!! 😁

Very pretty soaps.

Those soap bars look great, Anne - I think you may have found a new and very practical hobby!

Have you ever tried candle making?

Weedwhacker said: Those soap bars look great, Grill - I think you may have found a new and very practical hobby!

Have you ever tried candle making?

Thanks!! Nope, I'm still new to soap making, ha ha! If my soap thing proves likeable to friends and family, and possibly profitable even, I might try candles. But working with wax is harder than soap base; plus soap is bit more practical than candles.

Ooops, sorry for the case of mistaken identity, Anne (I corrected it on my post)- that's what I get for multitasking!

Candles are very practical when the power goes out and the batteries run down I'd love to get back into beekeeping and use the wax for candle making... but I'm afraid the bear that was hanging around last spring was kind of my sign that bees aren't in my future at this point. Maybe soy wax would be a better option for me

Weedwhacker said: Ooops, sorry for the case of mistaken identity, Anne (I corrected it on my post)- that's what I get for multitasking!

Candles are very practical when the power goes out and the batteries run down I'd love to get back into beekeeping and use the wax for candle making... but I'm afraid the bear that was hanging around last spring was kind of my sign that bees aren't in my future at this point. Maybe soy wax would be a better option for me

I kinda wondered why you called me Grill.

That's scary; I couldn't imagine living where there's bears. :blinking:
Here we have a generator so we don't bother using them to see by. If we do burn one its for the smell. But we've kinda switched to wax tarts.
If you want to research candle making, Amazon has many options for wax. My cousin makes candles as well as wax melts and soap. I've tried her weak scented wax melts though and let me say that they...well, gunk. Unlike store-bought wax melts that turn to absolute liquid, my cousin's kinda gooped out and didn't melt completely. I don't remember what kind of wax she said she used for those; I'd have to ask her again. (She buys from a candle/wax tart making supplier) I haven't tried her weak scented candles yet but I have used a bar of her nearly scentless clear-based soap. Doesn't lather much.

Anyway, it was actually my cousin who inspired me to consider making stuff like that. My first choice was wax tarts. But after reading the 'not-so-simple' way you melt wax, I got the soap kit from Hobby Lobby. The soap base with this kit is Shea butter but there are many kinds of soap bases as I found out such as goats milk, clear, white, honey and so on.

Folks, instead of my taking up the veggie thread with my soap rambling, I think I'll start a new thread in the Sandbox forum.

Anne, what do you mean by soft soap? And what's a wax tart?

Deeby said: Anne, what do you mean by soft soap? And what's a wax tart?

Please join my new thread over in the Sandbox forum. Soft soap is the liquid/gel hand soap that comes from a pump bottle. Wax tarts (or wax melts) are scented, colored cubes of wax that are usable only on electric wax melters. As the cubes melt they give off their scent and make the room smell nice.

Oh, I thought by soft soap you meant like Dove bar soap. Thanks for explaining wax melts.
I can't find the Sandbox!