Thursday 20 April 2017

Lavender Soap

I have had some lavender infused olive oil ready to be added to soap for a few weeks now so on Monday I told the menfolk not to come into the kitchen as I was making soap and they were banned from entering :-) I don't want any distractions when I am handling the lye so they made themselves scarce for a half an hour or so.


 I had bought some Australian clays and a couple of other colourants from Green Living Australia recently and was keen to give the Pansy Mica a try as I had never used micas before. I had rung up their office to ask if there were any natural mauve colourants and the girl who answered said she quite liked the Pansy Mica. The clays are much cheaper than the micas so I didn't want to waste it on a botched batch. I also bought some Titanium Dioxide as lots of soapmakers use it and, as I was having problems with the Fragrance Oils discolouring my soap I thought I would give it a try so as prevent that. I know it is a controversial subject so I did a bit of research about it and found a good article on The Soap Queen called Sunday Night Spotlight: Titanium Dioxide.


Eventually I will probably not worry about adding fragrance unless I am making soap as a gift which isn't very often as not everyone likes homemade soap so it is all just a bit of trial and error at the moment to give me an idea of how different additives work in soap. As you can see in the photo I bought some Annatto Red which needs to be kept in the fridge and as well as colouring soap it is also used to colour cheese. 



I made up a batch using 1000g oils and that made what you can see in the above photo. I was a bit disappointed at this stage as the colour looked like a light grey. I went a bit overboard with 'decorating' the bottom of the soaps in the moulds and was experimenting with using a fork. Don't ask me why. LOL! 




 I used my new heart shaped mould which I just love and tried really hard not to get any air bubbles as I poured the mixture in over a spatula as I had read to do that in one of the Soap Queen's tutorials.

 

 However, I still ended up with a few and also there were some odd flecks scattered throughout the soap which I can only presume is from the mica not being mixed well enough although I tried really hard to make sure it was. Anyway they are still pretty and the actual colour is what you can see in the photo above.


 On one setting on my camera they came out looking pink but I am just showing you this one so you know how much soap this recipe makes. The soaps on the right actually have a marbled look about them which I quite like.



I always try to remember to record my recipes as you wouldn't believe how many times I have to go searching for them down the track so here it is:

Lavender Soap

500g     Lavender infused olive oil
250g     Coconut Oil (I used copha)
250g     Rice Bran Oil
1t          Titanium dioxide mixed with 1T of the oils
2t          Pansy Mica mixed with 2T of the oils
140g     Caustic Soda
380g     Water

I couldn't find any information on Gavin's Little Green Workshops about how much vanillin was in the Fragrance Oil as that is what discolours the soap apparently so that is why I added the Titanium Dioxide to try and keep the soap a light colour. Time will tell as it cures whether that worked or not.

By the way if anyone is interested in buying one of those moulds on eBay you might want to get a move on as I heard on the news last night that Aussies might be blocked from eBay. You can read about it in this article 'Why Australians could be about to get blocked from eBay' .

Have a wonderful week everyone!





29 comments:

  1. that could be an April Fools joke, blocked from eBay, pffft, could they, really?
    sounds silly,
    lovely soaps & the colour turned out beautiful!
    thanx for sharing

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  2. okay, just read that article & they are going to stop it because of gst? i don't get politics & can barely make out what they're arguing over but it sounds like the governments just want their greedy little bits more, than a fair go for customers.

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    1. Selina, I hope it doesn't happen. I think there would be an uproar.

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  3. Chel that soap looks just lovely. Well done you!

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    1. Thanks Barb. You can borrow the new heart shaped mould too. Your new neighbour can drop it in when she is finished with it. LOL!

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  4. Nana Chel your soap looks divine. I love lavender soap and you may recall I put lavender flowers in one batch of soap and had my husband tell me it looked like mouse droppings. We are about half way through this soap. Whilst it smells nice The flowers make it very scratchy. It's not a very nice soap. Yours on the other hand looks beautiful and I bet it will be lovely to use. I have some plain soap curing in the hot water heater cupboard. I am planning on making a new batch of soap of plain and purple swirls. I will also put in some lavender oil. Your lovely soap has inspired me to try.

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    1. Jane, I had heard that a number of times about the lavender looking like mouse droppings. Ha ha! I hope mine is nice to use. I haven't used that particular recipe before and I just made it up so as to use up all the 250g block of copha and I ran it all through SoapCalc first to get the amount of lye and water needed.

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  5. Your soap looks so pretty. Especially in the first picture. :)

    Thanks for linking to that article. I was due to order some more coconut oil. Better do it before May! I thought it a bit ludicrous Harvey Norman and other large retailers are concerned about unfairness with Ebay. It's not the GST which makes them more cost effective. It's that they don't have large retailer overheads, and that's why their prices are cheaper.

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    1. Thanks Chris. I just hope it doesn't darken too much but it doesn't really matter as I am sure nobody here will care :-)

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  6. I think your soap looks lovely, Chel. I love the scent of lavender. Mine lavender bushes are coming into flower now. Meg:)

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    1. Ours have have just come into flower too, Meg. Well the old bush has but the new pink flowered one hasn't as yet.

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  7. Even though I now only make basic soap I am a total sucker for a good soap making post - thank you! Very clever Nanna Chel.

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    1. Mr.HM maybe your girls will become addicted to making soap one day :-)

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  8. Gosh I lost my comment! I just wanted to say I like the new moulds and the lavender colour looks so lavender-y ;) That is weird about being banned from eBay... I am intrigued by the Lavender and Mint fragrance, too.
    -mrsmeagre

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    1. I think Blogger plays up sometimes, Mrs Meagre. I just love the new moulds too.

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  9. That batch looks just beautiful, hopefully the perfume will last, my lavender bushes are flowering well at the moment so will give the infusion oil a try. What quantity of flowers did you use and the did you include stalks and leaves?

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    1. I just cut off a few stems and broke them up and covered them with olive oil in a moccona jar, Margaret. Blinky from The Herb Barrow had done that and I think her oil took up the scent but mine didn't. She had a lot of success with using the infused oil and Lavender essential oil from one of the chemists. I find when I use the essential oils I end up with no scent.

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  10. wow! you have come so far with soap-making, these are absolutely beautiful.
    (have you been for a walk yet?)
    Have a great weekend Chel xx

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    1. Sue, yes I have had a walk :-) I knew you would ask. LOL!

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  11. These are stunningly gorgeous and the colour is divine. They look like expensive french handmade soaps. I would say $10 each at least. The colour got me though! And the shape! I will note that shade of colour and the recipe. Big success Nanna Chel! xxx

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    1. Annabel, I thought you would like them even though they aren't pink :-)

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  12. Chel I would be absolutely thrilled if I could make soaps that look like yours. Do you think it is necessary to attend a workshop first though to learn the basics or it can be learned online. Well done they are beautiful.

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    1. Pauline, I didn't learn from a workshop but from Rhonda's blog. Just do a search there for soap making. I don't she was using a stick blender then but it is so much easier to use one. There is also a lot of info on The Soap Queen so look in the beginner section for tutorials for those starting up. I just used olive oil, coconut oil or copha and rice bran oil plus caustic soda and water when I made my first batch. I wouldn't worry about scents or colours when starting out. Give it a go.

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  13. Your soap looks beautiful Chel! I love your heart mould. All so soft and pretty. Enjoy.

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    1. Emmbee, it is a beautiful mould and well worth the investment.

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  14. Nanan Chel,

    Love the soap and the lavender colour looks great. I heard that about eBay too, not sure how they are going to do it. If they do I guess etsy will become popular or gumtree. Not that I'll be on either of them for a while LOL!
    -Shiralee.

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    1. Shiralee, I do hope eBay doesn't do that not that I buy a lot on there but it does come in handy if I can't get anything locally.

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  15. They're so pretty :-) (this is Racheal, not Rick!) What do you do with all your soap Michele? We're planning a homeschool markets again this year if you want to have a soap stall!

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  16. Thanks for the offer, Racheal but that woukd be too stressful :-) They get used up fairly quickly. It helps to have someone with OCD in the household too. LOL!

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