Blame it on the soap fairies

A customer who's interested in learning how to make soap recently asked how I dealt with the frustration of soap batches that didn't turn out right. 

That’s a great question because I’ve never been able to overcome the disappointment of having wasted valuable ingredients. Soaps that failed frustrate and disappoint me just as much today as when I actually made them, no matter how long ago that was. But that’s just how it goes. Some experiments work, others don’t. Usually when a soap fails it’s due to an error in the formulation. Something was left out, something was mismeasured, or something was calculated incorrectly.

I rarely have failures now, I'm happy to say. But I do have experiments that don't come out as well as I had hoped.  A new fragrance blend doesn't smell quite the way I wanted it to, for example.  Or something I tried to enhance the appearance of the finished soap didn't quite result in the look I had in mind.  Or one of the fussier soaps I make decides to be extra fussy and not gel properly, resulting in a soap that's just not up to par in terms of appearance or texture.  Most of these soaps I either use myself, sell at a discount, or give away.  

But I'm convinced that sometimes the real explanation is that it’s the work of the soap fairies.  They’re quiet and benign most of the time, lurking in the background, watching but not interfering.  When they decide to act up, however, there's no telling what will happen.  The result can be an unaccountable failure or a magnificent success. Both have happened to me. All I can do is scratch my head and wonder.

DIY bath bomb making video

I made my very first video and posted it on YouTube!  It's me demonstrating how to make bath bombs with recipe details and step-by-step instructions.  The recipe is the same as that on the DIY page of my website.  It's just tripled for making a larger size batch.

I love it spite of its total amateurishness.  It was filmed with the video camera that's built into my cheap little laptop, and edited it with the "Movie Maker" software that was on the laptop when I bought it.  Neither can be described as high tech . . .   But I had great fun doing it.  Enjoy!

Scientific soapmaking: sulfated castor oil

On a liquid soapmaking group list I subscribe to, someone recently asked whether other soapmakers consider sulfated castor oil a "must have" ingredient for liquid soap. 

Is it a "must have?"  No.  Is it an ingredient worth adding?  Yes.  Sulfated castor oil (also known as sulfonated castor oil or Turkey Red oil) is a water soluble form of castor oil that soapmakers often add to make liquid soaps especially mild and gentle to the skin.

The soap I make that uses sulfated castor to greatest effect is my liquid dog shampoo.  Dogs, much more than people, need oil for their skin and coat to be healthy, and the sulfated castor seems to be especially helpful in preserving the right balance.  The customer feedback has been 100 percent positive.  Glowing even! 

Castor bean seeds



When I decided to develop a bar version of the dog shampoo, however, I ran into a roadblock.  Sulfated castor can be added to liquid soaps without being figured into the lye calculation because it's water soluble.  Its saponification (SAP) value -- or the question of whether it has one -- doesn't seem to matter.  But it does matter with a bar soap because it will potentially ruin the batch if it's not included in the lye calculation. 

The simple question Does sulfated castor oil have a SAP value? was difficult to answer.  I searched for the information every way I could think of.  I checked a number of very reputable websites.  Some assigned it the same SAP value as regular castor oil.  Others gave it a SAP value of 0.  But I couldn't find a third party source to susbstantiate either one.  I left it out of the recipe.

Several weeks ago, I remade the dog shampoo bars, and before I did I searched once again and came up empty-handed once again.  So I took a chance and added it to the recipe without figuring it into the lye calculation.  I used a slightly lower lye discount just to be safe.  The soap came to trace nicely, went into a good gel, and the next morning I had what appeared to be perfectly good -- albeit a little soft -- dog shampoo bars.  (They are hardening nicely as they cure, I'm pleased to add.)

But I still didn't have an answer to my question and it was bugging the heck out of me.  Then it hit me.  There's one person I know who might actually have the answer. 

I know someone who's writing the most in-depth book on the science of soapmaking that's ever been attempted.  I'm on the list of soapmakers and others who've had the oppportunity to review drafts of the book, offer comments, look for typos, and generally be amazed (and, in my case, intimidated!) by the level of scientific scrutiny he brings to the process of soapmaking.  When it's published, I guarantee that no serious soapmaker will be without it.  An invaluable resource.

I met and talked to the author very briefly at a soapmakers convention a couple years ago, and on the basis of that very tenuous connection I e-mailed him my question.  I hoped it was something he knew off the top of his head and that it would only take 5 seconds of his time to reply.  What I received was considerably more detailed.

It turns out that he didn't have a definitive answer because he had hadn't yet had the opportunity to actually measure the SAP value of sulfated castor oil himself.  And he also hadn't come across anything in his reading or studies that substantiated it one way or the other.  But he had done a quick experiment, he said, that "led me to believe that sulfated castor oil is already saponified and therefore has a SAP close to 0."  In the following paragraphs he lead me through the entire process, starting with the premise for the experiment, the proven facts that formed the basis for it, the hypothesis he was working with, and the experiement itself.

Long story short, he found that the sulfated castor reacted the way saponfied oil would react in the test he performed, not the way unsaponified oil would react.  As he said, this is not a definitive answer, but it does suggest one. 

Shortly after that I found some tantalizing information to support his idea.  I came across several websites stating that once castor oil is treated with sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide is used to neutralize the acid.  This quote, for example, is lifted from an online patent application: 

Turkey Red Oil is prepared by adding concentrated sulfuric acid (93%) to castor oil at 25°-30°C.  From about 15 to 30% sulfuric acid is added to the castor oil.  After all of the acid has been added and reaction is complete, the reaction product is washed with water and then neutralized with sodium hydroxide solution.

Isn't that interesting!  My author acquaintance may be right on the money.  Note that he said "a SAP value close to 0," not a SAP value of 0.  For my purposes, though, close to 0 is close enough.

Milling soap part II

A couple months ago, I wrote a blog entry about milling soap and what that means for a handcrafted soapmaker vs. a commercial soap manufacturer. 

Huge difference.  Commercial soap milling is a manufacturing process that involves removing the skin-softening, moisturizing glycerin that's a natural by-product of soapmaking so it can be used more profitably in lotions, creams, and other cosmetic and skin care products.  That's why so many commercially-made soaps are harsh, drying, and even irritating to the skin. 

With this in mind, it was especially interesting to stumble across this little press release from a company in Dubai that does exactly that -- removes the glycerin from soap and sells it for substantially greater profit to cosmetics manufacturers. 

Makes me wonder who buys what's left over.  Proctor & Gamble?  Unliver?  Henkel International?

Soapmaking & social media

I am WAY behind the curve when it comes to using social media, whether for personal or business purposes.  But I'm becoming a convert.  I've got a Facebook page now.  I've got a Twitter account too.  And there's egg on my face because it wasn't too long ago I thought both were frivolous.  

Are either of them proving useful?  Yes.  Facebook is a vehicle for connecting and communicating with customers, potential customers, and friends/associates.  I'm still in the process of figuring out exactly how I want to use it and what I want my Facebook presence to be -- I'm studiously observing how others use it to get a better feel for its potential. And I'm seeing that it actually is a useful tool for creating and building relationships. 

Same for Twitter, except I'm so new to it that I don't have much to show for any of my tweets -- yet.  But I've got a lot to show from having read other's tweets.  One guy I'm following, for example, tweets all the time on a whole range of subjects in technology and innovation.  Some fascinating and very useful stuff. 

And I like Twitter's libertarian spirit. You can follow or stop following whoever you choose whenever you choose. Anyone else can do the same in choosing to follow or stop following you.  People can block individuals from following them if they want, though I can't imagine that happens very often. 

What I've come to realize in all this is that I'm behind the curve in using these tools because I didn't understand them, and in my mind that became a reason to ignore them rather than a reason to learn about them.  Embarrassing to admit, but a valuable lesson! 

New product photos

I was so impressed with the photos Lydia Krupinski took of my soaps that I'm going to experiment with redoing all my soap pics.  Having just made several fresh batches of bath bombs, I decided to start with them.  Whaddya think of this one?  Thumbs up?  Thumbs down?

 

How to name a soap

As I was packaging a new batch of jasmine sandalwood soaps today, I was reminded of one my favorite farmers market stories. 

It was late morning, and two young men wandered through the market.  One looked like a very ordinary kind of guy.  The other was anything but ordinary.  A vintage English driving cap on his head, artfully unruly long hair sticking out below, sunglasses, chains around his neck, black fingernail polish, black pants with zippers all over them.  Let's just say a young man who enjoys being on the cutting edge -- or the lunatic fringe, depending on your tastes -- of fashion.

So the two of them stop by my table and the flamboyant one is checking out the soaps, sniffing and offering his assessment of each soap's scent.   The overall verdict?  "I LOVE your soaps.  And they have such great drag queen names!  I think I went to high school with Rosemary Lemon!"

What a HOOT!  And he was so right.  One of my other soaps at the time was Ginger Lime, a tart and spicy drag queen name if I ever heard one.  And the innocently sweet but voluptuously curvy Cucumber Melon. 

I remembered this because when I first made the jasmine sandalwood soaps, I was wondering if that was what I should call them.  But when I realized that Jasmine Sandalwood is just about the most fabulous name a drag queen could have, the decision was made!

Aspiring drag queens who haven't yet settled on a stage name, this might be you . . . but Peppermint's taken.  Don't even think about it.  She's fierce.

Edgewater Soaps in feature interview on Sprout Chicago blog!

Many thanks to fellow Edgewater resident and craftperson Lydia Krupinski of Pierogi Picnic for featuring Edgewater Soaps in an interview for the Sprout Chicago blog!  Described as An Urban Guide to the Green Life, Sprout Chicago " . . . takes you into the heart of good and green life in Chicago.  From local news and restaurant reviews, to interviews with green go-getters and profiles of eco-events, Sprout Chicago is your source for sustainability in the city." 

The interview is great and the photos -- which Lydia took -- are stunning.  Got me thinking I should retake all the pics on my website . . . !  (Or hire her to do it, maybe?  What do you think?)

How we make buying decisions

This is amazing.  It's about how people make buying decisions.  If you don't see yourself in it immediately, it's only because you -- like me -- do this all the time without being conscious of it.  I guarantee that you will soon start to catch yourself doing exactly what he describes.

The first part of the video is Siamack Salari, the ethnographic researcher who analyzed and identified the buying decision process.  It's a little dry when he explains the process (although it's an excellent explanation of what ethnographic research is if you're not familiar with it), but keep watching.  The videtaped examples that follow are truly uncanny.  If you were to see them in a different context and without the benefit of his narration, you'd say, "So what?  A woman buying some hamburger buns."  But she's doing more than buying hamburger buns.  She's going through a very specific thought and decision-making process.  The same one you and I do almost every time we buy something.

Establish a reference point. Compare to the alternatives. Make a decision. Do a final check to be sure. 

If you'd like to check out his website, which is also very interesting, it's called Ethnosnacker.com

Chicago's DIY Trunk Show!

Just three more days to the 2009 DIY Trunk Show!  Do Not Miss It!  Saturday, November 21, 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse in Wicker Park, 1419 West Blackhawk.  Just a couple blocks away from the Milwaukee & Division el stop on the blue line.

We'll be there along with more than 100 independent Chicago-area artists, artisans, and craftspeople.  It's a one-of-a-kind show and it's great fun.  It's organized by a committee of dedicated, hardworking volunteer craftspeople -- no one benefits from this except the craftspeople themselves.  And it's one of the few shows that gives priority to local artists and craftspeople.  Admission is free!  Come out and discover how vibrant and vital the Chicago-area craft scene is.