Soap Challenge Tutorial for Soap making and saponification adventures!
Ever have one of THOSE days? Once upon a time I spilled my essential oil blend of vetiver, lavender and orange. Not all of it mind you but enough that it was really worrying what to do, what to do. A tutorial to share my ah ha moment with you!
Today I spilled a precious oil that I wanted to use as a super fat for a batch of soap. Not a lot was lost but I just over poured at speed from a small spout and the oil overflowed the container. I've recreated this for photos to share with you. I dusted a bit yellow mica on the oil puddle to have some contrast to the pale oil for photo enhancement!
So I cleaned it up. The real problem is you never really know how much you really lost. You can't use it back into the batch and you can't pick it up with a spoon you can just estimate if you have a good eye! But estimating is flawed on many levels and as we know, castor oil and macadamia nut oil don't all weigh out the same.
Well today it dawns on me. The AH HA moment I want to share! I finally figured out a solution! Clumsy hands and all, I figured out how to measure what was spilled!
I'm sure others have figured out this helpful system. I thought I'd write about it and share it for those that hadn't gotten that far yet like a photo tutorial on spilt oil! It gives me such peace of mind to have this technique in my pocket for the future. Accidents happen and I hope this photo tutorial will help others!
Ever have one of THOSE days? Once upon a time I spilled my essential oil blend of vetiver, lavender and orange. Not all of it mind you but enough that it was really worrying what to do, what to do. A tutorial to share my ah ha moment with you!
Today I spilled a precious oil that I wanted to use as a super fat for a batch of soap. Not a lot was lost but I just over poured at speed from a small spout and the oil overflowed the container. I've recreated this for photos to share with you. I dusted a bit yellow mica on the oil puddle to have some contrast to the pale oil for photo enhancement!
So I cleaned it up. The real problem is you never really know how much you really lost. You can't use it back into the batch and you can't pick it up with a spoon you can just estimate if you have a good eye! But estimating is flawed on many levels and as we know, castor oil and macadamia nut oil don't all weigh out the same.
Well today it dawns on me. The AH HA moment I want to share! I finally figured out a solution! Clumsy hands and all, I figured out how to measure what was spilled!
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| I weighed a piece of paper paper toweling ( .05oz) then wiped up the spill! |
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| Let the oil oak into the toweling for a moment and then wipe it up. |
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| Then folding the towel over a few times to wipe up the complete spill. Put the folded towel and oil on the scale and there you have the measurement of the loss in weight. Perfect to know to save the batch and for no guessing and the peace of mind. Add that amount back into the batch and voila!~ Saved! |
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| So I actually had lost only .10 oz of oil in this small spill. Depending on the size of the batch this may not be much! However if it was fragrance it could make a big difference in a small batch of soap. This process made it so easy to replace the lost oil. |
I'm sure others have figured out this helpful system. I thought I'd write about it and share it for those that hadn't gotten that far yet like a photo tutorial on spilt oil! It gives me such peace of mind to have this technique in my pocket for the future. Accidents happen and I hope this photo tutorial will help others!
