Monday, September 20, 2021

Melt and Pour Soap Fun

 

Melt and Pour Soapmaking Kit

My daughter received a melt and pour soapmaking kit, several years ago, which sat and waited until she felt like making it.  Sunday was the day when we decided to try it.

There were two blocks of glycerin soap included in the kit, which had to be cut up into small pieces for melting in the microwave:

Glycerin Soap

There were two pieces of loofa, which had to be dampened with water, then the excess water squeezed out, and wrapped in two thicknesses of plastic wrap all around and the bottom before being inserted into straight sided glasses:

Plastic Wrapped Loofa

Inserted in Glasses

We used my Christmas themed glasses as they were straight sided.  

Then, it was time to melt the soap and that's when the fun started!  My microwave is old and has a lower wattage than newer microwaves.  The directions said to heat the soap on high for 15 seconds and, if not melted yet, continue to heat in 5 second increments.  Well, 30 seconds didn't do anything and another 30 seconds barely softened it.  It took several additional 15 second sessions to melt the soap to a pourable consistency.  Maybe the soap dried out during the time it sat waiting to be used.  Maybe we should have added a tiny bit of water when we were melting it, although the instructions didn't say so.

We were supposed to leave the melted soap to cool until a film formed on the top, but, the soap began to solidify almost as soon as it was taken out of the microwave!

Then, when daughter poured the already solidifying soap, we found that it didn't quite reach the top off the loofa!  Anyway, it was left in the glasses until the soap solidified and then, removed from the glasses:


Out of the Glasses

Then sliced into rounds:

Slicing the Blue Tinted Soap

Looks Pretty, Doesn't It?

Slicing the Pink Tinted Soap

Slices of Pink Soap

The soap is scented, but, I can't tell what the fragrance is; lavender, maybe?  The kit is supposed to make up to 16 individual pieces, but, daughter managed to make 10.  

Ten Pretty Slices of Soap Filled Loofa

There were still some loofa leftover and a little soap that had solidified on the insides of the jars we used in which to melt them.  That's when I decided to experiment a little!  I mixed the leftover soap residue with some water and poured the much diluted soap solution into the leftover loofa pieces and made quite a mess, actually, because the solution didn't seep into the loofa, nicely, and went all over the place, instead!  All this was done with accompanying cries of, "Oh, no, Ammi!  What are you doing?  Where are you pouring it?  You are making a mess!" etc., and much laughter from both of us!  However, it hardened into a soft set which was good enough for me!  I set those pieces out to dry overnight, and I will use them.  The prettier pieces that my daughter made have been set aside for gifting.  

It was a fun project to do together.  We laughed, we agreed the kit made some pretty pieces of soap, there is one less craft kit gathering dust on the shelf, and we might have created some holiday gifts for giving.  What is more, we created some memories and those are more precious than anything else, aren't they?  It was a blessing to do a fun craft project with my daughter and a joyful activity, too.  I am grateful that we were able to do this craft project together.  

20 comments:

  1. I think it is wonderful that the two of you had some time together, and even better to use a kit that had been hanging around a while!

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  2. You and your daughter had a good time and made some lovely soap! Yes, you'll both have such happy memories. I've never seen soap in loofa like this! Best, Celie

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    1. Thank you, Celie. I think we enjoyed the process probably more than we'd enjoy using the product! LOL. But, the loofa soap will be good for scrubbing calloused heels, I think!

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  3. Glad you and your daughter had some fun and more importantly, had some laughs. We all need that. And those soap slices look pretty cool. They actually look very similar to the picture on the kit. They're going to make nice gifts. Denise

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    1. Thank you, Denise. It was a fun activity to do. I think the loofa soaps can be tucked into a basket of bath products, maybe? Maybe we can make some bath salts or sugar scrubs or something, too. :)

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  4. The sweetest part of this activity is the memories made, the laughter shared. Best part of that is you don't need anywhere to store, it's all in your heart. Those soap slices are very pretty & will add to a self care gift basket.

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    1. Thank you, Mary-Lou. It was a fun activity to do together. :)

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  5. What an interesting design - very petty. But the best part is laughing together. It sounds like you had one of those "you had to be there" sessions than neither one of you will forget. The best.

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    1. Ha, ha, we will be laughing about those soaps for months to come, I'm sure. :D It was fun!

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  6. That's sounds like fun and the finished product does match the image on the box so give yourselves a round of applause.

    What other kits do you have for your combined efforts on your next crafting day?

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    1. It was fun, Eileen, and we enjoyed it more because we were doing it together. I don't think either of us would have enjoyed it quite as much if we did it on our own.

      No kit, as such, but, I do have the items needed to make teacup candles (wax, wicks, teacups), and we've decided that that will be our next crafts project! :)

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  7. What an interesting project and the results are attractive. Your final effort obviously was the "icing on the cake" making for much hilarity.
    I've just been making muffins and I hope to take some round to a friend this afternoon if she is willing for a visit.

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    1. It was a lot of fun, Bushlady, especially at the end! :D

      Yum, muffins! I am sure your friend would be happy to have a visit from you, especially if you are bringing muffins to share! :)

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  8. Those are gorgeous! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I love the colors.

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    1. Thank you, Stephenie. Very kind of you to say so, since you make your soaps from scratch! I was actually telling my daughter about you and and your soapmaking during our project. :)

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  9. What a wonderful thing to do together. I'm sure this will be added to the "remember when..." stories you and your daughter will laugh about in the future.

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    1. We had a lot of fun doing it together. :) I'm not sure if we would have enjoyed it quite as much if either of us had done it alone. :D

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  10. This made me chuckle. I expect your wonderful memories will last much longer than the soaps. X

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    1. Might be something to do with Lily, some day?

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