Well one sunny Sunday afternoon a short time back, I decided to whip up a batch of decadent soaps. I was really excited for this, as I just purchased some fine smelling body oils from Dark Candles, and wanted to try them out. (Way cool site by the way, authentic scents!)So after getting all setup and on my way to mixing the fats with the lye, I realize I'm totally out of liquid colorants. I got nothing. Blast. Also since it's Sunday everything for a 80 mile radius is closed. No joke. So after a minute of brainstorming I rush into my brothers room to dig up his crayons. He's on a Church Mission, he won't be needing them. I figured 'They're made of wax right? It should melt and leave behind all the nice colors of the crayons....' Now these crayons are not the Crayola kind, they're a much simpler knock off found in a dollar store. Also they're over 10 years old....been a while since we've had the urge to color.
Well, I made the soaps, they turned out several shades lighter than the crayons were, one was light purple and the other light red, almost pink. Which is okay given the circumstances I figured. After curing, the soaps where ready to be used! I took one with me to the sink to test, lathered generously, and the most foul scent hit my nose. It took me a minute to figure out what it was, but suddenly it made sense. The soap smelled just like rancid oils from fingers. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, but it's a very distinct smell of rancid oil wrapped in leathery burnt bacon. No good can come of this. So I chucked the bars of soap and wrote this down as another disaster.
Since that time I've stayed away from crayons. Instead I buy fresh colorants made for soaps and candles at the local hobby shop.
With each disaster of soap making I've learned valuable things. Hopefully these posts will help you avoid these pitfalls!
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