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fandomhigh2019-02-28 02:54 pm
geniuswithasmartphone) wrote in fandomhigh2019-02-28 02:54 pm
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Dollar Store Arts and Crafts, Thursday, Period 1
Once again, the class came in to discover a large table covered in various weird things that didn't seem like they fit together at all. A bowl of poppy seeds sat next to a bowl of coffee grounds. Various shades of food coloring were interspersed with bottles of essential oils - though, they were from the local dollar store, so who knew how 'essential' these oils were. They were fragrant, and that's all Hardison cared about. Several boxes of kosher salt were placed next to boxes of gelatin and all of those were surrounded by plastic molds, small toys, x-acto knives for cutting, and still more empty bowls and stirrers. New to the day were several microwaves, measuring cups, and even a decent-sized chest freezer.
"Hey y'all," Hardison said, with a wave. "Welcome back, hope you enjoyed Iceland. We're right in the peak of flu season which of course, brings us back to hygiene. An' one of the most important aspects of hygiene is washin' up with soap. Which is exactly what we're gonna make today. Now, at it's core, soap is generally just lye mixed with oils and water until it's emulsified. But that's a little outside the scope of this class, as lye generally ain't sold in your average Family Dollar. But they do sell soap base, which you can cut an' melt an' then turn into other, fancier soaps."
A microwave dinged and Hardison pulled out a measuring cup full of a clear, syrupy liquid. "Soap base comes in both clear an' a milky white color; they're functionally the same, except the clear one will take your colors and keep them bright an' true, while the white will give you more pastel colors. Or you can leave 'em uncolored an' they'll dry clear or white. Once you have the melted base, you can do pretty much anything you want: add color-" he held up the food coloring, "-fragrance-" the essential oils, "-additives to make it exfoliating-" the coffee grounds and poppy seeds, "-an' then add it to molds to become a different shape. Or, you can gelatin an' a bit of salt while heating it up to make floppy, squishy soaps that are fun for kids."
He demonstrated how to use the soap base, which was fairly obvious and intuitive, and then stepped back so the students could see whatmoddable options there were on the table. "Go ahead an' make plenty," he said. "Share 'em with your friends. Leave 'em in the bathrooms an' common rooms. There's plenty, so be as creative as you want."
You walking germ factories.
"Hey y'all," Hardison said, with a wave. "Welcome back, hope you enjoyed Iceland. We're right in the peak of flu season which of course, brings us back to hygiene. An' one of the most important aspects of hygiene is washin' up with soap. Which is exactly what we're gonna make today. Now, at it's core, soap is generally just lye mixed with oils and water until it's emulsified. But that's a little outside the scope of this class, as lye generally ain't sold in your average Family Dollar. But they do sell soap base, which you can cut an' melt an' then turn into other, fancier soaps."
A microwave dinged and Hardison pulled out a measuring cup full of a clear, syrupy liquid. "Soap base comes in both clear an' a milky white color; they're functionally the same, except the clear one will take your colors and keep them bright an' true, while the white will give you more pastel colors. Or you can leave 'em uncolored an' they'll dry clear or white. Once you have the melted base, you can do pretty much anything you want: add color-" he held up the food coloring, "-fragrance-" the essential oils, "-additives to make it exfoliating-" the coffee grounds and poppy seeds, "-an' then add it to molds to become a different shape. Or, you can gelatin an' a bit of salt while heating it up to make floppy, squishy soaps that are fun for kids."
He demonstrated how to use the soap base, which was fairly obvious and intuitive, and then stepped back so the students could see what
You walking germ factories.
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Get soapy
Which is a fancy way of saying that he just liked messing around with arts and crafts. And also had a germ phobia.
Re: Get soapy
Astrid wondered if some home-made soaps like this could also cleverly hide a bomb if she were able to send it to her mother in prison.
Astrid wondered about the untapped potential of her roommate when it came to matters like that.
But Astrid was mostly just playing around with colors and trying to see just how good of a gradient from light to dark she could manage to get with the same color in the same soap.
Re: Get soapy
So there were a couple of batches of the soap base that just ended up being a kind of clumpy mess, before he managed to get the hang of it and actually get it to stay melted long enough to pour into molds.
Talk to Hardison
OOC