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Topic: Help with Cold Process Soap Making (Read 340 times) |
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Lee_Ann
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Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« on: Oct 14th, 2003, 8:21am » |
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I've made M&P soap and have found it pretty easy. I like the look of the cold process and decided to try a simple recipe (distilled water, lye, and pure olive oil). I followed the instructions (water/lye solution brought to 110 deg, olive oil to 110 deg). Mix the two together and stir till trace. Add frag oil and color then pour into mold (used a wooden square log-type mold). Covered with saran wrap then a towel. Let sit for about a day and a half. One instruction I found said I could unmold and cut at 24 hours. It also said the soap should be somewhat hard, the consistency of cheese. What I found was something that was still slightly creamy. Since I've cut it, I've noticed some sweating on the soap.
Does all of this sound right or did I do something wrong? I also am wondering if you have to cut the soap - in other words, can I make a block of soap for a craft fair and just cut the slices as they are bought.
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RobinInOR
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #1 on: Oct 14th, 2003, 9:12am » |
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Pure castile soap takes a long time to cure. Where most CP soaps take about 4 weeks, castile can take about 6 weeks to get fully hard. Some people will actually wait 2 days before they cut the log apart. I cut at one day, but my recipe is 95% olive oil and 5% castor oil (gets rid of the olive slime)
How much olive, lye, and water did you use? For castile I usually reduce the water a bit to help it harden up faster.
Depends on your soap, whether you can cut the logs after they cure. Some recipes can be as hard as a rock and difficult to cut. But I've heard of people, even stores, that let the customer cut the log. I've been toying with the idea myself, but I think it would be too much of a pain to stop and cut. Plus, if you then sell by the ounce, you'd have to have a certified scale (at least in our state you do)
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Robin in OR
Containers: Calwax 30/LX. Votives: Calwax 10/LX. 3" Pillars: Calwax 10/RegPly. 2" Pillars: 1343/HTP. Tarts: Calwax 10/30 blend
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Sheila
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #2 on: Oct 14th, 2003, 9:56am » |
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What does stir to trace mean?
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It'll be OK in the end, if it's not OK, it's not the end.
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RobinInOR
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #3 on: Oct 14th, 2003, 10:23am » |
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Trace is when the soap is actually being made. First your oils emulsify with the water, then the lye starts splitting the oil molecules apart to make soap and glycerin. It gets a pudding like consistency. It's called trace cuz when you lift your spoon/stick blender out of the mix, the part that dribbles back onto the surface leaves a "trace" of a mark before it melts back in. There's different stages, thin trace all the way up to thick trace (where the dribbles stay formed on top, like frosting)
http://earthmaidenonline.com/natural_soap/process_of_making_soap.htm
I couldn't find the pic I thought I had, just found this with google - look at pic #6 for "trace". This isn't CP though, it's hot process (it's cooked until the end)
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Robin in OR
Containers: Calwax 30/LX. Votives: Calwax 10/LX. 3" Pillars: Calwax 10/RegPly. 2" Pillars: 1343/HTP. Tarts: Calwax 10/30 blend
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Sheila
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #4 on: Oct 14th, 2003, 10:27am » |
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Thanks Robin...want to start making soap, but don't know whether to do M&P or what. Sounds so complicated.
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It'll be OK in the end, if it's not OK, it's not the end.
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Rob
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Scrat for President!
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #5 on: Oct 14th, 2003, 5:39pm » |
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Robin,
You get another hug from me for being able to do the cold process soap. God love ya!
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Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House,and whatever walked there walked alone
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Lee_Ann
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #6 on: Oct 15th, 2003, 8:24am » |
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My recipe was very basic: 4 oz lye, 12 oz. water, 2 lbs olive oil. I just used pure (instead of virgin or extra virgin) olive oil. I think I may have goofed by using the measuring cup for the oil instead of the scale. Now at day 3, the bars are turning (or have turned)a lighter color on the edges. What does the term "castile" soap refer to?
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RobinInOR
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #7 on: Oct 15th, 2003, 10:28am » |
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K. I just checked that recipe with the MMS lye calculator. Looks fine, that amount of lye will put it anywhere fromm 6-8% superfat. Always weight your oils, you don't want lye heavy soap. If you were even 1/2 oz low on the oil (easy to do, leaving that much residue in the cup), you would have lye heavy soap with that amount of lye. Small batches in particular need very exact measurement - I do 2# batches as my smallest. And I measure the lye in grams since it's a bit more accurate, even though I do everything else in ounces..
The light color on the edges might mean it didn't gel all the way. The soap heats up from the inside out, that's why you need to insulate with towels or something to make sure the gel hits the whole thing. The gelled part will be a darker color. Still good soap, it's just a cosmetic looking thing 
Castile used to mean 100% olive oil soap. It was named after a region in Spain (or was it France? boy the memory is going ) Right now the FDA considers anything above 50% olive oil to be "castile". Maybe 40%, I can't remember that either . Look at Dr Bonner's "castile", you'll see there's hardly any olive oil in it! Bad labeling...
And once you do a few batches, and get used to handling lye, it's not really that hard! As long as you always wear gloves and goggles and follow safety procedures, it's just like cooking! If you're a chef, you'll be a good soapmaker
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| « Last Edit: Oct 15th, 2003, 10:29am by RobinInOR » |
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Robin in OR
Containers: Calwax 30/LX. Votives: Calwax 10/LX. 3" Pillars: Calwax 10/RegPly. 2" Pillars: 1343/HTP. Tarts: Calwax 10/30 blend
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Rob
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #8 on: Oct 15th, 2003, 11:33am » |
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blech, I always hated stirring and stirring Polenta or Rizoto ... but Rizoto *is* a great rice. lol...
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Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House,and whatever walked there walked alone
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Lee_Ann
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #9 on: Oct 16th, 2003, 4:53am » |
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Thanks Robin. Your advice has been very helpful. I have since tried another 4lb. batch which seems to have turned out better. I guess this is just like candle making - there will always be some goofs until you get the hang of it.
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Lee_Ann
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #10 on: Oct 17th, 2003, 10:09am » |
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I do have yet one more question. As I said, my second log turned out better, consistency wise. However, I do have the same problem (if that's what it is) with both of them. I've followed the suggestion of the author in the book I'm using to wait two days to clean up "that way she can see how the soap will lather". In doing that, I don't really get lather, more like an oily film. Is this something that should change as the soap cures? Also, I notice the soap not to be very scented. I've stuck to 1 tsp. per pound and it doesn't really seem to be very strong. It's fragrance oil, BTW, not essential oil. As always, any help is appreciated. **if needed, the recipe i'm using for this soap log is listed earlier in this subject.
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RobinInOR
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #11 on: Oct 17th, 2003, 10:56am » |
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Straight olive oil is slimy, and takes a long time to cure so that's probably what you're seeing. Let it rest a bit more before testing (though I usually test when I cut up the log).
Another way to quicken up a castile is to discount the water a bit. The 12 oz of water you used it what MMS would calculate for water for a 2# batch, but most people will discount MMS by 20% or so. For 2# batches I use 10 oz of water instead of 12. That will help it cure faster. Castile gets better with age, just be patient
For scenting, I use anywhere from .5 oz to .75 oz per pound of oils. So that would be somewhere from 3 teaspoons up (since 1 fl oz is about 2 tablespoons). So yes, you scented kind of lightly. And some FOs just don't make it through the lye nicely.
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Robin in OR
Containers: Calwax 30/LX. Votives: Calwax 10/LX. 3" Pillars: Calwax 10/RegPly. 2" Pillars: 1343/HTP. Tarts: Calwax 10/30 blend
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Lee_Ann
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I love candletech.com!
Posts: 56
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Re: Help with Cold Process Soap Making
« Reply #12 on: Oct 18th, 2003, 7:56am » |
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Thanks again - as always, appreciate all your help
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