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Topic: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process (Read 300 times) |
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Lee_Ann
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Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« on: Oct 5th, 2003, 8:44am » |
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I'm new to soap making and had a few questions. Is there a benefit, one way or another, with m&p vs. cp soap? I've worked with m&p and know it's probably much easier than the other. Also, where are some of the oils (coconut, for instance) found that are required for the cp soap? When a big batch of cp is made, can it be made unscented and uncolored and then be made individually, by bar, for the customer (i guess this may be what handmilled is?) I'm also interested in the look of handmiled soaps. Any information i've found on the subject doesn't indicate if you can use m&p base and I'm wondering if you can.
Any help that could be offered is greatly appreciated.
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RobinInOR
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Always learning in So. Oregon...
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #1 on: Oct 5th, 2003, 1:41pm » |
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Both m&p & cp are better than store bought soaps since they both retain glycerin. They each have their different uses. With CP it's easier to tailor oils to your specific needs, and you're more limited with m&p on what you can add to any given base.
True handmilling can't be done at home, it takes equipment that produces lots of pressure. "Rebatching" is a pain in the butt, no one really wants to do it for fun. But that's the closest to handmilling that you can get at home. So the idea of making a plain batch and reworking it to add different scents might work, but it would be a lot of trouble. You'd have to shave up your CP into small bits (thats the time consuming part) and recook it with extra water or milk. M&P has had extra ingredients added to the original soap to make it able to be melted and repoured over and over.
Rebatching cp works better with fresh cp. Interesting idea though. It's pretty easy to make a small 2# batch of cp - in a log mold that makes about 8 4 oz bars if I cut them an inch wide.
I've seen people mix m&p and cp together - chunks or shavings of one with a base of the other. Never tried it though since I don't do m&p.
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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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Scrat for President!
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #2 on: Oct 5th, 2003, 9:26pm » |
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Robin do you do CP? If so, my hat is off to you. God love ya... that is something. Stir stir stir stir till trace...
Call me lazy, but I love M&P. 
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AnotherBright_Idea
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Candlemaking IS my day job!
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #3 on: Oct 5th, 2003, 10:50pm » |
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I'm a soap snob! If you don't stir the oils and lye together yourself, you're not making soap! IMHO
Having said that, some people do amazing things with M & P.
CP really works best in batches, there isn't a good way to make one or two bars. I make mine 2 pounds at a time, and I carry a line of scents, I don't do special orders for a bar or two.
Andrea
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AnotherBright_Idea
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Candlemaking IS my day job!
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #4 on: Oct 5th, 2003, 10:52pm » |
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Oh, and I forgot. I get my oils from Zenith Supplies, in Seattle. They have a website, but I just go and buy mine, I'm lucky to live reasonably close.
Andrea
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Lee_Ann
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #5 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 7:53am » |
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Thank you all. I appreciate your guidance. One last thing - after making some recipes that call for oil, I've found that the lather is significantly reduced (almost non-existent) with m&p soap. Is that normal?
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RobinInOR
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #6 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 8:09am » |
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Probably. M&P is designed to lather the way it is. Oils don't lather on their own, so whatever you add to M&P, you reduce the lather. The soap molecule (oil+lye=soap+glycerin) is what lathers.
Yup, I only do CP. And I couldn't live without my stick blender. So instead of "Stir stir stir stir till trace..." it's "whirl whirl till trace.." much faster. I get light trace in a couple of minutes, even castiles take 5 minutes or so.
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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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Rachael
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Merry Meet !
 
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #7 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 3:16pm » |
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Hey Robin I just got some mp soap and to start off I did only a couple bars anyhoo I noticed that it sweats quite a bit is that normal ?
TIA
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Rachael
Handmade Notions
Candles,Soaps,Lotions
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RobinInOR
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Always learning in So. Oregon...
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #8 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 3:37pm » |
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Yes, it's normal. High glycerin soaps attract water from the air, so they sweat. Is it humid or damp where you are? Or they can get little crystal things on them (my M&P soap petals did). I think wrapping them in saran wrap, keeping the air off of them, is the usual solution.
There are "low sweat" bases out there that don't do it as much.
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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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Rachael
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Merry Meet !
Posts: 1346
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Re: Melt & Pour vs. Cold Process
« Reply #9 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 3:51pm » |
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DAMP  LOL it was raining when I made them 
Thanks Robin I will try the wrapping thing 
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Rachael
Handmade Notions
Candles,Soaps,Lotions
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