I’m headed out to another day of Otion Store Two location scouting in Old Bellevue and the Queen Anne neighborhood (for all you Seattle based readers). I’m bringing my pedometer to see how far I walk in the neighborhoods. I’m betting I log at least 2 miles.
In the meantime, Lovena has a detailed Oven Hot Process Soapmaking Method tutorial on her site.
If you’re at all curious about making oven hot process soap, this is a great place to start.
One of the arguments for doing hot process soap is that you can use it right away. Unlike traditional cold process soap, it does not require a 6 week cure time. This makes HP soap particularly appealing if you are on a deadline or do a lot of craft shows and like to manufacture fresh to order.
Hello! I’ve been researching CP soap the last few weeks and learning all I can before making my first batch. I tried to click on the link to Lovena’s site but keep getting sent to an error page. Am I doing something wrong? Would love to read the blog and I am intrigued about HP soaping being less curing time than CP.
Thanks,
Shawna
P.S. Love your blog, and Soap Queen TV. You’re funny!
Hi Shawna!
It looks like the above link is broken and that Lovena’s website no longer exists, but through the Wayback Machine I was able to get this link that I think would help you out:
http://web.archive.org/web/20080221091335/http://www.lovenaonline.com/soapmaking/OHPswirl1.html
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Thank you so much! I just made my first batch of cold process tonight! It was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. It mixed up well, now to see if it cures ok. Thanks so much for this site. It is so helpful. I never would have tried all of this without discovering this blog and Brambleberry!
Thanks again!
Shawna
Congrats on your first batch of CP! Your soap is going to turn out fabulously, and we can’t wait to hear about how it turns out. If you have any pictures, we’d love to see how your soap ended turning out. You can share them with us on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/BrambleBerry
Happy Soaping!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I just stumbled upon this looking at older posts. Does this mean,since it is 3 years later that there will not be a Otion 2?
=) I’m glad you’re reading older posts and taking advantage of all of them. There is a lot of stuff there!
Otion II is still on hold, waiting for the economy to pan out a bit more AND for the higher-than-Bellingham rents to pencil out from a business plan perspective for a Seattle or Portland shop.
We’re re-doing quite a lot of the activity centers in the store (DIY scent your own lotion bar, the soapmaking bar etc…) this year to see if we can make those concepts translate better to a larger city.
I just made my first HP batch recently and it is fun!! I still let mine cure a bit to firm up, but I liked watching it go through the different stages of the cook. I’m making another batch of it today or tomorrow!
I love finding posts about hp…its going to be my next experiment. I like how the bars look so earthy. Thanks for posting this.
CP does tend to be a firmer bar 6 weeks after it’s made but HP will eventually catch up – it might take a full year though! =)
HP and CP look very different to me. Is CP a firmer bar?
I can’t wait to see where you open your store in the Seattle area. Even though I live in Pullman, my family still lives in the Seattle area… I have a feeling Otion will be a permanent stop on my visits to the “West Side.” I could never quite justify the drive to Bellingham even though I have considered it on several occasions. 🙂