Add elaborate details to your Cold Process soap easily with fun melt & pour soap pieces. In the bars above, I embedded a basic brown and black layered melt & pour loaf and some experimental marbliezed soap in green and white cold process soap.
Tip: To ensure your melt and pour does not ‘sweat’ in the CP soap, let it sit out for 24 hours under a running fan before embedding into your CP soap recipe.
What You’ll Need
32 oz. Apricot Kernel Oil
20 oz. Palm Oil
18 oz. Coconut Oil
4 oz. Castor Oil
1.90 oz. Jojoba Oil
10.7 oz. Lye
25 oz. Distilled Water
4 oz. Hungarian Lavender
Tools:
Stainless steel or glass mixing bowls
Scale
Heat safe mixing spoon
Electric Stick Blender
Vinegar (in case of splashes)
Gloves, goggles and long sleeve shirt
Cardboard box lined with freezer paper or Bramble Berry Wooden Loaf Mold
Step 1: Gather all of your ingredients and tools. Weigh your oils and have all of your containers and molds ready before you even look at the lye. Also, plan out your embedds and make sure they fit in your mold the way you want.
Tip: You don’t need to invest in expensive molds to start making soap! We just used a sturdy cardboard box and lined it with freezer paper. To figure out how much soap your mold will hold, use this formula: Length x width x height x .55 = approximate soap in ounces. When calculating your height you don’t want to fill your box all the way to the top – so just put in the height you want your soap to be.
Step 2: SUIT UP! Put on your gloves, long sleeves, and eye protection.
Step 3: Wearing your full safety protection, mix your pre-measured lye into your water. Once it has cooled to between 120F to 130F, gently mix the lye water into your melted oils.
Step 4: Once your soap has reached light trace, add the Lavender essential oil and colorant(s) of your choice.
Step 5: Divide your soap into different bowls if you are making multiple colors.
Step 5: Pour about an inch of soap into your mold – if you are using multiple colors, pour both colors and give it a gentle swirl.
Step 7: Place your soap embeds in the CP soap. Wiggle them down a little (your gloves should still be on) to make sure no air bubbles are trapped.
Step 8: Pour more CP soap over the top to cover the embeds.
Step 9: Wait a minimum of 48 hours before attempting to cut. Remember, Cold Process Soap requires a full 4 to 6 weeks of cure and dry time before using.
Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!
I have a question about Mixing CP and MP Soap. Can I melt the 100% Glycerin soap and mix this into my CP soap? Thank you for all the wonderful Soap Queen videos they have been very helpful!
I believe I should clarify to say I want to mix the melted MP soap into my oil and lye water mixture. Thank you!
We did a tutorial on doing just that here:
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/cp-mp-magma-soap/
DEAR QUEEN
I ORDERED 8 SILICON KUDOS MOLDS FROM YOU TODAY.
THEY ARE SO PRETTY, HAD VERY DETAIL PATTEN….BUT NOW I START TO WORRY: I THINK THEY WOULD BE VERY EASY TO CATCH SOAP ASHES….PLEASE TEACH ME
WHAT SHOULD I DO, THAT I CAN AVOIE SOAP ASHES?
THANKS.
Soda ash can be caused by the soap cooling too quickly. You can cover the molds with plastic wrap and insulate them so they cool slowly. Or you can spray the top with 91% alcohol once an hour as it cools. If your soap does get soda ash on the top you can just polish it off with water…it’s pH neutral and totally safe to use.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
WAITING FOT ANNE REPLY
Did I miss a question from you?
YES.
I ASKED A QUESTION ON LAST TUESDAY.
THE GEL PHASE SOAP AND NOT GEL ,WHICH ONE IS BETTER QUALITY? WHICH ONE LOOKS BETTER? DO YOUR SOAP GO THE GEL PHASE?
THANKS REPLY.
I answered your question on a different post from Friday the 10th. Check out your original question and my answer in the comments of this post http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/labcolors-and-gel-phase-are-friends/.
My answer was…”Yep. Some soapmakers choose to gel while others don’t. It’s a personal preference thing. Gelled soap looks a little more glossy and bright. To get gel phase, insulate your soap to keep the temperature up as it cools. If you do not want to go through gel phase, soap at a cooler temperature and do not insulate the soap as it cools.”
The shape of your soap is also a personal preference.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Total size of final batch of soap with water, lye and oil.
Hi Anne-Marie,
The calculation of the soap needed for your mold. Is the calculation based on oils only or oils + water?
I’ll start using this formula!
Thanks!
There is a ‘search’ option up at the top on the left but I agree, a make over to make this blog more useful would be very helpful!
I’ll work on that in the upcoming year – we’re going to do a solid lotion bar recipe that would be great as a solid perfume.
I did not let the soap go through gel phase though with the MP having sat
out under a fan for a couple days, it’s definitely harder than normal MP
because it has sweat out/evaporated much of its moisture and glycerin.
I really love this tutorial. And the timing is great! I have been thinking on this same concept for some time, but was not sure if it would work. Am I correct in assuming that you did not let the CP go through gel phase? I would think it would melt the M&P. Thanks for all your great tutorials 🙂
Hi Anne-Marie, I have a question regarding the formula to figure how much soap. If my mold is 15inch of lenght, 4inch wide and 2.5inch height, it means the formula would be 15 x 4 x 2.5 x .55 = 82.5 oz ? Am i correct ? Thanks !
I want this mold. I want this mold. I want this mold!
Hey Anne-Marie – I’m a loyal follower of your blog & wish there was a way, or maybe there is that I don’t know about to search through the tutorials you have done.. do you have anything on creating perfumes and/or linen sprays? Thanks!! Happy New Year to you & your family!
I have wanted to try melt n pour in cp soap forever! I’m so glad you did! I wanted to know when you use the soap does the soap melt at different rates? I just was wondering cause I’d hate to make some to sell and the melt n pour pieces fell out when wet. Could you test that for me?
I love beautiful soaps like these. It always amazes me to see how creative soapers can get! It requires so much control. I feel as if I’m always rushing and trying not to make messes even though i always do! This is definitely inspiring!
Great; keep me posted if there’s anything else I can help with =)
With Bramble Berry base? That’s why I suggest the fan to help dry that soap
out but definitely do it for an extra few days if your soap is really moist.
OR switch to the Low Sweat, Like CP melt and pour soap from Bramble Berry.
I have noticed some SynDet type MP bars are really soft and gooey and
‘tacky’ feeling and I don’t ever try to embed those – they’re too soft and
they do shrink quite fast because of their fillers.
Hi! Welcome. I’m not positive what you’re asking. Let me try to paraphrase.
So, you’re curious about CP soap and if it lathers in hard water? Is that
correct?
And you’re concerned that CP soap may clog drains?
Is that right?
Maybe you can try to solve this mystery with a Chemical Engineer (CE). I´m CE and I´m sure if you could find one in Spain, he´ll help you a lot.
Regards from Mexico.
Claudia
Thanks AM. I´ll try again. Maybe I´m waiting too much between one layer and the next one. I´ll review again the Basic Layers video too.
Thanks a lot!!!!
I´m your fan…..
Claudia
Hi, I followed two years vuesra page, I really like this in English but the explanation is very funny. I live in Spain and I have written several web pages in Spanish that are dedicated to making and selling “Soaps” on an issue that apparently is uncomfortable, because until now none has answered me, that is why I resort to write to you I might not express myself well in English but at least I’ll try: it says that the soap (cold process) loses its effectiveness in hard water (high calcium and manganese) that is not beneficial and also the salts with use, often clog the plumbing of the tub??.
I live in Spain and here we have hard water, I love my soap, but if you hurt my skin and my tub that I can do?? can you help me please to solve “the mystery of soap that cleans” ?????
thank you very much your work is great I wish you good year 2011
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Whenever you’re ready to try CP soap, let me know. It is so much fun and
very rewarding. You just need goggles and gloves and no little ones
underfoot. =) Really, many household chemicals can be more dangerous to work
with. I think working with bleach can blind you even? Eek! =)
Please do! I am very curious…
It sounds like you’re not pouring quickly enough in between layers. You need
to pour directly after the first layer has set up with skin AND make sure
you’re using fresh soap.
I want those swirly looks on M&P too!!!!!!!
Hi Anne-Marie. Happy 2011 from México!!!! I wish you lots of succesful in everything you do. Sincerely.
I need your advice. I´ve already worked in many diferents M&P soaps, in designs with flat layers specifically, but unfortunately in some designs, layers were separated during shower. I sprayed rubbing alcohol between layers. Please, give me an extra tip to avoid this problem.
Heeeeeeelp !!!
Thanks in advance Anne-Marie!!!
Best regards.
Claudia E.
Monterrey, México
Thanks Anne-Marie, I’ll let you know how it comes out.
There you go. Reading my mind again. I’ve been wondering about whether and how to do this. Thanks! Now, how to make those M&P swirly looks . . .
The soap is gorgeous!! Even without the MP!! : ) What a great idea, thanks for sharing this with us!
Hi Anne Marie,
I love the m/p balls even if they aren’t exactly as you are planning them to work. I would love to try that in my m/p soapmaking. (too chicken to do cold process)
Linda
Всегда восхищаюсь вашей фантазией! Спасибо!
I found that over time my mp pieces shrunk up some inside the bar and started to look odd. Wonder if I did something wrong!?! I was thinking because usually the mp is covered where in the bar I made it wasn’t?
Thank you =) It was a fun project to design.
Yes, that’s really easy and doesn’t take anything except fully cured CP soap. Just add the CP soap when you’re making the MP soap like normal and as long as it’s cured, it’s totally good to go, use, sell, give away etc…
Do you love them? They are a melt and pour project that I’ve been working on for the blog for quite some time but I haven’t quite perfected (thus, into the CP soap they go). Here’s to hoping inspiration strikes and I get that last 10% of that project right and finished up.
Just for you … Always glad when I am able to help. In this case, it sounds like we were on the same wavelength =)
I didn’t use a wire; I just used a knife. I’m assuming too hard to work with for larger embeds on the wire.
Fragrance in MP only is fine in CP – just don’t put it in the CP batch. Your blend sounds fantastic. Just ‘cure’ that soap for a day to ensure that it’s not prone to sweating at all.
Thank you! I love the way the soap turned out, for sure.
Great timing! I’ve wondered about embedding MP into CP recently–I so need to try this!
Great project. I have a couple of questions. Can CP with these embeds be cut on a wire soap cutter or will the M&P be too hard to slice that way? Also, if a use a fragrance oil in the M&P that doesn’t do well in CP, do you think it will not fade? I was thinking of putting Strawberry F/O Embeds (CP ones) in Champagne or Chocolate F/O CP, but now am thinking of using the Strawberry F/O in M&P and using those as the embeds. Do you think this could work? Thanks for the idea, I’ve been wondering about doing this.
When I saw the thumbnail photo, I thought they were CP soapsicles !! LOL
Very pretty soap!
Can this project also work the other way around – can cold process soap be embeded inside melt & pour soap?
I love this effect! So cool!!
What are those awesome marbled balls made of? Are they MP?
I have been all over the internet looking for instructions on how to do this! You must have posted it just for me.
Thank you, Anne-Marie.
Thay looks awesome. Very pretty