Earlier this week, Renee asked a question about swirling soap. Renee, here’s a long, multiple day answer to your question. Watch for short instructional videos from this goatsmilk batch (scented with Herbal Essence) this weekend and next week.
Preparing the color mixture ahead of time is helpful. Working out clumps prior to the soap being poured makes for less stress and worry during the touchy last few minutes of the soapmaking process. The colorant mixture above is a blend of jojoba oil, blue ultramarine iron oxide and loofah.
Mixing the prepared coloring into thinly trace (goatsmilk) soap. I did (approximately) 1 tsp of blue color, 1 tsp of loofa and 2 oz. of jojoba oil in 16 oz. of soap. The 16 oz. of soap was pulled from the larger 6 pound batch at thin trace. The rest of the goatsmilk soap is waiting in the large stainless steel mixing pot.
A photo of the entire set up with digital scale, Sunnybrook mold and spatula waiting to scrape soap into mold to get the last drops out.
I’ll post photos and instructions of the swirling technique this weekend.
Hi, looking at old posts again. When you say room temp, do you mean 70F? Why that low?
I have only made to CP soaps so far. The first one I made at 120F that traced so fast and got glycerin rivers in my soap. Today I tried at 109F. It seemed so liquidy and I could never see trace with my kitchen lighting. I set some of it aside while I colored the rest, and the set aside part looked like finely pureed apple sauce. It doesn’t look creamy like in your videos.
This particular recipe is goatsmilk. Milk scorches with any sort of heat so working at low temperatures is important.
Are you mixing with a stick blender? Typically, with a stick blender, you’ll see trace within 2-3 minutes. Apple sauce is not a good look for CP soap – I’m worried that your batch will separate in the mold. Keep me posted =)
Hi,
when I make soap, I tend to set 8% lye dicount in soap calculator. So, I am confused about adding extra oil in soap when mixing it with ultramarines and oxides. Should I set lower discount or take some of the base oils to mix with pigments?
You could actually do either (lower discount or take some of the base oils to mix with pigments). It is usually such a small amount that it doesn’t swing the superfatting much either way, but either way would totally work! =)
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I use a lot of Essential oils in my soap making but some tend to not hold the fragrance very long. Could you please tell me what additives I can use to help keep the scent in longer and how much I would use of them in a 3lb batch.
Thank you.
Linda
There isn’t anything that you can add to your soap to help with that (I wish there were). It really depends on what type of essential oils you’re using. Citrus essential oils tend to lose their scent fairly quickly. Try blending your oils with anchoring notes like patchouli, florals or vanilla.
OR maybe try adding a little more. Since soap is a wash off product, you can get away with adding a little extra.
Courtney from Bramble Berry.
Hi Joanna,
Regarding your question “Other than lye, is soap dangerous?” the short answer is “No!”
Soapmaking is super easy once you learn how to follow basic safety precautions and directions. It’s like driving – driving is inherently dangerous but there are rules and things we do to ensure our safety.
Once you learn to protect yourself, your eyes and exposed body parts against accidental lye spills, soapmaking is very enjoyable and even relaxing.
Anne-Marie
Wow! I can’t wait to see the cut pieces.
I am so scared of lye. When I work with lauryl sulfoacetate I wear a mask, but I still burn my lungs, I hate working with dangerous chemicals, but I love soap. Other than the lye, is soap dangerous?
Thanks, I’ll remind you in about 5 weeks. What is your favorite cp soap book that you would recommend for beginners?
-Joanna
thanks, am!!!!
Thanks so much for the replies anne marie. I’ll give the flip/pull a try. 🙂
Hi Michelle –
I usually flip/pull out the entire 5-6 pound batch (or 11-12 pound batch) and then flip the entire thing over and literally, push the individual bars out with my palms and slide them off the dividers. It’s much easier, I think, than the pliers.
As for your recipe, if you do 1 pound citric acid and 2 pounds baking soda, you’ll end up with about 3 pounds of finished product or, in cupcake-speak 9 cupcakes.
=) Anne-Marie
Hi Product Body (Joanna!) –
Of course I’ll send you a bar. It’s super soft because of the ultra light trace and excessive superfat I did. The bar will end up more of a cream bar than a soap-soap bar. It will be cured in another 5 weeks.
Anne-Marie
Anne-Marie,
I see your using the great mold that I purchased from brambleberry a while back. I absolutely love that mold. When I was looking for the cupcake supplies the other day I saw that you no longer recomment removing the soap using the pliers… I can’t get it done any other way. For CP is there another way to pull out those slats an easier way?
I needed some help figuring out how many supplies I’ll need from brambleberry to make the cupcakes too. I emailed bb but wasn’t sure if it got through. Can you help?
Thanks for showing another soap tutorial. I love seeing your new creations 🙂
Anne-Marie,
Can you send me a sliver to try and I can review your cp soap on my blog? It looks GAWJUSS!
Do you sell your soaps online or just at Otion?
-Joanna