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The Value of Fresh and Local Ingredients + Recipes

March 6, 2017 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

There are a variety of fresh ingredients that can be added to cold process soap, from honey to goat milk. They are a great way to make your soap stand out, and each ingredient adds special properties to the recipe. For example, goat milk adds skin-loving properties. Honey is great for boosting lather. Using fresh and local ingredients strengthens ties in your community and strengthens your brand identity.

If you sell your products, customers are delighted to know where the ingredients come from. This is especially true if the ingredients are from their local area! For example, here in Washington state, we are known for our coffee consumption and apple production. Adding locally roasted coffee or puree made from Washington apples in your soap is a way to showcase what the state has to offer.

Locally roasted coffee is a great way to incorporate a local ingredient in your soap.

If you’re thinking about adding fresh and local ingredients to your soap, check out the blog posts below. They have information on how to work with alternative liquids, purees and honey, as well as recipes for each. Be on the lookout for recipes this week using local ingredients for more inspiration!

Alternative Liquids (milk, beer, tea, etc.)
In place of distilled water, liquids like milk, tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages can be used to make cold process soap. Using them in your recipe is a great way to highlight locally made goat milk or beer from a local brewery.

Informative Posts:

Tutorials:

Fresh Ingredients & Purees
If a fruit or vegetable can be blended to a smooth texture, it can probably be used in cold process soap! When added to the batter, the puree goes through the saponification process along with the oils and lye solution. Fruit-based purees often add to a fluffy lather because of their natural sugar content. Additionally, many purees are great from a marketing standpoint and can add skin-loving benefits.

Informative posts:

Tutorials:

Honey
Honey is a natural humectant, which means it helps draw moisture from the air to the skin. Adding honey to your products is a great way to support local beekeepers. Honey can overheat in soap, so give your soaping temperatures extra attention.

Informative Posts:

Tutorials:

Is there a fresh and local ingredient that you like incorporating into your products? Be on the lookout for several tutorials featuring ingredients from the Pacific Northwest.

How to Use Kukui Nut Oil

February 13, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Tips & Tricks

A relaxing Hawaiian vacation is a dream for most people. If you can’t make it there any time soon, do the next best thing – bring a bit of Hawaii to you! Kukui nut oil comes from the Aleurites moluccana tree, also known as the kukui or candlenut tree. It’s the state tree of Hawaii. The oil that is cold pressed from the kukui nuts is prized for its ability to leave the skin and hair feeling smooth and silky.

What makes kukui nut oil so amazing is its unique fatty acid profile. It contains a good amount of both linoleic and oleic acid. Those fatty acids give the skin much-needed moisture. If you want to learn more about fatty acids, check out this blog post by Susan with Swift Crafty Monkey.

Another unique aspect of the oil is the texture. When applied to the skin, it absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave behind a greasy feeling. Instead, the skin feels soft. It is comparable to sweet almond and avocado oil, which have similar lightweight textures. In addition, it has a fairly long shelf life of 1-2 years. As for the smell, it has a neutral nutty odor that is very subtle in finished products. All those great qualities make kukui nut oil perfect for a variety of recipes.

Cold Process & Melt and Pour Soap
You can use kukui nut oil in soap up to 20%. We like to use it around 12-15%. It will give your bars the lovely silky properties mentioned above. Because it’s a soft oil (liquid at room temperature), it will make your soap softer and more moisturizing. This oil is ideal for intricate designs, as it won’t speed up trace. Learn more about formulating a recipe for intricate designs in this post. As for melt and pour, we don’t recommend adding extra oil. It can make the bases oily or soft. If you do add kukui nut oil, use no more than 1 teaspoon per pound of melt and pour soap.

Lotion/Conditioner
If you’re in the market for a silky lotion or conditioner, you can use kukui nut as the only oil in the batch. That would be about 23% or more, depending on your recipe. You can also pair it with another liquid oil like argan to get the beneficial properties of both. If you like a lotion or conditioner that’s a bit thicker, adding a butter like avocado or shea would be a good option. Learn more about making lotion in this post. If you want to make conditioner, this video shows you how.

Balms
A traditional body or lip balm formula is 1:1:1 wax, butter and oil. Kukui nut oil can be used at 5% and up. It pairs nicely with beeswax or candelilla wax. As for butter, the sky is the limit! Cocoa, mango or kokum butter (a new product as well!) are great options. Before you get started on your balm, pop a few spoons in the freezer. This is called The Spoon Trick. When you dip the cold spoons into the melted balm, it hardens instantly so you can check the texture. If it’s too soft or too firm, you can adjust from there. Learn more about formulating balms in this post. Look out for a moisturizing lip balm recipe made with kukui nut oil later this week.

A lip balm recipe with kukui nut oil, white beeswax and Coconut Flavor Oil will be on the blog later this week.

Body Butter
Kukui nut oil adds a silky, spreadable texture to your body butter recipes. You can use it at 5% or more. You can use the oil with any butter you like. The All About Butter post has more information on options for your recipe. In the Green Smoothie Whipped Body Butter Recipe, kukui nut oil would be a great addition or substitute for grapeseed oil.

Scrubs
Because kukui nut oil absorbs quickly, it’s a great option for scrubs. You can use it at 5-100% in your recipe with the exfoliant of your choice. You can also add potassium cocoate or liquid soap if you prefer a more cleansing scrub. Find scrub recipes here.

Bath Bombs
Oil and butter wet bath bombs, which helps them hold their shape. They also moisturize the skin. You can add about .5 oz. of kukui nut oil per 1.5 cups of fizzy mixture to start. If you want the bath bombs wetter, you can add more from there. Get more tips in the Bath Bomb Questions and Answers post. The oil would work really well in the Midas Touch Bath Bombs in place of or in addition to the meadowfoam oil.

Add kukui nut oil to the Midas Touch Bath Bombs for moisture.

Have you used kukui nut oil before? What do you like to use it in?

How to Use Kokum Butter

February 6, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Tips & Tricks

At first glance, kokum butter looks a bit odd. It’s crumbly and almost looks like it’s covered in soda ash. But within those pieces of butter is something really special. It’s ultra moisturizing, and leaves your hair and skin feeling soft and silky.

Kokum butter has a firm texture that’s similar to cocoa butter. It’s firmer and more crumbly than other butters Bramble Berry carries, including shea and mango. Read all about butters here. Kokum starts to melt around 90-104 ° F. So, when it comes in contact with the skin, it melts just slightly. It feels lightweight and not greasy. It can be used on its own to moisturize the skin, lips or hair. You can also use that texture in combination with other ingredients to make amazing body butter, lip balm, soap and more. Before getting started on your kokum butter creations, there are a few things to know.

The butter comes from the fruit kernels of the Indian tree, also known as Garcinia indica. It’s indigenous to the Western Ghats region of India. It has a high stearic acid content of around 40-45%. That stearic acid content does a few things. First, it adds firming properties to your recipes. It also helps thicken products like lotion and conditioner. Read more about stearic acid in this Swift Crafty Monkey post. This one on butters is pretty great too. Kokum butter is also one of the most stable vegetable butters with a shelf life of about 1-2 years. As an added bonus, kokum butter has little to no scent. That means it won’t compete with fragrance or essential oil in your handmade products.

Now that you’re completely sold on kokum butter and its amazing benefits, you’re probably wondering how to use it in your products. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

Cold Process Soap
Kokum butter can be used in soap up to 10%. Because of that high stearic acid content, a larger amount can cause the soap to trace fairly quickly. Learn more about trace in this post. We like to use it around 5%. That gives you all the moisturizing benefits and creates a firmer bar. We added the butter to a recipe with ground pumpkin seeds and eucalyptus essential oil. Look out for that tutorial later this week. As for melt and pour, we don’t recommend adding extra butter. It can make the bases oily or soft. If you do add kokum butter to melt and pour soap, use no more than 1 teaspoon per pound of MP soap.

This cold process soap recipe featuring kokum butter, ground pumpkin seeds and eucalyptus essential oil will be up later this week.

Lotion/Conditioner
The stearic acid content of kokum butter is important to consider in emulsified products like lotion and conditioner. In higher concentrations, the butter can make the formula too thick. Using about 1-3% in your recipe will work nicely. You may also want to decrease the amount of stearic acid. It is usually recommended at 3-5%. You can drop that to 2-3%. That will give you a lotion or conditioner that’s thick and luxurious. Learn more about making lotion in this post. If you want to make conditioner, this video shows you how.

Balms
Kokum butter can be used on its own in body and lip balms, although it will be very firm. If you prefer a softer texture, you can use it at 5% and up. A traditional balm formula is 1:1:1 wax, butter and oil. Kokum butter pairs nicely with beeswax, cera bellina wax or candelilla wax. As for oil, the sky is the limit! Sweet almond, avocado or chia seed oil feel super moisturizing. Before you get started on your balm, pop a few spoons in the freezer. This is called The Spoon Trick. When you dip the cold spoons into the melted balm, it hardens instantly so you can check the texture. If it’s too soft or too firm, you can adjust from there. Learn more about formulating balms in this post.

Body Butter
The texture of kokum butter is perfect for a hydrating body butter. Because kokum butter is firm, you’ll want to melt it before whipping. On its own it will be too stiff, so you can use it at 5% or more in combination with a softer butter like coffee or avocado to make the recipe more balanced. Liquid oils like argan or meadowfoam feel nice in body butter recipes as well. They add a silky, spreadable feeling. Kokum butter would be a great addition or substitute for cocoa butter in this recipe.

Kokum would be a great addition to the Whipped Amber Bronzing Butter.

Scrubs
If you want to add moisturizing properties to your scrub, kokum butter is the way to go. On it’s own, kokum butter is too firm to mix with an exfoliant, but would be great with a liquid oil or softer butter. Give it a try in the Sparkling Snow Sugar Scrub in place of shea butter.

Bath Bombs
Oil and butter wet bath bombs, which helps them hold their shape. They also moisturize the skin. You can add about .5 oz. of melted kokum butter per 1.5 cups of fizzy mixture to start with. If you want the bath bombs wetter, you can add more from there. Get more tips in the Bath Bomb Questions and Answers post.

Have you used kokum butter before? What’s your favorite way to use it?

Creating the Perfect Gift Set with Shana of BΛTHVS

February 3, 2017 Filed Under: Home Crafts, Tips & Tricks

Today, Shana of BΛTHVS is sharing her tips for creating a cohesive and thoughtful gift set. Shana is a pro when it comes to creating cohesive branding – take a look at her website and you’ll see what I mean! These gift sets would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, but Shana’s tips apply to every type of gift. If you’re a small business owner, Shana’s tips are great for putting together collections of products for customers. – A.M.

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Hello! My name is Shana and I am the owner and creator of BΛTHVS. I started with cold process soapmaking and now make a bit of everything. I enjoy the packaging process almost as much as the making process. I typically favor clear packaging so that my customers know exactly what they are getting, but the gift boxes I make are the exception. Since the customer can’t see or smell the products within, I have to make sure that every detail is visually appealing and well put together. I’m here to show you how I put together a professional, creatively curated Valentine’s Day gift box! Perhaps you can take a few of my tricks and apply them to your products for your favorite gift-giving holidays or put a spin on your general everyday packaging!

Curating the Gift Assortment

Proper curation is key when putting together anything that has a particular theme. Try to have a good idea of what you want to put together and the audience you want to please. For this Be My Valentine Gift Box, I am assuming that most recipients are going to be women and that this box would either be given to them by a partner, or by family and friends. Maybe someone would also purchase it for themselves in an act of self-pampering.

Above on the left is a photo of the final selection and packaging of products for the gift box. On the right is each product and their individual product shots – they don’t necessarily look like they should go together on their own. I chose the more romantic of the pink, passionfruit scented Candy Heart Bubble Bars and set them aside for the boxes, and I also packaged the Cacao Lip Balm in a small glassine bag with XOXO themed washi tape to tie into the theme. To me, the Cacao Lip Balm sort of represents the classic Valentine’s Day box of chocolates, so it had to be included! I packaged the Passion Rose soap like my usual soaps, and I put some shrink wrap around the Wife of Bath Bomb so it would not leave any crumbs in the gift box!

Picking the Perfect Paper

The gift wrap you choose is important, since it will be the first thing someone notices when they look at the box! I like to buy my paper from designers on Spoonflower.com. You can always find a design to fit your theme, and it is easy to reorder it when you run out! This is very important if you sell an item – if you buy your paper from a retail store, it’s unlikely that you will find it again! Shoutout to Caja Wong-Chung from caja_design on Spoonflower for her beautiful design!

Putting it All Together

We got some pink and red crinkle paper to fill in the gaps and coordinate with our Valentine’s Day theme. It also helps keep everything nice and snug so that each product is protected – if you’ve ever worked with bubble bars, you know they can be a fragile craft, and we don’t want any broken hearts, both literally and figuratively!

For the inside of the box I also throw in a business card and a detailed card stock list of what is inside with descriptions of each item. I like to also add pictures of our most photogenic items on this list. When selling in person it is useful to tuck a matching list under the ribbon on the outside of the box so that your gifter knows exactly what is in the box!

Wrap up that box and put a ribbon on it! Don’t tie it yet though, because we need to make hang tags.

I like hang tags that are nice and sturdy, so I chose heavyweight stock paper and print my label onto a sticker. I can just put the sticker directly onto the paper and cut it out. One side has the name of the box and my brand, the other side will be a nice pearlescent pink that can be written on!

Instead of just punching a hole into the tag to run the ribbon through, I like to fasten metal eyelets into the tag—it just looks nicer and has a more professional look. Tie that tag into the ribbon on your box, make a pretty bow, and you’re done!

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Hangable Valentine Soap Packaging with Tania of Soapish

February 1, 2017 Filed Under: Home Crafts, Tips & Tricks

Today, Tania of Soapish demonstrates an adorable soap packaging option for Valentine’s Day. The project shows you how to create a hangable bar that’s a great way to gift your product or display it in a retail store. Tania really went the extra mile and included a free “Cootie Catcher” printable (Get it? Soap catches the cooties! Haven’t heard that term since about 6th grade #throwback), along with a video tutorial at the bottom of the post. Be sure to check out more Soapish videos here on Tania’s YouTube channel. – A.M.

Hello! I’m Tania, creator of Soapish in Los Angeles California. I just love Valentine’s Day! Not only is it my wedding anniversary, it’s a great occasion to gift bath and body products to everyone I care about! Part of the excitement of making my own products is coming up with creative ways to wrap and package everything.

Today I’m going to demonstrate one fun way to wrap soaps for gifting. It has quite a few steps, but once you make one, you’ll see that its a pretty simple process with awesome results. Let’s get started!

[Read more…]

Which Face Mask is Right for You?

January 16, 2017 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Facial skin varies widely from person to person. From dry and flaky to oily and shiny, everybody’s skin is a little bit different. Skin type determines which products and ingredients are the best for you. Last week, we shared three clay face mask recipes: Lavender Clay Mask, Sea Clay Mask and a Turmeric Clay Mask. Each mask is formulated for a different skin type and concern. Learn more about each mask below and find out which is right for your skin.

Not sure what type of skin you have? Think about how your skin would feel midday without a moisturizer. If your skin feels tight and uncomfortable, you have dry skin. If your skin is comfortable without a moisturizer, you are on the oilier side. If areas of your skin feel comfortable, while other areas feel dry, you have combination skin. Another good test is to run your finger across your T-zone (chin, nose and forehead) midday. Do you see oil on your finger? If so, you most likely have combination to oily skin. Keep in mind that skin type can change during the year depending on the season. You may be dry during the winter, and oily during the summer.

Lavender Clay Face Mask – This mask is formulated for dry skin. It contains the least amount of kaolin clay to lessen the oil absorbing properties. Purple Brazilian clay adds a beautiful color. The mask contains argan oil, which is well known for its intense moisturizing properties and large amounts of vitamin A and E. Evening primrose extract is wonderful for soothing dryness, making it a good choice for dry skin. Lavender 40/42 essential oil gives this face mask a soft, calming scent. If your skin is extremely sensitive, you may want to omit the essential oil from the recipe. Because this mask does not contain a large amount of clay, it will only dry on the skin if a very thin layer is applied.

Sea Clay Face Mask – The Sea Clay Mask is formulated for oily skin and contains the largest amount of clay. Equal amounts of kaolin clay and sea clay are used. Kaolin clay is a fantastic gentle clay, while sea clay adds some serious oil absorbing properties. It has a thick texture and dries completely on the face after about 15 minutes. Tea tree essential oil adds a refreshing scent, and some studies claim it has antimicrobial properties. Hazelnut oil is ideal for oily skin as it absorbs quickly with no greasy residue. This mask also contains ginseng extract, which comes from the ginseng root and is commonly used for homeopathic treatments.

Turmeric Clay Face Mask – This mask is formulated for combination to oily skin, or if you are concerned about redness or dullness. The only clay in this mask is kaolin clay, which has mild oil absorbing properties. This mask does contain enough clay to dry on the skin, giving that classic clay mask feeling. Turmeric contains curcumin, which is an anti-oxidant and is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties. Don’t worry about this mask leaving your skin yellow; it washes off cleanly with warm water. This mask contains carrot extract and carrot seed essential oil, both of which are rich in vitamins A and E.

Of course the best part about making your own skin care is being able to tweak the recipes for your skin. Feel free to swap out the essential oils, clay, extracts and more for something that may work for your skin better. A small test batch is always a good idea! Each clay post above also includes tips for recipe substitutions and changes. If you’d like to learn more about which kind of clay is best for your skin, click here.

How to Make Soap Last Longer in the Shower

December 14, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Cold process soap is very different compared to soap made from surfactants. Cold process soap is made with natural oils and produces lather naturally. Lather from most store bought soaps come from surfactants or detergents. Synthetic surfactants are harsher on the skin, and can strip the skin of moisture. That’s why cold process soap is so fantastic for sensitive skin, and why soap from the store can leave the skin feeling dry and overly “squeaky clean.”

While cold process soap has many skin benefits, one downside is that cold process soap does not last as long in the shower as soap made from surfactants and detergents. When I give cold process soap to somebody who hasn’t used it before, I make sure to give them tips to prevent this. My number one tip is to make sure the soap sits in a soap dish, or shower rack. If the soap sits in water for too long, it will become mushy and soft very quickly. If you’d like more information on extending the life of your bars in the shower, check out my tips below.

Use More Hard Oils
In general, firmer bars of soap last longer in the shower. Using more hard oils helps create a firmer bar of soap. Hard oils refer to oils that are solid at room temperature such as palm oil, coconut oil, beeswax and palm kernel flakes. In general, soap with about 60% hard oils would be considered a firm bar of soap. That looks something like 30% coconut oil, 30% palm oil, 30% olive oil and 10% “something extra.” If your soap contains large percentage of soft oils, allowing it to cure for longer can help it last longer in the shower. For example, soap made with 100% olive oil (known as Castile soap) benefits from curing for six months to a full year.

Use Stearic Acid
Stearic acid is a great addition to soap recipes if you’d like to create an extra firm bar of soap. It’s usually used as a thickening agent in lotion. It’s a vegetable derived waxy substance that can be used at a 0.5% of your oils in cold process soap. That sounds like a very small amount, but a little goes a long way when it comes to stearic acid! Keep in mind if you use stearic acid in your recipe, it will trace faster and needs a hotter soaping temperature (at least 160 ° F) to make sure it stays melted.

Use Sodium Lactate/Salt
Sodium lactate is the liquid salt of lactic acid. It’s generally added to cooled lye water at a rate of 1 teaspoon per pound of oils. It does wonders for hardening up your bar, and really helps extend the life in the shower. I use it in just about every one of my batches! Learn more about sodium lactate here. If you don’t have sodium lactate on hand, you can also add table salt to your lye solution. In the Palm Free Vertical Twist recipe, we used about 1 tsp. of table salt per pound of oils in the recipe…just like using sodium lactate! Sodium lactate or table salt is especially great when the recipe tends to be a little softer (like a palm free recipe).

Sodium lactate creates a bar that is firmer, can be unmolded faster, and also lasts longer in the shower. Soap on the left contains sodium lactate, while soap on the right does not.

Use a Draining Soap Dish
When a cured bar of soap sits in water, it turns to mush pretty quickly. The best solution to avoid the soap from coming in contact with excess is water is to place it on a soap dish. The dish should elevate the soap and allow the water to drain. In the shower, placing the soap on a shower rack works as well. The key is to keep the soap dry. Without a dish, a fully cured bar of cold process soap will turn soft and mushy in about a day.

I received this beautiful bar from Tabitha in the Fall 2016 Soap Swap. I loved that Tabitha included a dish along with her soap. So clever!

Make Sure to Fully Cure
Making cold process soap takes patience. It needs time to sit in the mold to harden, which usually takes at least 2-3 days. Once unmolded and cut, the bars need to cure for about 4-6 weeks. During this time, excess water in the soap evaporates, which creates a firmer and longer lasting bar. The longer the bar cures, the better. This is especially true for soap made with mostly (or all) olive oil, also known as Castile soap.

Castile soap benefits from a longer curing time of abut six months to a full year. The longer Castile soap cures, the less “slimy” the lather feels. For “normal” cold process recipes, a cure time of 4-6 weeks does the trick. If you water discount your recipe, the soap may not need to cure quite as long. If you’d like to learn more about water discounting your soap, click here.

Do you have any recipe tricks for making your cold process soap last longer in the shower? While little changes like more hard oils and stearic acid make a difference, a soap dish is really key!

Why is My Cold Process Soap Soft?

December 7, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Cold process soap requires patience. It needs several days to harden in the mold. Then, it needs to cure for 4-6 weeks to allow excess water to evaporate. Curing creates a firmer bar that lasts longer in the shower. All this waiting can be the hardest part of cold process soapmaking! But, what if your soap takes longer than usual to harden? If your soap is still soft to the touch after a week or two, something might be a little off.

Soap can take anywhere from 1-15 days to harden in the mold, depending on a variety of factors. Two to three days in the mold is average. There are several factors that determine how long soap needs to harden. The first is the type of oils in your recipe. The more soft oils (such as olive, sweet almond, rice bran, canola, etc.) the soap contains, the softer the bars will be. It may take more time to harden in the mold. The more hard oils the recipe contains (such as palm, coconut, cocoa butter, beeswax, etc.), the quicker the soap will harden. For example, if the soap is made with 100% olive oil, it may take up to two weeks to unmold. But if the soap is 60% hard oils, it could be ready to unmold the next day.

Using more firm oils and butters in your recipe will result in a firmer bar of soap.

Another factor is the superfat of the recipe. Oil that’s not turned into soap by the sodium hydroxide lye is called the “superfat.” An average superfat is anywhere from about 1-7%. The higher the superfat, the more “free-floating” oils in the soap. The terms “superfat” and “lye discount” can be used interchangeably. This is because in order to create a superfat, you use less lye in the recipe. Extra oil creates a more gentle bar, but it can also make the bar softer. If you used a large superfat (generally 7% or more) and the bar feels soft to the touch after a few weeks, the superfat may be the culprit. Personally, I use a superfat of 5% in most of my cold process recipes. I have found this to be a good balance between a firm bar that’s also gentle on the skin.

Speaking of “extra stuff” in your soap, let’s talk additives. Colorants and fragrance oils are the most common “additives” and they can make soap soft if too much is added. Dispersing powdered colorants in lightweight liquid oil is a great way to avoid chunks and streaks of color in the final bar. But, if you add too much dispersed colorant it can soften the bar because you’re adding more oil as well. In fact, you’re technically increasing the superfat! If you calculate your recipe to have a 7% superfat and add lots of dispersed color for example, you may end up with a soft bar. Usually, colorants are dispersed at a rate of 1 teaspoon colorant to 1 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. If you want to add a lot of colorant, you may want to decrease the amount of oil in your dispersion.

Adding too much extra oil (like with dispersed colorants) can lead to a soft bar of soap.

Adding too much fragrance oil can also lead to a soft bar of soap. That’s where the Fragrance Calculator comes in! Simply enter which fragrance oil you’re using, what you’re making and how much. The calculator will give the amount of fragrance oil that’s safe for skin. The amount given by the calculator won’t lead to a soft bar of soap. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to measure your fragrance oil by weight; it gives you the most accurate amount of fragrance oil for your project. Adding more fragrance than recommended could lead to a soft bar.

Soap might be soft if too much liquid is used. The Bramble Berry Lye Calculator creates recipes with 22% distilled water in the total recipe. Other lye calculators might have a slightly lower or higher percentage. That’s because the amount of water in your recipe can fluctuate, and still be totally fine. Using less water in your recipe is known as water discounting.

Water discounting has several benefits including decreasing the chance of glycerin rivers and creating a bar that unmolds faster. Learn more about water discounting soap here. On the other hand, if you use more water than suggested, it takes longer for the soap to become firm. This also applies to adding other liquid additives like milk or purees to your recipe. Too much extra liquid (milk, purees, etc.) on top of the water in the lye solution causes soap to not harden correctly.

Water discounting soap reduces the chances of glycerin rivers, shown above. It also produces a bar that hardens faster.

The type of mold also affects how quickly soap hardens. In general, cold process soap made in silicone and plastic molds takes longer to harden and umold. This is because silicone and plastic molds create an airtight seal that doesn’t allow for any air to touch the soap. The more airflow, the faster soap hardens. Soap made in wood molds lined with freezer paper has a little more airflow, which helps the soap release faster. In addition, wood molds tend to promote gel phase. If soap goes through gel phase, it becomes harder faster.

If using a silicone or plastic mold for cold process soap, use sodium lactate. Actually, I recommend using sodium lactate for all your batches! It’s a liquid salt that can be added to cooled lye water at a rate of 1 teaspoon per pound of oils in cold process soap. It’s optional, but I use it in 99.9% of my recipes. It facilitates the hardening of soap, making umolding faster and a longer lasting bar in the shower. For example in the photo below, the soap on the left contains sodium lactate while the bar on the right does not. The bar without sodium lactate was softer, and did not unmold as cleanly. Click here to learn more about sodium lactate.

The bar on the left contained sodium lactate, while the bar on the right did not.

So, what can you do about a soft bar of soap? The good thing about soft soap is that it’s very rarely lye heavy! Lye heavy soap usually has the opposite problem; it’s extremely hard, brittle and crumbly. If your soap is too soft, chances are you added too much of something…but not lye. It’s usually too much oil, fragrance, liquid or other additive. The bad news about soap that’s too soft? It’s a little tricky to fix. The only real option is to rebatch the soap. To help firm it up, you can add shreds of a firm bar. This helps balance it out. Learn more about rebatching soap here.

What can you do if you want to ensure your soap unmolds within about 2-3 days? Check out my tips below.

Use at least 40% hard oils in your recipe. These include coconut oil, palm oil, cocoa butter, etc. This post has a list of common soaping oils, with general recommended usage rates to aid in formulating your recipes.
Stearic acid at 0.5% of your oils can be used as a hardening agent in cold process soap. It does speed up trace, so keep that in mind!
Sodium lactate is your friend! Because I like to unmold my soap within about 2 days, I use sodium lactate all my batches. It’s a liquid salt that’s added to cooled lye water. It helps the soap harden more quickly, which helps it release cleanly from the mold. If I use sodium lactate, I can sometimes unmold my soap the next day.
Water discount your soap anywhere from 5-20%. Just keep in mind the more you water discount your recipe, the faster your soap will accelerate. Generally, I don’t water discount more than 15% unless I’m in a huge hurry to unmold. If you’re adding ingredients like purees, I recommend water discounting to take the extra water in the puree into consideration. Check out this post for more info.
Decrease the superfat. The more extra oil you have in your soap, the softer it will be. I have found 5% to be a good balance between firmness, and a skin-loving bar.
Promote gel phase. When soap goes through gel phase, it speeds up the saponification process. This results in a bar that is firmer more quickly.
Thicken the trace of your soap. Soap that is poured into the mold at a thin trace will need more time in the mold than thick traced soap.
Using an accelerating fragrance oil helps your soap harden in the mold faster.

How long do you usually wait to unmold your soap? In general I always recommend 2-3 days, but sometimes you can get away with unmolding the next day if you use some of the tips above!

Re-Creating Cold Process and Melt & Pour Soap Designs

November 28, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

When I post a new tutorial, I’m often asked if it can be made with melt and pour or cold process soap instead. The answer depends entirely on the design and technique of the project. Simply put, some cold process techniques can be recreated with melt and pour and some cannot, and vice versa. This is because the texture and behavior of cold process and melt and pour is extremely different. Below, I go over a few cold process soap techniques that can and cannot be created with melt and pour soap, and what to consider when recreating a cold process recipe with melt and pour soap.

Creating Swirls with Melt and Pour vs. Cold Process

Cold process soap batter is fluid for much longer than melt and pour. It can be manipulated to be thick and pudding-like, or thin and liquidy. Melt and pour soap is always thin, and begins to cool and harden quite quickly. Unfortunately, this means creating some cold process swirls with melt and pour soap is very difficult (if not impossible). Swirl techniques like the linear swirl, spin swirl and hanger swirl require time swirl the soap batter. Techniques that require lots of pouring like the funnel pour or column pour also require several minutes to work with the soap. These techniques cannot be recreated with melt and pour soap because it hardens too quickly.

Once melted, melt and pour soap immediately begins to cool down. It begins to harden around 120 degrees. As it cools, it becomes thick and a skin forms on top. The time it takes for melt and pour soap to begin to harden from its melted, liquid state is about 60-90 seconds. On the other hand, cold process soap can stay liquid for 5 minutes or more, depending on the recipe, fragrance oil and how the stick blender is used.

Simply put, the nature of melt and pour soap doesn’t give enough time to create the same swirls as cold process. As it hardens, it also thickens and becomes a little “gloopy.” This texture just doesn’t work well for swirls. The other problem with creating swirls with melt and pour is the thin texture makes it difficult to keep colors separate from each other. For example, linear swirls are created by layering strips of cold process soap beside and on top of each other, as shown here and in the photo below. Because the texture of melt and pour is so thin, the soap spreads out instead of keeping distinct lines of color. Long story short? Many swirl techniques can only be created with cold process soap.

The texture of cold process soap allows you to pour distinct lines that hold their shape, as shown above. Melt and pour soap does not behave the same way.

That being said, it’s not impossible to create swirls with melt and pour. They just look very different from the swirls you can make with cold process soap. For example, in the Cosmic Cotton Candy Soap Tutorial, various colors of melt and pour soap are poured together in layers. The final bars are full of swirls, texture and movement. It looks beautiful, but very different from cold process swirls. For tips on swirling melt and pour soap, check out this post.

Swirls are not impossible with melt and pour soap, but they just won’t look like cold process swirls.

Creating Layers with Melt and Pour Soap vs. Cold Process

Some swirl techniques might not be possible with melt and pour soap, but layers are a different story! Creating straight and clean layers with melt and pour soap may be easier than creating layers with cold process soap. Melt and pour layers can be poured with a long time period in between. This allows the bottom layer to harden and support the layer above. You do need to be careful with temperature, because if the top layer of soap is too hot it can melt the layer below. The hardest part about creating layers in melt and pour soap may be the patience it requires! For more tips on layering melt and pour soap, check out this post.

Cold process soap can be made and poured in batches, but it does involve more prep work. It’s also possible to create straight lines with cold process all in one batch, but it’s an advanced technique that involves a good understanding of trace. If, for example, the bottom layer of soap is thin trace, a thick layer on top may fall into the bottom layer.

If you want to create layers that are not perfectly straight, cold process soap is the way to go. You can find examples of this in the Violet Confetti Cold Process Soap Tutorial, Watermelon Cold Process Soap Tutorial, and the Natural Colorant Rainbow Cold Process Soap. Melt and pour soap does not hold its shape like cold process soap, because it can not be manipulated to a pudding texture.

Textured Tops in Melt and Pour Soap vs. Cold Process

If the cold process project you’d like to re-create with melt and pour has a textured top, I’ve got some bad news. The thin, liquid texture of melted melt and pour soap can not be manipulated to create a textured top, like cold process. Cold process soap batter with a medium to thick trace has a texture similar to pudding. You can use a spoon or spatula to move the soap around to create peaks and divots, and it will keep its shape. In the video below, once the soap is poured into the mold, a spoon is used to mound the soap up in the center. Unfortunately, this texture cannot be achieved with plain melt and pour soap.

That being said, you can add some ingredients to melt and pour soap to create a texture that is more similar to cold process. One example is shown in the Reimagining Honey Ale Melt and Pour Soap. Melt and pour soap base is whipped together with liquid soap, giving it a more “foamy” look. A similar technique is used in the Soap Cupcakes with Whipped Frosting video below. It won’t behave in the same way as thick cold process soap, but it’s a little bit closer!

Coloring and Fragrancing Melt and Pour Soap vs. Cold Process

If you’re recreating a cold process design with melt and pour (or the other way around), it’s important to consider the type of colorant used in the recipe. Some colorants work better for cold process soap than melt and pour, and vice versa. For example, pigments and oxides are great in cold process soap, but not all micas work well in the high pH environment. For melt and pour soap, micas work great and oxides and pigments can be a little trickier to incorporate. Click here to learn about the different types of soap colorants, and which work best for cold process versus melt and pour.

How colorants are added to the cold process soap and melt and pour varies as well. For example, pigments and oxides need to be dispersed in oil before being added to cold process soap. This helps avoids clumps. Learn how to prep colorants for cold process soap here. For melt and pour soap, colorants are best dispersed in 99% isopropyl alcohol or a small amount of glycerin. Adding extra oil to melt and pour soap can inhibit the lather and affect the texture. The amount of colorant needed for the project will most likely change as well.

Color Blocks are specifically designed to color melt and pour soap, but don’t work well in cold process.

When it comes to fragrance oils in melt and pour versus cold process soap, almost all fragrance oils at Bramble Berry are appropriate for both projects. But, some fragrances oils cause interesting effects in cold process soap, like ricing or acceleration. When working with melt and pour soap, you don’t have to worry about these things. Fragrance oils can also discolor soap brown if it contains a lot of vanillin. If a fragrance oil discolors, you can use Vanilla Color Stabilizer in melt and pour soap to prevent the discoloration. Unfortunately, Vanilla Color Stabilizer is not reliable in cold process soap. Learn more about vanilla discoloration here.

If you’re taking a project from cold process to melt and pour (or vice versa), just remember to always use the Fragrance Calculator to recalculate the amount of fragrance needed for your recipe. Cold process and melt and pour soap have very different fragrance usage rates. =)

What About the Mold?

There are a variety of different types of soapmaking molds including silicone, wood and plastic. Some molds are better for cold process soap or melt and pour. For example, silicone molds are great for both cold process soap and melt and pour soap. But, plastic molds don’t work as well for cold process soap. When recreating a recipe, take the type of mold into consideration. Learn more about different types of molds and their pros and cons here.

Plastic molds work better for melt and pour soap than cold process soap.

Phew! As you can see, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration when recreating a cold process soap with melt and pour, or vice versa. Some projects are easy, and just need a few ingredient swaps. Others cold process projects like swirls and textured tops are really hard to re-create with melt and pour soap.

Must-Have Cold Process Soap Tools (And Best Splurges!)

November 23, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

There are so many fun tools and ingredients to create cold process soap. From the basics like stick blenders and molds, to fancier items like the Comb Swirl Tool, tools can really expand what a soaper can do. I have been making soap for over 20 years, and all the new soaping tools that have come out since then are pretty amazing! I have used just about all of them, and there are definitely some tools that I can’t do without.

I rounded up my very favorite tools (and one crucial ingredient!) in a few different categories below based on the convenience they provide, versatility and value. Of course everybody has a different idea of what is essential, a must-have, and what’s a luxury item. But, these are the tools I find myself always reaching for, and what makes soaping so much easier for me and my team! Is there a soaping tool you just can’t live without?

Safety Gear (Safety Goggles, Gloves, etc.)
While you can get away with a lot of fancy soaping tools, safety gear is a must. Cold process soaping requires working with sodium hydroxide lye which is a caustic chemical. Lye has the ability to cause skin and eye irritation if it comes in direct contact. But, just like driving a car, it’s perfectly safe when handled correctly. The easiest and most effective way to protect yourself when working with lye is to wear a long sleeved shirt, pants, closed-toed shoes, safety goggles and gloves. This greatly reduces any chance for serious injury. If working with lye makes you nervous (I understand!) this post may help calm your nerves. In addition, the Sodium Hydroxide Lye Safety Guide has everything you need to know about working with lye in soap.

Sodium Hydroxide Lye
Speaking of lye, you can’t make cold process soap without it. There is no ifs-ands-or-buts about it, cold process soap requires lye to become…well, soap! When oils and lye water are emulsified, the saponification process begins. This means the sodium hydroxide lye solution starts turning the oil into soap. If you’re a visual learner, this video may help you understand saponification a little better. I highly recommend purchasing lye that is intended for soap making. Lye from hardware stores can contain other ingredients that may cause unpredictable results.

Stick Blender
Before the days of stick blenders, soapers would stir together lye and oils together for hours to create soap. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend hours making one batch of soap. That’s where a reliable stick blender comes in! A stick blender emulsifies oil and lye together in seconds, rather than hours and hours. Some soapers still prefer to skip the stick blender and stir their oils and lye by hand…and more power to ’em! But personally, I can’t do without it.
Note: Our stick blenders are out of stock because we’ve created our own “Best Ever Soaping Stick Blender”and the new ones are due in December 11, just in time for the holidays.

Easy Pour Containers
I use Easy Pour Containers for just about every batch of soap I make that involves multiple colors. The long pour spout is great for precise pouring, and really comes in handy for swirls. In particular, they make linear swirls a breeze. They are also easy to clean, which is always a bonus!

Infrared Thermometer
Temperature affects cold process soap in so many ways. For example, if your soap is too hot it can crack, volcano or develop “alien brain.” If it’s too cold it can develop soda ash. Read more about how temperature affects soap here. In order to have consistently successful batches of soap, a reliable thermometer is a must. A candy thermometer works as well, but I love using a infrared thermometer that I don’t need to clean. This is especially true when testing the temperature of lye!

Silicone Tool Set & Whisks
This seems really basic, but a sturdy set of silicone spatulas and whisks are so valuable for cold process soaping. From plopping soap into the mold with the Round Silicone Spoon to create a spoon plop, to using the Silicone Spatula to get every last bit of soap, I use these tools everyday. I love the silicone whisks for mixing in fragrance oils.The bright green color makes them easy to find and distinguish from your cooking utensils.

Mini Mixer
Oh little Mini Mixer, how I love you so. If my soap includes any colorants, I use this tool to disperse them in lightweight liquid oil. And because I love color, I use it in roughly 99.9% of my soap batches. =) Sometimes you can get away with using a spoon to disperse micas because they have such small particles. But for larger, heavier colorants like pigments and oxides, the mini mixer helps get rid of clumps. Learn how to disperse colorants for soap here. It has plenty of power for mixing colorants in lightweight oils, but I don’t recommend it for thicker mixtures like lotions or soap.

Hanger Swirl Tool
I love how many designs you can create with such a simple and inexpensive tool. From the basic Hanger Swirl, to modified versions like the Butterfly Swirl, the Hanger Swirl Tool creates some really beautiful designs. It can be bent to fit a wide variety of molds; in particular I use it in the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold, Tall Narrow Wood Loaf Mold, and the 5 Pound Mold with Sliding Bottom. While I don’t use it for every batch, it’s included in this section because it’s really worth the small investment!

Multi-Bar Cutter
Cutting even and straight bars can be tricky. The Multi-Bar Cutter gives you perfectly straight and even bars of soap every time. It really makes your bars look professional, and is a must for business owners who need an exact weight for each bar. It’s definitely a splurge, but I have yet to find a soaper who didn’t think it was worth it. This video shows you how to use the cutter, and replace a wire if it happens to break. To avoid wires from breaking, I like to cut my soap immediately after unmolding. That way, the soap is still slightly soft and the wires can cut the soap easily. Unfortunately, melt and pour soap is too firm for this tool.

Multi-Pour Sectioning Tool & Multi-Pour Tool for 10″ Silicone Mold
The Multi-Pour Sectioning Tool and Multi-Pour Tool for 10″ Silicone Mold can be placed into their corresponding molds to create 2-4 vertical sections of soap. The dividers are then carefully pulled up and out. Once you have sections, they can be swirled to create designs like the Circling Taiwan Swirl, or left alone to create stripes as shown in the Cindo de Mayo Cold Process Soap. It’s a bit of a luxury item because you can create dividers with cardboard (shown here), but that’s kind of a hassle. The Multi-Pour Sectioning Tools can also be used over and over again, which I think makes them worth the investment!

Soap Shaver
I use this tool all the time! Simply slide the soap across the blade to remove soda ash, knife marks, bubbles and more. You can use it for the top, bottom, sides and front of the bars. It can also be adjusted to remove larger slices, in order to remove deeper blemishes. I like to spritz the shaver with a little alcohol to give the bars a little more slip and glide when using this tool. Of course be very careful when you’re using it, the blade is extremely sharp! This shaver makes bars look clean and professional.
Soap Beveller
Speaking of making your bars look professional, the beveller deserves a shout out too! Slide the soap across the taut wire in the corner to smooth edges of the bars. Like the Soap Shaver, it has a bench hook to secure it on a table or countertop. I like to save the shavings to make confetti soap.

Swirl Tool Kit
If you love complex swirls like the Peacock Swirl and French Curl Swirl, the swirling tools are a must. Yes, it would be possible to create these swirls by hand…but these tools make it about 300% easier. Check out this video to learn how to use them, then see it in action in the Perfect Peacock Swirls video.

So there you have it! My top picks for soaping tools, including the essentials, must-haves and luxuries. As a soaper, is there a tool you can’t soap without? Or, what soaping splurge do you think is totally worth it?

How to Soap with Accelerating Fragrance Oils

November 21, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Last week, we put together a list of all the Bramble Berry Fragrance Oils that don’t cause acceleration. There are plenty to choose from, and I hope you find the list handy in the future! But, what if you fall in love with a fragrance and it accelerates? It doesn’t mean you can’t use it, but it does mean you may need to adapt your recipe in order to get the best results.

Tweaking your recipe to account for acceleration is a balancing act, and it takes practice. There are several aspects of the recipe you can change to make the acceleration more manageable, including changing the design and avoiding certain additives. If the fragrance accelerates slightly and you tweak the recipe to include more slow-moving oils, that can also counteract the acceleration. But if the acceleration is extreme enough, no recipe or method can prevent it. Acceleration depends on so many factors.

Change Your Design
Non-accelerating oils are necessary when you’re creating a design that requires lots of time to work. Techniques like the spin swirl, column pour and funnel pour require lots of pouring and movement. If the soap becomes thick and no longer fluid, the design just won’t work. When using an accelerating fragrance oil, choose your design carefully. Some designs actually work better with a medium to thick trace, making them perfect for that fragrance oil. Such designs are spoon plops, textured tops, lots of layers and designs with embeds.

If you’re determined to use an accelerating fragrance oil for a design that needs a well-behaving fragrance, sometimes you can get away with it if you tweak your recipe. But, I also recommend having a plan B in case the soap becomes thick. There have been many times I tried negate an accelerating fragrance oil with slow-moving oils, only to have it become pudding halfway through.

The Spin Swirl Technique is next to impossible with an accelerating fragrance oil. I learned this lesson when I tried to use Flower Child Fragrance Oil in the soap above. Notice it got too thick by the time I was done pouring!

One instance that really stands out was attempting the spin swirl. I was determined to use Flower Child Fragrance Oil (which accelerates) for the Psychedelic Spin Swirl Cold Process Project. How perfect would that have been!? But, even using a recipe with plenty of slow-moving oils and working quick, my soap was thick halfway through. After two attempts, I threw in the towel and used a combination of Kumquat Fragrance Oil and Patchouli Fragrance Oil. It worked great. The end result was a bar that had the look I wanted and still smelled great. Moral of the story? Sometimes you have to compromise either the design or the fragrance. Changing the recipe doesn’t always solve everything.

Change Your Oils
Tweaking the oils in your recipe makes a huge difference in how long it takes for soap to thicken. Some oils are considered “slow-moving.” Generally, these oils are lightweight and liquid at room temperature, like olive oil, rice bran oil, sweet almond oil and canola oil. If the oil or butter is solid at room temperature like palm oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter, etc., you can assume it will make your soap thicken more quickly.

Firm oils like palm oil, coconut oil and butters tend to speed up trace.

When working with an accelerating fragrance oil, I plan my recipe around it and include more slow-moving oils than normal. I may avoid butters, because they can be a little bit more temperamental. I definitely stay away from beeswax and also soap with castor oil at 3% or less in the recipe. I have found that more than 3% castor in my recipe tends to speed up trace slightly. If I’m trying to avoid acceleration, my recipes are usually about 60% or more slow-moving oils, and 40% or less fast-moving oils.

Change Your Temperatures
The temperature of your lye solution and oils affects soap in many ways. For most soapers, the preferred temperature of soaping lye and oils is about 120-130 ° F. In general, warmer soaping temperatures speeds up trace, causing soap to become thick more quickly. If I’m creating a design that requires a lot of time to work, I tend to soap a little bit cooler than normal, around 100-120 ° F. If your recipe is moving a little bit faster than you’d like, try decreasing your soaping temperatures by 10-15 ° F. It can make a huge difference!

Change Your Additives
Some ingredients cause acceleration. If you’re using a fragrance that accelerates and want to prevent it as much as possible, skip these additives. Ingredients that contain sugar like honey, beer, wine, milk and purees increase temperature, which can speed up trace. Salt also speeds up trace, whether it’s added to the lye water (as shown here) or at trace (as shown here). Interestingly, I’ve found that sodium lactate (which is type of salt), doesn’t have a huge effect on trace when used at the correct usage rate. I use it in every single recipe, including recipes with accelerating fragrances and more complicated designs.

Additives with sugar (like honey) cause temperatures to increase, which will accelerate trace.

Ingredients that are known for their absorption properties also speed up trace. Such ingredients include clays, activated charcoal and titanium dioxide. Dispersing clay and other absorbing ingredients in distilled water can help negate some of the acceleration, but avoiding them completely is the best way to prevent acceleration.

Put Down the Stick Blender
Accelerating or not, I whisk in just about every fragrance oil at the very end. If I don’t care about the soap becoming thick, I might stick blend the fragrance oil in. But, if I’m trying to avoid acceleration at all costs, I put my stick blender down and use it very sparingly. Using the stick blender accelerates soap, because it speeds up the emulsification process. The fragrance oils at Bramble Berry are tested by whisking in the fragrance into the batter. If you choose to use the stick blender instead, be ready for the batter to become thicker whether or not you’re using an accelerating fragrance oil. =)

Avoid the Water Discount
Water discounting your recipe has a lot of benefits. It helps soap release from the mold faster and prevents glycerin rivers. But, removing water from the recipe causes soap batter to thicken more quickly. A water discount combined with an accelerating fragrance oil can lead to some pretty thick soap very quickly. If you’d like to learn more about how to water discount your soap and how it affects your batch, check out this post.

When you’re working with an accelerating fragrance oil, how do you tweak your recipe or design? Or, do you embrace the acceleration and use it to your advantage with textured tops, layers, etc.?

Complete List of Non-Accelerating Fragrance Oils

November 14, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

When fragrance oils are added to the high pH environment of cold process soap batter, interesting things can happen. Fragrance oils have the potential to cause ricing, acceleration and even separation. That’s why it’s important to only use fragrance oils that have been tested in cold process soap. Bramble Berry has an extremely thorough testing process to make sure all our fragrance oils behave well. We only bring in the best of the best!

Acceleration is perhaps the most common issue caused by fragrance oils in soap. Acceleration is when the soap batter thickens more quickly than usual. Sometimes acceleration can be quite extreme, or it can be a slight. Depending on the design of your soap, acceleration can be a good or bad thing. If your soap requires a thick trace, an accelerating fragrance oil can be helpful. If the design requires lots of time to work in order to create swirls, an accelerating fragrance oil can be a huge problem.

Non-accelerating fragrance oils are important for creating swirl techniques, like in the Red Hanger Swirl Cold Process Soap Tutorial.

If you’re looking for a non-accelerating fragrance oil, check out the list below! According to our tests, these fragrance oils will not cause your soap to accelerate. That being said, keep in mind other things can lead to acceleration, including the oils in your recipe, temperatures and additives. Learn more about how to manipulate the trace of your soap and avoid acceleration in this post.

Non-Accelerating Bramble Berry Fragrance Oils

Do you have a favorite well-behaving fragrance oil? When I’m making a complicated swirled recipe, some of my go-tos are Energy, Blackberry Sage Cybilla, Tobacco & Bay Leaf and Yuzu.

Top 5 Craft Projects to Make with Others

November 7, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Do you have a friend or family member who enjoys crafting? If you do, you know how amazing it is to have somebody in your life who loves creating as much as you do. I love swapping recipes with my crafty friends, testing their products and giving feedback, troubleshooting with them, and having somebody to lament with when your project doesn’t turn out like you planned. If you don’t have a crafty friend, inviting them over to make a project with you can ignite their interest. A few of my friends are now hooked on soaping after we made a project together.

If you love the idea of sharing your crafts with others (seriously, it’s the best!) here are five projects that would be perfect. They are all great for beginners or somebody who is a little more experienced. It’s so rewarding to experience the feeling of, “Wow! I can’t believe I made that!” for the first time all over again with somebody you care about. I especially love crafting with friends and family during the holidays.

Orange Poppy Seed Salt Scrub
One of my favorite projects to create with beginners is a sugar or salt scrub. They are easy to create, the cleanup is minimal and they don’t require any safety gear. Scrubs are also more forgiving than some projects (ie: cold process, bath bombs) if the ingredients are measured incorrectly. Add a little too much salt? Add more liquid ingredients! Add a little too much liquid/oil? Add more salt. Sugar scrubs in particular are great because everybody has some sugar in their pantry. Tell your crafting buddy to supply the sugar and you’ll bring the rest.

This Orange Poppy Seed Salt Scrub recipe is a go-to because it smells amazing and looks adorable. Who doesn’t enjoy the bright and citrusy smell of Orange 10X Essential Oil? In the Soap Queen TV video below, I invited my friend Courtney to craft with me. I’ll be doing more videos with Courtney soon…I’m telling ya, crafting with friends is so fun!

Heavenly Lilac Bath Truffles
Bath fizzies are a great project to make with someone who isn’t familiar with bath and body projects. They are a fun luxury item, and watching the bath bomb fizz in the tub feels like a successful science experiment! The only downside to bath bombs is they take a little practice to get the texture just right. This is especially true when the mold has two halves to create a sphere shape, like the Bath Bomb Mold & Package or the Stainless Steel Bath Bomb Mold. I wouldn’t call these molds difficult, but they do require some practice. For a beginner, I recommend using a bath bomb mold that is single cavity. That way, the bath bomb mixture is pressed into the mold and is good to go!

The Heavenly Lilac Bath Truffle is a great example of this style of bath bomb. The bath fizzy mixture is pressed into the Guest Five Flowers Mold along with rose petals for a feminine look. They contain a little extra butter (cocoa butter and shea butter) than normal bath bombs, which makes them a moist texture. I have found that adding a little oil or butter helps the bath bomb hold its shape nicely.

DIY Sparkling Bath Crystals
Looking for super, super simple project? Bath salts are perfect. Most bath salt recipes involve mixing salts with fragrance or essential oils. The DIY Sparkling Bath Crystals take this up a notch, but are still incredibly easy. Various colors of mica, glitter and a touch of Polysorbate 80 are mixed into the salts to create a sparkly crystal look. I love the idea of hosting a bath crystal party where friends and family can create their own birthstone. How fun would that be? Okay, gotta go plan that guest list! 😉

Melt & Pour Soap Truffles
Melt and pour soap doesn’t require safety gear because you don’t work with lye. It doesn’t require any cure time, and is ready to use right away. This makes it great for beginners, or those looking for the immediate satisfaction of using the project! The Melt and Pour Soap Truffles would be a fantastic group melt and pour project. There are two varieties of soap bases that need to be chopped, and three colors (brown, pink and white) that need to be created. This gives both you and your crafting buddy (or group!) something to do. They also cool and harden in the mold fairly quickly because of their small shape, which means friends can leave with the soap on the same day.

In my opinion, the real fun of this project comes after the “truffles” are removed from the mold. The little soap spheres are drizzled with melted soap and Medium Pink Sea Salt is sprinkled on top. This process is perfect for a group. It’s also helpful to have a partner spray the 99% isopropyl alcohol while the other person drizzles soap and sprinkles the soap on top. Teamwork!

Nail Polish Wedding Favor DIY
Oh, nail polish. Who doesn’t love it and need more? When I tell friends we are making nail polish, I usually get one of two responses. The first is a delighted squeal and “Yay!” and the other is “You can make nail polish!?” Once I explain we aren’t making the nail polish base and are just customizing the color, it all comes together. =) Nail polish is a great project because it doesn’t require a recipe. All you do is fill up the bottle with nail polish base, and add mica and glitter then, shake, shake, shake! The Nail Polish Wedding Favor DIY was created with a wedding in mind, but the beautiful gold and pink hues are great for any occasion. Just make sure to have a bottle of nail polish remover nearby, just in case there is a spill.

So there you have it! My 5 fun projects to make with your friends, family, or whoever might be interested in whipping up a scrub or bath bomb with you. =) These projects are especially great if you have visitors for the holidays. Making a project is a fabulous way to build memories, or start a new holiday tradition.

The Pros & Cons of Soapmaking Methods (Cold Process, Melt & Pour, Hot Process and Rebatch)

November 2, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Years ago when I started soaping, after 6 failed Cold Process soap batches, I switched and focused on melt and pour soap. Eventually, I tackled cold process soap again, which then lead to trying hot process and rebatch. There are several other soaping techniques that fall somewhere in between, like CPOP (cold process oven process), HPOP (hot process oven process), but melt and pour, cold process, hot process and rebatch are the “main four.” Each of them creates a great bar of soap, but in very different ways.

There are pros and cons to each method, and every soaper has a personal preference. If you’re wondering which method may be the best one for you, I’ve included a roundup of the most obvious pros and cons of each method below. As I was writing this post, it dawned on me that some of the things I would consider a “pro,” might be another soapers “con.” It’s really all about personal preference, and the skill set of the individual soaper. What is your favorite soaping method, and why?

Pros:

Allows you to customize every single ingredient to suit your personal preferences.
You can add fresh ingredients like milk and fruit/vegetable purees because you control the saponification process.
The trace of cold process soap batter can be manipulated for a wide variety of techniques and effects. Thin trace can be used to make swirls, while thick trace soap creates frosting.
With so many technique options, it’s a great way to get creative. The sky is the limit!
The thick texture makes it great for suspending heavier additives.
Generally considered a more “natural” bar of soap.

Cons:

Cold process soap must be made with sodium hydroxide lye, which can be dangerous when handled incorrectly. Learn how to handle it safely here.
Cold process soap takes about 4-6 weeks to cure. The soap can be used before then, but it will last longer in the shower with a full cure.
Some colorants tend to morph in the high pH environment of cold process soap, particularly some mica or FD&C based colorants.
Fragrance oils can react with the high pH of cold process soap in negative ways, causing acceleration, ricing or seizing. Always make sure your fragrance behaves well in cold process!
Vanilla color stabilizer is not reliable in cold process soap, and fragrance oils with a high amount of vanilla content will turn the soap brown.
Because cold process soap batter is opaque, glitter does not show up very well when placed in the soap. Glitter still works great on top!
Clean-up can be a long process depending on how many colors your soap was (more colors = more containers).

Pros:

Great for beginners! You can do melt and pour with children as young as 4 with parental supervision.
The base has already gone through saponification, so working with lye is not required.
Does not require wearing safety gear because you’re not working with lye.
Melt and pour soap is quick to make; it hardens in several hours and does not need to cure.
Fragrance oils do not cause acceleration, ricing or seizing in melt and pour soap.
You can use Vanilla Color Stabilizer to prevent vanilla discoloration in soap.
In translucent varieties of melt and pour soap (Clear, Aloe Vera, Honey, etc.) light is able to shine through, making glitter and shimmery micas really pop!
Melt and pour soap is great for creating extremely clean, straight layers. Just make sure to have some 99% isopropyl alcohol nearby so the layers stick together.

Cons:

Because melt and pour soap contains extra glycerin, it is prone to glycerin dew/sweating.
The base is not fully customizable. Because saponification has already happened, you cannot choose the oils/butters within the soap.
Fresh ingredients like milk and purees will eventually go bad in the soap.
Once melted, melt and pour soap is quite thin and fluid. Larger additives tend to sink to the bottom of the soap if not added at a cooler temperature.
Melt and pour soap cools and hardens quickly. This means some swirls that can be made with cold process soap are not possible with melt and pour.
Melt and pour soap can burn if it becomes too hot. Once burned, the base becomes thick, gloopy and difficult to work with.
Clean-up is easy because your dishes are all coated in fully ready-to-use soap.

Pros:

Allows you to customize every single ingredient, including fixed oils.
The additional heat speeds up the saponification process. Three cheers for instant gratification; hot process soap can be cut within one day, and used right away.
The bars have a “rustic” appearance with a less smooth texture than cold process. Whether or not you like this look is a personal preference.
Can be made in a Crock-Pot or double boiler.
The thick texture makes it great for suspending heavier additives.
Generally considered a more “natural” bar of soap.
Clean-up is easier because the soap in the slow cooker/Crock-Pot is already soap.

Cons:

The thick texture of hot process soap makes some swirls and techniques, such as layering, very difficult.
The bars have a “rustic” appearance with a less smooth texture than cold process. Whether or not you like this look is a personal preference.
If your fragrance or essential oil has a low flashpoint, some soapers find the high temperature of hot process tends to “burn off” the fragrance, causing it to fade.
As the soap cooks, it expands. Because of the possibility of it overflowing, it’s important to not leave it unattended.
Difficult (but not impossible) to add fresh ingredients like milk and purees; they tend to scorch during the cooking process.

Pros:

The base has already gone through saponification, so working with lye is not required.
Does not require wearing safety gear because you’re not working with lye.
Great for beginners!
Rebatch soap is a great way to fix or use batches of soap that didn’t turn out quite right.
Rebatch does not require the 4-6 week of cold process soap. In general, I recommend about 1-2 weeks of cure time, but it can be used once cut.
The bars have a “rustic” appearance with a less smooth texture than cold process. Whether or not you like this look is a personal preference.
Super simple to clean up.

Cons:

The soap already went through saponification, so the recipe (oils, butters, etc) can not be customized.
Fresh ingredients like milk and purees will eventually go bad in the soap.
The bars have a “rustic” appearance with a less smooth texture than cold process. Whether or not you like this look is a personal preference.
If your fragrance or essential oil has a low flashpoint, some soapers find the high temperature of rebatch soap can “burn off” the fragrance, causing it to fade.
Due to the thick texture, swirls are difficult and layering, while not impossible, is a timing game with rebatch soap.

I love each and every method for different reasons, although my favorite method has to be cold process soap. I’m just a sucker for the swirls! What is your favorite method of soapmaking, and why?