tips and tricks Archives - Page 5 of 9

Sunday Night Spotlight: Glycerin

April 24, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Glycerin is a thick, clear fluid that is used in a wide variety of bath and beauty products. It is a humectant, which means it has the ability to attract moisture in the air to the skin. This ability makes it great for lotions, soaps and other products. In addition to the bath and beauty industry, glycerin is used in the food industry as a sweetener. Outside the United States, it is commonly referred to as glycerol.

Glycerin is a major ingredient in melt and pour soap bases. In fact, some refer to melt and pour soap as “glycerin soap.” The large amount of glycerin is one of the reasons why melt and pour soap feels great on the skin. Adding extra glycerin to the soap softens the base. This is great if you want a bendable texture. For example, in the Melt & Pour Soap Ribbon Tutorial, additional glycerin gives soap the flexibility to create ribbons. The moldable texture also comes in handy in the Candy Cane Soap Tutorial, and the Embedded Melt & Pour Jellyroll Soap.

Left to right: Melt and Pour Soap Ribbons, Candy Cane Soap

Because glycerin attracts moisture from the air, it can cause melt and pour soap to “sweat.” This sweat is known as glycerin dew. Learn more about glycerin dew and how to prevent it in this post. In cold process soap, glycerin is a naturally occurring by-product of the saponification process. If the soap gets too hot, the glycerin can congeal which leads to glycerin rivers (shown below). Glycerin rivers are not harmful in any way, but they are a cosmetic issue. Click here to learn more about glycerin rivers and how to prevent them.

When cold process soap gets hot, the glycerin can congeal into “glycerin rivers.”

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How to Use Every Last Drop of Fragrance Oil

April 20, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Do you have bottles of fragrance oil that are nearly empty, but you just can’t bring yourself to throw them away? Maybe the bottle contains just a few milliliters, or even just a few drops of oil. Even an “empty” bottle still has a little bit of fragrance oil on the inside. To use up every last bit of oil, I like to pour dry ingredients directly into the bottles to create scented bath salts, scrubs or bath bombs.

Salts and bath fizzies have a low fragrance oil usage rate because you usually don’t wash off after taking a bath. For 16 ounces of salts, you can use 0.2-0.3 ounces of fragrance oil for a light to medium scent. To check how much of your fragrance oil should be used, check out the Bramble Berry Fragrance Calculator. For this trick, I don’t measure exactly how much fragrance oil is leftover in the bottle. Just by eyeballing it, I know when there are only a few milliliters left in the bottle. If you think the amount might be over .48 ounces (which is the largest recommended usage rate for most fragrance oils in 16 ounces of salts), then I would recommend measuring out the fragrance oil to be safe.

You can use essential oils as well. The usage rates for the essential oils will be slightly different, so make sure to use the Fragrance Calculator to find out the maximum usage rate for the one you choose.

If you feel the amount of fragrance oil is small enough, add your salts directly into the bottle. I like to use a funnel for this process to avoid spills. You can measure your salts prior to pouring, or place the bottle on a tared scale and weigh the salts as you pour. Once full, place the cap back on the fragrance oil bottle and start shaking! The salts will absorb the last bits of fragrance oil in the bottle.

Pour the salt directly into the bottle to absorb the last few drops of oil.

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How to Prepare Bacon Grease for Soapmaking

April 18, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Hypothetically, you can make cold process soap with just about any oil or fat. This includes animal fats. The most common animal fats are lard and tallow. Lard is rendered pig fat, while tallow is rendered fat from meat other than pork such as cow, lamb or goat. Tallow and lard are excellent for soapmaking. Both contribute to the firmness of the bar and a stable lather. Lard and tallow are commonly used as palm oil substitutes. If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of tallow in soapmaking, check out the Understanding Tallow for Soaping guest post.

Lard and tallow can be purchased at the store ready to use. Or, you can render your own at home. The basic idea of rendering lard and tallow involves “cooking” the fat along with water. Then, the entire mixture is placed into a container to cool. The fat will rise to the top of the container, while the water will fall to the bottom. This process helps remove any particles within the oil. The process may vary slightly depending on what form the fat is in. For example. if you got your tallow from a butcher, you most likely have chunks of fat and meat that will need to be strained. Our local sister store, Otion, rendered tallow from a local butcher in the Crock-Pot (shown below); click here to see how they did it. They used the rendered tallow to make Mahogany Tallow Soap. This is a topic we’ve touched on before here and here.

Otion Soap Bar recently rendered chunks of tallow in the Crock-Pot for soapmaking, click here to see the process.

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Your Favorite Soaping Tips

March 23, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

At the beginning of the month, we had a Share Your Favorite Soaping Tip Contest. The tip could pertain to soap, bath bombs, lotions, or any other bath and beauty project. We received close to 400 comments, and I was so impressed with all the tips. I definitely learned some new tricks! If you’re looking for more informational posts, check out the Tips and Tricks category of the blog.

Many of the tips had similar themes including have fun, stay organized, safety first and don’t get discouraged. These tips made me smile, because they really identified what the DIY journey is all about. Creating should be fun! To make sure it’s fun, it’s crucial to stay safe and it also helps to be organized. Click here to read all the tips in the comment section.

Most frequent tips:
1. Have fun. Don’t forget that soapmaking should be a fun activity. If it’s stressing you out, take a deep breath and relax.
2. Stay organized. Keep your soaping area organized and thoroughly read over the instructions several times. This will help the entire process go smoothly.
3. Safety first. If you are making cold process soap, take proper lye safety precautions such as wearing goggles, long sleeves and soaping in an area with no children or pets nearby. Click here to learn more about lye safety.
4. Don’t get discouraged. We all have an occasional soaping mishap. If your batch doesn’t turn out perfectly, don’t get discouraged and quit. Your next batch will be better. =)

Soaping mishaps happen, but don’t get discouraged! Check out the Soap Behaving Badly and the Soapy Mess-Up Quick Guide to learn how to work through common problems.

There were so many great tips, it was hard to choose my favorites. Below are some of the tips that really stood out to me. Thanks to everybody who took the time to share a tip. The team and I had such a good time reading through them!

Tool Tips

“I know all of you probably have at least one of the reheatable bags that your oils come in from Brambleberry. I actually cut the top off across one of them to make it a open bag. It works perfectly for rebatching soap in and works even better for melting your waxes in. I use the double boiler method and it is an awesome way to melt things down in. So never never throw away. They are really useful for this purpose.” – Kristie

“To process images for water soluble paper so that you get the best, most vivid images into your soaps, select the image in Microsoft Word (or use any image editing program). Increase both color saturation and contrast, and then lower your brightness or exposure just a tiny bit (to counteract the increased contrast, which can wash out some of the subtleties in the image). This will ensure that the images underneath the clear layer of soap don’t look so “washed out” (so to speak).” – Vittoria

“My house is kept rather cold (thanks, hubby), which makes getting a good gel on my CP soap a challenge sometimes. My secret? A cheap pizza stone! I pop it in the oven at 170 while I make my soap, pull it a few minutes before I’m ready for it, then set my mold on the stone (usually I put a thin towel between the stone and mold), cover with a towel, and let it go. The heat is enough to encourage the gel, but it dissipates just at the right rate–not too fast, not too slow, so I get a perfect gel every time. I use a cheap, thin stone since I wouldn’t want to ruin a high end one, and the high end stones tend to hold their heat longer, which I don’t really want.” – Lindsey

“If you stamp your soaps and have a problem with get soap getting stuck in the stamp, place a sheet of plastic wrap over the soap before you stamp. The impression comes out fine and no soap gets on your stamp.” – Debbie

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Sunday Night Spotlight: Castor Oil

March 20, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Castor oil is an extremely unique fixed oil. It has a thick and viscous texture and a slight odor. In cold process soap, it contributes to large bubbles and is known for its cleansing properties. Due to its lathering ability, it’s a common ingredient in other soapy products such as solid bubble bath. It also adds shine and slip to lip products.

Castor oil is extracted from the seeds of the castor oil plant. The seeds are pressed to extract the oil within. It has a unique fatty acid profile, with 85-95% ricinoleaic acid, 2-6% oleic acid and 1-5% linoleic acid. In addition to bath and beauty products, castor oil is used in food and as a coating and lubricant in various industries.

Castor oil feels similar to glycerin with a thick and sticky texture. It also acts as a humectant on the skin, just like glycerin. The humectant properties make it a wonderful addition to leave on products, such as balms. Castor oil has a shelf life of about 1 year.

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Using Expired Lye in Cold Process Soapmaking

March 14, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

When troubleshooting a cold process soap recipe, there are several factors to look at. For instance, if your batch accelerated or riced, it may be the fragrance oil. If the batch is taking longer than usual to trace, it may be a high amount of soft oils, like olive oil, in the recipe. Another thing to investigate is your lye. If lye is past its prime, it can do some odd things in your soap.

Lye is an inorganic compound that is commonly found in drain cleaners. It is highly caustic and can burn the skin if not handled properly. Working with lye requires long sleeves and pants, close-toed shoes, a well-ventilated room, gloves and eye protection. Before handling lye, make sure to watch this Soap Queen TV video on lye safety. The Lye Safety Guide has more information on how to work with it. You need to be fully prepared and follow every safety precaution before getting started.

Working with lye requires safety gear like goggles, gloves and long-sleeved shirts and pants.

Lye is necessary for the soapmaking process. By definition, soap is a chemical reaction between oil and lye. This reaction is called saponification. During the saponification process, the lye gets used up. That means it is not present in the bars after they’re cured. Read more about saponification in the Where’s the Lye post.

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Shelf Life of Bath Products & Ingredients: Rancidity vs. Mold

March 1, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Just like food, bath and beauty ingredients have a recommended shelf life. Shelf life refers to the length of time that a product can be stored without it becoming unfit for use. If you make your own bath products, it’s important to have an understanding of shelf life to ensure your products are safe for use. This is particularly important if you give away or sell your products. You don’t want to give or sell an item that is rancid or past its prime.

Before we talk about shelf life, it’s important to understand the difference between rancidity and mold and bacteria growth. Rancidity and mold/bacteria growth in bath and beauty products are independent issues. Mold and bacteria can occur in products that contain water, such as lotion or emulsified scrubs. These products require a preservative to help prevent mold and bacteria growth. Click here to read more about preservatives, and when to use them. Preservatives will not protect fresh ingredients (purees, fresh herbs, etc.) from growing mold in products that do not go through the saponification process such as lotion or balms. This is also the case with melt and pour soap. It has already gone through the saponification process, so any additives can grow mold. Fresh additives will eventually (or even quickly) turn brown, and grow mold and bacteria. The pH level of cold process soap does not allow mold to grow, which is why fresh ingredients can be used. To learn about adding purees to cold process soap, click here.

Rancidity, on the other hand, is the deterioration of oils and fats. There are several types of rancidity, including oxidative rancidity, auto-oxidation, hydrolytic rancidity and microbial rancidity. If you’d like to learn more about the different types of rancidity, Susan Barclay-Nichols of Swift Crafty Monkey has a great blog post on rancidity here. Rancid ingredients can smell bad, change color or lose effectiveness. Rancidity is a sign of an ingredient that is past its shelf life, while mold and bacteria can occur at any time.

Mold and bacteria can grow in products that contain water, such as lotion. Mold growth is not to be confused with rancidity.

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Single Oil Cold Process Soap Lather Tests

February 24, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

The most fundamental way that cold process soap can be customized is by using various combinations of soapmaking oils and butters. Each oil contributes something different to the final bar. For example, coconut oil is known for giving soap cleansing properties with a large fluffy lather. Olive oil, on the other hand, is not very cleansing, but is gentle on the skin. Using different combinations of oils at different usage rates will greatly affect the finished product. If you’d like to learn more about the properties of each soapmaking oil, check out this blog post.

Cold process soap can be made with only one oil, such as castile soap, which usually refers to soap made with 100% olive oil. Soap made with 100% olive oil is extremely gentle, but the lather is very minimal and it may initially be a softer bar. When soap is only made with one oil it may not be the most balanced bar. By adding coconut oil to the recipe, you give the bar cleansing properties. Each oil contributes something different to create a more balanced bar; this is why most cold process recipes are made with 3-6 different oils and butters. Check out the Formulating Cold Process Recipe post for more information on creating recipes, and the How to Substitute Oil in Cold Process Recipes post to learn how to swap them in existing recipes.

To take a closer look at how various oils and butters change the final bar, I created twelve bars made with 100% of one oil. Then, I let the soaps cure for a full six weeks. After they were done curing, I tested their lather. I also took note of how hard the bar was, how my skin felt after use and any other interesting characteristic.

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How to Use Alcoholic Beverages in Cold Process Soap

February 17, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Photo by Lara Ferroni

To prepare sodium hydroxide lye for soapmaking, it needs to be dissolved in some type of liquid. The dissolved lye solution is then emulsified with oils to create soap. Distilled water is usually the liquid of choice for dissolving lye. But, some soapers prefer to use other liquids such as milk, tea or alcoholic beverages. Using alternative liquids (anything other than distilled water) in cold process soap is an intermediate to advanced soaping technique. It requires a few extra steps to prep and can affect other aspects of the soaping process.

One of the most popular types of alternative liquids for cold process soap is alcoholic beverages. This includes beer, wine and champagne. These liquids contain sugar, which give the soap a stable and fluffy lather. Alcoholic beverages can also give the soap color and are great from a marketing standpoint. Some alcoholic beverages do contain beneficial properties like antioxidants, but it is debatable whether these properties make it through the saponification process.

Making soap with alcoholic beverages poses a few challenges. They contain sugar that becomes very hot when mixed with sodium hydroxide lye. This turns the liquid a deep color due to the sugars scorching and can cause an unpleasant aroma. In addition to sugar, alcoholic beverages contain...you guessed it! Alcohol. Alcohol and the saponifcation process don’t mix very well. In addition, many alcoholic beverages such as beer and champagne are carbonated. Carbonation and the saponification process don’t mix very well either.

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New Bramble Berry Product Labels!

February 16, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

If you’ve ordered from Bramble Berry recently, you may have noticed that something looks a little different. Can’t put your finger on it? The Bramble Berry product labels have been redesigned! We had the previous labels for approximately 12 years, so it was definitely time for an update. The new labels have a modern and clean look. In addition to an updated aesthetic, the redesign also improves the function. Labels now include more information about the product to make crafting a little easier. =)

Bramble Berry has new labels on every product! The new labels include more product information and a clean design.

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How to Add Purees to Cold Process Soap

February 8, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Photo by Lara Ferroni. I ❤ all of her photos. Swoon.

There are a wide variety of natural ingredients that can be used in cold process soap. From natural colorants and exfoliants to essential oils and extracts, new soapy ingredients are always popping up. Recently, adding fruit and vegetable purees to cold process soap has become extremely popular. Natural purees can add color and skin-loving properties to your bars. In addition, natural purees in bath and beauty products are fantastic from a marketing standpoint. Who doesn’t want a bar of soap made with their favorite fruit or veggie?

In general, there are no limits to what kind of natural purees you can add to soap. In my new book, Pure Soapmaking, there are recipes that include purees of blueberry, cucumber, tomato, aloe leaf, banana and potatoes. Here on the blog, you can find soap made with purees of pumpkin, strawberry, carrots and avocado. If you can blend it into a smooth consistency, you can (most likely) add it to cold process soap.

Adding purees to soap is an advanced technique. If you have never made cold process soap before, I highly recommend getting a few basic batches under your belt before using purees in your soap. It’s important to get an understanding of how soap behaves without additional sugar, water and fats. A solid grasp on how “normal” cold process soap behaves will allow you to alter your techniques and recipe accordingly when you begin to add uncommon ingredients. Remember: soapmaking is a science. Tweaking a recipe with extra ingredients (like purees) alters the chemical reactions between the lye and oils.

Purees add extra sugar, fats and water to your soap. Each type of puree will affect your soap recipe a little differently. The amount of water, fat and sugar will vary depending on the ingredient and how the puree was made. Before adding your puree, it’s important to consider the properties of the fruit and vegetable and how it will affect your batch. For example, a strawberry puree will add extra sugar and water. Using an avocado puree will add extra fats and water, but not much additional sugar. A cucumber puree (shown below) adds mostly water and a very small amount of sugar.

Each puree will add different properties to your soap. For example, cucumber puree (shown above) will add extra water to the soap, but very little sugar. Photo by Lara Ferroni. ❤❤❤.

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How to Use and Thicken Liquid Soap Base

January 20, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Making liquid soap from scratch involves several stages. It requires multiple hours of cooking and diluting. If you’re interested in making your own liquid soap, I would recommend checking out the Liquid Soap Guru Kit, which includes instructions and ingredients to make liquid soap. Another option is to use a premade liquid soap base or concentrated paste. Bramble Berry carries several different varieties, see them all here. Liquid soap bases cut down significantly on time, while still allowing you to create and customize a high quality liquid soap product.

One of the important characteristics of liquid soap is the texture. Liquid soap can range from very thin to a thick gel consistency. It’s important to remember that thickness does not mean concentration or quality. There is no right or wrong consistency, it’s all about personal preference. But, the texture of liquid soap does affect packaging options, and may affect how the product is used. For example, soap that has a thin or medium consistency works well in bottles with a pump top. Soap that is too thick may not work well in pump tops, but instead are better suited for disk caps.

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All About Butters in Bath & Beauty Products

January 13, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Rich, creamy and decadent, butters are a great addition to a wide variety of projects. They can be used in cold process soap, lip balms, body butters and more. They are solid at room temperature, and have varying textures. If you’re wondering what butter is right for your project, read more about mango, cocoa, coffee, shea and avocado butter below. Keep in mind that choosing a butter depends a lot on personal preference, and how you’d like your finished product to feel.

Before we look at the different kinds of butters, let’s talk about what butters have in common. Butters come from various natural sources, such as fruit trees and kernels. Some butters, such as coffee butter, are a blend of hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenation is the process of adding hydrogen to liquid oils to turn them into a solid. In general, butters are extremely skin loving and add a luxurious feel to products. In cold process soap, butters can contribute to the firmness of the bar. But, using too much butter can inhibit lather, or cause the soap to crack. In general, I like to use butters around 10%-15% or less in my recipes. To read more about various soap making oils and butters, click here.

Some butters are soft and spreadable, while others are hard and brittle. In my opinion, the softest butters are avocado butter and coffee butter. They are soft, spreadable and melt on contact with the skin. Shea butter is slightly firmer, but still soft and spreadable. The two harder butters are mango butter and cocoa butter. Both are more brittle, and need to be chopped rather than scooped. Cocoa butter is much firmer than mango, and is great for adding firmness to cold process soap. Do you have a favorite butter?

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Sunday Night Spotlight: Avocado Oil

January 10, 2016 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Avocado oil is a great choice for a wide variety of bath and beauty products. It is processed in a similar way to olive oil. First the skin and seed are removed. Then, the oil is extracted from the creamy green pulp. Non-refined avocado oil can appear dark green and has a natural smell, while refined avocado oil is light in color and scent.

Avocado oil is known for its moisturizing properties, and is rich in vitamin A, B, D and E. It absorbs easily into the skin, making it a staple for lotions, balms, massage oils and more. Avocado oil is also commonly used for cooking due to its nutritional value and high smoke point. Keep in mind that the avocado oil sold at Bramble Berry is not edible, as our warehouse is not considered “food-safe” by the FDA. Avocado oil has a shelf life of about 1 year.

Avocado oil is not to be confused with avocado butter, which is solid at room temperature. Avocado oil is shown on the left, avocado butter is shown on the bottom right.

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