Teach Soap

I made my first CP soap!!!!!!!!!! There were some issues along the way, and it's not perfect, but it lathers and it cleans, so I'm happy!

The main issue I had was with the tracing time. I started out hand stirring, and after two hours it had barely reached a thin trace, maybe. I had decided to use no scent to make it less complicated (and I had read that some fragrances can make it thicken or seize), but by then I was thinking maybe I should add some fragrance so that it would thicken quickly. I had no stick blender and was at a loss what to do, when my Mom said I could have her stick blender as she only uses it once a year or so anyway. Thanks, Mom!!!!! So, I set the the stick blender to work and within two minutes I had a full trace. Wow, I didn't realize it would work that quickly. Will keep that in mind for the next batch!

I poured it into the mold and tucked it in for the night with some towels. I checked later, and the center was gelled. The next day when I checked, it wasn't holding any heat and seemed pretty firm so I went on ahead and unmolded and cut it. It is now curing in an out-of-the-way place.

What surprised me the most was that in less than 24 hours after pouring, it was already quite mild, with no zap. I noticed this when I was handling it as I was unmolding it. I was so excited that I forgot it could still irritate my skin and forgot to wear gloves and then suddenly realized, oh, it's not burning. So, I tried washing my hands with a small piece that broke off the side of the mold (it lathers! it's soap!) and it seemed perfectly fine.

Is it possible to use some soaps as soon as you unmold them, then?

I still would like to let this batch cure for a few weeks, though, to let the bars harden.

I am terribly excited, it was so fun to make! Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to try, this forum is a life saver! I can't wait to make some more soap!

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Olivia :)

Congratulations! I too tried hand stirring with my first batch and it took a good 40-50 minutes to trace (the recipe had honey in it, which I am very glad of in retrospect). Isn't this fun? You can use some of your soap right away if you really want to. It gets milder and harder with cure, but can still be nice now as you've noticed. You do want to put at least some aside with the cure date marked, and maybe even a bar with a date six months from now aside so you can really feel how much better the soap gets. Congrats again!

Congrats! The soap has saponified so it won't zap, but it still needs 4-6 weeks of cure time. Curing makes the soap milder and makes the water evaporate.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Congratulations Olivia. I made my first soap last July. I remember how nervous I was and how many questions I had. I have now made many batches and love this hobby. You are going to want to make more soap than you will ever be able to use. It is so much fun planning the colors and the scent. Keep us posted on your adventure.

MaryLou

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Shanon
Woman, wife, mother, entrepreneur,etc, etc.
"....with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
http://www.tousheabodyboutique.com

Congrats! There is no going back now!

CONGRATS! your soap turned out very well mine was a bit of a mess! it is super fun if you used the recipe i told you about then the bars are super mild and if gelled comes out the next day fairly hard, every time

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Anna Rose @-}--
blog

Congrats on your first batch! I know how exciting this is! )) Your soap looks great!

Nice. It's a great idea for beginning soapers to either use no scent or a very easy-to-use EO like Lavender or Peppermint. No FOs.

Thanks so much everyone!!! Mgrimm, I think I will set aside one bar to cure for 6 months and see how it's different, hadn't thought of that before. Soapbuddy, thanks for clearing that up for me. Finneychick, I know, I'm already trying to figure out what to do with all the extra soap I'm sure I'll have! ShaShea, thanks!! DaveW, you're right, and I'm afraid M&P is going to get ditched... Rosie, yes, I did use the recipe similar to what you told me about, it came out exactly as you said and I love it! Thanks! Possum, thank you! And johnnyusa, that is what I was thinking for my first batch, but now I can't wait to use scents, and will probably be doing so for my next batch!

I'm sure I'll be asking a ton of questions in the Cold Process Soap thread now, I'm so excited!

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Olivia :)

You will see that the bar will become alot milder in between the four & six week curing mark. It's worth waiting the extra 2 weeks. Be sure they cure in a room w/ at least minimal air circulation, bars not too close together, and flip them over every 2 weeks so the bottom side can cure too.

Congrats, your soap looks great and Welcome To The Addiction!

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If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane
~Jimmy Buffett

Fantastic job, OliviOil!!

Bubbly

Congrats Olivia!
Your soaps looks lovely! You'll see it's very addictive to make soap, have fun. If I don't make soap for a few days I get miserable

I've only been making CP soap for a month and of all the batches only one has been a bit of a flop, lol. The thing is, read read read on tips and tricks. Write it down. One tip I've found is the "zap test", if you quickly touch the tip of your tongue to the soap and it "zaps" it's not ready to use, but if it tastes terribly like soap, it's ready in the sense of the lye not going to irritate the skin

Like the :"pro" soapers say, it's best to let it cure for as long as possible, definitely 4 -6 weeks but I've found some of mine to be ready to use at 4 weeks.....

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http://soapsensations.co.za/

Congrats Olivia!!! So happy for you! I cannot WAIT to try CP!!!