Teach Soap

I have only been soaping since December and perhaps this is a silly question but, are you supposed to add these more moisturising oils at trace because they don't get saponified and therefore keep the bar moisturising, or do they also get saponified, and if that is the case then what's the point in adding them?
If the only reason to add an oil or butter is to either get more bubbles, hardness or softness, what is the point in adding more expensive oils and advertising the soap as having these fabulous moisturising healing oils, when in reality they just get used by the Lye? or don't they?
Why not use a melt and pour glycerine base and add all these oils to that? What is wrong with Glycerine based soaps? I have read that they are drying, but what if you add shea butter and all the other moisturising oils?
Just a question that has been bugging me about saponification?
Hope you can help?

Diane

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Diane

Hi Diane and welcome to the forum
I'm also new here but not new to soaping, but no matter how long a person has been doing something does not mean they still can't learn..

I believe the oils are still there. They only sapponify by so much. They are still in the soap as much as they need to be. the shea butter is still there. The Kokum Butter is still there and the avocado oil is still there. Since I can't see it happen in the pot I'm leaving it to faith that the oil that take longer to saponify get done and it moves on. They can only soak up but so much lye and the rest is left for our bodies.

I don't make glycerin soap only because I like to *make* soap. I love the process. so that has stuck with me.

I have nothing negative to say about it except that it melts fast... lol.

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~~~Cheryl~~~

Since lye is still active at trace, adding certain oils/butters at trace would give no guarantee that those are the ones that are superfatted. I save the expensive oils/butters for leave on products, like lotion bars, lotion, body butters, lip balms, etc.
If you do HP soap, you can add those superfatting oils after the cook to make sure those are the ones superfatted.

With melt and pour bases, you can only add so much extra oils/butters before the oils seep out. Also adding more oils/butters to melt and pour will decrease the bubbles and lather.
There's nothing wrong with a nice quality melt and pour base. There are some melt and pour bases that are very similar to cold process ingredients.

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Genny

Thank you for your replies!

I forgot that some oils don't saponify, will have to look them up!
I'm afraid I have caught the soap making bug, and also like to "make" the soap
I have even got my 14year old keen to make my choc chips and cherries!
I have made some CP embeds, but its much easier to use melt and pour!
Although they do seem to sweat?
I made some cherry embeds from melt and pour, but the cherry red I got from brambleberry turned pink, I sort of spray painted them with red Mica, they look really good, but I think they will just turn a persons hand bright red!
I might try HP, It just seems to spoil the fun of swirling and piping soap!
You just seem to plop it in, probably good consistency if you want to make Christmas pudding soaps!
I recently made a honey soap in a cylinder, I think I added too much FO, or Honey or both, so I cooked it, it looks very rustic to say the least, but smells great, and probably will be a nice bar of soap!
I recently made a Glycerin soap and added pumice, shea butter and clay, it feels really good, and smells great
it was really easy to make and doesn't need to cure, so I guess for things like mechanics soap, where you really want to clean and get rid of the grime it might work?
I am dreaming and thinking soap every minute of the day, my house looks like a bomb has hit it, I have soap curing in the halls!
Oh well.....there are much worst obsessions.....aren't there?

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Diane

The person would the obsession would say no..

it's great. Ya, you go it. Don't try to fight it. Go with the flow so you enjoy each and every one you make. I love the making. I don't want the quip pop OP .

Didn't like the HP, snot factory. Just didn't like the looks or the feel of it.

I have patience. I think. ..... I do other things also so that takes my mind off of it.

I do also love to touch as I go by. I lift and smell and turn and keep going.

I sit and think of how to make the next batch, what color to use now. I"ve never ever been a fan of color but now.. The fan is peaking through the window.

My Favorite is still Nakket soap. Just plain ol good ol soap.

If I start swirling like a peacock then I'm going strut my plum and smile;)

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~~~Cheryl~~~

This is the Cold Process Cherry File comment: This is the Cold Process Cherry

cherrychoccream2.jpg [ 15.26 KiB | Viewed 8620 times ]

I have been to the hardware shop and gotten colour swatches!
Nakket Soap, I will have to google it!

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Diane

lol Diana. You won't find that word in google. It's my word for plain butt naked soap. Natural. for the people that say, I can't use this and that. That's my way of getting them to try a bar of soap. at least. No color, No scent. no nothing Vanilla soap. Naked.

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~~~Cheryl~~~

so tell me about your soap

did you whip up the toping and then put the cherry on top? It looks so cool

I have the cup cake molds but .. .aggg. I have to figure when I can use them or what to use them for. I bought them thinking they were regular round molds but I don't like the cupcake spread.. ha ha New on. Instead of muffin top I will call it the cup cake spread.. .

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~~~Cheryl~~~

After writing that I thought! Ahhh dummy, she probably means naked!!! Just goes to show how you can interpret things differently when it is written down!

I was making a chocolate cherry loaf soap, and had some left over, so I poured some of the chocolate base in the cupcake molds, and I separated some of the batter to keep white, I then piped the blob on the top of the cupcake and popped the cherry on top!
I didn't whip it, I just waited for it to get thick

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Diane

Vitamin E does not survive the lye. There is no need to add it to CP soap. There is also no need to add any oil or butter at trace, because at trace, lye is still very active and it will take whatever it wants. Make sure that you use a lye calculator and superfat at least 5%. I prefer a 7-8% superfat as anything below my skin finds drying.

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

Thanks Irena

I have been trying to find a list of oils that don't saponify?
Would you mind telling me?
Wouldn't a good bar of soap just have the oils that are better skin loving oils like avocado, olive, sweet almond oil, and some coconut for hardness, then the lye can only leave good oils?
In preference to Lard or Palm or soybean?

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Diane

Diana,

You can make soap with any oil but... to get a better bar. more luxurious bar it's the combination of the oils that makes great bar of soap. Some will just give you a very soft bar and you therefore will have to wait for who know how long for it to cure. i.e. get hard.

Each oil has a bit of itself to add to it. Skin softening,moisturizing. Cleansing, Healing,

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~~~Cheryl~~~

The more unrefined the oil, the more unsaponifiables it has, the better the chance that that particular oil will end up as a part of your superfat. You can make a good soap with just lard or just olive oil.

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

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!