Teach Soap

I have been watching soap making videos all morning. I was watching one where I could swear the person said she soaps a room temperature. By the time I made my way through all the Google logins I couldn't get back to the video to send her an email.

She was making three, two pound batches at the same time. Her object was to show the difference between setting up in the frig, under a box or just sitting on the counter. Very interesting. Anyway, I digress. I thought she said her lye and oils were just room temp which in her case was 72 degrees. Do these low temps prevent partial get or soda ash? Anyone soap this cool?

Where is everyone on the forum?? Taking a break from Christmas soap making?

I often soap at near room temperature. While I often soap just under 80 degrees, I usually keep things just warm enough so that my harder oils don't start to solidify and make the oil mix cloudy. Otherwise false-trace may occur once I stick blend. There are a number of reasons why I often soap at these low temperatures:

1. To slow thick trace for more time consuming swirling techniques involving multiple colors.
2. When I use misbehaving additives. This can range from honey, milks, pine tar, or FOs I know that speed up trace.
3. To help prevent gel when I don't want it. This doesn't always work depending on the oils and additives, and soaping at cooler temperatures could just delay the inevitable heat up by a few hours unless other actions are taken.

Whether you soap at room temp or higher is a matter of personal preference, which oils or butters you use and which fragrance or essential oil. I use beeswax, so room temp soapmaking doesn't work for me.

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

Ha ha. I was just getting ready to post about beeswax and Room temp. Ugh. Yeah. That didn't work too well. Actually I was about 90 degree. Maybe I should have just drizzled it in while blending. I just dumped it in. I was trying to do a CPOP. Oh well. It will be another batch of soap for the house.
Would have about 100 degrees been ok with the beeswax?

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

Thanks for your help as alway. I guess I was melting the beeswax separate because it is so dang hard and seems to need to be heated longer. Maybe I am using the wrong type. It is little yellow pellets. I think I originally bought it for another project.

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

I've had bad experiences soaping too cool. I don't gell but the soap must heat up in the mold at least some, or it ashes on the exposed surface and on the sides a day or so later, too. That's why I don't get how people can put newly poured soap in the freezer or refrigerator and have it turn out right.

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

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

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

I prefer not to gel. My soaps can take up to three days to completely saponify. My 100% olive oil bars don't get soda ash. I live in a dry climate in a mostly hot desert.

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

This is what I read on Soap Queen and I agree with her. I only chill my poured soap if it threatens to get too warm in the mold and partial gell. That's just for a few minutes, too, until it cools off some.

"Temperature can also play a factor in soda ash formation. If you soap too cold and too thin (if your lye and oils are less than 100 degrees F), you may find soda ash will form deep within the soap, not just on the surface. Typically, this is more common in soaps with intricate swirls that were soaped cool and thin. If you tend to soap at cooler temperatures, achieve a thicker trace before pouring to lessen soda ash formation."