Teach Soap

I am fairly new to soap making - I recently made some MP soaps but I found that to be pretty unsatisfying. I wanted to make natural soaps like the ones at the health food stores, so I knew I would have to try CP. I found I was able to purchase lye locally so I had pretty much everything I need except palm oil...not sure if I can get that locally or if I have to order it. I knew I could make soap without it so I gave it a whirl. Here is what I used:

25% coconut oil
40% olive oil
30% lard
5% castor oil

I also mixed in about 1/8 cup ground oatmeal just to complicate things and attempted to make a swirly color by pouring about 3/4 of the soap into the mold (loaf tin lined with freezer paper) then coloring the remaining soap and then pouring it on top then stirring it. I also added the scent I used at that point because I was afraid it might accelerate trace and I would end up with rapidly hardening soap before I could get it into the mold.

How do you suppose this will turn out?

Here's what I think. First, I know the scent I used probably won't stick around long - probably be gone before it's even cured. The swirling is not going to turn out....I did several things wrong on that so I didn't worry about it too much. I used purple color but it turned orange which I half expected and really that's fine considering I used grapefruit scent. I just used things I like - grapefruit EO and purple, even though they don't "match". Anyway, I expect the color to be mostly sitting on the top when it's done...whatever.

The soap is currently sitting quietly draped in a towel in a warm location. The loaf tin I picked up at goodwill for this has a nice lid, so hopefully it's making soap in there. I'm resisting the urge to peek.

What are things to watch out for when I take it out and try to cut it tomorrow? Do you think it'll be ready to cut tomorrow? Does it have to be 24 hrs or will it be ready tomorrow morning? Do you think the color will change again/more?

Thanks!

Good question! You won't know til you cut it.
This purple color. Where did you get it? I have many colors at my disposal that are soap/skin safe and not one goes from purple to orange. My FD&C Blue #1 goes from blue to peach to purple and that's the only one that morphs from blue to purple.

Grapefruit EO will fade over time. You need an anchor like Litsea, Patchouli or Vetiver. I hope your soap mold is not regular tin, is it?

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

Enamel, if subjected to even a small amount of lye over time will start to flake off, which could end up in your soap. I would get either plastic, silicone or wood as soon as you can. MP colors are not always safe for CP. They are formulated differently. If you have any color micas, those might work in CP. Some of them do morph also. The stuff in the craft store is not a good quality. You can do better and for less ordering online at places like BrambleBerry.com .

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

Thin white plastic might not work for CP, especially if you gel. Do you have Michael's near you? I've seen small wood boxes there. Not sure what they are normally used for. Maybe little planter boxes?

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

You're welcome. I hope your batch comes out well.

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

Turned out pretty good. The purple turned back into purple, the swirl didn't turn out but I expected that so no surprise there. The texture was soft but not overly soft....like soft wax. The texture is the same even in the center...not overly soft in the middle. No ash. I was super careful with measurements though, I used grams rather than oz because it was such a small batch. Overall I am REALLY pleased! I'm thinking bout making another batch today but not sure what I want to put in it. I don't have any proper FO's so it might have to be unscented...which is okay, some people like that I guess. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Congrats! It's a pretty purple.

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

Batch #2 just went to bed...

I used the same recipe, but doubled it because it wasn't tall enough in the mold to cut the way I wanted to. The color will be a little darker because I used a darker olive oil, having run out of my really light stuff. I attempted to make green swirls in the pot but I don't think they're going to show up. I don't think my green was strong enough...we'll see tomorrow. Who knows, it might turn red or something. Next time I make some, I'll have proper colorants on hand. I used peppermit EO which I know will fade quickly but it's what I had. Next time I'll have something better.

Good for you Mortie! Thanks for sharing your progress and the color is lovely I think!

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

Thanks! I really like the purple color, too!

Batch #2 is out of the mold, I won't bore you with a picture of it because it's very plain. The green is almost totally gone and the bars are kind of yellowish off white color...I suspect most of the yellow comes from the dark olive oil I had to use when I ran out of my light olive oil. The scent is gone as I figured it would be. These have oatmeal inside them too, and that part turned out fine . I won't make any more til I have proper colors and scents.