Teach Soap

This blog has some great info on things however I have spent so long reading and looking for things I can't seem to find.

One thing that is confusing the crap out of me with lotions is when to add, heat, oil heat or cool? The basic things of course like water and my oils make sense but things like vitamin e, hydrolized oat protein ect I have seen in different parts of her recipes! And stearic acid is something I am going to add to see how this effects the thickness. What would happen to my lotion if I put these things into the wrong phase? Preservative makes sense on the cool down phase, you don't want to ruin its makeup but the other things don't make sense:)

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www.fostersfields.ca
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Vit E is added after the oils with emulsifier and water are mixed. You can add it at the same time as your preservative. Ideally, any water based extracts should be added to your water, then heat and hold. Stearic acid is added to your oil phase.

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

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www.fostersfields.ca
https://www.facebook.com/FostersFields

Both the water phase and the oil phase need to be heat and hold. There is no "heat phase" per se. Oil will not dissolve in water and vice versa. If you add one to the other, you might not get correct emulsification.

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

If you add vitamin e to the oils during the heat phase it can be damaged by the heat, ie: it won't be as beneficial in the final product. Some extracts are also damaged if you add them to the water during the heat phase. I add all of my extracts and beneficial oils, as well as fragrance and preservative to the emulsion (lotion) once it has cooled some.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

She has a couple of e-books you might want to look into. I got this information from "Lotionmaking 101".

As she says, what goes where depends on two things: is it oil or water soluable, and how sensitive is it to heat?

The "heat and hold" phase needs to be at 70 degrees C/158 F for 20 minutes. So if your ingredient can handle a temperature of that amount, it will go in the heated phase.

The next question, is it oil or water soluable? That will tell you if it needs to go in your oil or water phase.

If an ingredient can't handle temperatures as high as 70 degrees C or 158 degrees F, needs to be in the cool down phase.

I usually put my fragrance and preservatives in the cool down phase. This is going to be after your oil phase and water phase have been combined and cooled down.

Hope that helps.

Anita