Teach Soap

Well, I finally felt ready to try making my first lotion today! I actually made two small batches......one came out too thick, one came out too thin. (This is vaguely similar to the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears......).
Is there a way to alter the lotion I have already made? What can I do to make the thicker one thinner and what can I do to make the thinner one thicker??? I like the feel of both of them, just not their respective thickness. (I don't want to mix them together, as they are distinct scents).
Also, since this is my first attempt, if you have advice to offer, please provide details (like would I need to reheat the lotions?)

Oh...another question....in the reading/research I've done, most people have said to stir and then stick blend for about 3-5 minutes. At our recent soap conference there was a presenter who did a demo on lotion making and she suggested blending for 20 minutes! That seemed like a long time, but she said that way you are sure the mixture stays emulsified and doesn't separate later. From your experience, is it necessary to blend for that long? I would like to eventually sell some lotion, but for now am just experimenting for my family and a few close friends who are testing them for me.

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

I would not do anything to a lotion that has already been made as it will compromise your preservative. You will need to experiment with your formula til you come up with what you like. Keep good notes!
I stick blend my lotion for 5 to 10 minutes and it's still pourable. If I did 20 minutes, my lotion would be too solid to pour into containers. I have not had a formula separate except when I used a different preservative. That batch curdled and I never used that preservative again. Otherwise, my lotion batches never separate. Maybe it was the ingredients she used for the demo.

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

Thanks, Irena, as usual . I actually checked the thin one again and it had thickened up a bit more. I thought when I checked last time that it had sat long enough to be at it's "final" thickness, but I guess not! How long does it typically take until they are "done"?

Glad to know, also, that I don't have to stick blend for the 20 minutes! Do you keep the stick blender going continuously for 5-10 minutes? If so, I guess that doesn't hurt the motor? I'd actually never used a stick blender before I began making soap, so really don't have a lot of experience with it!

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

You're welcome. It can take up to 24 hours for the lotion to reach its final consistency. I keep the blender off and on for 5 to 10 minutes. Smaller batches get blended for about 5 minutes straight. If your stick blender has less wattage, I would stick blend with it turned on for a minute or two, then keep stirring for a minute or two with it turned off. Then repeat.

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

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Without any idea of your formula, it's impossible to advise, unfortunately.

I agree with others, it is not advisable to play with the lotion after it's made. And as Irena says, some emulsions reach the final consistency/viscosity after 24-48 hours. Even if you repeat a single formulation 100 times, it's possible that you get different consistencies, temperature of both phases by adding, duration and speed of blending, speed of cooling etc. etc. all play a significant role. Generally you may increase the viscosity of a given formulation by adding viscosity enhancers such as CMC, Tylose, xanthan gum but I suggest you do it after several repetitions and after you certainly know it's the recipe and not the manufacturing method. You can as well increase the viscosity by increasing (very slightly) the amount of your emulsifier, specially if you have Cetyl alcohol in your emulsifier. 20 Min. stick blending is too long, we stir so long if we apply magnetic stirrer.

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Genius is 1 % inspiration and 99 % perspiration