Teach Soap

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and may bombard you with many soap, bath and body product questions. I've only made candles since 2000 I want to make some really good soap; don't care for using lye just yet though, sugar scrubs, body butters, etc.

What makes this soap different than any other glycerin base except for less sweating?

Does it last a lot longer than others and make a harder bar of soap. How much longer?

I heard that the goats milk soap was more moisturizing than the shea butter base? True?

How does the LCP soap compare in moisturizing?

Do you add anything such as beeswax or stearic to make it harder and last longer? I have used stearic and a little organic virgin coconut oil to shea butter melt and pour I just purchased. I think once I added the stearic it may have lasted longer.

Does anyone use steric acid and/or beeswax and if so what is the correct amount to add for just one 4 1/4 oz. bar of soap?


To make just one bar (4 1/2 oz) how much fragrance do you all use for it; how many drops.
Need all the advice I can get here. Anyone with any good suggestions let me know.

Thanks so much,
Debbie

Welcome! I can'r speak much for lcp MP but I know if you add beeswax to MP it gets softer not harder and if you are using BB scent then you can use their fragrance calculator to find out how much to use (and it is better to measure by weight since drops aren't accurate) And trust me someone can answer your LCP MP and other questions!
edit: sorry forgot to link up!

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Anna Rose @-}--
blog

Adding stearic will make the soap harder, but you will loose bubbles. It's really best just to add scent or color.

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

Does anyone have an answer for the other questions? I could use advice.

What melt and pour you like best, which one is most moisturizing, etc.

Thanks a bunch,
Debbie

I use BrambleBerry's clear base. I tried the LCP base, but for me, it's harder to melt and sets up faster. I live in the desert with no humidity, so I don't have much of a problem with sweating.

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

I think the the shea and goatsmilk are both great as far as moisturizing goes. I can't tell a big difference between the two.

LCP has less glycerin, so it is a bit harder, lasts longer and sweats less. This would make it a bit less moisturizing but not too much. Still great soap.

There is more info on melt and pour soaps here; http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... pour-soap/

Welcome to the forum!

BB's website says that the LCP soap is also more cloudy and opaque that the regular clear, so it would not be a good choice for embed projects.

For measuring fragrance, it is best to weigh it and go by the recommended usage rate of the fragrance, like Rosie said. Honestly, though, when I make M&P, I just drop my fragrance in until I like the strength of the scent. I don't have a small enough scale to measure tiny amounts of fragrance, and I don't sell my soap; just make it for myself and my family, and occasionally a friend. If I was selling it, I'd be more precise and invest in a small scale. As for number of drops, I tend to use about 7-10 drops per oz. for whatever reason. However, when talking in drops it can get tricky. The size of your drop could be different from the size of my drop. The type of fragrance, the size of the dropper, and the angle you hold the dropper at all affect the size of the drop. That's why measuring by weight is ideal. But if you want an average, I tend to use 7-10 drops per oz. So in your case, if you were making a 4.5 oz. bar, that would be 31-45 drops, depending on the strength of the fragrance and your nose's tastes.

If you want to try out different types of M&P bases yourself, Bramble Berry has a M&P sampler kit with a pound each of Clear, White, Hemp, Aloe, Honey, Shea, and Goat Milk bases.

Hope this helps.

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Olivia :)

Thanks Olivia,
I don't have a scale to way that small either. I'll go by the seven to ten drops. Don't think I added enough. I'm planning to make soap only for me to start with. I really love the ribbon soap project; looks like gift boxes.

Except for a small portion, it says to use the clear and then the ribbons in white, or shea or goats milk.
Think it would look alright if I just colored part of the goats milk; maybe purple for love spell and leave the rest ribbons white; not colored.

Don't really have the money to invest in 2 other soap molds right now, with everything else I want to purchase.

Trying to figure out what I could use in place of the twelve and nine cube molds.

You or anyone else have any idea.

For your ribbon gift box project, you could substitute the Clear soap base with White base. However, note that when using White base, you will not be able to get a bright, vivid color (purple, in your case), as you can with Clear. The White will cause an opaque, pastel purple, even if you dump the purple colorant in! If you want a light, pastel color, then by all means use the White. But if you want a bright, transparent purple, you will need to use Clear. If you want a slightly opaque, but bright color, add just a little White base or titanium dioxide to your melted Clear.

If you're okay will less-than-perfect cubes, you could use an ice cube tray instead of the cube mold.

Hope this helps!

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Olivia :)

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Anna Rose @-}--
blog

Want ice cube trays be too small? Might be o.k. for sample.

What could you use for larger to make the ribbons that go on top?

Thanks

Rosie's right; after she said this, I searched for ice cube trays on Amazon. There are all kinds of perfectly square ice cube tray molds in all kinds of sizes! Here are a couple from Amazon; maybe one of these would work.

http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-Perfect-Cu ... +tray+mold

http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Chill-Larg ... +tray+mold

Thanks for pointing this out, Rosie! I did not know about these!

What do the ribbons for your soap look like? Are they like thin strips of soap folded in a loop to look like bows?

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Olivia :)