Teach Soap

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

Ok what does Stearic Acid do for soaps . and what is the ratio recommended for Stearic Acid
per lb
Thank in advance

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

_________________
~Dharlee

Prestirred palm oil doesn't need to be melted and stirred each time.

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

Yes I know. I phrased the question wrong. What I meant was do soapers still have problems with the non premixed palm oil even when they melt the entire bag and mix it each time they use it? In other words does the non- premixed palm oil still tend to separate the steric acid to the bottom even when you do melt and mix the entire batch each time you use it? I was just wondering if it still as more steric acid in the last bit even if you follow those steps to try and ensure that it is well mixed. I hope this makes sense.

_________________
~Dharlee

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

Thanks.

Back on topic, I got those white spots in the soap I made this weekend. I tried for a more advanced soap and maybe I shouldn't have. I made goats milk soap with 85% olive oil and 15% coconut oil. I used canned goats milk for the entire water amount and used it frozen. I wonder now if I didn't stir the lye enough. When I added it, it had bevome thickened a bit and it did not want to blend with the oil for a few minutes. It took about 10 minutes to reach a thin trace. The next day the soap came out and seemed fine if a bit sticky. Today I thought it was sweating bit it seems that is white spots and does it ever zap my tongue. I now know what the zap test is about!

_________________
~Dharlee

If you soap at a too low of a temp, the oils can start to solidify. You can get lye spots this way.

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

That explains it. I guess this batch is good for the trash then. Thanks.

_________________
~Dharlee

Dharlee -

Why not rebatch it & save your investment in materials? Just throw in the pot & hot process it.

This is exactly what was going on when I was soaping at too low a temp before. My recipe is high in hard fats - lard, tallow & coconut oil... Of COURSE it would begin to solidify at lower than 110F. <duh, bangs head> SoapBuddy steered me right.

Now, I do my soaping in the pot I warmed the oils in. It has a heavy thick steel/copper bottom that keeps the oils at the right temp longer... And I've not had the "sinking Atlantis" happen again.

Oh! I didn't know I could DO this! Yes!!! Thank you!!! I al so glad I didn;t throw it all out. Even with the milk in it, it would still be ok to HP it?

_________________
~Dharlee

OK, so I'm old, gimpy & sometimes cranky... So whenever I find a way to "cheat" without affecting the quality of my soap, I take full advantage.

#1 = Dump it back into your cookpot. If it's still soft or even if almost cheesy, do NOT add any water. I don't have a crockpot & can't get one down here, so I use a stainless pot with a 1/2" thick bottom directly over the tiniest gas flame I can coax the stove to put out. Lid on, tape over the steam hole, if any. As it melts, get it mixed evenly, then stir occasionally, until it looks like a good "gel phase."

#2 = Once I get to an obvious "gel phase," or entering a good gel, I'll take off the heat, give a good stir, cool it down a bit, add any other colorant or scent or algae or whatever... Then pour into my moulds. You can even do ITP swirl, just KEEP IT SIMPLE. I like putting this into a slab mould, then dripping infused colorants over the top & swirling with a skewer... HP doesn't have to be ugly. Then, just cover with cardboard, insulate w/towel if it's cold. (I put mine on the stairs, away from the FP.) In the morning, ya got a pretty cool slab of soap. Easy. You don't have to cook it "all the way."

If it's kinda basically solid, do this:

#1 - Gloves on, I use a veggie knife & just shave the bar down to thin flakes. Do it watching TV or convo with a GF. To the shavings, you can add about ONE tablespoon of coconut milk or water after you've shaved it up... Or, if it's like a 5% SF, you can add a tablespoon or 2 of Olive oil. Again, lowest possible flame or low on crockpot.

#2 - Make a cuppa coffee/tea & put on a facial masque... Moisturize yer hair... GIVE IT TIME. Don't peek & let out valuable steam. Don't think of stirring if it's not already nice & "gel=-like" translucent all around the sides. For a 4-quart pot full of shavings, it takes mine about 45 min. to begin to show melt... Make sure there's steam inside the lid. Do NOT try to make it happen faster.

#3 = When you can see it's melting well, with spatula or spoon, give a good stir... I stir when it looks about 50/50 to me. While the lid's off, decide if you want a bit more water or oil... [Remember - LESS is MORE. You can put it in, but ya can't take it back out. Result of too much = LONGER cure times, some deformed soaps due to uneven/rapid evaporation.]

#4 - When thick, but evenly melted, mix well, take off heat & you can add whatever scent when the temps down around 130F... Any lower & soap gets thick & gloppy. Patchouli is one of my faves for HP, any of the pines, cypress, juniper & some heavy florals like jasmine or ylang-ylang work well. These can handle 150F or there abouts. Mix with spatula until incorporated, then blop into your log mould or slab. This is fully processed HP soap now. But you got to sit and relax instead of stirring down expanding soap, etc.

I'm not LAZY, but I just like to work smarter, not harder.

That said, I enjoy the soaps I do the old HP way, and I'm having a BLAST learning to do pixel paintings in CP soaps.

Best of both worlds.

I've only thrown out 2 batches of soap in my life.

Um, re the milk issue.

My OMH soap usually carmelizes & comes out a nice tan... unless I've used coconut milk in place of cow's milk (no goats here... YET!!!) Mwahahaha.

Don't worry about it - embrace it. Into this rebatched soap, you can add cubed up or shaved up bits of "confetti" of other, white or lighter color soaps, scented or not... The light bits are accented by the caramelized milk & looks like you MEANT it to be that way. I like to add oatmeal & sprinkle on top... Now it's exfoliating soap.

Or, if you prefer to keep the lighter color. Pour the rebatch into a slab mould & cut it into cubes a day or 2 later. Make your normal milk soap recipe and throw in the cubes at a pudding like trace & mould. Or, add to the top of the poured soap as decor.

You can use the rebatch with a cookie cutter to make little stars, rounds, even stuff for embeds in another fresh soap.

If the WORST happens, you can always throw in a few tablespoons of coffee & sell it as an odor-eliminator soap... I get the same price for that because this is a place where people buy gasoline in 2-liter soda bottles. The local hardware store sells it by the liter & the guy's poor sister ends up being the one to fill the bottles w/siphon, etc. She HATES the smell of gas on her hands & buys this soap by the 6-pack...

So do the fishermen's wives & our local mechanic, plus a few prof. cooks here...

Don't panic - this mix just wanted to be different, that's all.

When I make a pine needle basket, it's my time to mentally "unplug" & meditate a bit... My hands do the work and the basket takes the shape it wants to be... I try to do that with my soaps, too. Sometimes they move a bit fast or don't end up like I want, but however they DO end up - people love them.

Hugs & hoping all works out well. Please show pics. I'm still learning to post pics. But enormous is better than nada.