Teach Soap

If I cut melt and pour soap bars at 4 1/2 oz, let them dry for a few days, will melt and pour soap shrink to get a 4 oz bar of soap?

Has anyone tried this method to get a harder bar of soap? If so, did you cut them to the exact ounce or a little larger?

Thanks!

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Dusty W

Melt N' Pour might shrink a little bit over time, but it will take more than just a couple of days. If the MP dries out too much, it might be drying on the skin. If I want a 4 oz. of MP soap, that's what I will cut it as. Cold Process on the other hand will shrink over time and will make a mild soap after the full cure.

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

Thanks a million!

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Dusty W

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

To get a harder bar of soap try one or more of these additives:

coconut oil - hardens bar while adding conditioning
olive oil - helps to harden while adding emoliency
beeswax - hardens bar
palm stearic - hardens bar

I have used all of these except the beeswax. My personal favorites are the CO and OO. I use about 1/2 t per lb of either or both together in 1 lb of base.

For extra soft bases like WSP's or SFIC bases that are softer bases I use 1 t palm stearic per l lb base plus 1/2 t CO and 1/2 t OO. I get rock hard soaps with this combo that last a long time.

Its true that M&P will continue to harden and shrink over time. But thats true of any soap. Its the moisture that evaporates out of soap over time. That will not make the soap itself drying to your skin. If its a well made moisturizing soap it will continue to be even months after it was made. I have had some soaps I put away and tested over a period of 1 and even 2 yrs after I made them and they were just as good at 2 yrs as they were at 2 days old.

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

I'm talking about adding to M&P. CO and OO do help to make harder bars. I use these additives all the time and they work. However, you want to add OO sparingly as too much will make the bar greasy. With the stearic you can also get a much harder bar. I recommended using 1 t per lb because that is what I have used in soft bases to get them hard.

I did not detect any loss of lather in using these additives in those amounts. Some bases will take larger amounts of additives than other bases so you have to test them in yours. But I have tried those amounts in several bases; WSP C&S, Candlewic, SFIC, Essential by Catalina, and had good success.

Interesting; thanks! I haven't had good luck with additives like that. My MP soap got sort of spongy and lost some of the lather.

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

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Deb.....


If you blow in a dogs face he gets mad....take him for a car ride ..and he sticks his head out the window....

debb,

It looks like 1 teaspoon as a small t usually indicates a teaspoon where a capital T indicates a tablespoon.

Candybee,

Thanks for your additive tip as I'll have to try it out. I only use SFIC bases.

Interesting, I've not used either coconut or olive oil in my soaps ... I must try these out now. I add oil to every soap I make and I don't have a problem with them not latering.

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Candybee, just wanted to thank you for your input on the amounts of additives you use and also, on another topic, your comments on adding goatmilk to MP. Very interesting!

I made some bars of MP before Christmas from a recipe I found that called for 1 Tbsp each of shea butter and cocoa butter for 1# of base - that seemed high but I did it anyway because I have super dry skin. I tried one of the bars a couple days later and found it had little lather but was very moisturizing - pretty much what I suspected would happen. However, I put the rest of the bars away and didn't think of them until a few days ago. I tried one again and was completely surprised to find that now (after a bit of curing) the bar had lots lather! I did not realize that MP "cured" - it reminded me a bit of CP.

Thanks again for your input!

Holly

Holly thats a great story about your conditioning recipe soap. I will have to try that sometime and see if it 'cures' and the lather comes back.

There are additives you can use to create more lather in your soap too. You can try adding in Dr. Bonners liquid soap at 1 tbs per lb. Another additive is shaving soap. Some suppliers sell that and you can add some into your base to get more lather.

For creamier lather and extra moisturizing add about 1/2 to 1 tsp castor oil to your base. I love adding castor oil cause of how creamy it makes the soap lather. It also makes your skin bead up with moisture when bathing. Love it.

If you sell and add in Dr. Bonners liquid soap, how would you list that on your label?

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