Teach Soap

I am really enjoying HP. Part of that is because it's proving to be a challenge. MP wasn't a problem (I'm not an artist, but that isn't going to ever change lol). CP isn't turning out to be a problem, just working on swirling. BUT, HP is giving me a run for my money some days. I think I've got the process down for the most part and I really like the look of the swirl/marbling. I'm just running in to a lot of waste with each batch. Some I've left the rough top, but I still have to cut off sides and bottoms. Each bar is either small (ounces) or has to be wide to hit 4 oz. I can't keep doing this process if it produces so much waste, it becomes pointless and expensive. I'm thinking I can rebatch (any tips for doing that?), but I'm also wondering if anyone has ideas on how to make a smoother hp bar, thereby creating less to cut off, if any.

I started out with a shortening (veg) or pko, coconut oil, olive, soybean, castor and almond oil combination (adding in shea with colorants just before pouring/glopping) at about 1/2 hard and 1/2 soft oil proportions. But, I did notice the soap felt a little sticky and then read that olive oil can do that. So, I've gone to about a 2/3 hard to 1/3 soft proportion and dropped the olive oil down quite a bit. These last few batches haven't felt sticky, but much more waste.

It feels like the soap is too cool when I put it into the mold, but I have to let it cool enough for the FO. Any thoughts??

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Amy in Soapland

I am way far from being an expert.(miles and miles)....but I add my fo at trace..... then I color or swirl or whatever I do... ..Sometimes I soap at a thin trace and sometimes not.... I don't let anything cool down....but again...no expert...just do my own thing..lol

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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....

One of the reasons I no longer do HP is exactly that; too much waste. If I need a soap in a hurry, I do CPOP. Make soap like CP, pour into an oven safe mold, then cook in the oven.

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

Amy, I had lots of waste and crumbly when I double boiled the HP. I saw a video by a major soap maker and they demonstrated mixing your soap, then popping it into the oven in their (soup pot).. then checked it every 15 minutes until it was vasoline. They said they used 150.. though mine only goes as low as 170. I tried it, and at one hour my size batch wasn't ready yet. But when it was; it made a much nicer bar than the doubler boiler. I still wished it wasn't so thick. I thought about adding an extra few ounces of water to see what happens.. I don't mind an extended curing time if that's the only consequence. (though Soapbuddy will have some answers for this I hope). I've only made two batches that way and then tried soapbuddy's LOW temp soap. I'm stock piled here hoping to move a lot at a festival this weekend so I can go back into production. THAT or I need a bigger house.

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

I knew you'd have some answers. Though to keep my ingredient list from looking scary, I guess I would opt for the glycerin over the sodium lactate.

Is there any problem with added liquid as well, but not at the end of the cook, I mean when I mix the lye?

debb, does that put your FO use back up to a similar rate to CP?? When you say you "soap at a thin trace" what does that mean? I always took that to mean you pour at a thin trace? Wouldn't that be CP and not HP then??

Soapbuddy, I don't currently have an oven-safe mold, which is why I haven't tried cpop yet. I use a lined bread pan, my plastic bb loaf mold and I also have a thick plastic organizer that I've used for bigger batches (or a box). But, my father-in-law should have a couple of wooden loaf molds for me by the end of the month, so I will be trying that method after vacation. Do you rebatch at all?

Oldehiker, my first hp batch I cooked on the stovetop. I've never double-boiled because I don't have two pots that would work, but I really felt like stovetop and oven pretty much turned out similar. I did most of my batches at 190, actually and they were at the vaseline stage, no zap, fairly close to the 15 min mark. The last batch I made I thought I'd drop it to 170 and see what happened. It took about an hour (got my first taste zap several times). That batch I didn't have to cool it much because the FO I used had a 195 flashpoint, but it ended up being far more crumbly on the edges than the other batches, so I assumed it was because of how long it cooked. Hmm, maybe not! I add in my colors with shea butter sometimes with a bit of sweet almond oil, so I don't know if adding anything more would help me much.

Thanks everyone for all of the ideas and tips! Maybe cpop will be the perfect process for me!!

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Amy in Soapland

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

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

Olkdehiker ... honestly, the first two hp batches I made were awful!! It took forever, seemed really complicated and stressed me out. I had expected that all from cp, but really only got worried when I realized I was pouring the colors too late lol But, I wasn't really expecting hp to be any more complicated than cp. But, once I started popping it in the oven, it was SO easy. The part that is STILL hard is adding colors to swirl and fo at the end. You have to work quick and it can very easily get too cool and end up with very little left that can be a usable/gift-able/sell-able bar.

I just love the marble look and how quickly it is ready, I lack the patience for cp, I think! Though, I do really like how good swirls in cp turn out. I still haven't made a swirl that I'm happy with yet!!

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Amy in Soapland

Oh, also about adding the extra liquid; I did read that you can add a little oil just before you pour to help. I mean, I melt a bit of shea butter and almond oil and mix my colors in that, so those extra oils go in, and that hasn't seemed to help. I did try adding a bit of oil on an overcooked batch and it didn't seem to do too much good. I just would think that adding extra water/liquid in the beginning wouldn't really do much except take longer for it to hit the vaseline stage, though, I'm just guessing on that!

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Amy in Soapland

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

I guess I should note I'm not doing Oven HP in the mold, I'm doing it in a pot in the oven to vasoline - then "racing the clock" to mold it.

LOL

I guess most of it is trial and scream. I mean error.

here's the link I saw:

Doing HP is a learning process after doing many batches. My first batch I was terrified - way more than doing CP the first time lol but it came out fine. My 2nd batch came out way smaller than my usual batch. But I realized that it was because I kept stirring and so a lot of the soap stuck on the sides and on my silicone whisk
After that I just made sure that after trace I leave it alone unless it looked like it wanted to volcano out the pot.

I do the crockpot method only because I like the front row action on the "cook".

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