Teach Soap

I usually make CP soap but I just poured my first batch of MP soaps into a mold. I embedded little pink CP soap hearts into the clear MP soap and it looks pretty cute. I do have a few questions though:

How long should I let my MP soaps cure?
Why did I get little bubbles in my soap?
Is there an optimum temperature that the MP soap should be when I pour it?
Are glycerin soaps naturally more moisturizing than CP soap? (I'm sure part of this answer has to do with the exact ingredients in the CP soap but for the sake of argument, let's say the CP soap is 1/3 olive oil, 1/3 coconut oil, and 1/3 palm oil.)

Thanks for your help!

Oops . . . I forgot to add this question . . .

Has anyone here ever poured a combination of melt & pour soap and cold process soap? The lady who makes these soaps says she uses a combination of both methods:

I think I asked this same question on the Cold Process board but I thought I'd also ask it here on the Melt & Pour board.

Thanks!

I have used M&P into my CP soaps and used some M&P imbeds to decorate the top of my CP soaps. Just note that they can disolve at different rates as they are used. I one time purchased a M&P soap with CP soap imbeds and the M&P was gone before the CP, so what happened was the soap fell apart and I had pieces of CP soap left. These imbeds were fairly large and geometric shaped. Nice looking soap, but did not hold up. You should also make sure the CP is fully cured or it will shrink and pull away from the M&P as it drys.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

MP soap does not need to cure. It's ready as soon as it cools off. Bubbles in MP usually come from pouring. I pour over a spoon to minimize bubbles. Whether one is more moisturizing than the other, it depends on the ingredients.

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

So the bubbles are caused by air trapped in the pour if you pour from too high up? Another question I thought of after looking at myt first MP batch - is it possible to use fragrance in in MP and still keep the bar very clear?

Thanks for that info, Bubbles2 - it looks like I've made several of these mistakes with my first MP batch

I poured a layer then added some embeds then poured more soap over that. Either I forgot to spray with alcohol or I waited too long before pouring the second layer, because the layers didn't stick together. I think I used too much fragrance in some of them as well because the soaps looked cloudy, even though the fragrance I used was clear. Also, I have a feeling the pink CP hearts inside are going to start pulling apart from the MP according to what you said above.

Should MP be poured at a certain temperature? If adding fragrance, should it be added when the MP is at a certain temperature?

Thanks!

A spritz of rubbing alcohol right after you pour will helps with surface bubbles; deeper bubbles are probably from pouring too high or too fast...I also will usually pour over a spoon if possible. As for fragrance, as long as the f.o. is clear, your soap will be too. Sometimes you'll get a temporary cloudiness but stir for a few minutes and it almost always goes away. You might want to adjust the color of the bar to the shade of the f.o. if that's very pronounced, (a gold bar instead of pale yellow, for instance) but it shouldn't affect clarity. Temp-wise, the cooler the better as long as it's not setting up on you as you pour it! lol Although for additives like oatmeal or other botanicals that you don't want sinking to the bottom (actually the top! of the soap) the closer to set up you can get the less settling you'll have. Now when it comes to cp embeds, I just don't know. With m&p embeds or layers, you spritz the layer/embed with alcohol then pour your next layer - the alcohol acts like glue to hold everything together. For your soap I'd say just try it and see......more moisturizing? Depends on the soaps - personally I find a honey glycerin base to be the most moisturizing soap I've ever used, bar none. (pun intended) But the plain clear glycerin does nothing for me, and I'm not all that impressed with straight shea base either. Depends on your skin, your water, the quality of your base and the blends of bases you use...playing with base blends in M&P is a lot like playing with oils in CP. And yes, you're ready to use it as soon as you pop it out of the mold - ideally leave it set in the mold overnight, then you're ready to go.

Excellent information! I've never heard of honey glycerin base. Where do you get it?

Thanks!

You can add honey to your base. I beleive its 1 tbsp per pound of soap.

You can get honey MP base at BrambleBerry. http://www.brambleberry.com/Honey-Melt- ... P3186.aspx

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

I love love love honey glycerin base...it's so moisturizing for my skin that I've almost completely quit using lotions. And that's saying quite a lot, as I'm a goat breeder who has to be out in the weather feeding and watering and wrasseling with livestock doing all sorts of skin-unfriendly chores. It has a lovely fragrance on it's own, so I frequently don't add any...just label it with a "Natural Honey" fragrance label. And it doesn't hurt that it's the color of honey, either...in fact I sell a lot of it to friends and local customers who want something 'pure' without adding a thing, just using a pretty mold. For my area, it's that good. That being said, my area has very soft water and high humidity much of the year. I don't know how it would do in a hard-water region all by itself. Maybe another soaper can chime in on that?

Hmmmmm . . . I may have to try it! I've never used glycerin soap before. I molded a few earlier this week but I've not tried them yet - I made them as Valentine gifts. Does glycerin soap run out faster than CP soap and, if so, is there a big difference in the longevity?

Having used both, I must admit M&P doesn't last as long as CP. But for me, that's ok - the moisturizing benefits of the M&P are worth it. But comparing the two types of soap in my opinion isn't really down-to-the-nitty-gritty possible, as they're two different products. Which lasts longer - solid or liquid soap? Which cleans better - powder or liquid detergent? Which tastes better - cupcakes or muffins? In the end, we use what WE like better - doesn't mean one is better than the other, just means that's what we like. Some folks are unfrosted dutch chocolate cake, some are red velvet with buttercream frosting and some are blueberry muffins....it's all good!

That's interesting about Melt & Pour glycerin soaps selling 3 times better. Do you think it was because people were familiar with the skin-softening properties of glycerin soaps or was it a cosmetic thing (people liking clear soap or clear soap with embeds)?

Guess I'll have to try the glycerin soap myself and see how I like it