Teach Soap

Good Afternoon,

You guys are the best, and thank you for all your help Irena. We're flying to LA in September this year, then up to San Francisco, our son-in-law is from there - then over to Chicago hoping to "bump" into Al Capone - then to Vegas (of course!!!) but I'm hoping to find lots of shops where I can get lots of great scents 'n' colours to post back home - we'd like some sort of soap class where we can get new idea's to keep the grey matter active - suggestions and idea's all welcomed and taken on board.

I've found a great colour supplier (All Colours Natural) but he has so many colours it's made me feel like I'm in a spiders web - I'm thinking we'll stick with the liquid colours as the soaps we make just now are totally for their properties and not looks but there are customers who love colour along with the thought of using "goatmilk" and I feel comfortable swirling/using the liquids - scents have me worried a tad (!!!!) also found a great supplier of scents (Scott Aromatics) but I know that will be trial and error.

Thank you all once again, this arvo when Bill gets home we'll made another G & H batch (it's not going to beat me ), disolve the honey first, mixing the lye with a little water, adding the goatmilk then the honey (?) to the cooled oils then tracing - .

You know, all the reading I did to get to this point and 90% of what I read just doesn't apply in a real application. What I've read from what other soapers have written, everyone has their own way of making soap - I'm so intrigued with what Luna wrote re not worrying about any heat in the lye mix - see another myth gone west!!!!!

Have a magical morning, afternoon, evening wherever you are - thank you all Ness

You might want to try a different mold. PVC pipe really traps the heat. Do you have any loaf or slab molds?

I find that if I add my honey to room temperature lye solution and then let it cool off again, I don't get overheating. I did this recently with a honey and beer soap - added lye to the beer, let it cool, then added the honey, let it cool. I actually had to nudge gel along by putting the soap in a preheated oven for a little bit.

Edited to add that my EO mix had nutmeg, cinnamon and clove, and I took a water discount. I was sure with all of those heating ingredients, I'd have trouble but no. It turned out beautifully.

Good luck with your next attempt!

Hi judymoody,

There it is again - lye at room temp - I always thought and read that the lye mix and oils HAD to be around the same temps - I go approx. 90deg F for both, then add whatever then trace.

I'm going downstairs now and mix my recipe amount of lye with a little water and leave it until I get home after a bit of shopping, then I'll mix the honey with a little water and add that to it, that mix will have no heat in it by the time we make another batch when Bill gets home from work - oh I'm getting excited now

I once watched without letting the person know I was watching ( a soaper mix her lye with water, she had six small buckets with a batch mix in each - she left them after stiring - then she melted out her oils for six batches in seperate buckets also - then every now and then would just put the back of her hand on each lye mix and oil mix testing the temp ( ) she never once took temps of the oils or lye mix, she then mixed one bucket of each to trace then added whatever and put into moulds.

I do have slab moulds, but I package all our soaps in white organza bags and the round soaps fit into the bags perfectly (9cm x 12cm) - I just have a "thing" about unwrapped soap so I get all the organza bags from China for just 4.5cents per bag - oh such a good price - took some haggling to get that price from my now supplier in China - anyway, when I get this G & H mix right I'll try the slab mould, I need one that when soap is cut it will fit the bags - any suggestions?

Well, I'm off to mix my lye - keep the fingers crossed for me
Cheers
Ness

I don't take temps for my oils and lye water anymore. I go by touch. If my oil bucket and my lye water are warm to the touch I combine the two. The only time I take temp is when I make lotions. It's an old wife's tale that you have to have everything at the same exact temp.

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

Ok - now the lye didn't disolve in the water -

I used 143.5gr lye crystals and only 100ml water, I've been outside in the porch (and it raining and blowing a gale) stiring stiring stiring...........but all the lye isn't disolving -

Ness

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

You need at least the same amount of water as lye to dissolve to make a 50% solution. I would measure out another 100ml of water, & weigh it in grams. You added 143.5gr lye crystals to your water, so in order for the lye not to recrystalize you would need at least 157.9 grams of water.

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

OK thank you, will go do another one now just to be sure - I did a second mix with 100ml and it disolved but I don't want this G & H to go down the gurgler too so will measure your suggested amount of water in grams - oh still excited looking forward to this arvo when I disolve the honey in water then add it to the lye. What do you suggest.....will I mix 2 teaspoons of honey or just 1 for a 1kg batch........... I'm thinking I'll be a game and go for the 2 teaspoons as I'm trying it a tested soapers way??

Ness

Oh, before I log off and go do some shopping - do I need to use less goatmilk to make up for the amount of water I disolved the lye in ??

Ness

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