# Crystal clear base with embed questions...



## CTAnton (Apr 21, 2016)

Hey gang! I'm feeling related to my brother whose favorite line is,"I know enough to be dangerous".
I bought these Easter Island  sculpture molds that I thought would be great embeds. From what I've read, adding a fragrance to a clear soap base is going to affect the color/clarity.So with these embeds colored gray I thought I'd set them on a base of white scented soap base, put the scented embeds on top and pour my crystal clear soap base (unscented) over the embeds, with copious amounts of alcohol spritzed between the layers. 
I've done 3 batches tonight with increasingly better results, which boils down the clarity of the crystal clear base. I'm using WSP's that so many of you have recommended as the clearest choice out there. From what I'm thinking, cooling the clear soap base down to 128F or so seems to improve it's clarity. I still feel it could be clearer than what I'm getting in my test batches. Any pearls of wisdom out there from you all that could help me achieve the best possible clarity?Of course I don't have any real possible comparison other than photos online so what I'm getting  might be the best one can hope for. And I'm wondering if there's a fragrance oil that I can use in the crystal clear base that won't affect it's clarity?
So many thanks to so many for the generous sharing of information on this site. With that said, I can live without a sale of any magnitude from any of the suppliers for some time......


----------



## LisaAnne (Apr 22, 2016)

From what I remember (been a while) you have to heat your base up slowly, short bursts and a gentle stir. When you see a few cubes of base take out of microwave and stir gently to melt them. Also cut your base up into small cubes so you don't have to heat as much. Overheating is not good, so go slow. Stir very gentle so not to add bubbles. Also spray the top with alchohol, it will help pop bubbles.
Pour cooler so you don't melt the embeds. 
I don't remember what I did about the fragrance oils.


----------



## CTAnton (Apr 22, 2016)

Many thanks Lisa!


----------



## Stacyspy (Apr 22, 2016)

I would say what LisaAnne did. The fewer air bubbles, the clearer the soap. As far as discoloring FOs, the only ones that seem to discolor MP for me are the high vanillin content ones...bubble gum, cotton candy, froot loop, and gummy fish come to mind.


----------



## galaxyMLP (Apr 22, 2016)

I never had a problem with clarity due to FOs in MP soap. Some would cloud a little at first but clear up when mixed in (I have a strawberry FO like that). It's true though that fragrances with vanilla will darken some over time. MP soap does take a lot longer for it to show though so vanilla stableizer may actually work for it (I never used it though).

Like others have said, pouring temp is key and it will vary from base to base. For SFIC ones it was between 130-135 F for embeds. 

The soaps will also look much clearer when wet because the surface won't have scratches or scuffs. When packaging MP soap, be sure to have the top be super smooth. It will help with clarity.

If your MP soap overheats a little, I found adding distilled water helped it. There was a point of no return of course but if it was just a little bit, it helped.


----------



## LisaAnne (Apr 22, 2016)

I was reading my notes that the woman who owns kokolele MP store shared a while back. 
She also said to let your embeds dry for a day before you pour the clear over them. 

Check out her store, amazing.


----------



## CTAnton (Apr 23, 2016)

wow...thanks for all the help, folks! I'll bet it's the freshness of the embeds and my pouring temps...I'll give it a go this weekend with my newfound knowledge!


----------



## CTAnton (Apr 24, 2016)

well I kept my temps around 130F but for me the most important factor is that I melted my base on an induction plate and walked away...minimal stirring...I did scent the clear base and, for now, I don't see any discoloration...to be continued...


----------



## CTAnton (Apr 27, 2016)

a bit of an update on my attempts...
1. I agree with the information that most fragrance oils don't color the crystal clear MP base...at least not noticeably....
2. I heated the base slowly and used a spoon to stir. Less bubbles for sure but there still seems to be a cloudiness. And it actually seems somewhat variable per batch...one soap will look a lot clearer than the soap next to it poured from the same batch....any ideas, folks?


----------



## shimmersoap (Apr 30, 2016)

Soap Queen had a teqnique called bluing, it's basically just adding a small amount of liquid blue color to the clear soap base. It's supposed to make it clearer.


----------



## CTAnton (May 6, 2016)

last update with a note of success...seems 2 things helped me out in maintaining clarity...
1. I heated the base slowly with no stirring
2. I kept the base covered while heating with cling wrap..no "skin" to remove...I was under the assumption with all that moisture rising from the double boiler the covering of the inner pitcher wouldn't be necessary...wrong!
While I'm no fan of the chemical makeup of WSP Crystal Clear soap base I've got to say, as many of you know, it is VERY clear!
Many thanks to all that responded to this thread!


----------

