# An interesting blog post about making your own mp base. Only glycerin is needed.



## seven (Feb 21, 2014)

http://oilandbutter.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-make-your-own-melt-and-pour-soap.html

no alcohol, no sorbitol... only hp soap + glycerin...


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 21, 2014)

VERY interesting!  Added to favourites.  Thanks for sharing, Sevs


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## seven (Feb 21, 2014)

yer welcome, TEG. the only thing i'm still not sure about is the clarity. pics on the blog are rather confusing. it showed a clear soap inside the mold, but a slightly opaque color on the finished soap. this can totally happen if incorrect proportion of solvents were used.


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## Seawolfe (Feb 21, 2014)

The link on the bottom to the Russian blog is interesting too (chromes translator makes it understandable): http://magicsoap.ru/4443-mylnaya-os...omashnih-usloviyah-recept-i-master-klass.html
She only uses coconut and castor oil 50/50 as the base.


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## judymoody (Feb 21, 2014)

That looks really cool!  I may give this a try.  It would be great to have something the kids can work with as well.


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## seven (Feb 21, 2014)

the only downside is that it produces a cloudy soap. it melted clear though. i am also a bit nervous about adding so much glycerin. i can imagine it will sweat like crazy in my climate 

that said, this can be a very interesting project to do with the children like judy mentioned. and i always thought you need alcohol/pg for the soap to be remelted. guess not. always a new thing to learn everyday.


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## kaliquen (Feb 21, 2014)

The rest of the russian blog is really cool!  She has some interesting recipes!


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## seven (Feb 21, 2014)

kaliquen said:


> The rest of the russian blog is really cool!  She has some interesting recipes!



indeed. i've been reading it non stop. the google translation can be funny sometimes, but as long as i understand the general picture


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## ilovesoap2 (Feb 21, 2014)

I plan to try this one too.  I hope I can switch out the coconut.


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## MzMolly65 (Feb 21, 2014)

Thanks for sharing Seven .. I was looking at other melt and pour recipes but wasn't willing to make any because of the alcohol and how badly I react to that.

This looks very interesting.  

Can anyone tell me if there was a link to translate the Russian page or are you just putting it through a translator of your own?  I looked for a google link on her website that would translate the whole page but couldn't find one.


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## Tienne (Feb 21, 2014)

Wheeeh, how exciting! I wanna try this! My self-imposed quarantine from any and all soap supply sites ends in 6 days and then all I need is some stearic acid and some glycerine. *Frantically scribbling down a shopping list to have ready at zero hour.* Thank so much for the link, Seven!  

PS. I got a good chuckle out of reading this at the link;

"On my information and inspirational journey – yes, we soapers call it inspiration, not copy catting..."

Ain't it the truth.


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## Belinda02 (Feb 21, 2014)

Interesting. Makes it safe for GK.


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## purplefan (Feb 21, 2014)

This youtube tutorial works, I've not tried it but know someone that has had success with it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHS1V8HIwoE&index=5&list=PL9AE9C60EFCF8E82E


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## Seawolfe (Feb 21, 2014)

MzMolly65 said:


> Can anyone tell me if there was a link to translate the Russian page or are you just putting it through a translator of your own?  I looked for a google link on her website that would translate the whole page but couldn't find one.



MzMolly, I use the Chrome viewer: www.google.com/chrome
If I go to a site in another language it gives me an option on the top bar to translate it to English. Its very handy.


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## MzMolly65 (Feb 21, 2014)

Seawolfe said:


> MzMolly, I use the Chrome viewer: www.google.com/chrome
> If I go to a site in another language it gives me an option on the top bar to translate it to English. Its very handy.




Awesome .. thanks for that info.


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## lsg (Feb 22, 2014)

Thanks for the link.  I am trying this today.


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## kaliquen (Feb 22, 2014)

I use firefox and had to install a translation add-on but when I went back to the site it translated automatically.


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## lpstephy85 (Feb 22, 2014)

Yeah, I am definitely trying this today or tomorrow, thanks!!


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## lsg (Feb 22, 2014)

Seven, I just poured the M&P base into individual bar molds.  Everything went well, can't wait until it hardens to try remelting, coloring and scenting it.  Thanks again.


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## seven (Feb 22, 2014)

lsg said:


> Seven, I just poured the M&P base into individual bar molds.  Everything went well, can't wait until it hardens to try remelting, coloring and scenting it.  Thanks again.



that's great. can't wait to see the results. i can't take credit for anything though, i was only sharing the link 

btw, i am very curious about the color. will it stay clear once it set? what about sweating issue with that much glycerin? i know for a fact that this one, however much i wanna try it, won't work for me coz the climate i live in.. oh bugger


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## lsg (Feb 22, 2014)

I wondered about excess sweating also.  I will let you know.


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## MzMolly65 (Feb 22, 2014)

kaliquen said:


> I use firefox and had to install a translation add-on but when I went back to the site it translated automatically.



OOo .. thanks.  I just tried this and it worked.  I was hesitant to go download Google chrome because I'm always using Firefox but never even thought to look for an add on.  doah!


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## MzMolly65 (Feb 22, 2014)

lsg said:


> Seven, I just poured the M&P base into individual bar molds.  Everything went well, can't wait until it hardens to try remelting, coloring and scenting it.  Thanks again.



ooo how exciting.  I can't soap right now so I'm living vicariously through everyone else's adventures.


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## soapcakes (Feb 22, 2014)

Thanks so much for sharing my blog post! Zacil, who shared her MP recipe with me, said that she does notice it sweats, but not as much as store-bought MP. I haven't noticed any sweating yet, but I probably live in a drier climate, and I haven't yet tried it on top of CP, which is where I usually notice my MP embeds sweating. 

On the original link to the Russian blog, it looks like she is saying you can use the glycerin from anywhere from 25% to 100%, so next time I am going to try to reduce the glycerin and see if that makes any difference. Also, the original recipe was 50% coconut oil and 50% castor oil, so it looks like you can try different oils too. Can't wait to see your pictures!


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## Tienne (Feb 22, 2014)

seven said:


> btw, i am very curious about the color. will it stay clear once it set? what about sweating issue with that much glycerin? i know for a fact that this one, however much i wanna try it, won't work for me coz the climate i live in.. oh bugger



On the translated page, I read that the slight cloudiness was due to the 3% superfat and if you were comfortable with it, you could go lower. It also said, that you can vary the amount of glycerine right down to 25% of the batch size. (So anywhere in between 25-100% should work.)

(I use Firefox and an addon called "Translate This!". It places a little button on the status bar (or wherever you choose to drag it to) and when you're on a page you want translated, you just click it and voila! A new tab opens with the page translated. All links you click on within that page are also automatically translated.)

ETA: Just re-read and it says the higher the glycerine amount the more transparent the soap will be and the easier it will melt.


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## Tienne (Feb 22, 2014)

Doh! We posted the same thing at the same time,  Soapcakes, but you beat me to it by a fraction of a hair!


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## soapcakes (Feb 22, 2014)

Lol, so close, and I'm glad we agreed with one another! ;-)


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## lpstephy85 (Feb 22, 2014)

Must find time between candle making, laundry, and homework to try this tomorrow!!


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## seven (Feb 22, 2014)

Tienne said:


> On the translated page, I read that the slight cloudiness was due to the 3% superfat and if you were comfortable with it, you could go lower. It also said, that you can vary the amount of glycerine right down to 25% of the batch size. (So anywhere in between 25-100% should work.)
> 
> (I use Firefox and an addon called "Translate This!". It places a little button on the status bar (or wherever you choose to drag it to) and when you're on a page you want translated, you just click it and voila! A new tab opens with the page translated. All links you click on within that page are also automatically translated.)
> 
> ETA: Just re-read and it says the higher the glycerine amount the more transparent the soap will be and the easier it will melt.



ah, that makes sense... the SF! of course. i used to make my mp base with 0% SF, and still it needs the correct proportion of solvents, otherwise i might still have a clarity issue.


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## MzMolly65 (Feb 23, 2014)

Does anyone think the cloudiness might be caused by the CO??  Would a different oil leave the final product less cloudy?


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## seven (Feb 23, 2014)

MzMolly65 said:


> Does anyone think the cloudiness might be caused by the CO??  Would a different oil leave the final product less cloudy?



i don't think so. CO is used widely for mp bases, coz it doesn't impart any color to the end product. i think it mostly has something to do with SF. mp soaps are usually made with 0% SF as far as i know, coz we want it as clear as we can.


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## lpstephy85 (Mar 9, 2014)

lsg said:


> Seven, I just poured the M&P base into individual bar molds.  Everything went well, can't wait until it hardens to try remelting, coloring and scenting it.  Thanks again.




Hi, just wondering how yours turned out


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## lsg (Mar 10, 2014)

It turned out OK, it is cloudy, but that's doesn't bother me.  I haven't tried melting it yet.  Next time, I am going to try adding some sorbitol to see if that makes a clearer soap.


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## kaliquen (Mar 10, 2014)

Would love some pics!!!!


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## Alaska beauty (Mar 10, 2014)

I did original K Dunn recipe same as Russian lady. It was very clear and very easy to melt.  http://www.alaskasangelsfarm.com/92/. I did fun soap with photo in it and some herbs. Photo looking good in a year, herbs ending to be a big mess- they color soap around it.


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## Alaska beauty (Mar 11, 2014)




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## kaliquen (Mar 13, 2014)

I made this last night and it's not getting hard.  I tested some today and it does melt just fine, but after it cools it's still somewhat malleable.  I used my own recipe:
olive oil pomace 20%
rice bran 20%
canola 20%
shea butter 15%
hydrogenated soybean 15%
coconut 10%

2% superfat and slight water discount.

Could it require some cure time to harden?  I know it's a pretty soft recipe, but so was the original using something like 50% castor.


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## Alaska beauty (Mar 14, 2014)

Your recipe is to soft from beginning and I guess this soap not bubbles at all. For this soap you need more butters like palm or babasu and castor for leaser, another way they are not bubbly, soft and sweaty. If you not going for clear look keep coconut at 10-15%. At least 10% of castor. Glycerin "eating" a lot of hardness and bubbles from your recipe. I like love cleaning and high conditioning in your soap.


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## kaliquen (Mar 14, 2014)

I actually did get some bubbles!  I wasn't too concerned with the properties because I was going to use it for embeds only and wanted to use up some oils. Do you think it will harden eventually?

ETA: I don't use palm or animal fats (I'm a vegetarian) so my bars are usually on the softer side anyway.


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## seven (Mar 14, 2014)

kaliquen said:


> Do you think it will harden eventually?
> 
> ETA: I don't use palm or animal fats (I'm a vegetarian) so my bars are usually on the softer side anyway.



you can try leave it out in the open so water can evaporate, but you'll risk sweating, and a dry/crumbly soap at the end.

would you use stearic acid? if so, you can add that to your recipe for hardness to replace shea. shea is expensive, and if it's only for embeds and such, i will save the shea for another recipe 

you can also try cocoa butter if you don't want to use stearic acid.


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## Alaska beauty (Mar 14, 2014)

What % of glycerin did you use? With this soft oils I would start at 20%.... 
 I have soap batch with too much glycerin- it's soft ... 4 years later. I was cooking 2 batches and accidentally dump 2 cups with glycerin in only one of them. Soap have nice smell, bubbles and creaminess. It was on drying rack "forewer". Last year I put it in burlap bags and give away as gifts. Some of it I keep in the card box, it's not sweaty after time only soft. Just look at it - soft like play doh. My lil one was baby and I don't have time to re-cook it with something else.
 I'm recommended to make some 100% coconut soap and mix it with this soap after gel phase. Melted first. Maybe I should do the same with my lil leftovers.... 
 I'm really like castor oil near 20% in this type soaps. If you don't use palm or babassu increase coconut to 15-20%. Olive oil, shea butter, rice braine, non GMO Canola, non GMO not hydrogenated soy, jojoba, almond, apricot, grape seed, Cocoa and avocado butter working great in this one for me.  
  I made my first soaps with pork fat and sunflower oil, at that time coconut and palm was alien for me. I want good soap, and i don't have too many choices in the store. Horrible laundry soap made with dogs or irritating strawberry. I don't like sunflower oil in soap, same as corn (maybe because I grew up on them).


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## kaliquen (Mar 14, 2014)

Do you think I could add the stearic acid now or is it too late?

I used 100% oil weight of glycerin.  You think if I made another batch of 100% coconut oil soap and add this in it would work?  

I suppose I could divide it up and experiment with the smaller portions to see what works best.

Thanks for all the help, this was my first HP so I didn't really know what I was doing anyway!


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## kaliquen (Mar 14, 2014)

Alaska Beauty-is it just the addition of glycerin that allows it to melt?  So ideally as long as you HP and add at least 20% glycerin you would have MP?  Please correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Alaska beauty (Mar 14, 2014)

Technically any soap can be melted but for most of it you need very high temperature. If you take regular CP bar and place it in airtight fireproof dish over the heat-  it will melt with time. Extra Glycerin just helping this process to go quicker and on lower temp. Traditional homemade soap has at least 5% of glycerin inside it from saponification process to support melting. 
 20% is regularly a good start. You can always add more, but you can't extract glycerin back at home. I'm adding 10-20% to my castile soaps. I don't like 100% it's always soft and tacky. My clear was done with 75%. I think 80% is max for me, but I saw nice soaps at 100% -most of them done with a lot of palm 35-50%. 
 Your soap has it's own overfat sou I don't think stearic acid or wax at this point will make a trick. But you can try with very small amount. One of beauty of this soap that you can add a lil bit of something at small amount. Yes it's home made M&P without yaks.


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## Alaska beauty (Mar 15, 2014)

So I did coconut and palm+palm cannel. Coconut was still to soft, palm was not soft but not runny. Ending mix them together. Original soap has lavender buds and EO, plus wonderful Madagascar vanilla infusion and goat milk. Smells heavenly but not the best color.Nice ugly soap for felted bags.


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## lenarenee (Apr 8, 2014)

I had decided to try this - using the bloggers recipe (not the Russian woman's cp recipe) and probably 75% glycerin.

This is for an elementary school project, where student invent something, make a demo of it, advertise then pretend to sell it.

Our little girl choose to make soap with toys in it, and why make a "demo" model of it when we can make a useable product she can have when we're done.

I've made a dozen successful batches of cp and hp soap, but never mp.

Using this cp +glycerin recipe, how do we cure or wrap or whatever when we're done molding this with embedded toys? 

Can anyone see any problems with using for a school project....where the soap will be displayed for people to look at and handle?  Plus, we'll want to bring it home and use later, so we want it to be viable soap.

Thanks for your input; I really don't want to waste ingredients, or take dd through a disappointing process!


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