Advice for a CP/HP newbie

[mvdnest]

Hi there,

I have been formulating bath and body products for a while but never tried CP/HP. So I decided to wonder into the mysterious world of soapcrafting. (I have made MP types of soap before, but want to make something from scratch...)

Q: what would be the easiest to start with CP or HP?
Q: I have seen that CP/HP could turn into a failed science experiment especially is I use certain EO. I want to keep it simple, what EO would be the best behaved for my first recipe? ( I really do not want to be attacked by some scary soap blob with the potential blow up into a mass craft room destruction... LOL)

Thx for the help!

 

[shunt2011]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I would do CP first. Also, I would recommend just starting with a basic recipe and no color or scent. Once you get a hand for it then you can venture into the world of EO/FO's and colors. Do you have a recipe you are going to start with?

 

[new12soap]

HP. A lot less to worry about, a lot less can go wrong. No overheating, no seizing, no ricing, no ash. And the soap is safe to use right away (although I am a firm believer that it still needs to cure just as much as CP to become its best).

A lot of people prefer CP but if I had started with CP, well I probably never would have started. No way was I going to try to make something that could potentially be dangerous then stick it in a closet for 1.5 months before I could even tell if I did it right. No patience for that.

And now years later I still think HP is easier (and I prefer HP soap too).

 

[mvdnest]

I am thinking ti start with something very simple, and ran this recipe through soapcalc:
20g castor oil
30g 76 coconut oil
50g olive oil
38g water
14.1g lye

I am starting to think that i may want to try it twice: once for CP and once for HP. It may be good exercise to see what the difference are between HP and CP anyway...

Q: how much (grams) of soap should I use for the first batch. ( Obviously do not want to clean the neighborhood with a test batch of soap, haha, but enough to get the best experience. I can imagine that a super small batch can be just as tricky for a first-timer that tackling a supersized amount.)

 

[new12soap]

I always recommend starting with a 2lb batch. That is large enough to give you a reasonable margin for errors in measurements and variations in SAP values, and still small enough that you don't waste a lot of supplies or make enough for the whole neighborhood. That recipe above is WAY to small IMO.

Castor oil over 10% can make a very sticky soap, you probably want to use a smaller percentage.

Try something like:

70% Olive oil
25% Coconut Oil
5% Castor

If you wanted to add some lard or palm shortening (available in grocery stores), that would be even better. Use at around 30% and subtract that from your olive oil. And 2lbs works out to about 900g or so of oils.

 

[mvdnest]

Thanks so much for all the advice so far!

 

[Seawolfe]

I've only made less than 10 batches so far, but 2 of them have been HP and I do like HP. Yes - try the same recipe both ways to see how CP and HP differ, and how you can add your superfatting oil in HP after the cook. And how blobby HP is lol!