Best way to add Honey?

[Elhaym03]

Hi. I am new to soap making and want to try adding Honey to my soap. (I will be using lye and my oils are Olive, Coconut, and Palm.) I have seen two different ways to add Honey- Dilute it with water and add it to trace or Straight Honey and add it to Oil as it heats. What way works the best or what happens when you do either?

The recipe I have for the base soap (from a class I took) is:
150g Coconut oil
150g Palm oil
300g Olive Oil
144g Rm Temp Goat Milk
84g Distilled Water
84g Sodium Hydroxide
.3-1 ounce EO

Additive (possibilities):
2 tsp exfoliant to trace (I plan to use Ground Oats)
For Color:
2 tsp pigment to trace
or
2 tsp clay to oil


Thank you!

 

[Ekuzo]

I put honey in the water before the NaOH, it dissolves well and once the lye solution is prepared, it turns a beautiful red color - too bad the color doesn't stay in the soap though.

Is that CP or HP? If CP, the combined liquid is too much - I don't think you'll benefit from having lye concentration lower than 33% in the finished product, it will take too long for the extra liquid to evaporate.

Also, always make sure to run the numbers through lye calculator and never follow recipes blindly. That will save you the trouble of a ruined batch and/or unsafe soap

 

[Elhaym03]

I put honey in the water before the NaOH, it dissolves well and once the lye solution is prepared, it turns a beautiful red color - too bad the color doesn't stay in the soap though.

Is that CP or HP? If CP, the combined liquid is too much - I don't think you'll benefit from having lye concentration lower than 33% in the finished product, it will take too long for the extra liquid to evaporate.

Also, always make sure to run the numbers through lye calculator and never follow recipes blindly. That will save you the trouble of a ruined batch and/or unsafe soap

Its CP. The soap made in class I made with this recipe turned out well. Its still curing. I used Oats ground 2 tsp and Agave. The Agave they gave me was in an ounce cup. It did have to sit a week in the mold before cutting and they said to let it has to cure for 8 weeks.

 

[AliOop]

I agree with the recommendation to reduce your total amount liquid unless you plan to hot process this soap.

Assuming you intend to cold process the soap, be aware that using both honey and goat milk - especially room temp goat milk - means that this batter will heat up significantly. It will definitely gel with all that water and all the heat from the honey and the sugars in milk. I'd recommend at the very least using very cold goat milk, not room temp.

 

[Elhaym03]

I agree with the recommendation to reduce your total amount liquid unless you plan to hot process this soap.

Assuming you intend to cold process the soap, be aware that using both honey and goat milk - especially room temp goat milk - means that this batter will heat up significantly. It will definitely gel with all that water and all the heat from the honey and the sugars in milk. I'd recommend at the very least using very cold goat milk, not room temp.

Should I remove the Goats Milk then? Just try the honey since that is what I want to play with?

Its CP. The soap made in class I made with this recipe turned out well. Its still curing. I used Oats ground 2 tsp and Agave. The Agave they gave me was in an ounce cup. It did have to sit a week in the mold before cutting and they said to let it has to cure for 8 weeks.

I put it though the Lye Calculator and I feel like it recommended more Liquids??? I don't actually understand the Calculator? I may be reading it wrong.

Results​

Separate scroll

Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes​

Oil	%	Grams
Coconut Oil, 92 deg	25	150
Palm Oil	25	150
Olive Oil	50	300
Total	100	600

Custom Additives​

Add with the Fats
Add at trace
Honey	1 tbsp	15 g
Goat's milk	144 g	144 g
Oatmeal	1 tbsp	15 g

Liquids​

Fragrances​

	0 g	0 g
Total	0 g	0 g

Recipe Totals​

Liquid Required	169.85 g
NaOH Weight at 99 % Purity	84.91 g
Oil Weight	600 g
Super Fat	5 %
Total Batch Weight	1028.76 g
Lye Concentration	33.33 %
Liquid : Lye Ratio	2:1
Saturated : Unsaturated	42:58

 

[MelissaG]

I melt it in a bit of warm water before adding it. That way it's easier to mix.

 

[AliOop]

You are in charge of the liquid setting in the calculator. The default in most calculators will be 38% water as percent of oils, which is normally way too much water for CP soap. That's why you couldn't unmold for a week, which is unnecessarily long.

Try changing the setting from water as percent of oils to Lye Concentration. Then set that to 33%. That is a good starting place for CP soap. And remember that your goat milk is part of your total liquid amount.

 

[Ekuzo]

Should I remove the Goats Milk then? Just try the honey since that is what I want to play with?

I put it though the Lye Calculator and I feel like it recommended more Liquids??? I don't actually understand the Calculator? I may be reading it wrong.

Results​

Separate scroll

Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes​

Oil	%	Grams
Coconut Oil, 92 deg	25	150
Palm Oil	25	150
Olive Oil	50	300
Total	100	600

Custom Additives​

Add with the Fats
Add at trace
Honey	1 tbsp	15 g
Goat's milk	144 g	144 g
Oatmeal	1 tbsp	15 g

Liquids​

Fragrances​

	0 g	0 g
Total	0 g	0 g

Recipe Totals​

Liquid Required	169.85 g
NaOH Weight at 99 % Purity	84.91 g
Oil Weight	600 g
Super Fat	5 %
Total Batch Weight	1028.76 g
Lye Concentration	33.33 %
Liquid : Lye Ratio	2:1
Saturated : Unsaturated	42:58

Yup, milk was shown as an additive instead of liquid, so you end up with too much. Milk in soap is kind of an advanced technique but if you are comfortable and already have done it once, it's up to you how you want to proceed ‐ milk or no milk. Just make sure the combined liquid doesn't exceed 170 gr in this recipe. That way you should be able to unmold and cut in a couple of days

 

[Elhaym03]

After reworking the recipe (I moved the Milk to a liquid and reduced the amount in the recipe) with the lye calculator, I'm going to try to make it Sunday. I'll start with a test batch and let ya'll know how it goes.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

I have tried adding honey various ways and have found this to be my favorite - mix a little of your liquid for the soap with the honey, warm it in the microwave, stir well, then add this to your oils and stir well. When you add your lye water to the oils, it will initially turn an odd red.