Clear soap help

[SoapMakingTommy]

:wave:Hello my wonderful soapers alike, I am going to be making some clear soap aka glycerin soap or translucent soap. It is a bit hard to find what your looking for in a search term since the term for soap has many names it goes by and some people dont even call it by that.
So i am turning here once again for help assistance and also in hopes of helping others to make the best of there plans.

First off i only know the basics from: http://curious-soapmaker.com/how-to-make-transparent-soap.html#Basic_Ingredients & http://www.bearchele.com/soap/Tutorial.html and from the bits and pieces i picked up along the way.

If i am to understand a quick rundown of the process would be.
1. Mix lye and base oils to start saponification.
2. Cook till ph is stable and is past the gel phase.
3. Add glycerin and alcohol to the mix and heat.
4. Add sugar solution.
5. pour

This is the process i see everyone doing and this is the process ive been getting ready to do.
I dont really have much questions besides wanting to see if anyone sees something that can be fixed to make better or something that shouldnt be there in the first place.

The recipe i came up with is:
30% Apricot Kernel 1.5lb
30% Castor 1.5lb
20% coconut 1.lb
10% stearic acid 8oz
5% myristic acid 4oz
5% olive oil 4oz
=5lb base oil.

To this i will be adding:
27g alcohol
15g glycerin
10g sugar

Based on :
Alcohol: 30 – 35% of actual soap mass (defined as oils + solid NaOH in the recipe, without water!).
Glycerin: 8-12 % of overall recipe (defined as oils + NaOH + water – both for NaOH and for sugar solution)
Sugar: 6-9 % of overall recipe
Water: 12-20% of overall recipe (defined as oils + NaOH + water – both for NaOH and for sugar solution)

It is the first time i am using any stearic or myristic acid but wanted to buy some for a while and did and decided this would be the batch to put it all in.
I decided i wouldnt buy everclear as it was more expensive and i only like using that for tinctures, but i am hoping to get just as good results with 180proof by discounting some water, hopefully someone can help me figure how much that is, math was never my strongest subject.
I was wondering about scents and how quickly this soap hardens?

 

[lsg]

I use propylene glycol instead of alcohol. I find the base is much easier to melt.

Here are a couple of great tutorials:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHS1V8HIwoE[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nw4CBN_RC0[/ame]

 

[SoapMakingTommy]

Thanks for the links lsg, i didn't see the second one before, pretty interesting using the propylene glycol as a solvent instead of the alcohol.
But im finally working on budget and im going to have to use what i have bought already.

Do you guys make your clear soap with a simple recipe or have you dabbled in creating your own?
It dosent seem like too many people make this type of soap?

I hope it doesn't turn solid to quick since i dont plan to remelt and pour it, and i hear that remelting can cause cloudiness.
I hope i can add scent lower then the flashpoint without it becoming too solid on me.
I wonder how the propylene glycol is compared to alcohol in terms of clarity?


Darn i hate it when i have a question on the tip of my tongue and then i loose it, o well ill try and remember and ask again.
Hopefully i will get some more feedback and experience to this topic or my next one will just be my results =D

 

[SoapMakingTommy]

We'll I got my oils ready, I wanted to post a picture cause it looked so cool.
First time I smelt my apricot kernel oil and wow it's the sweetest smell out of all the different oils I have.

Anyone have experience with making swirls in clear glycerin soap? It seems like maybe it is not thick enough to make layers?
If there is any trace of alcohol in my batter will adding essential oils react in any negative way I don't want in my soap?

 

[lsg]

I wonder how the propylene glycol is compared to alcohol in terms of clarity?

Here is a comparison of the soaps I made:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32222