American Valkyrie
Well-Known Member
I tried the eggnog soap on Saturday. My basic recipe was 20% co, 40% po, and 40% oo, with a 50% water discount. After the lye cooled to 120 degrees, I added 4T honey (1T ppo). It heated back up to 170 degrees, so I let it cool again before I added it to the oils. It traced within 5 minutes to a thin trace, but further beating didn't produce a thicker trace after another 5 minutes. I added Model Dairy full-fat eggnog, heated up to about 120, at 50% of the water content. Right after I mixed all the eggnog in, it reached medium trace. I scooped out a tiny bit, mixed it with some ground nutmeg, and swirled it back in. By the time I poured it into the mold, it had reached a heavy trace.
I used a Rubbermaid casserole-style plastic pan with lid as a mold, lined with waxed paper. It holds 4-5 lbs of soap, and so far has been a great mold.
I immediately put the lid on and set it in the fridge.
An hour later, I checked on it. Despite the fridge, the inside was gelling and was HOT! If I hadn't had it in a cold area, it would have overheated for sure. About 1 inch into the mold didn't gel at all.
After 5 hours, when it was cooled to about room temperature, I took it out and set it on the counter, uninsulated, for the rest of the night.
The next morning, I could see an obvious difference between gel and non-gel. It was like the light beige versus the darker brown of this website. I unmolded it and sliced it with a chef's knife.
At the area where gel met non-gel, I started to encounter a cakelike crumble when I cut the soap. It wasn't dry and it had absolutely no zap. It was, in fact, moist with the texture of cake. I only got the crumbles at the cut points... the bars themselves held together well.
I apologize for the quality of the photos. All I have right now is my cell phone camera.
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The edges that didn't gel stayed a creamy-honey color and smooth. When I cut through them, they didn't crumble until I got to the partial gel area.
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These are the pieces that met gel and partial-gel stage. They held together well enough, but they had a very rustic crumby edge to them.
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After all the soap had been cut, there were enough soft soap crumbs that I could make an extra bar or two of confetti soap. Instead, I had my husband dump them into the mop bucket when we scrubbed the house the next day.
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Three days later, it was a bit darker, and still crumbly on the outside. It smells like caramel cake... not unpleasant, but it's not a scent I would correlate with soap. But then, my oatmeal-milk-honey soap also smelled a bit off at first, but a month later I really love the mild, natural scent.
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My guess is that the 20 other ingredients added to the eggnog made it crumbly. The corn starch, the preservatives, etc. It's not straight cream or milk... there are so many other variables. If I had used the eggnog as 100% of the water, I'm sure these ingredients would have gotten in the way.
I haven't decided yet if this is a failed batch or not. It made soap... and the soap already lathers fairly well. I'm waiting to see if the scent will fade any, or if they hold up after being completely cured. But whether I would do it again... I don't think so. I like to be immediately satisfied with my soap, and though this may turn out to be perfectly good, it was too much concern over whether or not it would really turn out. And if it's something that nobody is interested in using, I don't see much point in repeating it. The experiment is done.
I used a Rubbermaid casserole-style plastic pan with lid as a mold, lined with waxed paper. It holds 4-5 lbs of soap, and so far has been a great mold.
I immediately put the lid on and set it in the fridge.
An hour later, I checked on it. Despite the fridge, the inside was gelling and was HOT! If I hadn't had it in a cold area, it would have overheated for sure. About 1 inch into the mold didn't gel at all.
After 5 hours, when it was cooled to about room temperature, I took it out and set it on the counter, uninsulated, for the rest of the night.
The next morning, I could see an obvious difference between gel and non-gel. It was like the light beige versus the darker brown of this website. I unmolded it and sliced it with a chef's knife.
At the area where gel met non-gel, I started to encounter a cakelike crumble when I cut the soap. It wasn't dry and it had absolutely no zap. It was, in fact, moist with the texture of cake. I only got the crumbles at the cut points... the bars themselves held together well.
I apologize for the quality of the photos. All I have right now is my cell phone camera.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The edges that didn't gel stayed a creamy-honey color and smooth. When I cut through them, they didn't crumble until I got to the partial gel area.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
These are the pieces that met gel and partial-gel stage. They held together well enough, but they had a very rustic crumby edge to them.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
After all the soap had been cut, there were enough soft soap crumbs that I could make an extra bar or two of confetti soap. Instead, I had my husband dump them into the mop bucket when we scrubbed the house the next day.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Three days later, it was a bit darker, and still crumbly on the outside. It smells like caramel cake... not unpleasant, but it's not a scent I would correlate with soap. But then, my oatmeal-milk-honey soap also smelled a bit off at first, but a month later I really love the mild, natural scent.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
My guess is that the 20 other ingredients added to the eggnog made it crumbly. The corn starch, the preservatives, etc. It's not straight cream or milk... there are so many other variables. If I had used the eggnog as 100% of the water, I'm sure these ingredients would have gotten in the way.
I haven't decided yet if this is a failed batch or not. It made soap... and the soap already lathers fairly well. I'm waiting to see if the scent will fade any, or if they hold up after being completely cured. But whether I would do it again... I don't think so. I like to be immediately satisfied with my soap, and though this may turn out to be perfectly good, it was too much concern over whether or not it would really turn out. And if it's something that nobody is interested in using, I don't see much point in repeating it. The experiment is done.
