First two batches of CP soap – or – my house smells great now!

[ourwolfden]

I made my first CP soaps last night. I am one of those people who ignore warnings to start out small and work up.
So the first recipe I started out with was 100% Coconut Oil Soap with 20% super fat from Soap Queen (http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/defying-the-rules-of-soapmaking-100-coconut-oil-soap-with-aloe-vera-and-a-mantra-swirl/). I made my first mistake by adding my FO into my oils before I added my lye. The FO I was working with (White Nectarine from Rustic Essentials) made the batch trace superfast. It went from watery consistency to thick pudding in seconds. So instead of having a nice batch split in half with one part colored and the other part colors with a swirl I just added my color (Coral Mica) and stirred with a spoon. I glopped it into the mold and while I was playing with the top it looked like it was starting to boil under the surface, so I dumped it all back into the bowl gave it another stir and then added it back into the mold. I was however able to cut it 3 hours later and after licking it and not getting much of a zap I decided to go ahead and use a piece of scrap to wash my hands. Was pretty nice so far.

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The second was a CPOP from this recipe (http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/hot-process-series-cpop-swirls/). As of this morning it is still pretty liquid. I scented the red and green portion with Sleigh Ride, and left the white color unscented so it wouldn’t discolor. The only thing I see that I did wrong was when I copied the recipe over to Brambleberry’s lye calculator I completely forgot about the coconut oil when I resized it. On a good note I followed the recipe that came out of the calculator as far as lye and water went for the oils that I did use, I just foresee that this batch may not be as hard or quite as bubbly, but we will see. I think the spots on the top are ash, but I’m not 100% sure.

 

[Trinity]

Beautiful bars...... really like the red and green with Sleigh Ride How do you like the fragrance?

 

[ourwolfden]

I love the smell. I get a lot of clove and orange but I can also smell peppermint. We also make homemade wine so I was teasing my hubby while I was making soap that we needed to replicate that FO in a wine! Depending on how it holds up I can see it being one of my favorites. I did use 4 ounces in 5 pounds of soap.

 

[CP_soapery]

That is so pretty! Have to say I'm a bit jealous that you could cut CP soap after three hours. I always have to wait at least 20 hours, should be 24 but our go-to recipe is a pretty hard bar and I'm impatient lol. I love love the swirl on top of the red and green, that is lovely! You did a great job!

 

[ourwolfden]

I think I accidently may have hot processed the first bar. It was hot hot hot, and I didn’t wait for my lye to cool down, I was too excited! Overall I’m happy it turned out as well as it did for being the first and screwing so much up!
Thank you for the complements on the Christmas Swirl soap. I will be posting pictures of it once I cut it, but I it needs 2 or 3 more days according to the recipe and since I forgot the coconut oil it maybe a little bit longer.

 

[CP_soapery]

Don't feel bad I've been doing it for several months now, but always with my HB. Our first batch siezed so bad we had to scrape it out and push it into the cavity molds. Ugly ugly haha. The first batch I did alone, I almost forgot one of my oils, and I did forget the scent. LOL I was so excited to use the smell and then I got in a rush to try the tiger stripe swirl and just gapped it. I added it in for the sample bars but it was very floral and thickened quickly so I was kind of glad then that I had not added it at first lol

 

[grayceworks]

I made my first CP soaps last night. I am one of those people who ignore warnings to start out small and work up.

Wolves tend to only follow the rules when it suits them... ;-) I just got started with soaping too! It is so much fun to experiment!

I made my first mistake by adding my FO into my oils before I added my lye. The FO I was working with (White Nectarine from Rustic Essentials) made the batch trace superfast. It went from watery consistency to thick pudding in seconds. So instead of having a nice batch split in half with one part colored and the other part colors with a swirl I just added my color (Coral Mica) and stirred with a spoon.

My 2nd batch was crazy that way with the acceleration. Turned out looking like split pea soup and smelling like coconut-lemongrass-mango. Works wonderfully, I just call it my ugly soap.

I like your username... do you have one/a pair/a pack? I had one many moons ago... was a wonderful companion.

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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/

 

[ourwolfden]

Hehe… I thought to myself if I am going to spend the money on the oils I want soap I will use (because unscented, uncolored would have just sat around somewhere until the dogs found it and ate it… they would too).

As for our user name our last name is Wolf, and my husband has always liked to be called Wolfy so when we got married our house naturally because Our Wolf Den. He would love to have a pet wolf or hybrid but I don’t see that happening where we live so we have two Chesapeake Bay Retriever / Great Pyrenees mixes.

 

[grayceworks]

Those are BIG dogs!!! Wow!

Takes a lot of commitment to have a wolf or hybrid in the family. Worth it, in my opinion, but definitely not for everyone. Extremely intelligent, capable of complex problem-solving and abstract reasoning, and planning, and -- easily, sometimes destructively, bored.

One day my friend's was bored while he was at work and managed to disassemble the grill he had put together the week before. All the parts that didn't require a wrench or screwdriver. Laid each piece out in a nice neat line. When he got home, she was sitting proudly in front of the row of parts -- hose, valve, grilling rack thingy, electric lighter thingy, propane tank, etc. He put it out of curious wolfy-girl's reach after that . And bought and built her some puzzle-type toys. Basically have to teach them as you would a child, not training a dog. A very large strong child. LOL Mine liked to play ball games with people and her doggy friends, but it had to be absolutely fair. Everyone got the ball in turn, and the same number of times. If you tried to go out of order, she'd take it from you and give it to whoever's turn it was. I have no idea how she kept track, but she did. I love them. Amazing friends, if you're up for it.

--disclaimer -- if anyone reading this ever considers bringing one into the home, make sure you've done your research. They're not like a dog. At all. And yeah, there's some places you just can't keep them...

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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/

 

[ourwolfden]

I was able to cut the swirl soap tonight. I am so happy with it, but I need a ton more practice cutting. I used both a knife and dental floss so I know I need to go invest in a pastry scrapper. But here it is:

 

[grayceworks]

It is so beautiful! I love it!

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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/

 

[elmtree]

Beautiful and congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making

 

[evilnurse]

I love it


Sent from my iPad using Soap Making

 

[CP_soapery]

They are gorgeous!! Congrats!


Belle

 

[ourwolfden]

Thank you so much everyone!