Formulating melt and pour recipes

[maggiemarieoc]

Hello I just recently got into soap making, but I started creating home made beauty products long ago. Now that I'm experimenting with M&P I want to add in all the yummy, skin loving ingredients that I use in my lotions and such. But I have no idea how to write up a formula for M&P. Some of the items I'm having trouble with are cranberry seed oil, powdered goats milk, and fruit powders for coloring purposes. I don't know how much wiggle room I have to add my additives before I destroy the M&P base. I've had bars way to soft, and some that melted the second it was near my shower. Please help!
Also is there any type of ingredients that I could add to my soaps that would counteract the issues I'm having due to adding to much butter/oils/additives? I've noticed that if I add in too much fat my soap bar doesn't lather as much, could I possibly add a few tbsp of vegetable glycerin to produce more bubbles? My other idea was about using beeswax. I've heard beeswax in CP actually makes the soap bars softer, is it the same for M&P? If it isn't could I possibly add it in to my recipe to make my bars harder. Thanks so much- I'm desperately hoping I can find a way to keep all my ingredients but still have a durable bar of soap!

 

[hmlove1218]

Bear in mind that I'm not an MP guru lol. The typical guideline for adding oils or butters is 1 top - 1 tbsp per pound of base. Anything much over that, as you've seen, can really cut down the lather. Once you've cut the lather, the only remedy is to add more base to bring the butter/oil amount back down.

Glycerin, in my opinion, should only be used sparingly to mix your colors/powdered additives into a paste before adding then to your base, and only if you're not adding in any carrier oils. Glycerin is extremely water soluble, so the more you add, the faster the soap will melt away in the shower.

Colorants will take a bit of experimentation to find how much you need for the hue that you want, but not so much that you color the lather.

Beeswax is not a good idea in MP as it actually makes the soaps softer - not to mention gives them a waxy feel. Soap Queen has a nice demonstration on her website. I'll try to link to it in a minute as I'm on my phone. However, in CP or HP it does make the bars harder and is generally used at 3% or less PPO.

ETA: Found it!
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/beeswax-in-melt-pour-2/

 

[maggiemarieoc]

Thanks I appreciate the info. If I get into cold process will I have the option to play with the ingredients a little more?

 

[Stacy]

I don't do MP so I can't offer you any advice on that in particular, but keep in mind that soap and lotions etc are two different animals. Lotions soak in so all those expensive and luxurious ingredients go to good use, in soap the benefit is more limited. Even though you're not worried about the lye process changing your ingredients in MP you're still washing off all that good stuff.

Which not to say that your soap can't be luxurious, but it will never be a lotion. But then your lotion will never be a soap either!

The advice I've come away with from many research sessions is save the expensive and exotic for leave on. You'll get a much better bang for your buck.

Not trying to dissuade you from your journey, just something to think about as to how far you might want to go with it!

 

[maggiemarieoc]

Ya know after I read the post from earlier I started thinking the same thing. I just need to be able to add enough to the soap to make it follow in my current theme. So thanks.

 

[KristaY]

Where's Ellacho when you need her? Lol. Seriously, she's the Goddess of M&P. Her stuff blows my mind when I see it. She's one that will have these answers for you since it's really not me (I'm a disaster when it comes to M&P).:evil:

ETA: Have you watched Arianne Arsenault's You Tube videos? She gives lots of pointers on M&P additives.