The short answer here is YES! And I personally would recommend that! I usually add my EO/FO at the very last bit because that is mostly the reason things go wonky. As long as your batter has emulsified - you're good to go!
Giving up
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The short answer here is YES! And I personally would recommend that! I usually add my EO/FO at the very last bit because that is mostly the reason things go wonky. As long as your batter has emulsified - you're good to go!
Assuming that this question is in response to lsg's recommendation to stick to making only 1 lb batches until you get the hang of things (which I very highly second), you can very easily resize any soap recipe you desire to however big or small you'd like it to be by using SoapCalc.
I also highly second watching the video in the link that Penelope gave you in post #5 of this thread. That will give you a very good visual of when is a good time to stop stickblending.
Don't give up so soon! Swirling can take a fair bit of trial-and-error practice before one gets the hang of it. You're just barely starting out.....you need to give yourself permission to be more patient with yourself. Take it from someone who also sucked at swirling at first.....you'll definitely get there if you don't give up trying.
IrishLass
Of course. Folks have been making soap for thousands of years without stick blenders, it just takes a little longer.
I currently make one and two pound batches and it doesn’t take much stick blending to go from liquid to pudding, so I’m using my whisk more. I also freeze my distilled water into ice cubes; it eliminates fumes and seems to slow down trace. I soap at around 70F. I whisk my lye solution into my oils and then use my stick blender to give it a couple of 2-3 second bursts and I’m at emulsification.
I use 10% Cocoa Butter, 10% Shea Butter, 20% Palm Oil, 20% Coconut Oil (76 deg), 35% Olive Oil and 5% Castor Oil. 30% Lye Concentration, 5% Super Fat. I also add 1 tea Kaolin Clay and 1 tea Sodium Lactate. Runs around $4.70USD for a 1lb batch which is pretty good since I’m not buying in ‘bulk’ yet.
Adding a FO/EO can almost double the cost which is why I recommend starting with a smaller batch, no fragrance and a simple ITP swirl; you can either swirl as you pour, or pour at 2 to 4 spots and do a single stir with your spatula. I then pour from one end of the mold to the other, scrape my bowl, tamp down my mold and then take a chopstick and swirl the top. If I want a little more texture with my top swirl, I’ll let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes while I clean up.
If you like the swirl, then next time use a well-behaved fragrance, if you don’t like it, try a different swirl. Or try a different color. When you feel confident, go to two colors without fragrance. When you get the swirl you like, again pick a well-behaved fragrance.
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Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
I add the lye to the oil mix and then stick blend to emulsion, not trace, I then add mica to the batter I wish to colour, I then mix this by hand, once the mica is in I then mix in the FO this is the last to go in, just in case it seizes the soap, it then gets a mix with the stick blender to achieve trace. If I was at trace when I started putting in the Mica and FO if it does seize I have zero weorking time. That is the theory, in reality it doesn't always work that way and if I over mix slightly I've lot the liquidity I need to achieve the Hanger swirls I'm after. If you go to Youtube and look for Ophelias Soapery and watch the video's you will see what I'm trying to achieve. what doesn't help of course is I do not know the base mix that is being used, It could be just Olive and Coco oil which takes much longer to trace. Hope this helps you understand whare I am.
Oh my, that sounds like a frustrating problem.. you're at emulsion, everything goes fine, but just as you want to give it a tad more to reach trace you go too far and you have pudding.. It happened to me too! How about instead of stick blending to trace, just hand stir a bit more? It's easier to dose the stirring that way. Also, why don't you try to do a swirl while your batter is still at emulsion? You don't necessarily need trace to make a nice swirl. As long as the batter has reached emulsion it will set (might just take a bit longer)
I feel like HO sunflower or refined SAO give me a huge amount of swirling time. RBO seems to accelerate on me though and I've been known to over SB a high OO recipe (though that might just have been because I assumed it needed a lot of SB to trace and wasn't careful enough).
The recipe I used to make my landscape soap for the July challenge was 20% CO, 5% castor and 75% HO sunflower and I think about 30% lye concentration.
I mixed my batter to emulsion, then separated off small bits of batter that I SB'd to trace so the layers would hold. I remember I felt like I had to SB more than I had expected to reach medium trace.
In daily use, I feel the recipe is not stripping, but the lather dissipates a bit quicker than I'd like. SAO might be better for that (it also takes ages to trace and has a slightly more consistent lather) but is less cost-efficient. I'm currently experimenting with a mix of OO and HO sunflower for my soft oils.
As you probably know, CO±OO recipes won't last long in the shower. I personally don't mind, I get bored with a soap when it lasts too long but I know it's an issue for some people.
I feel like HO sunflower or refined SAO give me a huge amount of swirling time. RBO seems to accelerate on me though and I've been known to over SB a high OO recipe (though that might just have been because I assumed it needed a lot of SB to trace and wasn't careful enough).
The recipe I used to make my landscape soap for the July challenge was 20% CO, 5% castor and 75% HO sunflower and I think about 30% lye concentration.
I mixed my batter to emulsion, then separated off small bits of batter that I SB'd to trace so the layers would hold. I remember I felt like I had to SB more than I had expected to reach medium trace.
In daily use, I feel the recipe is not stripping, but the lather dissipates a bit quicker than I'd like. SAO might be better for that (it also takes ages to trace and has a slightly more consistent lather) but is less cost-efficient. I'm currently experimenting with a mix of OO and HO sunflower for my soft oils.
As you probably know, CO±OO recipes won't last long in the shower. I personally don't mind, I get bored with a soap when it lasts too long but I know it's an issue for some people.
Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
Great reply, thanks for the encouragement. The only problem I have is that not being long in soaping I don't get the abbreviations lol. I also never thought of using Sunflower oil which is really inexpensive here in the UK when compered to Olive, Coconut and Palm Oil.
Julie is the reason I have “me” soap. She does a lot of ITP (in the pot) swirls. Check out her Daisies and Goji Berries video from 3 months ago, it’s a really good example of her techniques. After she adds her lye solution she whisks her batter, she doesn’t stick blend. Then she divides her batter, adds color and fragrance and then stick blends it.
And it’s because of her, Constance Wang and Yvonne that I whisk more than stick blend; it’s been very helpful with my not have pudding for soap.
Try Zany's recipe:https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zanys-no-slime-castile.72620/
I make it with 10% coconut oil and 5% castor. It's good!
I make it with 10% coconut oil and 5% castor. It's good!
Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
When I watch, Julie (thanks for letting me know the mystery hands are that of a Lady) I see her hand whisk her lye into the oils, hand whisk her colours into the batter then same for her FO. I then watch her stick blend a little. That is the stage I'm getting wrong somehow. It may be my blender is more aggressive than hers or maybe due to inexperience and also not knowing what her batter consists of my better firms up so I can't pour the colours into the main mix then from there into the mould. I know the technique, I'm not good enough to know how the batter is acting. I will leave the stick blender in the cupboard from now on and stick with the whisk. If it takes a day longer to unmould but I get my swirls it's not too much of a hardship.
I have yet to find a delete tab.
Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
Thank you I will.
3 weeks ago I started whisking only and not using my SB at all. I made 4 loaves this way and then on my 5th I used SB with 4 bursts that were almost no burst at all they were soooooo short. I stirred with the SB in between the 4 bursts. I had 25 minutes to do what I needed and wanted to so not using one or using only barely is a good way to slow emulsion down for me.
Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
Thank you, that makes sense.
Oh I'm sorry!
OO is olive oil, CO is Coconut oil, SAO is sweet almond oil and SB is stick blender
HO means high oleic. It's really important to get high oleic sunflower oil as the regular one will get you DOS (dreaded orange spots)/rancidity in no time when used in higher amounts. I generally get sunflower frying oil, not sure what it's called in the UK, but I'm sure you'll be able to get it from the supermarket. If you want to be sure you can check the label. There has to be mainly mono-unsaturated fats and only a small amount of poly-unsaturated fats in the oil. As @KiwiMoose suggested, Zany's recipe produces a nice soap. It lasts long and has a lot less smush than regular high oleic soaps (also at 100% olive oil). It does produce quite a lot of soda ash though, which will cover up most of the design, so in my opinion it's best for single color or uncolored soaps. It also tends to get crumbly when cut from a loaf, so I think a lot of people used cavity molds (I didn't and regretted it..)
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Here is a link on the forum to abbreviations
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/the-acronym-and-abbreviation-definition-thread.3789/
Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
Thank you so much for that.Oh I'm sorry!
OO is olive oil, CO is Coconut oil, SAO is sweet almond oil and SB is stick blender
As @KiwiMoose suggested, Zany's recipe produces a nice soap. It lasts long and has a lot less smush than regular high oleic soaps (also at 100% olive oil). It does produce quite a lot of soda ash though, which will cover up most of the design, so in my opinion it's best for single color or uncolored soaps. It also tends to get crumbly when cut from a loaf, so I think a lot of people used cavity molds (I didn't and regretted it..)
I know you said you used a quick mix, may I ask: how many oz of oil you used of it, how many oz of water in your recipe and, also, how many oz of lye did you use? Thanks.
Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
Here is my recipe
16oz Olive, 16oz Coconut, 16oz Palm, 2 oz Castor oils. 16.5 oz Water, 7.3 oz lye, I got this from SoapQueen. Hope this helps? I actually have run a new recipe through soap calc. Please tell me what you think? I need all the help I can get. My new recipe is for a smaller batch, so less cost and waste. Olive 10.40 oz, Coco 4.32 oz, Caster 1.28 oz, Water 6.08 oz, Lye 2.25 oz. fragrance 0.5 oz
penelopejane
Well-Known Member
Thegeckos recipe in post 23 will make a nicer soap.
Soulboy1973
Well-Known Member
Ok, thank you, I'll have a look.
