have I made CP or HP?

[booboo]

Hi,
yesterday I made a batch of soap which I cooked cold, then poured it into a mold and wrapped it up and put it on top of our oven, which, gets very warm/hot to gel. It gelled lovely but is solid and looks like hard gell. The one I did today, I didnt let it get so hot and looks much better.
I understand the recipe can make a driffence, but, I though that was when its curing?
As I am new to all of this I am not sure what its surposed to look like or feel. :?

Another question, When oh when can I use my soaps??
I have two that gelled and two that didnt
Happy soaping everyone

 

[mandolyn]

"Hi,
yesterday I made a batch of soap which I cooked cold, then poured it into a mold and wrapped it up and put it on top of our oven, which, gets very warm/hot to gel. It gelled lovely but is solid and looks like hard gell. The one I did today, I didnt let it get so hot and looks much better.
I understand the recipe can make a driffence, but, I though that was when its curing?
As I am new to all of this I am not sure what its surposed to look like or feel. :? "


"Another question, When oh when can I use my soaps??"

Like soap?

Just kidding. What do you mean by "cooked cold"? If you did HP, you can use them after unmolding, but they'll be better if you let them cure longer. If you did CP, at least 4 weeks is the usual minimum cure time.

 

[carebear]

I'm not sure what you mean by saying you cooked your soap.

CP is when you mix oils and lye and the saponification mainly happens in the mold. HP is when you cook it till the lye is consumed and the reaction is complete.

Did you do one of those, or perhaps cook part way? Dunno.

And you CAN use the soap (no matter how it was made) when the lye is gone (it's all saponified) but ffo course soap produced by CP or HP or a hybrid will still be at it's best after a few weeks.

 

[IrishLass]

Hi ****oo!

I, too, am not sure what you mean by 'cooked cold', but here is the difference between CP and HP:


HP stands for 'hot process'. With this method, saponification is helped along by the addition of an outside source of heat- meaning that you cook the lye and the oils together over a heat source or in a crock pot until it reaches gel stage. After it reaches that point, you incorporate your additives into the gelled batter before glopping it into your molds. I say 'glopping' because gelled soap doesn't pour very smoothly at all compared to CP. HP can be used much sooner than CP because the heat that one applies accelerates the saponification process.

CP stands for cold process. It's the method of mixing the lye and oils together without the addition of a heat source- meaning that you let the soap saponify on it's own and in its own sweet time. You mix the lye and oils until it reaches 'trace' (thick enough that when some of the batter is drizzled on top, it floats on the surface before sinking back in), and then you pour. CP pours very nice, like thick, smooth cream (heavy cream, not whipped cream). In the hours after pouring, the soap heats up and does its saponification thing on its own.

Gel can change the look of your soap. Generally, gelled soaps have more of a slightly transparent-like appearance compared to ungelled soaps, which are more solid looking, but they (gelled soaps) are perfectly good soaps by all means.

To gel or not to gel is a personal preference. I'm actually one of those that personally likes to gel all her soaps. I also wait 4 weeks before using them even though it's safe to use them before that (as long as there is no lye zap going on).

HP can be used right away, but a lot of HPers like to wait 2 weeks.

I like to wait at least 4 weeks for my CP because that's when I feel that the soap is at its earliest best in terms of hardness, bubbliness, and how gentle it feels to my skin.

It sure can be hard to wait, but it is so worth it. Soap is like a fine wine- it keeps improving with age.

IrishLass

 

[leansoapqueen]

I think Irish Lass said it all. Great info.

I have to say that you didn't make hot process- you didn't cook the lye out through a heating method such as a crockpot.

You did make CP, it sounds like. I'm not a geller but it depends on my mood. I tend to like the look of ungelled soap better but it's preference.
Your soap should be smooth looking in a nuthshell and since it was gelled, a little more transparent and harder looking like Irish Lass said.

I wouldn't worry about it as long as the soap has saponified and it doesn't have any lye pockets, etc...
Sounds like it's fine but maybe got a little too warm???

 

[booboo]

Thanks everyone for replying and explaining things.
I am sorry I did not make myself clear. I will try again, first soaped according to CP instructions. The first two did not gell. Third time, soaped again, low heat etc. When it came to trace I put it in the mold and wrapped it up and put it in top of our oven, which gets very hot. I checked it two and a half hours later and it looked like it was starting to gell. I felt the mold and it was very warn to hot. I left it. Two and a half hours later it was fully gelled, I took it into the kitchen and uncovered it, the soap it self I would say was more than warm and solid. I was worried about it beening to hot and cut it up tp cool. It felt heavy and solid. It looked like a hard lump of gell. Driffent to the first ones that did not gell. Forth batch, same again, Only I did not let it get so hot. This one ( forth batch ) gelled and was lighter and softer to the touch. So I was woundering.... If the intense heat of the third batch turned it into HP?
Thanks again, I think that your all great the way you take time out to help people like me

 

[leansoapqueen]

Thanks everyone for replying and explaining things.
I am sorry I did not make myself clear. I will try again, first soaped according to CP instructions. The first two did not gell. Third time, soaped again, low heat etc. When it came to trace I put it in the mold and wrapped it up and put it in top of our oven, which gets very hot. I checked it two and a half hours later and it looked like it was starting to gell. I felt the mold and it was very warn to hot. I left it. Two and a half hours later it was fully gelled, I took it into the kitchen and uncovered it, the soap it self I would say was more than warm and solid. I was worried about it beening to hot and cut it up tp cool. It felt heavy and solid. It looked like a hard lump of gell. Driffent to the first ones that did not gell. Forth batch, same again, Only I did not let it get so hot. This one ( forth batch ) gelled and was lighter and softer to the touch. So I was woundering.... If the intense heat of the third batch turned it into HP?
Thanks again, I think that your all great the way you take time out to help people like me

I always understood that the HP process was using an alternate heat source to heat the soap until it saponifies and goes through a gel phase.
Is your oven on when your soap is on top of it? Sounds like it could be CPOP which is kinda like HP though there are some differences there too, I think. I do RTCP and just started researching HP to do that for a change so I couldn't tell you really what the difference is. But your soap was on top right and not in the oven?
Possible to post pics, it may help? Textures are different in HP and CP soap so maybe we will be able to tell.

 

[leansoapqueen]

Oops I forgot to add- this is just one of the reasons I don't gel my soap often.

 

[booboo]

Our oven is like a gaint storage heater, or pitza/bread oven. You light it with wood and when it get hot it holds it heat and throws it out for apox 36 hours. the fire inside was just dying out when I put on top. You can put your hand on it, but, you could not leave it there for very long. I will try and post some pics in the morning. I am on dail up so it can take hours to do things like that. It seems to me to be very driffent from the others.

 

[leansoapqueen]

Oh ok- this makes sense now. Then I would say- and it's just an opinion- that your soap possibly is HP- if the oven gets hot like that. Sounds very rustic and cool by the way. Check your soap for zap and go from there. That will tell you if your lye is all cooked out which is what you do with hp. Hope I helped.

 

[booboo]

Hi,
Thanks for the help. I tryed to take pictures, only you could not see the surface very well. I belive them to be HP. I tried one bar out and its not a bad bar of soap. It does look and feel drifferent to the others. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Elle]

Sounds like ITMHP....In The Mold Hot Process....


http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10361.asp

L

 

[leansoapqueen]

Sounds like ITMHP....In The Mold Hot Process....


http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10361.asp

L

I forgot about that one?? I have never done soap that way.