have you made both HP and CP soap?

[Brian Suds]

What were the differences in the finished product and what do you prefer?

 

[sudbubblez]

The main difference is aesthetics. HP soap tends to be more "rustic" looking unless the soaper has mad skillz packing it into the mold or plans on trimming the finished bars. You can't really get the swirls in HP that you can in CP. I've done it once but it was a freak accident; it wasn't swirls but more of a marbled pattern. HP is almost always gelled and almost never gets ash. I personally prefer CPOP... can get the swirlage and smooth look with sculpted tops then use the oven coupled with water discounting to get the instant gratification that comes with HP. CP is the way to go for milk soaps if the goal is a light color. I started with HP and now prefer the CP soaps... but I'd much rather clean up soaping equipment after doing HP than I would CP. HP mess is just soap and a breeze but the CP dishes are greasy and ick and might irritate the skin.

 

[judymoody]

I vastly prefer CP over HP. I like the look and the texture and in my experience, CP lasts longer than HP. I recognize there is a place for HP if you want to superfat with a particular oil after cook or if you want to use botanicals and ensure they retain their color or if you have an ornery FO that will seize your soap.

The other reason I prefer CP is that I save on energy costs by not having to run the oven or the crock pot or whatever.

As for cleanup, I wipe down my CP equipment with a cotton rag and let it turn into soap. Then I use it the next time I have to clean up a mess (or wash a bunch of rags).

 

[new12soap]

I'm the oddball, I guess. I make both but vastly prefer HP. The texture is indeed a bit more rustic in the beginning but smoothes out to almost or even as creamy as CP, especially if you add a little sodium lactate. If you like intricate colored swirls or decorative mounded tops, CP is the way to go, yes. But with HP there is never any fussiness about temperatures, no seizing, no worry about did it partially gel... I can make gorgeous milk soaps with no discoloration, I use about half as much fragrance and it still stays strong. My HP bars last a loooooooong time, I don't find that they get used up faster than CP at all, especially if they get a decent (but still much shorter than CP) cure. But honestly, for me the bottom line is I do not have the patience to wait a minimum of 6 weeks to see if my soap turned out.

 

[WildcraftWorkshop]

I've made both. Only had one go with HP and would like to try it again. My husband on the other hand is great at it. His first batch came out looking nearly as rough as mine did, but since then he's been able to swirl with no problems and you'd never know they were HP next to our CP bars. He uses SL in his batches, too, so that likely contributes.

 

[itunu]

I've made both. Can say that I prefer one over the other. I like CP if I want to do fancy swirls and HP for more rustic looking soaps. But I've been having problems with stearic blobs in my soaps and one way for me to get round this is to use HP. Also if my fragrance oil is very expensive then I'll use HP so I need less of it.

 

[Brian Suds]

What difference in PPO in FO are we looking at in HP vs CP?

 

[itunu]

HP generally uses half the amount of FO/EO than CP.

 

[ilove2soap]

I make both HP and CP soap and prefer CP. I started making HP after a batch of my CP turned up with a lye pocket. Concerned about the risk of lye making its way into a bar of finished CP soap I started to HP (cook to neutrality and have no danger of active lye in the finished soap). There were some things about HP that I really liked (many were already mentioned) like using less fragrance oil, easy cleanup, being able to use those fo that seize quickly in CP, as well as the safety factor of no danger of active lye. What I didn't like was the length of time it takes to make and having to babysit the crock pot for hours to stir or make sure it doesn't boil over. My HP soaps seem to take forever to harden up (I still have to cure for at least 3-4 weeks) even when using Sodium Lactate, and will often get mushy in the shower (maybe I need to use less of a water discount). I actually went back to making primarily CP using a slow to trace soap recipe and fragrance oils that I know do not seize so things get incorporated well before pouring into the mold. Maybe you should try both to see which you prefer. Have fun experimenting!

 

[IrishLass]

I do both. I would say that about 98% of my batches are CP and the other 2% are HP. As you can tell from those percentages, I like making CP vastly more than than I like making HP. I only HP if I have to, which is when I'm using one of my well-loved, but ornery FOs that doesn't take kindly to CP.

Both CP and HP have their advantages and disadvatages. You'll just have to make both to see which pros/cons you feel most comfortable with when all is said and done.

I would have to say that for me, the biggest 'con' with my HP is that I hate how my finished bars warp into shriveled, misshapened rectangles over time as the excess water from having had used a 'full water amount' evaporates. I can tolerate just about every other HP disadvantage on my personal HP 'con' list except for this particular one. I've been thinking of discounting my water a bit to combat this problem, but I haven't tried it yet. Right now I use a 28% lye concentration with my HP, along with sodium lactate and sugar for a nice, jam-like pour. I just don't want to make the mistake of discounting too much and risk having things go wonky on me.

My personal HP con list, in case you were wondering:

-Takes me longer to make than CP
-It's much trickier to color
-I have the same amount of clean-up as with CP, regardless
-It's more difficult/tricky to mold
-Takes much longer to harden up than my CP
-Warped bars (I'm not talking about rustic looking. I actually don't mind rustic looking. I mean shriveled and misshapened bars.)

As for cleanup, I wipe down my CP equipment with a cotton rag and let it turn into soap. Then I use it the next time I have to clean up a mess (or wash a bunch of rags).

Awesome tip!



IrishLass

 

[kellistarr]

Hmm. . . . I like doing both. There are pros and cons to both. Cons with CP for me are: Tricky fragrance oils can cause ricing or seizing, sometimes this can occur with base oils, too. Don't love CP clean up.

HP cons: Takes longer, meaning you've got to babysit the soap until its ready for the mold. I can't swirl well with this method. Hard for me to get my color because I have to work super speedy!

I always love the final results of both soaps.

 

[Lindy]

There is a lady soaper in the EU who does nothing but HP and you would never know that they weren't CP even down to swirls. I don't know her secret but I can tell you when I HP I use full water, no discount and I add Sodium Lactate which helps the soap stay in a more liquid form. Also temperature is important when you're doing HP. I use a crockpot and once my oils are melted I turn it down to "Keep Warm". Once it has cooled down a bit then I will add my lye and then I cook it for about 45 minutes. At that point it is still pourable and not as rustic looking. I am not nearly as good as it as the soaper I am thinking of, but I am getting better at it. Don't assume that it can't be done. I also know she has a wood lid that fits on top of the soap to force a smooth top.

I wish I knew her secret... 8)

ETA - I do mostly CP but I also do HP, Liquid soap & cream soap....

 

[soapcakes]

I do both also, but I tend to HP more. I like that the soaps are ready almost instantly (although I do let them sit for a couple of weeks before I use them). I also like that I can use less fragrance oil, and that I don't get any ash or weird white spots in my soap. I do like CP though for the beautiful tops and swirls you can get. HP is just more predictable for me, and I like that.

 

[SoapAddict415]

I like both but I'm impatient, so I find the extra time to HP to be a fair trade to the extra 4-6 weeks of CP cure time.