HP Advise needed!

[Carty812]

For anyone out there whom is an experienced HP'er, how do you thin your HP down for pour. I have only made hp a handful of times and every time it is either so hard I have to pack it down into the mold and it has a gross shredded looking top or it is so soft I can still put dents in it with my fingers after 6 weeks cure? So please if you can help me out I would really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for any replies!
BYW the recipe I will be using is Crisco new w palm 44%, Olive oil 25 %, Coconut 25%, Castor 6% percent. Will be using 50/50 lye solution but am still debating over remaining water content.
Thanks again for reading and your thoughts.

 

[seven]

use full water (i'm using 3:1, water:lye ratio) and 1% sodium lactate (add it to your lye water). it is important no to do water discount with hp, since a lot of water is going to come out during the cooking process.

 

[Obsidian]

When making HP, you want to use full water, a 50/50 solution will make your batter too stiff. Cook only as long as needed and don't stir too much. If you have sodium lactate, use it.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

The above! Do not thin it down to pour - if you use SL then it will be this odd kind of fluid solid. It's one of the downsides of HP, though - can't pour it like CP.

 

[Carty812]

Thanks for the quick response guys! I will do full water and TRY not to over stir. Thanks for he tip Obsidian, I have always stirred the heck out of that stuff trying to get it to be more pourable. Also I don't have any sodium lactate, never even thought to get some but thanks for letting me know I'll grab some for next time. Thanks again for your help guys it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Obsidian]

Stirring will increase the amount of water that evaporates, making it even thicker. HP will never be "pourable" but it shouldn't be so thick and sticky that its hard to get in the mold.

 

[Seawolfe]

HP soap does not pour, it blops. Sometimes I use my hands or a piece of cutout placemat to smoosh it into the mold better.
Use full water, don't overcook (stop when no zap), don't stir, leave the dry white bits behind, adding superfat & EO at the end loosens it up a bit.
I hear SL is wonderful, some day I may even try it

 

[MagicalMysterySoap]

My hp turns out pretty pourable, I totally want to try a hanger swirl with it because it seems doable with how fluid it is. This is what I do:

1. For about two pounds of oil I add 1 tablespoon of sodium lactate to my lye water. I use full water 38%.
2. Mix everything in the crock pot and heat it on low.
3. Only cook 1/3 of the soap batter(I mean, only allow 1/3 of the soap batter to cook/gel). Oh and I never stir till the very end.
4. After 1/3 of the batter has gelled, turn off your crock pot and leave it for 30-45 minutes.
5. When you return your soap will be fully gelled and so fluid, add your sf, colorants, fo, eo, etc.

I'm an hp gal all the way, cp is nice also but the clean up can be a B(excuse my language), and I love that I can pick the superfats at the end. This process is very little hassle and I never worry about the soap batter volcano-ing.

Here is a recent hp soap I made:

 

[Dorymae]

3. Only cook 1/3 of the soap batter. Oh and I never stir till the very end.

Wait I'm confused now. Where is the rest of the batter? And when are you adding it back in? Or maybe I misunderstood?


BTW your soap is beautifully smooth for HP. Much better than most I've seen!

 

[Carty812]

Yes your soap I gorgeous but like CP I AM GOIMG TO NEED ALOT MORE PRACTICE to get it down. Thanks again for all the insight it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Seawolfe]

Yeah Im confused as well - do you only cook 1/3 of the batter? Or cook it only 1/3 of the way? Those soaps look awesome.

 

[MagicalMysterySoap]

Wait I'm confused now. Where is the rest of the batter? And when are you adding it back in? Or maybe I misunderstood?


BTW your soap is beautifully smooth for HP. Much better than most I've seen!

Thank you! Sorry if I worded it weird. All of the soap batter is in the crock pot, I only allow 1/3 of it to gel/cook. Then I turn it off and let the the rest of the heat of the crock pot cook/gel the rest. Does that make more sense?

 

[MagicalMysterySoap]

Yes your soap I gorgeous but like CP I AM GOIMG TO NEED ALOT MORE PRACTICE to get it down. Thanks again for all the insight it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you, yes practice and you'll get the hang of it

 

[MagicalMysterySoap]

Yeah Im confused as well - do you only cook 1/3 of the batter? Or cook it only 1/3 of the way? Those soaps look awesome.

Thanks! Yes, only cook 1/3 of the way, then turn off the crock pot and let the rest of the heat cook the rest of the soap batter. Sorry, I hope I explained myself better

 

[Dorymae]

Thank you! Sorry if I worded it weird. All of the soap batter is in the crock pot, I only allow 1/3 of it to gel/cook. Then I turn it off and let the the rest of the heat of the crock pot cook/gel the rest. Does that make more sense?

Oh okay, yes much more clear. Sometimes I read things totally wrong . It could be a sign of aging but I'll not admit to it!!:shock:

I need to try that - very nice results. Thank you for posting it.

 

[Crombie]

These soaps are all HP. I poured all of them - no glopping - into the molds. Even the salt bar (which was 50% salt ppo). Using soap calc, I keep it at the default 38% for HP. The lavender wedding soaps and chocolate spa bars are 5% SF, the salt & shea bar is 20% SF. The wedding soap and chocolate spa bar are at least 40% tallow. I definitely use SL in all my soap. If the hardness on soapcalc is 40 or over, I use 2% SL ppo; under 40, I use 3% SL ppo (adding to my lye solution). I have found that using 1 - 2 tsp dry malt powder in my HP soap for some reason also helps with fluidity - and definitely increases the creamy lather. The biggest mistake people make in HP is overcooking and, in my opinion, overstirring. I use the low setting on my crockpot and soap us usually done at 30 minutes (66 oz oils). At 20 minutes, it is usually foaming up on the edges. I cut slits in it with a paring knife cross-wise. Ten minutes later I stir this all up. Once you don't see any little globules of white, your soap is generally done. I do a zap test then. If not done, I check every five minutes so I do not overcook. As soon as it is done I add my SF and then my EO/FO. Sometimes it is almost soupy. But, no zap - it is done. If not real thick, I pop the mold in a pre-heated 170 degree oven for 30 minutes; turn it off and let sit in oven 30 minutes, then sit on counter for about 12 hours before I unmold and cut. Sort of an HPOP. This is a little unconventional, but it works great for me.

 

[Crombie]

I also encourage anyone who has trouble making a smooth HP or who wants to learn to make HP that you can swirl, to watch ByrdiJean's videos on YouTube. That is where I got my start learning HP and took the good foundation she gives to teach myself more.

Anita
sadiesmissionsoaps.com

 

[Dorymae]

Thank you very much. I have always like the idea of hp but mainly use cp because of the difference in pouring verses glopping. It is nice to know it not only can be done but is being done well.

I have a new technique to learn!

 

[Crombie]

"Glopping" not necessary

I posted pictures and a video tonight of HP shampoo bars to Shout Out Hot Process & Cold Process Soap Makers. The purpose was to show how fluid the batter can be if you don't overcook. I could have easily poured my batter at the end of cook but just scooped it in the molds.

This is what the batter looked like after passing the zap test and with SF and EOs added. See how fluid the batter is? That is because I use SL and do not overcook or let cool down. Since I HP, I keep the default of 38% "water as percent of oils" in SoapCalc. I could have done swirls if I had wanted to. This video was made right before I put the soap batter into the molds.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz1mOApX54BKd1R2cW1PS0VERnc/edit

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

That's usually the consistancy of mine - I just can't use the word "Pour" as I can't tilt my slow cooker enough - I use a soap ladle instead, which might be where the "gloop" idea comes from.