HP Shampoo Bar help please - with pictures

[Clemmey]

After much research, last night I tried my very 1st batch HP style. I blended all of the oils, added the water/lye mixture and stick blended it until a thick trace. I let it cook on LOW in my crockpot for 20-30 minutes, then I went and checked on it. It had an island of raw soap as expected, so I stirred it up and let it continue to cook for another 10 minutes. When I rechecked it , the outer edges (when stirred) had harder soap than the middle so I stirred and re-checked in minutes. This time it looked gelled, so I put a little between my fingers and it felt waxy. I zap tested it - no zap, so I added the tea tree EO, stirred vigorously then plopped it into the mold. As you can see from the pics below, it was a chunky mess.

Is this what it's suppose to look like? I usually CP my soap, so I am not use to this and am trying to learn. It's not very pretty... what could I do to improve the looks? Did I cook it incorrectly?

Here is my recipe (Shampoo Bar from SoapQueen):

Castor Oil 22%
Coconut oil 28%
OO Pomace 22%
Palm Oil 28%
Lye 7%

 

[lsg]

It is hard for me to get a smooth bar with HP soap. I have learned to put in about 1/2 cup of instant powdered milk at the end of the cook and that really helps smooth the soap out. I think it was just really thick when you put it in the mold. You can bang you mold on the counter top to make the soap settle and to get out some of the air bubbles. I usually lay a piece of waxed paper over the top of the mold and use the edge of my hand to smooth out the soap.

 

[DragonQueenHHP]

when you cut it is it smooth on the inside?

 

[Clemmey]

I didn't cut, I used individual soap molds.

 

[Hazel]

My HP batches looked chunky like yours. People suggested adding sugar or sodium lactate to help keep the soap more fluid. I tried sodium lactate and it did help the soap to be a little more smooth but not a lot more. Banging vigorously on the counter helped, too. :wink:

I like lsg's tips. I hadn't heard of the powdered milk tip before so I've learned something new.

eta: I just realized you posted you used 7% lye for your batch. Do you mean you used 7% based on the total weight of the oils? I'm a bit confused because I checked this recipe on SoapCalc and I don't understand how you came up with this percentage.

 

[honor435]

I dont know anyhting about a shampoo bar, but that seems like a lot of castor. If you get a log mold and cut your bars they would be all smoooth except the top.

 

[DragonQueenHHP]

here is a photo of my shampoo bar I made on Fri
[attachment=1:3998wifi]varwwwclientsclient1web3tmpphpr7FzQ2.jpg[/attachment:3998wifi]
This is the end cut bar the outside view
[attachment=0:3998wifi]varwwwclientsclient1web3tmpphpxka6Ff.jpg[/attachment:3998wifi]
this is the cut side nice and smooth

 

[Clemmey]

Thank you for sharing your pictures, I can't wait to see how these do. Here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... poo-bars/#

I too thought it was alot of Castor, but it made sense on the posting... Thank you all for the HPing tips, I am trying to learn here so your help is much appreciated. The bars are just for me, so I shouldn't be too concerned with the looks but how they are to my hair.

How long should HP soaps cure for?

 

[DragonQueenHHP]

I too thought it was alot of Castor, but it made sense on the posting...

actually for a shampoo bar it is not really alot of castor I have seen them as high as 30% in mine it is at just 13%

How long should HP soaps cure for?

until it is done LOL I just had to really thou you cook it until it gets a shiny Vaseline look it varies depending on the oils you use

here is a link to the first shampoo bars I made
http://frugallysustainable.com/2011/12/ ... ap-recipe/

I hace to say they where nice bars thou I have now formulated my own
I like how she breaks down making them

 

[lotsoflathers]

Your HP soap will have this rustic look unless you continue with additional steps! If you add additional liquids to smooth the soap, the soap might warp once it evaporates. That's okay if you don't cut the soap until then.. but it might be too hard and start chipping. I always take a water discount specifically because of evaporation warping. You might want to keep your oils/butters close to 50% each for hard and soft oils, and this batch is 58% hard oils which might be more brittle and a little more difficult to work with.

To make your unaltered HP soap look smoother and more like CP soap, once you put the HP soap into the mold, you have to press the soap down (use a piece of parchment paper to cover the soap) and, a flat surface small/large enough to fit into whatever size mold you use. Then heat the soap in the mold till it softens. I have an excaliber dehydrator which I set at about 85 degrees F and heat till the soap becomes soft to the touch or translucent. You might want to bang the molds on the counter/floor, to get rid of any air bubbles. Then let the soap cool down.. and cut. If the soap still has too many craters, you can low temp reheat again. A little experience is a big time saver.

If you want a flat top... make sure the soap is pressed flat and even. If you want a textured top, use a spoon, butter knife or whatever tool you choose to make peaks or designs.

Most ovens are too hot... so, if you don't have a dehydrator large enough to accomodate your mold/molds, you can use a heating pad and insulate the soap till it softens. If you have a dryer shelf for your clothes dryer, you could use that, but 'carefully'.

The difference between OPHP soap and double boiler/crock pot HP soap, is, you can add ingredients AFTER the cook with the latter two methods, whereas OPHP soap, you have to add the ingredients when the soap is still caustic and of course the temperature is much higher compromising the benefits of the ingredients.

To smooth the surfaces and bevel the edges, use a mandoline and/or a vegetable/potato pealer if you haven't purchased sophisticated soap finishing equipment. Soap trimmings either get remolded, cookie cuttered or most often rolled into soap balls.

Don't give up. I've read the HP soap is more conditioning! I don't know if this is true, since I only made 1 batch of CP soap, my first batch, to compare with many subsequent HP batches.

 

[Relle]

How long should HP soaps cure for?

Here's an old thread for you to read - viewtopic.php?t=13845

 

[RDak]

FWIW, I only HP using the double boiler method.

I use sugar to make the soap more fluid.

Two tablespoons in a batch of 48 ounces of oil.

I dissolve the sugar in the water before adding the lye.

But I use the double boiler method, so I don't know if this would work with a crock pot or oven hot process method.