I'm gonna do it...I'm gonna try HP!

[sakura1024]

Hey everyone! I've been making m&p for years now and I'm finally confident enough to brave the big, bad lye and make soap from scratch! M&P just doesn't offer what I want to offer, so this is the conclusion that I think I was inevitably going to make. I'm choosing HP because I'm impatient and don't want to have to wait a month or more to test my recipes. Lol!

I would just like to know if any of you have extra tips or tricks that you learned the hard way and a good resource for recipes. I think I want to use coconut, avocado and palm oils and I want to superfat with some evening primrose oil and mango butter, but this is just based on what I've been learning from my natural soap making book. I would love to compare my plans with tested recipes.

Any help y'all could give would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Skatergirl46]

HP is fun. It's what I mostly do. You Tube has a lot of videos on making HP soap. I would suggest going there and watching several of them. HP goes through some interesting phases and it helps to know what to expect. I do want to also say that HP still needs a good cure, but it's so worth the wait.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I've made my first HP couple of weeks ago. It is different than CP but I like it. It's lovely and bubbly in the shower. It does need at least one week to cure, my HP soaps were very soft and spongy at first. I guess I have to work on my molding skills to minimise sponginess.
Youtube has some great videos and tutorials for making of HP soap. They helped me a lot.
I just used my normal CP recipe minus the milk. I wasn't sure if it's going to work out with milk so I just used water for the first time.
The only disappointing thing was fragrance. It didn't last. I used lavander EO (not my fave, but family requested it ) and at first it gave a sickening strong scent but after a day or so, lavender scent completely disappeared. I was careful to use enough and at the right temperature (below flash point) but it still didn't work out.
Have fun!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I also suggest a lot of video watching - I made CP before HP, but I wanted to know what to look out for, so I knew when it was done and so on.

I would say more than a week for cure! HP is technically ready when you mold it, but I am still giving mine two weeks before I use a bar and then another two weeks before I consider it as cured and ready to give to people.

 

[seven]

^^^
Exactly. My hps are quite soft when unmolded due to the high water content. And it takes a while to harden up. But at least it is safe to use, only won't last long in the shower.

 

[sakura1024]

Thanks everyone! I didn't plan on using the soap right away ...I still have enough m&p to last me a while! That worries me a bit about the fragrance. People get pulled in by the smell and stick around for the soap, lol.

 

[dryalligator]

The with fragrencing HP is to watch for the flash points on your frangrence or essential oils. The lowest temp I've been able to achieve and still swirl color is 185 degrees. If your scent has a flash point lower than that you will lose your scent!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

The with fragrencing HP is to watch for the flash points on your frangrence or essential oils. The lowest temp I've been able to achieve and still swirl color is 185 degrees. If your scent has a flash point lower than that you will lose your scent!

You won't 100% lose all of your scent - some of it may well burn off, of course, but you'd have dreadful luck (or no patience!) if you put a low temp EO in to a very hot slow cooker at enough of a temp difference to burn off all of the sent.

 

[Dennis]

All of this HP talkhas ginned up my curiosity again. I might try a batch when the kitchen is put back together. A seldom used crock pot hiding in the pantry is cringing at the thought of being drug out and made the recipient of another experiment.

Here's the result of my last experiment. Soap gone wrong. :Kitten Love:

Just kidding.

 

[dryalligator]

I use sodium lactate in my hp. It does a good job of keeping it fluid in the cook process. It's weird because its supposed to be good for hardening. Just a note my friend and I make a lot of soaps hp and cp and we found that your soap temp really makes a difference in whether your scent holds. We've tried salt and other measures but it still goes back to the temp of the batter. We're selling now so its important to us. It may fade or disappear completely if you soap higher than the flash point. Have a whole shelf that proves it.:lolno: