Jack Daniels Soap

[RockinRodeoChick]

I was just curious if anyone had tried making soap out of jack daniels? Is there any reason why it wouldn't work? My dad would really like some, but before I tried it, thought I'd ask.

 

[MorpheusPA]

I'm hardly an expert, but can't alcohol cause a serious seize in soap?

Maybe you could very gently warm it for a bit to boil off the alcohol before adding it...by preference not over an open flame...

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

From what I've heard it can. I know my beer soap moved really fast. (That's what got him on the jack daniels idea) Whiskey's high alcohol by volume, so I wasn't sure if I'd make it from the pot to the mold. If I boiled away the alcohol, I dunno if i'd have anything left. Hehe

 

[lngrid]

My distant cousin makes Yorkshire pudding which is soaked in liquor, surrounded by liquor-soaked sugar cubes, and lit on fire at the table.

He says it's a traditional dish from England, even the lighting-it-on-fire part.

Soooooo.... I habitually buy wine or liquor, simmer it in a pan and burn away the alcohol. Often I get the flavor without the alcohol. (Alcoholism runs in my family. I don't play with the stuff.) The slower the simmer, the lower the flames are.

Of course, I remove anything flammable from around the stove AND around the vent hood. And I keep the pan lid in my hand so I can kill the flames if I want to by covering the pot. (No, it won't explode. The flames will smother.) I also dim the kitchen because the alcohol flames are hard to see in light. I've never once had a problem. I've never gotten nervous enough to smother the flames. I lower the heat or take the pan off the burner instead.

Call me crazy. I live a rich life.

 

[MorpheusPA]

From what I've heard it can. I know my beer soap moved really fast. (That's what got him on the jack daniels idea) Whiskey's high alcohol by volume, so I wasn't sure if I'd make it from the pot to the mold. If I boiled away the alcohol, I dunno if i'd have anything left. Hehe

Yeah, you're going to lose about 40% of the liquid volume if you warm or burn it off...and I don't think you'll get rid of all the alcohol, either.

My personal philosophy on it is give it a whirl. Just use a small batch so if you get "soap on a stick" you can easily form it into soap balls.

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

Ok, well, I'm off to give this a shot. Let you know how it works out.

 

[Dixie]

I can't wait to hear the results! Good luck.

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

Oy, this was bad. I don't know what to do with it now. This is what happened... instantly:

Not even 2 seconds. Couldn't cram it into my mold either. Can it be saved? Hehe. Worth rebatching maybe?

 

[madartist]

hmmmmmm kinda looks like Ingrid's distant cousin's Yorkshire pudding. (just trying to make you smile) I'd rebatch it. It'll probably turn out to be a nice soap (and with a funny story you can remember, each time you use it).

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

Hehe, kinda does, doesn't it? No worries. Little disappointing, but I was half expecting this.
My first thought was "Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" And then it was "Well, at least I have something to share on the forums now." Lol
Soaping with whiskey is a bad idea. Lol Guess I get to learn how to rebatch now... Still not sure if I like that idea or not.

 

[MorpheusPA]

Oy, this was bad. I don't know what to do with it now. This is what happened... instantly:

Not even 2 seconds. Couldn't cram it into my mold either. Can it be saved? Hehe. Worth rebatching maybe?

I was afeared of that. Oddly, after looking at the picture I now want yams.

Maybe it could be diluted with some water and hot-processed on the stove, long enough for the extra water to boil off? If that's a bad idea, it's definitely good for a re-batch.

 

[ChrissyB]

Yep it's the alcohol that made it seize.
You will have to do the same as soapers that make beer soap, boil off the alchol and reduce the beer to a thick syrup. Then add it to the soap.

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

Yams? Lol. Yeah, all it needs is the marshmellows.

Yep, next time I'll try boiling off some of the alcohol. I was just curious if I could make this work somehow. Haha. No luck there.

 

[madartist]

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap!"

And did you take it up an octave, with every chours? That's what I do.

Soaping with whiskey is a bad idea.

Depends on where your putting the whiskey.

Guess I get to learn how to rebatch now... Still not sure if I like that idea or not.

I understand. Mine usually come out with a REAL un-appealing texture. 'Specially when they look like a genoa salami hanging in a Gloria Chain Store window. Gawd, do I hate when that happens! But another alternative you have could be to (after zap test) incorporate it into another soap design, and call it "art". I had a batch seize up fierce, (FO accelleration) and I ended up cutting it up, and putting it into another batch of the same recipe, only with a different colour and fragrance.

If your soap is okay to use, but just ugly, give it a make-over.

 

[Pepper]

Maybe that's the way to go with alcoholic soaps - plan for the seize, and prepare to rebatch! I made a beer soap with no info. whatsoever. I wondered why it traced in 30 seconds I didn't know about alcohol and seizing. That's what's so good about online forums. You'll always find someone has the answer to your problem. I like Maddy's art idea, too. I've done that before today :wink:

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

Well, i managed to melt it all down in my crock pot and smoosh it into my log mold last night. It seems like it's setting up nicely now. It's going to be quite a bit grainier then I'm used to, I think. We'll see how it unmolds either tonight or tomorrow and let you lovelies know.

 

[Bukawww]

Okay, so if you are making beer soap, you burn off the alcohol, and then reduce to a syrup - do you use that syrup weight as your 'water' or do you add water till it is more watery??

I am very close to making my Corona with lime soap and don't want to mess it up.

 

[carebear]

I subtract the liquid from the water and add it after I have the oils and lye mixed well. I don't necessarily wait for trace or anything, tho.

 

[beerfish]

When we make our beer soap, we mix the lye into the beer. This is a little tricky, as the CO2 comes out of solution when the lye heats it up. To overcome it we add the lye VERY slowly to beer that has been stirred until it's nearly flat. (This is done hot process.)

Here's ours:
http://reefbotanicals.com/catalog/images/mashed_in.jpg

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

So! Here's my update! Turns out, I didn't quite get all of it melted down, which I didn't think I did, but I thought it would be ok. Silly me. I cut it into bars tonight and there were still chunks in the middle. Had hubby lye test it for me. After a few choice words and something to rinse his mouth with(it was quite entertaining), we discovered the chunks are lye heavy.
So, I'm going to try to rebatch this. Any suggestions? Do I just make sure it's all melted and there are no chunks left?