Jelly Soap

[CreativeWeirdo]

Hello all!

I've decided to have some fun and expand into Jelly soaps and have purchased a jelly soap MP base. Does anyone have experience with jelly soap base? Any thoughts on size/thickness? Videos I've seen, people really just use them for the novelty and fun of it and have left the soaps relatively thin; compared to a normal bar of soap. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
CW

 

[cerelife]

I've purchased and used the L$SH jelly soaps and thought that they were fun, so I made my own a few years ago.
I purchased this base as it was highly recommended from a member of this forum whom I trust. @cmzaha maybe? I can't remember.
https://essentialsbycatalina.com/soap-jelly-baseThis is a great Jelly soap base and I think the issues I had with it were my own and not the fault of the base! It was quite the learning curve for me to get it melted and poured well!!
I used 4 oz deli cups with lids for these soaps to mimic the shape of the jelly soaps I'd used in the past. I added mica that matched the fragrance and they were gorgeous! The mica is so pretty in this base - it looks like glittering galaxies suspended in this medium. The finished product popped out of the cups easily and fit well in the hand. The base holds its shape in the shower very well. BUT...it is slippery and kind of hard to hold onto while bathing.
Like you said, Jelly soaps are a novelty. They didn't sell well for me at all, so after I finished the pails of base that I had purchased I was done with them. They just weren't worth the time it took to get them right for me personally.
I wish you better luck!

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

Thanks @cerelife ! I appreciate your input! What were the mistakes you made and how did you learn from them?

 

[cerelife]

I initially attempted to melt the base in the microwave in short bursts and stir in between the heating. This created too many bubbles!
So then I tried melting it in a double boiler. Too low of a temp and I got a thick 'skin' on the top / too high and I got bubbles. Too little stirring I got the 'skin' / too much stirring I got bubbles. It was really frustrating!!
What finally worked for me was to heat in a double boiler at low/med and slowly/gently stir pretty much constantly until it was fully melted. While it was still on the stove I added the mica and fragrance and continued to stir until mixed in well. Then I poured the base into the cups, but I had to do it quickly since the base sets up really fast and gets chunky. I ended up having to work in smaller batches than I had intended to avoid this problem.
The finished soaps were gorgeous and very fun, but not so fun to make!
Honestly, even if these had been great sellers for me I probably wouldn't make them very often just because of the time and aggravation involved in their creation!
Hopefully someone will chime in with better tips and more advice

 

[AliOop]

I have used the Stephenson's Jelly Soap base. My experience was similar to @cerelife in that it worked better for me in small batches. But mine melted easily in the microwave and was pretty pourable - similar to M&P. I sprayed with RA to get rid of the bubbles.

 

[cerelife]

@tanishazulfiqar19
Yes, by working with smaller batches at a low/med heat in a double boiler with constant gentle stirring.

 

[Sandiebrown65]

were you able to solve

My daughter and I played with some Stephenson's M&P Jelly soap the other day. We didn't really have a problem getting it to melt in the microwave in very small batch sizes, however we tried to make a 3 layer soap with each layer a different colour. We found that the soap sets up very fast and even though we spritzed with alcohol that the layers didn't adhere to each other at all. So we thought that we would re-melt the soap and pour just single colour soaps. So we put the layers back into the jugs according to their colour but when we attempted to re-melt them they didn't melt back to liquid but instead became very "blobby" and lumpy. Not sure if we will pursue jelly soap, they are also very very slippery in water. We gave one to my 4 year old grandson to test in the bath and he became pretty bored with trying to find it constantly because he couldn't keep it in his hand to wash himself.
We will be pouring some over the top of a CP loaf to see if it adheres there, perhaps it might serve as a fun jelly top to CP soap?

 

[TashaBird]

I’m considering a melt and pour jelly soap base to play with. Any of you use molds of shapes? Then how did you package them?

 

[AliOop]

@TashaBird I had some jelly soap base. The grandkids did enjoy making it. They chose their mold shapes out of my pile (ok, mountain) of different molds. After making it, they had fun using it for a bit and then grew tired of it. They were 7 and 9 at the time, and both preferred showers. Perhaps younger kids who are still taking baths might have had more sustained interest in playing with it and squishing it around in the tub. However, none of my friends were interested in these as gifts for their young family members. That's why I ended up using most of the bucket of jelly base to make sugar scrubs.

Packaging does need to be firm and non-porous, or the soaps will get damaged and will leave marks. It's not oily per se, but if you set the jelly soap on baking paper, for instance, the paper does draw out something from the soap, making a kind of stain.

 

[Carly B]

@TashaBird I had some jelly soap base. The grandkids did enjoy making it. They chose their mold shapes out of my pile (ok, mountain) of different molds. After making it, they had fun using it for a bit and then grew tired of it. They were 7 and 9 at the time, and both preferred showers. Perhaps younger kids who are still taking baths might have had more sustained interest in playing with it and squishing it around in the tub. However, none of my friends were interested in these as gifts for their young family members. That's why I ended up using most of the bucket of jelly base to make sugar scrubs.

Packaging does need to be firm and non-porous, or the soaps will get damaged and will leave marks. It's not oily per se, but if you set the jelly soap on baking paper, for instance, the paper does draw out something from the soap, making a kind of stain.

I think using the base for sugar (or salt?) scrubs is a great idea. I would have thought the jelly soaps had a high percentage of water and would dissolve the sugar. Can you tell us a little about it?

 

[cmzaha]

We used to make jelly shots by pouring them into small deli cups. They did sell well during the holidays for stocking stuffers with decent marketing, other than that they did not sell well. We used Stephenson's M&P Jelly soap base. Our floating marshmallow soaps sold much better, but that is another story and I cannot share the recipe. Sorry

 

[AliOop]

I think using the base for sugar (or salt?) scrubs is a great idea. I would have thought the jelly soaps had a high percentage of water and would dissolve the sugar. Can you tell us a little about it?

I believe it is actually a combination of dual lye and non-water solvents that creates the "jelly" texture. Regarding the dissolving of the sugar after it's mixed in, I learned from the sugar scrub playlist on the Soap & Clay YT channel that the sugar doesn't dissolve due to how the glycerin and water are interacting chemically. That means the scrub stays scrubby even after sitting for a long time. However, if the scrub gets warm, that will increase the solubility and can cause the sugar to dissolve.

I had a fairly big bucket of the jelly base and was trying to find something I could create with it. Had I known then about this video on creating sugar scrubs from regular CP soap shreds, I would have felt more confident trying this, since jelly base or any other M&P base is basically soap + extra solvents to make it meltable. But all I had to go on was that "knowing" in my brain when something will work, even though I don't exactly know why. Seeing that video after the fact helped me put the pieces together as to why the jelly base did work. Of course, that base is all gone now, and I don't intend to order more. But I will always always have soap shreds, so my focus now will be putting those to good use to make a nice sugar scrub.

If you give any of this a try, I'd love to hear how it turns out for you!

 

[Sandiebrown65]

Had I known then about this video on creating sugar scrubs from regular CP soap shreds, I would have felt more confident trying this, since jelly base or any other M&P base is basically soap + extra solvents to make it meltable. But all I had to go on was that "knowing" in my brain when something will work, even though I don't exactly know why. Seeing that video after the fact helped me put the pieces together as to why the jelly base did work. Of course, that base is all gone now, and I don't intend to order more. But I will always always have soap shreds, so my focus now will be putting those to good use to make a nice sugar scrub.

I recently made a batch of exfoliating (walnut shells) scrub using this method and I must say the result is absolutely fabulous!!! I used walnut shells instead of sugar because this was requested by my daughters.

I did 700g shreds, 700g H2O, 65% of the shred weight in glycerin and 20% of the shred weight in stearic. This gave me a 2kg batch. It whipped so well that I was only able to squeeze 100g into a 250g jar.

This is definitely my new favourite soapy thing to make

 

[AliOop]

@Sandiebrown65 That's awesome, thanks for letting me know! I'm trying to decide whether I can really get away with not adding more stearic acid, since about 15-20% of my shreds will be from shave soaps (60%+ stearic). Would you be able to share a picture showing the texture of yours? Also, would you be comfortable sharing the rough percentages of the oils used to make the soap shreds? Thanks!

 

[lsg]

I have a recipe for jelly Lush type soap if anyone is interested. I got it off the old Ponte Vedra Soap site years ago. PM me and I will share it with you.

 

[cmzaha]

I never watched that video, but years ago while playing with shreds and cp soap scrubs I made a similar scrub. The concept was very similar but I made mine so they would harden enough to mold but would stay squishy on the inside. It just takes time to play around.

 

[HoppyCosmetics]

I also have the stephenson jelly soap base, but haven't used it yet. I wasn't sure what to do with it either, but i thought it might be a good idea to use it to make embeds for melt & pour soap or maybe cold process. I have a couple of those long silicone tubes for making embeds.

 

[Sandiebrown65]

@Sandiebrown65 That's awesome, thanks for letting me know! I'm trying to decide whether I can really get away with not adding more stearic acid, since about 15-20% of my shreds will be from shave soaps (60%+ stearic). Would you be able to share a picture showing the texture of yours? Also, would you be comfortable sharing the rough percentages of the oils used to make the soap shreds? Thanks!

Hi AliOop,
I have uploaded some photos of the product in the jars ready for gifting. This particular pot in the photo is the one I am keeping for myself as it is the dregs from the bottom of the mixing bowl where I end up with bits that are not whipped. It has been in the fridge for a week or so now and has become quite "set". I also took a pic from underneath the pot so you can see the air bubbles in there. These aren't the best photos, it would have been much better if I had taken photos just after the whip, when it looked and felt like Italian meringue! The soap shreds were from a soap that was pale green and white, it whipped up to just be a paler green and the walnut shells make it a little darker/brownish. The fragrance in the soap is coconut and lime, and it has absolutely survived to the end. It smells like a holiday

The fat percentages used in my soap recipes are as follows: Olive Oil - 45%, Coconut Oil - 30%, Palm Oil - 20% and Castor Oil - 5%. As far as I can tell, this is a pretty standard recipe.

I have made whipped soap in the past from Mrs S&C soap paste and I found that one to be pretty good too, but the soap shreds version really whipped up like a trooper and this gives me an outlet for all of my batches of ugly/experimental soaps that will not be used up in this household in my lifetime. I am a little addicted to the making of this stuff, will need to find a way to move it on though

 

[AliOop]

Thank you, that looks great! The color and scent go together perfectly, as well.

My soap recipe was different than yours, usually 50-60% lard/tallow mix, 20% CO, a little soft oil, and maybe a butter at 5%. I posted in a separate thread (about making these scrubs) that it still whipped up very well and is quite nice. Isn't it great to have a way to use those up?

 

[Sandiebrown65]

I also have the stephenson jelly soap base, but haven't used it yet. I wasn't sure what to do with it either, but i thought it might be a good idea to use it to make embeds for melt & pour soap or maybe cold process. I have a couple of those long silicone tubes for making embeds.

So once you make it, the consistency is pretty soft. I think that if you were to lay a long embed down into the middle of a CP soap, the weight of the soap above might squash it flat. They would look great on top of a soap, however I couldn't get the different coloured layers of the jelly soap to stick together so I wonder if it will stick to the top of a CP soap? Would be interesting to see how you go?

I ended up just letting my 5yo grandson have the rest of the base, he makes leggo soap out of them using a leggo mould I bought for him. I try to encourage him to use different colours but they all seem to end up lime green