MarinaB
Well-Known Member
There is Sea Moss FO at BB - that is the most acceleration I have ever gotten
( no time to mess around.
Lard soap
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( no time to mess around.
There is Sea Moss FO at BB - that is the most acceleration I have ever gotten
I haven't tried that one but one of the fragrances I used (it was a blend of a few so not sure of the culprit) really accelerated to the point I had to glop it in the mold. Very rustic looking the the peaks are dangerous!
MarinaB
Well-Known Member
I would like to say THANK YOU to a topic starter and all who contributed some input into this subject. Today I made my first CP beef tallow based soap! I just got inspired! Such creamy feeling from that soap.
I put lavender&cedar FO from BB.
Do you have idea when I should cut it? When I made 100% coconut oil based soap, I usually cut it in 5-6 hours after I made it.
I put lavender&cedar FO from BB.
Do you have idea when I should cut it? When I made 100% coconut oil based soap, I usually cut it in 5-6 hours after I made it.
You want to cut soap when it's at the right texture, not by time. If you make the same (or similar) recipe a lot, you'll get a feel for the amount of time it takes to get to the right texture. But when doing a first-time recipe, what works for your other recipes might not work for this one.
I want to cut my soap when it feels firm but still yields slightly to gentle pressure without denting. It will feel like refrigerator-cold mild cheddar cheese or colby cheese. If you have some of this cheese in the refrigerator, you can calibrate your fingers by pressing on the cheese.
I do not want the soap to feel like aged cheddar or Parmesan (too hard, too brittle) and I don't want it to feel like cold cream cheese either (too soft).
A soap high in tallow can become brittle and hard to cut early on -- a lot like a soap high in coconut oil -- so start testing early so you can cut it before it's rock hard. It's been awhile since I made a soap like this, but I'd start checking about 6 hours and see if it's ready. It might be or it might not depending on the other fats in the recipe.
A soap high in lard generally isn't a brittle soap in my experience and is able to be cut over a longer time compared with high tallow and high coconut soaps. My high-lard soaps are often ready to cut at 12-24 hours, but are still pliable enough so they can be cut for several days after they have been made. I sometimes split a normal sized bath bar into half to make samples, and I often make samples like this some days after the original bars have been cut.
I want to cut my soap when it feels firm but still yields slightly to gentle pressure without denting. It will feel like refrigerator-cold mild cheddar cheese or colby cheese. If you have some of this cheese in the refrigerator, you can calibrate your fingers by pressing on the cheese.
I do not want the soap to feel like aged cheddar or Parmesan (too hard, too brittle) and I don't want it to feel like cold cream cheese either (too soft).
A soap high in tallow can become brittle and hard to cut early on -- a lot like a soap high in coconut oil -- so start testing early so you can cut it before it's rock hard. It's been awhile since I made a soap like this, but I'd start checking about 6 hours and see if it's ready. It might be or it might not depending on the other fats in the recipe.
A soap high in lard generally isn't a brittle soap in my experience and is able to be cut over a longer time compared with high tallow and high coconut soaps. My high-lard soaps are often ready to cut at 12-24 hours, but are still pliable enough so they can be cut for several days after they have been made. I sometimes split a normal sized bath bar into half to make samples, and I often make samples like this some days after the original bars have been cut.
MarinaB
Well-Known Member
DeeAnna, thank you for your really professional input! I could feel, you are a very experienced soapmaker! I am very appreciated your time you put here to explain to me some things.
PS: DeeAnna, I gave up an idea to make a shaving cream bar after your post. Maybe later.
Right now I go to check my soap!
What a surprise! I still can't cut my tallow based soap. Not ready to be cut after 13 hours.
PS: DeeAnna, I gave up an idea to make a shaving cream bar after your post. Maybe later.
Right now I go to check my soap!
What a surprise! I still can't cut my tallow based soap. Not ready to be cut after 13 hours.
If the soap doesn't get warm enough to gel, it can stay soft. I've had coconut oil soap that gelled and was hard as a rock after a few hours and other batches of coconut oil soap that didn't gel and stayed like putty for a day or so. It's all situational, and that is why cutting based on time isn't always going to be reliable.
MarinaB
Well-Known Member
DeeAnna, Oh... I only made mono oil soap before. I used only coconut oil. Why my tallow based soap goes into a gel phase in 6 hours after it was put into a mold? WHY? Is it fine?
What temperature should be for oils and lye solution?
DeeAnna, I have made thousands coconut oil bars, but never my soap was in a mold longer then 6.5 hours.
What temperature should be for oils and lye solution?
DeeAnna, I have made thousands coconut oil bars, but never my soap was in a mold longer then 6.5 hours.
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I'm going to strongly suggest you at least use the water to lye ratio setting for this recipe (2:1 water to lye is a great start for this recipe). As it is, there is a lot of water in it and with the amount of hard oils in it, you may verywell run into otherwise preventable issues with it. @MarinaB I also suggest using the forum's soap calculator or going to soapcalc.net. Both are great soap calculators to start and not as limited as brambleberry's. I have not used WSP's calculator but since it was suggested, give that a whirl too.
MarinaB
Well-Known Member
Arimara, thank you for your input! I put 9 oz of water and 3.3 lye. So... Tonight I will mix 3.3 oz of lye and 6.6 oz of water. Thank you!
MommaSoaper
Well-Known Member
I generally only make 100% lard soaps for folks who have very sensitive skin, or who want a first soap to use when their babies are old enough that their skin can tolerate soap. These soaps will generally have a lotion-like lather, more like a cream than bubbles.
You can up the lathering abilities by adding some form of sugar, such as sorbitol, or aloe vera juice or beer as your liquid. The bars also need a long cure - 12 weeks is ideal for them not to feel slimy with very low lather.
For my own use, I like 75% to 80% lard, with the rest being coconut and castor oil. Those oils, along with sorbitol at 1%, make a wonderfully gentle bar that lathers pretty well after an 8-week cure, although I still prefer 10 to 12 weeks. Given how much soap I have around my house, a long cure time is never a big deal for me anyway.
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
You have no "lathering oils", i.e., coconut, PKO, castor, in your formula. Take a look at the Basic Trinity of Oils formula to gain an understanding of the 3 legs of designing a winning soap recipe and go from there.
