lavender oatmeal soap

[triprolo]

I thought about making some lavender oatmeal soap tonight but the only oatmeal I have in the cupboard is maple and brown sugar oatmeal. Would this be problematic or would it work?

 

[LuckyStar]

Sugar tends to make soap heat up, and if you put in too much/it gets too hot, you can get sort of a burn sugar smell and a big old crack in the middle your soap. If you keep it chilled i don't see any real big problem. Might be neat to see how it works out

 

[Dorymae]

You don't want to use instant oatmeal, or quick oats and that sounds like what you have. I understand it will turn to mush. Just get a canister or box or the regular oatmeal that takes at least 25 minutes to cook.

 

[triprolo]

I was going to put two tea spoons finely ground and two course ground. I normally put a tea spoon of sugar in All this for a 2.5 pounds. I'm wondering if I should leave out the sugar since it might already be in the oatmeal.

 

[triprolo]

You don't want to use instant oatmeal, or quick oats and that sounds like what you have. I understand it will turn to mush. Just get a canister or box or the regular oatmeal that takes at least 25 minutes to cook.

Thanks Dorymae. That's exactly what I was going to do.

 

[coffeetime]

I grind old fashioned oats into oat flour and then sieve it so I get a fine flour. Works great in my oats 'n honey soap.

 

[jules92207]

I use baby oatmeal. Works awesome.

 

[IrishLass]

I thought about making some lavender oatmeal soap tonight but the only oatmeal I have in the cupboard is maple and brown sugar oatmeal. Would this be problematic or would it work?

I don't see why it wouldn't work. If I myself were going to try it, I would grind it all up nice and fine in my coffee grinder, omit the sugar that I would normally add to my batches, and then soap away.

I use baby oatmeal. Works awesome.

Me too! I love it because it doesn't cause my soap to be scratchy like some of the other types of oatmeal I've tried.

I grind old fashioned oats into oat flour and then sieve it so I get a fine flour.

Good idea about the sieving! I wish I'd have had the foresight to do that back when I used to grind my own oats for my soap. I bet that would have helped to cut down on the scratchies for me.



IrishLass

 

[dillsandwitch]

probably a silly question but im gonna ask anyways. Whats the sugar do?

 

[lpstephy85]

probably a silly question but im gonna ask anyways. Whats the sugar do?

Sugar is said to help with the bubbles in the lather. Good for a recipe that is low on the bubble number but if you add too much it will cause the soap to overheat in the mold.

 

[seven]

Sugar is said to help with the bubbles in the lather. Good for a recipe that is low on the bubble number but if you add too much it will cause the soap to overheat in the mold.

and overheating can cause all sorts of problems: zombie teeth, separation, glycerin rivers (if td is used), etc

 

[roseb]

Sugar is said to help with the bubbles in the lather. Good for a recipe that is low on the bubble number but if you add too much it will cause the soap to overheat in the mold.

I always add a little sugar to my regular recipe. People love bubbles. Of course, if I'm using honey or milk I omit the sugar. Works great for me.

 

[IrishLass]

Adding too much sugar can also make your batch take a looonng time to firm up. I once did some sugar experiments and made a couple of batches using 4 tablespoons of sugar ppo. One of them was soaped fairly high at 130F and CPOPed, and it amazingly did not over heat (made it through the gel stage without a single problem). I made it with my regular 50% OO formula with a 33% lye solution using SS's Tassie Lavender as my FO, and although it completely gelled, it remained spongy for quite some time beyond cure (we're talking months!), but, wow- the lather was as bubbly as my 100% CO soaps! It was amazing!

After some more experiments, I finally settled on using the amount of 2 tablespoons sugar ppo in my batches. I found this level to be good at giving me improved lather without the sponginess. The lather is not as explosive as my 100% CO batches (or the batches using 4 tablespoons sugar), but it's quite ample enough indeed.


IrishLass

 

[triprolo]

Thanks everyone. I was away from the boards a couple of days. Got upset because last time I made soap, I submerged my wand mixer in water and it died. I went and bought some Quaker Oats so I will grind some up as soon as I can afford a new wand mixer.

 

[leeleetrue]

i've been using oat flour instead of grinding my oats - my little food processor is a hunkajunk and takes forever to make flour. it's pretty cheap from my local 'organic' grocer, and i love the results. just my two cents

 

[triprolo]

That sounds like a great idea Leeleetrue