M&P and CP soap question

[wearytraveler]

I'm looking to try some M&P imbeds (cubes or shreds, not sure yet) in my next batch of CP soap. I always CPOP and I'm not sure if having the M&P imbeds requires me to take a different approach and not OP. Can anyone tell me if the imbeds will be fine going through the OP part of this?

Thanks.

 

[SunRiseArts]

It will be fine IMO, just make sure the temperature of your batch is not too hot, or it will melt the embeds.

 

[BattleGnome]

I think it should be fine.

MommyCarlson (I think) did this experiment a little bit ago. Maybe she'll pop in and be able to help.

 

[mommycarlson]

Wearytraveler, yes, I did this with MP embeds in my CP soap. I did not gel or OP the soap because someone said the MP embeds would melt.
Be aware that the soap will be extremely hard to cut with the MP embeds in the CP soap. I have a multi wire cutter that my husband made for me. I had to STAND on the cutter to get the wires to go through. The soap looked okay at first, then after curing the CP changed as it lost water and the soap looked a little rougher as it aged. The MP also wept a bit, leaving some sticky stuff coming out of the edges between the MP and the CP. I am attaching pictures of it so you can see it. I gave it to my niece and my sister in law, they loved it! Go figure LOL. I was not fond of it after it cured, it smelled good but it was not very pretty.

The first photo is of the soap freshly molded, looks cool in that picture, and the second is right after I cut it, see the drag lines from the cutter? Those lines became more pronounced as the soap cured, leaving ruts in the surface. I think maybe I should have tried to cut it sooner, but I'm not sure that would have mattered since the MP soap sets up and gets hard pretty fast. Please feel free to ask any questions! Good luck and if you do it please post pictures and your experience.

 

[wearytraveler]

Thanks for everyone's replies and thanks mommycarlson for the pics! I did try this shortly after I posted. I wanted to try something simple like clear MP soap colored a bit imbedded in a white bar. The MP part went fine. I made it the night before and cut it into cubes the day of. I made the batch and poured some into the mold. I tried to get the cubes sprinkled to cover what I had already poured. I worked as fast as I could but by the time I grabbed the rest to pour over the cubes to cover them the remaining batter was the consistency of oatmeal so I had to scoop it into the mold. Overall I wasn't happy with the way it turned out. I'll definitely try again but I'll adjust my method. I did CPOP this batch and the MP held up well and there were no issues with it in the oven. I also cut using a crinkle cutter knowing that the MP would be very hard. See the image for this "failed" batch. I've already given it away and saved a bar as a memory.

 

[Seawolfe]

I really like that soap wearytraveler! I think the colors are lovely and I can see why you don't like the air pockets from a technical point of view, but aesthetically I think it makes them really interesting - like geodes.

Anyway here was my attempt ages ago in a poor quality pic - I was playing with natural colorants in MP soap (spirulina). Hubby disliked it because the middle melted faster than the rest, I called it a bonus

 

[cmzaha]

Wire Cutters are not made for cutting m&p soap. You really risk breaking the wires.

 

[mommycarlson]

Wire Cutters are not made for cutting m&p soap. You really risk breaking the wires.

Carolyn,
I wish I would have known that before I cut the soap it really would have saved me some trouble. Thankfully nothing got broken!

Wearytraveler, that soap is so pretty! I love the blue and white contrast!