Melt and pour just as good as cold process?

[Sharee]

Ive read on some sites that when making melt and pours you dont have as much control to what you put in the soaps...nd that is why cold process is more popular. From what i understand there is no difference and you can add any natural oils colours etc but its just safer and faster. Plus you can get organic melt and pours too.
Can someone please explain.

 

[cmzaha]

Melt & Pour bases are usually premade base. Other than small amounts they are not made for adding in additives such as liquids. It is also hard to swirl m&p without purchasing the base made for swirling if you like swirls.

Today most bases are actually made from cp soap with additives to make it clear and pourable. Back several years ago most m&p was synthetic and the ultra-clear m&p's are still usually synthetic. There are many m&p bases available, including Goat Milk, Shea Butter, Honey, etc. A few folks make their own base but it is not cost-effective nor works as well as the manufactured bases. The big boys just know how to make it well. What is fun is you buy the base color it, fragrance it and pour. Although there is a learning curve like everything else. My daughter created beautiful m&p and I am horrible working with it.

There is nothing wrong with m&p and we always preferred the synthetic m&p bases for children's soap because it was a bit gentler than cp.

 

[steffamarie]

There is a big difference between melt & pour and cold process. You do have more control with CP, but MP can be good for beginners. With MP, the saponification is already done and all you need to do is melt it and add fragrance and color. With CP, you're doing the saponification yourself. It's more work and involves using lye solution so you have to ensure you're being careful and using the proper precautions. It's not that dangerous or difficult, but it does require a little extra know-how. Some people (me included) prefer to start with MP and progress to CP later on.

You also have to be careful what you add to MP. Adding a bunch of extras like milk, oils, and other powders can cause it to spoil or not perform well. I find that the lather on MP is already pretty scant (at least the brands that I've used) and my CP soaps lather a lot better. Adding extra stuff to MP usually doesn't help the lather like it might in CP. They're very different processes and one does not work just like the other.

MP is much faster than CP most times - it sets up in hours rather than day(s) and can be unmolded and cut much quicker. It's ultimately up to you to decide which product will help you achieve your soapmaking goals.

 

[MGM]

What they said! ^^^ Ultimately, they're kind of apples and oranges, really. It's like saying that cold cereal is better than porridge: depends what you're in the mood for that day.
Some additives work much better in M&P: pretty much all fragrances and EOs hold better in M&P, as do colours. Mica shimmers in translucent M&P, whereas it's a flat colour in (almost all) CP and colours are generally less vibrant. Botanicals often do well in M&P. It's easy to get straight lines and flat layers in M&P. You can get great detail with M&P, especially with embeds.
I started off with M&P then got hooked with CP, but I have to say, if you want to make one bar to test a fragrance or colour* or just to make something special, nothing beats M&P. 10 min to make; use later that day ;-)

(*test in general I mean. Results from M&P often do not replicate in CP. You're best to rely on product reviews for accurate info on colour switches/fades and scent lasting.)

 

[Sharee]

Thank you guys for replying so quickly. Its much appreciated by a newbie. I figured id buy a mp goat one and add oats and shea butter and some essential oils to make it smell nice. Maybe an orange. If theres organic mps out now i still dont understand the popularity of cp if you can pretty much make mps just as natural now and its safer and faster anyway.

 

[MGM]

If theres organic mps out now i still dont understand the popularity of cp if you can pretty much make mps just as natural now and its safer and faster anyway.

Well, the product isn't the same, at all.
And, there are many more options with CP, because there are more variables.
Now, if you were smart, @Sharee , you'd turn tail and run and stick with M&P. If you need any convincing, just do a search on the forum for "addiction", "I want to make soap all the time", "I dream/think only about soaping", "all my money goes to soap supplies" and, most recently, who's the biggest FOHO!!!!
I'm in Ontario too. Who do you order supplies from usually?

 

[Dahila]

Sharee welcome to the forum I am also from Ontario, and MCM we have tons of Canadian suppliers

 

[Obsidian]

The two products are quite different as far as performance and skin feel.

CP is oils, water and lye. M&P also has solvents and some kind of sugar, that is what makes it meltable.

I find m&p to generally be very harsh and terribly drying. I've only found two bases I can use, one is homemade by a member here while the other is a surfactant based on that comes in bulk.

If you want to experiment with m&p, make sure to buy a good base from a soap supplier. The bases from hobby stores are absolute garabge.

 

[Dahila]

I am with Obsidian, I bought few soaps (M&P) on shows but all of them went to garbage, not for my sensitive skin

 

[MGM]

Sharee welcome to the forum I am also from Ontario, and MCM we have tons of Canadian suppliers

Who though? Saffire Blue had the fire, Windy Point, Candora, Soap and More, and Voyageur are pricey. Am I secretly missing a gold mine? Not that I need more temptation...

 

[Sharee]

Ive seen these MPs... wouldnt these be okay for the skin? Especially if i add emolients to it?
it looks organic...
https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/products/melt-pour-soap-bases/melt-and-pour-soap-base-nco.html

 

[dibbles]

I've never used that particular soap base, so I don't have any thing to add as far as that goes. As far as adding emollients to the base, this is from their blog about adding to their soap base https://www.newdirectionsaromatics....t-and-pour-soap-bases.html#add-melt-pour-soap

As you can see, you can add 1 tablespoon of liquid or melted oils per pound of soap base. You can add 1 teaspoon of a melted butter per pound of soap. Is that enough for what you want to achieve?

 

[Sharee]

I've never used that particular soap base, so I don't have any thing to add as far as that goes. As far as adding emollients to the base, this is from their blog about adding to their soap base https://www.newdirectionsaromatics....t-and-pour-soap-bases.html#add-melt-pour-soap

As you can see, you can add 1 tablespoon of liquid or melted oils per pound of soap base. You can add 1 teaspoon of a melted butter per pound of soap. Is that enough for what you want to achieve?

I wish I could hug you...This is very informative. Do you think I could add additional stuff such as oats to this?
Again...I see why its better to use a MP as its less drying. It says plainly"Cold process soaps usually contain less Glycerin than Melt and Pour soaps, thus they are more likely to be drying on the skin."

 

[dibbles]

Just scroll down on that list and read what is listed under exfoliant. I don’t know that M&P is less drying. That’s something you would have to determine for yourself. Everyone has different preferences for their own skin. I did M&P for several years before I got bored with it and tried CP. I never looked back.

 

[math ace]

I was strictly a melt and pour craft person until this year. I ALWAYS enjoyed my Melt and Pour creating. Melt and Pour soap is fun and easy. It doesn't require a lot of extra material. I've showed 10 year olds how to make m & p soap. I use SFIC Shea Butter or Aloe bases. I, also, really liked Stephenson's triple butter base. My friends either LOVED or HATED the Stephenson triple butter because it feels like you can't totally rinse the oils off.
The most common complaint about melt and pour bases is that they don't last long in the shower.

After year's of drooling of some of the swirls that CP soap is famous for, I decided to branch into that domain this year. Suddenly, I had to deal with issues like how well a fragrance lasts (sticks) in the soap. Let's not forget that there is the aspect that the fragrance can make the soap batter misbehave - rice, sieze, or accelerate. In addition to fragrance issues, there is the storage aspect during the 4 to 6 week cure. With CP soap, you have to be very careful during the soap making process so that you don't get injured from the lye. The benefit to CP soap is that it produces a harder bar of soap that lasts longer in the shower.

With m & p, you can easily create A bar of soap in the morning and enjoy it 24 hours later. With CP soap, it is really hard to make batches smaller than a pound and it is 4 to 6 weeks before you can reap benefits of your work.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

Cold process soaps usually contain less Glycerin than Melt and Pour soaps, thus they are more likely to be drying on the skin."

I haven't used MP yet but it looks like people are saying MP is harsher

 

[math ace]

This is a couple of melt and pour soaps that I made yesterday. You can create BEAUTIFUL things with melt and pour. Dean Wilson has a lot of m & p videos to help you learn how to create some amazing soaps.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

This is a couple of melt and pour soaps that I made yesterday. You can create BEAUTIFUL things with melt and pour. Dean Wilson has a lot of m & p videos to help you learn how to create some amazing soaps. View attachment 41146

WOW

 

[cmzaha]

It is interesting that so many find m&p harsh. The bases we used made very nice feeling bars and I still use them often. PH is usually lower in m&p at least the bases my daughter used. I do know she tended to mix bases for some of her bars. I still use her marshmallow soaps that are just luxurious feeling and were made with m&p base.

 

[shunt2011]

Thank you guys for replying so quickly. Its much appreciated by a newbie. I figured id buy a mp goat one and add oats and shea butter and some essential oils to make it smell nice. Maybe an orange. If theres organic mps out now i still dont understand the popularity of cp if you can pretty much make mps just as natural now and its safer and faster anyway.

Just because you can get organic doesn't mean it's better than CP. MP still has additives I don't want in my soap. It's still not as natural and as for safe, it's only safer to make. I personally don't care for MP soaps. I don't like how they make my skin feel it feels too dry. I much prefer my CP soaps that I'm able to formulate to my liking. I do use MP for imbeds and do make a few here an there for my grandkids. I also get much more enjoyment making CP than MP as it's therapeutic for me to formulate my soaps and then to design them.

It's absolutely a personal preference. Nothing wrong with MP.