Melt and pour with nothing added?

[jarofdreams]

First time melt and pour maker here.

I want to make unscented melt and pour soaps for sensitive skin or just sensitive areas. Struggling to find any recipes for this kind of thing.

I have 1lb of Brambleberry's SFIC organic melt and pour soap base:

Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Oil, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Propylene Glycol (of vegetable origin), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Oat protein (conditioner)

I'm wondering if I could just add some shea butter and call it a day, or if I need to add anything at all. Can I literally just melt this base and pour it into fun molds?

If anyone has any other good recipes or ideas for unscented melt and pour soap, I'd appreciate it!

 

[Obsidian]

Yes, you can literally just melt it and pour into molds.
There is never any need to add anything to the premade bases.

 

[shunt2011]

Melt and Pour is ready to go. Just melt and pour into a mold. With melt & pour you can only add a very little of any additives. Read through the Melt and Pour section of the forum. You'll find a lot of helpful information there.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/forums/melt-pour-forum.38/

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto the above...you don't need to add anything if you don't want to. Just melt it and pour it into your molds! If you have fun and/or decorative molds, all the better!


IrishLass

 

[Kosmerta]

Honestly as someone with sensitive skin the words "melt and pour for sensitive skin" make me kind of cringe. I've never been able to use any kind of clear soap, and the recipe you listed has coconut as the first ingredient which also looks worrying.

Do you have sensitive skin or are you making this for someone? If you have sensitive skin, have you used this melt and pour soap before?

 

[IrishLass]

Honestly as someone with sensitive skin the words "melt and pour for sensitive skin" make me kind of cringe. I've never been able to use any kind of clear soap, and the recipe you listed has coconut as the first ingredient which also looks worrying.

Do you have sensitive skin or are you making this for someone? If you have sensitive skin, have you used this melt and pour soap before?

Hi Kosmerta- it really depends on the person's sensitivity. For example, some folks skin is pH sensitive and cannot handle the higher pH of lye-based soap and actually do much better with melt & pour soaps (some are members of our forum). Also- not all melt and pour is of the clear variety....many are solidly opaque.

To Shannon- If you find that the MP base you are using ends up too drying or irritating, WSP's oatmeal MP base is absolutely lovely.


IrishLass

 

[jarofdreams]

Honestly as someone with sensitive skin the words "melt and pour for sensitive skin" make me kind of cringe. I've never been able to use any kind of clear soap, and the recipe you listed has coconut as the first ingredient which also looks worrying.

Do you have sensitive skin or are you making this for someone? If you have sensitive skin, have you used this melt and pour soap before?

I thought titanium dioxide was just added to clear soap to turn its color white? I don't really know enough about the difference between clear and white soaps.

I have sensitive skin, but I don't think coconut oil is a problem for me. I'll pay attention to how it affects me for sure!

 

[Kosmerta]

I had said clear because I know clear soap is melt and pour. I have issues with most hot processed soaps (which is how melt and pour is made.

Cold process cant be made clear which is why I used "clear" as an identifier for melt and pour. Sorry, I realize now I wasnt very clear about that.

Although coconut oil itself may not be harmful for sensitive skin in soap it creates a very harsh, high cleansing bar that isnt very gentle on skin.

With the glycerin and sorbitol I'm interested to see how this soap performs, please let us know once you try it

 

[shunt2011]

I thought titanium dioxide was just added to clear soap to turn its color white? I don't really know enough about the difference between clear and white soaps.

I have sensitive skin, but I don't think coconut oil is a problem for me. I'll pay attention to how it affects me for sure!

Too much coconut in any soap can be extremely stripping of the natural oils of the skin. Many don’t use more than 10-15% I use up to 22% with no issue. It’s just something to be aware of it you find a soap too drying. Bit that’s when making CP. MP is different and has other additives that help with the high coconut in them.

I agree with IL on WSP oatmeal. It’s quite nice.

MP is harder to gage unless you are making it yourself.

Just have fun playing with it. Scented, Unscented, colored or not. There are some really good MP choices available.

 

[jarofdreams]

I ended up adding just a small amount of tea tree and lemongrass essential oils (about 1/4 of the low end of what a fragrance calculator suggested).

As predicted, this soap came out drying. Well, I can't tell if it's drying or leaving something on the skin that adds friction when wet. Either way, it doesn't seem to be harming my skin, but it just doesn't feel nice.

I tried remelting and adding 2% shea butter. It didn't seem to have any effect.

I may try remelting again and adding a tiny bit of olive oil. I would love to find a way to make this soap base work, but I'm also gonna look around for other options.

 

[Obsidian]

I normally can't use any m&p, it all dries out my skin. There is a exception though, its a really nice base.
Only trouble with it is it sold in 20lb blocks and its a bit more expensive but in the end, its worth it.

https://essentialsbycatalina.com/super-clear-melt-pour-glycerin-soap-base

There are other varieties that are a bit cheaper but I've only used the super clear one.