Melt and Pour woes

[ackosel]

I make cold process soap, but my daughter (16) is trying melt and pour. She tried a 3-color swirl today and it turned out terrible! She used Michael's "Make Market" brand liquid colorants in clear base. For a white layer, she used white goat milk base. She added peppermint, lemon and orange essential oils with the colorants after the bases were melted. We do not have a microwave, so she used double boilers. The white took a long time to melt, and by the time the white was melted the green was thick and gloppy. No matter how long she heated and stirred, that green remained a slimy clump. What could she have done wrong? I suspect she simply cooked the green instead of just melting it. Do colorants and scents change the consistency of melt and pour like they can with cold process?

 

[basti]

Yeah, I'm afraid that looks like overheated M&P to me

If you can only heat up one color at a time, then I'd recommend having her pour one color and then heat the next color, spritz the poured color, and then pour the next color in. You might still get some swirls out of it, depending on how cool the first color got.

 

[ackosel]

Thank you so much! Maybe I'll have her try just layering for now and save swirling for after she gets a better feel for it.

Do you think it would help if she put her mold on a heating pad to keep the bottom layer fluid while she melts the top layer?

 

[akseattle]

@ackosel , I agree with Basti that your daughter probably overheated the base.

I have never used a liquid colorant, but in my experience, when I add anything- mica, E.O. , F.O, exfoliant after heating the base (which is always), it accelerates cooling a little.

I haven't found additives to change the consistency of the base significantly. But, I think adding too much E.O. or F.O. can also make the finished bar softer.

If you have a heating pad, it would be a simple enough of an experiment to see if placing the first layer on a heating pad would prevent the layer from cooling too fast without overheating. Your daughter could also try keeping the melted base on the heating pad until the second base is melted so that they can be poured at the same time for a swirl.

If your daughter really got into M&P, if you have a place to store it when not in use, she might consider getting a small microwave oven at a thrift store. It's so much easier to heat the base in a microwave oven.

I hope you'll post your daughter's successes!!