Microwave Hot Process. Oh yes!!!

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Sapwn

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I have a medium size pot dedicated to double-pot hot-process soap making.
I prepared my oils and the lye and mixed them in a bowl. Hand mixer and trace as usual.


Added the soap in the pot to cook it and I realize that it fills up to the top.
In the first 5 minutes of cooking the soap was getting out of the pot making a mess.


At that point I took out one third of the soap and put it in a ceramic bow.

The cooking continues unadventurous but I didn’t know what to do with the soap in the bowl.


I decided to put in the microwave and see what can happen.:shifty:

At the lowest for 10 minutes initially. Everything seems to be normal.

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Twenty more minutes in the lowest and the soap seems to be at gel fase. Zip test negative.


I put the soap in the mold and did the zap test to the othes soap that was still cooking. Positive. Cooked for 15 more minutes and zip test was negative. Then I added the rest in the same mold.






I am very curious to see how it will end up :problem: :?:
 
Again.. I need a popcorn emoticon on this forum!
I'm anxiously following!
Haven't tried HP.. But might if I can speed it up in the micro. :)
 
As soon as it gets hard enough I will unmold it Roseb and I will post a photo.
Six to 12 hours i guess.
 
Unmolded!

There is a line made with dried lavender in the middle of the soap.
The soap under the line is made in the microwave.
The soap above the line is made in the traditional double pot method.

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I can see no difference between the two parts, and they do not separate at all.

I will check how it performs after curing, however, everything seems perfect!
 
Last edited:
That is pretty cool, thanks for sharing that.The soap looks great.
 
I wound up making some microwave soap years ago at the end of a process of trying to develop a soapmaking process for hobbyists that was a little more actual "making" than melt & pour, but less than saponification by lye. I tried mixing fatty acid with a not-as-strong base (alkali)--washing soda--and a little water. I couldn't get the salt (soap) to form at room temperature, though, only by microwaving, and even then only if I used more chemical equivalents of sodium from the washing soda than there would've been from the lye. Otherwise only the first sodium of the Na2CO3 reacted, resulting in a mixture of soap, fatty acid, and sodium bicarbonate. So it wasn't worth it. Sure, if I cooked the Na2CO3 enough to drive off all the CO2, it'd work, but then it's really the same as using lye, so no gain in safety for the hobbyist, and more work.
 
Interesting experiment! And nice looking soap. Although here's a tip - if you want to avoid drag marks from your botanicals on top, cut your soap log upside down. :)
 
I usually make small batches and when an FO has seized on me, I've popped it in the microwave and hot processed it. I zap it for a minute at a time and keep a close eye on it. When it's pourable, into the mold it goes.
 

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