My soaping adventures!

[Hawksquill]

Also - choosing the castor oil to mix your FOs with might have contributed to the ricing. Castor oil accelerates batter, so if you added it after it was at emulsion, this might have been the culprit.

I didn't actually add it at emulsion, just with the rest of the oils before SBing. I knew castor oil accelerated, but I generally like the texture it gives my soaps so I decided to keep it. Would you generally not add castor oil at all if you waned to do swirls?

Ah, well, I'll try a similar recipe without mixing the mica with alcohol and see how it goes!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I have heard that some people have trouble with castor oil, but I use it in almost all of my recipes and haven’t had any problems.

 

[jcandleattic]

I use castor in my regular mix at 5% and don't have any problems with intricate swirls at all.

As was stated, mixing micas with alcohol is mainly for M&P or for a mica drizzle on top of the soap once it's been put in the mold, but not to actually color your batter.

 

[Hawksquill]

Thanks, everyone! I feel silly because the one other time I used mica I mixed it with sweet almond oil and it just totally slipped my mind this time...I originally learned M&P so I think mixing with alcohol was my default!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I didn't actually add it at emulsion, just with the rest of the oils before SBing. I knew castor oil accelerated, but I generally like the texture it gives my soaps so I decided to keep it. Would you generally not add castor oil at all if you waned to do swirls?

Ah, well, I'll try a similar recipe without mixing the mica with alcohol and see how it goes!

I use castor all the time at 5% and do swirls so not probs there. I had thought you may have mixed it with your FOs and added it cold to a warm batter - coz that could have potentially caused some ricing. But no.

 

[Hawksquill]

Unmolded today and happy with the results! The color is lovely and the smell is gorgeous. Unmolding from the cavity molds was nice and easy, which I was worried about because I forgot to add sodium lactate.

It's interesting that I can tell the bars are softer than my previous batches, because I formulated this recipe with swirls in mind.

 

[Hawksquill]

It's been far too long since I've taken the time to write up my soaping adventures, but I'd like to come back to this thread and begin again! Today I made two batches of CP soap and I'm pretty happy with both of them! I've had a few ideas for holiday/festive soaps that I just haven't had the time to make lately, so it's a little late but I'm trying to run through the wish list I've started in my head!

12/28/2019
Cranberry Pomegranate Coconut Oil Soap

Recipe:
95% Coconut oil
5% Castor oil

20% Superfat

Water: Lye Ratio 2:35:1

Colored with red and green mica dispersed into sweet almond oil, scented with 1.6 ounces of cranberry pomegranate FO (smells so good!)

SB'd to a thick trace and then spooned in three layers to create stripes.
Soap batter was about 100 F at emulsion.

Notes:
Tried a few new things in this batch, including my first high CO, high SF batch, a lower water:lye ratio (because of the high CO percentage), trying fragrance oils for the first time, and trying to soap at somewhat lower temps than I usually do.

I probably SB'd a bit too much because one of the colored batters got VERY thick while I let it sit working with the other half of the batter, and I had to spoon it quite gloppily into the mold. I didn't see the layers blending together or one layer "sinking" into another, so I hope the stripes will be pretty distinct.

It smells delicious and is already very hard, so will probably and uncut sooner than usual, and let cure for at least 3-4 months.

Photo:

 

[Hawksquill]

12/28/2019

"Masculine" Swirl Soap for Dad

My dad asked for a "masculine" soap and this is what I came up with! Tried experimenting with a recipe high in softer oils to allow for swirling (I'm always too intimidated by swirling than I should be) and I was happy with the results!

Recipe
15% sweet almond oil
5% castor oil
15% cocoa butter
20% coconut oil
10% borage oil
35% olive oil

Dissolved 1.5 tsp of granulated sugar in water before adding lye for bubbles. Added 2 tsp sodium lactate to cooled lye solution.

Scented with 1.5 oz cedarwood EO, 1.5 oz rustic woods and rum FO, 1.1 oz rosemary EO
Colored with green mica and black oxide dispersed in sweet almond oil

SB'd to emulsion, split batter in 2 and added colorants and fragrance. Poured green, then black, then swirled. No idea why but there was too much batter for the mold (I used the same total weight I always do for this molds of this size?) so there was just a little extra, and I poured it in an individual cavity mold.

Soap batter was about 120F at emulsion

Notes:
Again, experimenting with a new water:lye ratio, a slightly different recipe than usual to account for swirling. I also used my brand new soaping pot (an Xmas gift!) for the first time on this one. It took a while for the CB to melt down and I had to turn the heat up quite a bit, then the oils were way too hot and took a while to cool back down. I got impatient and had other stuff I needed to do so mixed it perhaps a bit hotter than I should have done (lye was 90F and oils were 130F) but it seemed fine. Swirls went well, and I'm insulating now to promote gel. It smells AMAZING.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Looking forward to the cuts Hawksquill!

 

[Hawksquill]

Cut these both today! Pretty happy with the look, feel, and smell of both so far

 

[TheGecko]

It took a while for the CB to melt down and I had to turn the heat up quite a bit, then the oils were way too hot and took a while to cool back down.

I shred my Cocoa Butter. I used to chop it into small chunks with a cleaver, but my wrists would hurt about halfway through a pound and then I got the bright idea to shred it and I just happen to have a vintage Salad Master. Takes no time at all to shred two pounds of Cocoa Butter and it melts in half the time.

I use a microwave. So I start with my Cocoa Butter, when it's about halfway melted, I had my Palm Oil and Coconut Oil. When it's almost all melted, I had my Shea Butter and let the residual heat to the rest. It's a little more stirring, but my hard oils are cooler and then cool down further when I add my Olive Oil. And if it's still too hot, I just pop my bowl in an ice bath.

 

[Hawksquill]

I shred my Cocoa Butter. I used to chop it into small chunks with a cleaver, but my wrists would hurt about halfway through a pound and then I got the bright idea to shred it and I just happen to have a vintage Salad Master. Takes no time at all to shred two pounds of Cocoa Butter and it melts in half the time.

I use a microwave. So I start with my Cocoa Butter, when it's about halfway melted, I had my Palm Oil and Coconut Oil. When it's almost all melted, I had my Shea Butter and let the residual heat to the rest. It's a little more stirring, but my hard oils are cooler and then cool down further when I add my Olive Oil. And if it's still too hot, I just pop my bowl in an ice bath.

This is a great idea! This batch was using up the last of my large chunks of CB, and now I just have the little discs, which seem to melt much quicker. But if I ever go back to large chunks (they seem to be cheaper than discs, which is always a factor), I'll definitely try this!