Need help for shower favors

[gezjoh]

Good morning skilled soap makers,
I have been making soap for my daughter’s wedding shower. Totally just winging it. Bought the melt and pour triple butter. I was trying to be more professional and added coconut m&p and olive oil but i didnt stop there. I added some jojoba oil, vit E oil and aloe oil. Still, not done, I then added green clove and aloe EO and mica for design. They came out good (looking) but are slightly oily and after putting them in my basement to dry they seem that some have crystals. I realized (now) that i need to follow a recipe not be a mad chemist but using m&p seemed like I was safe. I am trying to make up the favors and some are so oily and others have glistening going on or even crystals. Can I still use them? I’ve made 80 bars that I’m cutting in 1/2 and tying together. The shower is 2 weeks away. What can I do. Please help

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[dibbles]

You really don't want to use much in the way of additives with M&P. I have only ever added color and fragrance. If someone with more experience sees this, they will have better advice (@basti) on amounts, but I seem to remember 1-2% being mentioned in the past.

M&P soap base is already cured so, unfortunately, if it feels oily now I think the chances are good that it might not be pleasant in use. Since you are only two weeks away from the shower you don't have the time to cure soaps made by CP or HP method - and if this will be your first time making CP or HP soap I would advise against trying to do that for your favors.

You could try shredding the soap and mixing it into a clear M&P base, but I will defer to someone else who knows more about what to expect the result to be.

Maybe look into making a scrub, lip balm or shower steamers, or start over with M&P soap base and don't add anything other than color and fragrance.

 

[artemis]

I don't do much with m&p, but I vote for starting over. As @dibbles said, a m&p base will only hold so much extra stuff. The manufacturer would be able to tell you how much.

I would, buy more base, and add an appropriate amount of color and scent. They will be simple, elegant, and lovely.

If you want to be fancier, there are a lot of silicone molds available through Amazon, which means they would arrive in plenty of time to make the soap.

 

[dibbles]

I agree with @artemis and I forgot to mention starting over. That is probably what I would do assuming it isn't cost prohibitive. Also, you should wrap your M&P in plastic fairly soon after making to avoid sweating.

 

[basti]

You really don't want to use much in the way of additives with M&P. I have only ever added color and fragrance. If someone with more experience sees this, they will have better advice (@basti) on amounts, but I seem to remember 1-2% being mentioned in the past.

Yep, this 100%. I experimented with adding Vitamin E oil in my early days of MP soaping and 1. you definitely can't add much and 2. it's not really worth it. I don't recall the amounts I used since I stopped doing it very quickly but I doubt it was over 1/2-1 tsp per pound of MP.

The only additives I put into MP other than fragrance are dried. Mica/pigment/etc, coconut milk powder, kaolin clay, colloidal oats, lemon powder, etc. Still small amounts. These days I really only use fragrance, colorants, and kaolin clay when working with MP.

Test out one of these pre-existing bars you've made and see how pleasant they are to use. If the oiliness isn't a huge problem, keep them for personal use. They look nice, so it'd be terrible to see them go to waste. But I wouldn't give oily bars out to the shower guests.

after putting them in my basement to dry they seem that some have crystals.

These crystals are called glycerin dew. It happens when MP soap is exposed to air (especially humid air) and is not harmful or a problem. You should be able to wipe it off the soap with a paper towel. Spritz some alcohol on it if it's not budging.

As dibbles mentioned, MP soap doesn't need to dry or cure. It should be wrapped in plastic if you want to avoid glycerin dew. I usually put my MP bars into a gallon ziplock bag after cutting and wrap in plastic later, but even that method gets a little glycerin dew that I have to wipe off before wrapping.

What can I do. Please help

I would echo artemis and dibbles and say that starting over would likely be the best and easiest option. Fresh base, added fragrance & color, and no added oils. This is what I recommend.

I also have some risky options, however:
-They're a lot of work
-They still require more MP base and ingredients like starting over does
-Might not even work and you'll find yourself going from 80 problematic bars to 160 slightly less problematic bars that you have to use up yourself

Those are the risks, I'll still share the ideas:
1. Chop up & dilute. One of the magical things about MP is it can be melted down again if needed. I wouldn't reheat over and over and over again, but I've definitely cut up and remelted an entire loaf before. Cut up into the individual colors and add fresh base to each color (I don't know how much oils you used, so this may be 10% more base, 25%, 50%, etc). You can add a little more fragrance and color to this based on how much additional base you use, or just have a subtler scent and more pastel colors. Be careful with temperatures and don't nuke the soap -- heat until just melted.

2. dibbles' idea of shredding the soap and mixing it into MP base. White or clear would work fine. I genuinely have no idea what the oiliness level of these bars would be, however, so it could be enough to dilute it or you'll still have oily shreds in otherwise good MP soap. Also, shredding 80 bars sounds awful

 

[FFLinOhio]

you made some pretty soaps.

I agree with many others here.
you have a glycerin dew issue. MP develops those crystals quickly in a humid environment,
I usually shrink or Saran Wrap my MP soaps within a day or two. If I am unable to do that, I put them in a container in a dry environment. You can wipe the glycerin dew off by spraying rubbing alcohol and using clean cloth (lint free) to wipe it down. then after it dries, wrap it in plastic.

the nice thing about MP...its easy to start over. cut up the soaps , melt them down, and repour.

I agree on the additives. no more than 1-2percent. that means all the oils, fragrances, etc added up to total less than 2percent. WSP does not recommend adding oil to their MP bases because it cuts down on the lather.

if you bought the three butter MP from WSP...they have a great Q&A section on their website with many answers regarding additives etc.

 

[Joy Wolff]

dibbles' idea of shredding the soap and mixing it into MP base. White or clear would work fine. I genuinely have no idea what the oiliness level of these bars would be, however, so it could be enough to dilute it or you'll still have oily shreds in otherwise good MP soap. Also, shredding 80 bars sounds awful

I have used my Cuisinart shred blade (think cabbage/slaw) to shred bars of soap...it works fine, as long as the soap is medium softness to soft. doesn't work with hard soap. It doesn't hurt the cuisinart: food processor.

 

[AliensrReal]

Melt and pour can not take many additives. I suspect the soap will not lather anymore or be very difficult to lather with the amount you added. It will continue to leak out oil for a while. WSP melt and pour recommends no more than 4-6% additives including fragrance oil. I recommend sticking to around 3% for best results.

 

[akseattle]

@gezjoh First, those are really nice soaps you made.

Ditto on what everyone said re: M&P sweating (glycerin dew) and the need for restraint on adding additives. I did exactly what you did when I started using M&P- I winged it and added extra oils in the belief that I was making the bars more luxurious and conditioning. It took me awhile to learn it was better not to do that. I have found that adding dry exfoliants like espresso grinds, oatmeal, poppy seeds etc. is not really problematic. Adding liquid, including fragrance or essential oils requires caution. These additives can change the way the soap behaves, and it’s advisable to observe IFRA guidelines for EO and FO to avoid possible negative skin reactions.

By now, you have probably already started over. Either by recycling the bars into new bars, or by starting with fresh base. If you melted them down, or shredded and put in new base, I assume you have a totally different look.

M&P will eventually stop sweating- in my experience.
If you started over with fresh base, and assuming you didn’t chuck those 80 bars (that would be truly sad you might be able to cure those 80 bars by putting them under a fan or using a dehumidifier. That would take at least a couple weeks if not more. But, that would not address the excess oil issue.

In a separate thread, @Feelin' Soapy had made a wholesale order of CP soap with M&P embeds. She was able to get the “sweating” issue on the embeds under control in only 2-3 weeks. I believe she used a fan or dehumidifier to cure them.

If you still have those 80 bars, and you don’t want to spray them all with alcohol ( rubbing off the glycerin dew hasn’t worked for me as I have not been able to do it without leaving smear marks) and you don’t want to wait to see if they will cure, OR if they stay oily, you can trying recycling them into BODY WASH.

@Denise0610 says she makes body wash using M&P. After reading her thread, I googled to see how, exactly this was done. I found a utube by Creative Bath lab. It looks pretty easy. Congratulations on your daughter’s wedding and hope you end up with some nice wedding favors- what a lucky daughter to have a Dad doing this for her!

 

[DeeBeeSNJ]

Good morning skilled soap makers,
I have been making soap for my daughter’s wedding shower. Totally just winging it. Bought the melt and pour triple butter. I was trying to be more professional and added coconut m&p and olive oil but i didnt stop there. I added some jojoba oil, vit E oil and aloe oil. Still, not done, I then added green clove and aloe EO and mica for design. They came out good (looking) but are slightly oily and after putting them in my basement to dry they seem that some have crystals. I realized (now) that i need to follow a recipe not be a mad chemist but using m&p seemed like I was safe. I am trying to make up the favors and some are so oily and others have glistening going on or even crystals. Can I still use them? I’ve made 80 bars that I’m cutting in 1/2 and tying together. The shower is 2 weeks away. What can I do. Please help

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I made my own melt and pour favor baby shower soaps. I just did not have the time to cure in time for the baby shower. They came out very nice but I would have done half the size. I used a lot of product. It was for my grand baby so I spoiled them all!
I have infused my melt and pour with chamomile tea. I steeped them in the melt and pour for about 30 minutes. No coloring needed they turned a soft yellow green. One of my favorites. The picture below was not with chamomile.

I made my own melt and pour favor baby shower soaps. I just did not have the time to cure in time for the baby shower. They came out very nice but I would have done half the size. I used a lot of product. It was for my grand baby so I spoiled them all!
I have infused my melt and pour with chamomile tea. You do have to add a tabla of water and steeped them in the melt and pour for about 30 minutes. No coloring needed they turned a soft yellow green. One of my favorites.

 

[akseattle]

@DeeBeeSNJ , wow, really creative and special!!! Are the decorations on top soap embeds or are those pre-made little toppers? they are so nicely packaged! So, I am curious. Did the soaps you steeped in chamomile tea eventually cure? and if so, how long did it take? Or are they STILL curing? In terms of water/liquid to clear base, how much did you use? if they eventually cured, I'd like to just try this to try it because it sounds so good!

 

[DeeBeeSNJ]

@DeeBeeSNJ , wow, really creative and special!!! Are the decorations on top soap embeds or are those pre-made little toppers? they are so nicely packaged! So, I am curious. Did the soaps you steeped in chamomile tea eventually cure? and if so, how long did it take? Or are they STILL curing? In terms of water/liquid to clear base, how much did you use? if they eventually cured, I'd like to just try this to try it because it sounds so good!

Believe it or not the little round balls are edible sprinkles that will dissolve and help with bubbles. And the tops were embeds.
The chamomile soaps were infused in m&p so no extra curing time. They were really lovely. I added distilled water to the m&p base (maybe a tablespoon) and steeped on double boiler on low for about 20 to 30 minutes. Squeezed as much as I could out of the tea bag, stirred added FO.

 

[dibbles]

@DeeBeeSNJ I did M&P for years before switching to CP, and in all that time it never occurred to me to try steeping anything in the base. Genius idea!

 

[DeeBeeSNJ]

Jan Berry gave me the idea. When I first started soap making I purchased this book. I can’t take credit for the idea. I love this book. So packed with amazing information.

 

[DeeBeeSNJ]

@DeeBeeSNJ , wow, really creative and special!!! Are the decorations on top soap embeds or are those pre-made little toppers? they are so nicely packaged! So, I am curious. Did the soaps you steeped in chamomile tea eventually cure? and if so, how long did it take? Or are they STILL curing? In terms of water/liquid to clear base, how much did you use? if they eventually cured, I'd like to just try this to try it because it sounds so good!

Thank you! This book I posted has many wonderful ideas for melt and pour. It’s a wonderful technique. It helped me to try new fun things and experiment.

 

[akseattle]

@DeeBeeSNJ, I've been a little suspicious of soapmaking books lately. I read a few and they all seemed to have conflicting information. Then I have to do a bunch of googling to decide what I think!! Homework, homework homework!
I googled around a little and apparently, Jan Berry is the person behind that great website, The Nerdy Farmwife !!
She seems pretty knowledgeable. I might have to check out her book! Thanks!

 

[DeeBeeSNJ]

@DeeBeeSNJ, I've been a little suspicious of soapmaking books lately. I read a few and they all seemed to have conflicting information. Then I have to do a bunch of googling to decide what I think!! Homework, homework homework!
I googled around a little and apparently, Jan Berry is the person behind that great website, The Nerdy Farmwife !!
She seems pretty knowledgeable. I might have to check out her book! Thanks!

She’s very knowledgeable in soap making. It’s a great go to book. I finally made my own melt and pour base but her book doesn’t provide a recipe for the actual base. Her book provides a wealth of information about natural additives and colors to add to premade m&p bases. Beautiful soap ideas to customize any base you purchase or make.

 

[akseattle]

@DeeBeeSNJ , I've been looking at Jan Berry's website and facebook page this past week. She is really creative (I don't know who does her photography- but she has beautiful photos! She does actually have recipes to made melt and pour base from scratch on her facebook. I probably won't be doing that any time soon because I have ALOT that I bought before I started making cold process soap this year. But, I'll try some of her ideas for customizing the bases I have.

 

[DeeBeeSNJ]

Yes, she has so much valuable information on her website for sure. But I love printed books that I can read in black and white and give my eyes a break from the screen.
I have been playing with different melt and pour recipes for the past year. I still need to do some tweaking. I really loved the base I made for the baby shower soaps. They had aloe Vera from my plants at home in the base as well. I do not use clear bases often at all. So, that is something I would just purchase.