New Guy

[Phteven]

Hello all.

Let's see. I've made three batches of soap so far (all hot process), and all three turned out pretty well. I like the immediate gratification you get with the HP soaps.

I'm very glad to have found this forum. I am a new soap maker and look forward to gleaning what I can from you all.

 

[toxikon]

Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your batches so far!

And just as a quick reminder - HP soaps take just as long to cure as CP soaps - the hot process doesn't speed up the cure time. 4-6 weeks minimum is needed to allow water to evaporate and the structure of the soap to change and become more mild and long-lasting.

 

[Phteven]

Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your batches so far!

And just as a quick reminder - HP soaps take just as long to cure as CP soaps - the hot process doesn't speed up the cure time. 4-6 weeks minimum is needed to allow water to evaporate and the structure of the soap to change and become more mild and long-lasting.

Ah, I didn't realize it was so long to cure. I have been letting the loaf set for about 24 hours, then cutting into bars which I let sit on a wire cooling rack for about a week. They seem to be very soapy and not harsh. Is it a problem if I use them too soon?

This is exactly why I need this forum. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. I must have read about 10 different articles and blog posts on hot process soap.

 

[toxikon]

Ah, I didn't realize it was so long to cure. I have been letting the loaf set for about 24 hours, then cutting into bars which I let sit on a wire cooling rack for about a week. They seem to be very soapy and not harsh. Is it a problem if I use them too soon?

This is exactly why I need this forum. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. I must have read about 10 different articles and blog posts on hot process soap.

If you don't have a problem using them so "young", then there's no one stopping you from using them! If you want to get into selling or even giving them away to friends (who may have more sensitive skin than you), you'll definitely wanna wait at least 4 weeks.

DeAnna has a nice little write-up about curing on her blog: https://classicbells.com/soap/cure.html

 

[Misschief]

This will come across a little like stalking, Phteven, but I don't mean it to. I have to ask, though, do you know a Kim Anderson? Yours is such an unique avatar name and I know I've seen it before.

 

[Phteven]

This will come across a little like stalking, Phteven, but I don't mean it to. I have to ask, though, do you know a Kim Anderson? Yours is such an unique avatar name and I know I've seen it before.

I don't *think* I know a Kim Anderson, but if you would give me a little bit of context, I can tell you for sure (PM if you like).

My user name is one I just really like. My real name is Stephen... aka "Stephen with a PH." I've said this phrase so many times in my life, along with every other Stephen. So, a few years ago, my son (who is now an adult) showed me an picture of a McDonalds receipt. The caption was, "I told her my name was Stephen with a PH." The receipt had "Phteven" written on it.

So, since then, that's been my go to. I just get a real kick out of it.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome Phteven! :wave:


IrishLass

 

[Phteven]

Okay. Here are my #2 and #3 batches. Bear in mind I’m just making stuff up, so it may not make a lot of sense. I didn’t work from any pre established recipes. Instead, I just messed around with the soap calculator to get the mix of oils and amount of lye, then sort of winged the rest.

#2 is a cedar wood and bergamot scented soap where I used Guinness beer instead of water. Yielded 10 bars about 5oz each.

7oz avocado oil
12oz coconut
3oz mango seed butter
14oz olive oil
13.68oz Guinness
5.18oz lye

Batch #3: rosemary, lemon and bergamot with coffee grounds. Yielded 12 bars and a little extra.

9 oz canola oil
14 oz coconut oil
3 oz mango seed butter
14 oz olive oil
15.2 oz water
5.76 oz lye

 

[Susie]

Hey and welcome!

I would NOT put new soap on a wire rack. DOS happens fast that way. Put some parchment or freezer paper under the soap.

 

[jewels621]

Welcome, Phteven....I LOVE the story behind your name! Totally made me laugh out loud! :bunny:

 

[Phteven]

Hey and welcome!

I would NOT put new soap on a wire rack. DOS happens fast that way. Put some parchment or freezer paper under the soap.

Good to know! What is DOS? I presume you aren’t talking about a disk operating system.

 

[Cellador]

My user name is one I just really like. My real name is Stephen... aka "Stephen with a PH." I've said this phrase so many times in my life, along with every other Stephen. So, a few years ago, my son (who is now an adult) showed me an picture of a McDonalds receipt. The caption was, "I told her my name was Stephen with a PH." The receipt had "Phteven" written on it.

So, since then, that's been my go to. I just get a real kick out of it.

Welcome! Funny, but I just saw that pic for the first time last nite on Pinterest- cracked me up!

Nice looking soaps!

 

[penelopejane]

Good to know! What is DOS? I presume you aren’t talking about a disk operating system.

It is very scientific! DOS = Dreaded Orange Spots
They indicate the soap is going rancid. Can be caused by many things including: storing soap on unprotected metal racks, not using distilled water, touching soap with dirty hands, rancid or old oils etc etc.

 

[toxikon]

Okay. Here are my #2 and #3 batches. Bear in mind I’m just making stuff up, so it may not make a lot of sense. I didn’t work from any pre established recipes. Instead, I just messed around with the soap calculator to get the mix of oils and amount of lye, then sort of winged the rest.

#2 is a cedar wood and bergamot scented soap where I used Guinness beer instead of water. Yielded 10 bars about 5oz each.

7oz avocado oil
12oz coconut
3oz mango seed butter
14oz olive oil
13.68oz Guinness
5.18oz lye

Batch #3: rosemary, lemon and bergamot with coffee grounds. Yielded 12 bars and a little extra.

9 oz canola oil
14 oz coconut oil
3 oz mango seed butter
14 oz olive oil
15.2 oz water
5.76 oz lye

Neat looking soaps!

You'll probably find as you go along that SoapCalc numbers don't always represent exactly what you're going to get.

For example - a soap with "zero cleansing" will always still cleanse the skin. There's no such thing as a non-cleansing soap!

There are a few general tried and tested rules to get you a great bar of soap. Some oils are more flexible in their usage rates than others. For example...

Most soapers use 5-10% Castor Oil in their recipes. Using more often results in sticky soap.

Most soapers use between 10-25% Coconut Oil, because over 25% can be too skin-stripping and cleansing.

The caveat here is you CAN do high-percentage coconut oil soaps (even 100% coconut oil), but you must raise your superfat to at least 15-20% to account for the skin-stripping nature of the oil.

You can make salt/brine bars with 100% coconut oil and a 20% superfat - the bubbly, soluble nature of coconut oil lends itself extremely well to the lather-killing properties of salt.

But for most general use, balanced recipes with a low superfat - max 25% coconut oil is a good guideline to follow.

Balancing your hard oils (tallow, palm, lard) with soft oils (olive oil, avocado oil, high-oleic sunflower/safflower, etc) is an art all in itself.

Anyway! Enjoy your experimenting and do lots of reading on the forum! There's so much great info here.

 

[Nanditasr]

Hey and welcome!

I would NOT put new soap on a wire rack. DOS happens fast that way. Put some parchment or freezer paper under the soap.

Thanks; I had no idea about this. I wonder why that would happen, though -- shouldn't the wire rack permit better air circulation and therefore more efficient curing?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It would, but the soap will react with the metal which will cause more problems than are solved by using a rack like that. A plastic rack would be perfect, as the air flow is good and there isn't the issue of the reaction with the metal

 

[Nanditasr]

It would, but the soap will react with the metal which will cause more problems than are solved by using a rack like that. A plastic rack would be perfect, as the air flow is good and there isn't the issue of the reaction with the metal

Thanks; that makes sense. Fortunately, mine is a metal rack coated with plastic.

 

[toxikon]

Thanks; that makes sense. Fortunately, mine is a metal rack coated with plastic.

I put my soap in containers like these on top of my metal shelving. Plastic-coated metal maaaay even cause soap to develop DOS, I've heard some say that.

 

[Nanditasr]

I put my soap in containers like these on top of my metal shelving. Plastic-coated metal maaaay even cause soap to develop DOS, I've heard some say that.

Thanks. It looks like the bottom is solid; doesn't this slow down curing?

 

[toxikon]

Thanks. It looks like the bottom is solid; doesn't this slow down curing?

I stand my bars on their side, then flip them once a week or so. I haven't had any issues with curing them. They get plenty of airflow on the 4 exposed sides.