Newbie question

[Smellynewbie]

Might sound like a silly question but I'm totally new never made soap yet and I've just ordered my first supplies


So my silly question is
If I want a plain soap base and I want to make it myself instead of buying it I just mix my lye and oils and leave to set. Then I can use this at anytime for a base by melting it. Is that correct ?

 

[lionprincess00]

You cant turn a standard cp soap into a mp soap, if that's what your asking. From your wording, and you being new, I wanted to throw out there also that you don't directly mix lye crystals into oils. If you already know this I am so sorry, it was just from your wording and I wanted to be sure that you knew it before you started your first soap.

 

[Smellynewbie]

You cant turn a standard cp soap into a mp soap, if that's what your asking. From your wording, and you being new, I wanted to throw out there also that you don't directly mix lye crystals into oils. If you already know this I am so sorry, it was just from your wording and I wanted to be sure that you knew it before you started your first soap.

Thanks for that yes I know I don't just do that lol sorry about my wording

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Thanks for that yes I know I don't just do that lol sorry about my wording

Can you re word it then, please? Because that's how it sounds.

If you make a "normal" cp soap, you can't just melt it down weeks later and add in scent. You would have to grate it and so on. Which doesn't give pretty results.

What might be a better idea, once you have found a good recipe that works for you, is to mix up a lot of the oils themselves in the amounts that you need - and then make a cp batch from that

 

[Steve85569]

M&P CAN be made but it is a bit more complicated than just doing a CP batch of soap.
Melt and Pour (M&P) in NOT the same as CP or CPOP or HP....
M&P is M&P because of the materials used making it allow for some remelting.

EG's suggestion of masterbatching oils makes throwing together a batch of CP quicker and easier than starting from square one every time.

Welcome to the forum and please do feel free to read the threads about the shorthand we use etc. .It really helps since we tend to speak "soap maker" here. There are a bunch of patient teachers here as long as I am willing to learn from them.

Steve

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Can you re word it then, please? Because that's how it sounds.

The OP's wording is correct. It sounds wrong because you're accustomed to misusing the word lye. The way you use it could be considered a secondary definition due to sheer popularity among crafters, but its real primary definition is unambiguously different.

 

[IrishLass]

Might sound like a silly question but I'm totally new never made soap yet and I've just ordered my first supplies


So my silly question is
If I want a plain soap base and I want to make it myself instead of buying it I just mix my lye and oils and leave to set. Then I can use this at anytime for a base by melting it. Is that correct ?

This is actually not a silly question. Believe it or not, this is what I did with one of my first batches at the very beginning of my soapy endeavors when I was still a teensy jittery around lye (happily, the jitteriness didn't stick around after that, though). And I'm not the only one who did this kind of soapmaking. Although they are a small minority, there are a fair amount of soapers out there that make their soap this way. And there are some suppliers that will even sell you their own CP base gratings/noodles for you to do so.

I basically made a 3 lb batch of plain unscented soap, and grated portions of it up at a time to melt down (if you can call it melting, lol) so that I could make individual soaps scented with different scents. This is called re-batching, and it's not anything like using M&P, which melts like a dream. I followed the instructions over at Kathy Miller's site (she's got a whole section on rebatching, which includes lots and lots of tips sent in by different soapers: http://www.millersoap.com/re.html

Rebatched soap, in comparison to melt and pour, does not melt into a smooth liquid. Instead, it melts into a very soft, mashed-potato-like consistency, which you then smoosh into your molds....but there are ways to make smoother. Like I said, Kathy Miller's site is a really good source for tips and tricks on this kind of soapmaking (although Kathy herself is not a big fan of rebatching)


IrishLass

 

[lionprincess00]

great, I just wanted to be sure that you understood which obviously you do. There's a big process of doing things differently with cold process soap making to turn it into melt and pour soap. I personally recommend a very simple recipe that is not colored and has no fragrance for cold process soap. Once you get that under your belt the Soapy bug will hit you hard and I guarantee you you'll feel more comfortable with making cold process soap. From there you can Venture into making colored cold process soap, fragranced and colored cold process soap, as well as even your own melt and pour base. Start slow and work your way up, and I'm sure you'll find the excitement that we all feel for making soap...and starting slow you will learn how the basic process works and you can work your way up. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and we will try to help.