questions regarding MP

[sillysoapysophy]

Hello! I just started making soap a few days ago using MP and have a few questions.
1)what exactly happens to the soap when over heated during the cooking process? Is it no longer usable? I believe I over heated a batch or two and the soap still came out looking great, but in use the lather wasn't what I expected.
2) can too many ingredients be used? Too many oils or herbs and the like? What happens when too many or too much is used?
3) how do you rebatch soap? When can soap not be rebatched?
4) I read for mp that when your pouring in the molds to leave it sitting out for an hour than put it on the freezer for an hour...is that accurate?
5) what bases are best for dry sensitive acne prone skin?
Thank you for all your help!

 

[Genny]

Hello! I just started making soap a few days ago using MP and have a few questions.
1)what exactly happens to the soap when over heated during the cooking process? Is it no longer usable? I believe I over heated a batch or two and the soap still came out looking great, but in use the lather wasn't what I expected. Overheating dries the soap out and reduces the moisture in it. Adding a little bit of vegetable glycerin to it will help make it less dry

2) can too many ingredients be used? Too many oils or herbs and the like? What happens when too many or too much is used? Too many oils and your soap will not lather very well, takes longer to harden up properly & will just feel oily when handling it. Too many herbs and it can feel scratchy when using it.

3) how do you rebatch soap? When can soap not be rebatched? Rebatch soap is for CP soap (Cold Process). MP can be remelted, but the more you remelt it, the more moisture you lose

4) I read for mp that when your pouring in the molds to leave it sitting out for an hour than put it on the freezer for an hour...is that accurate? I wouldn't put it in the freezer, since that will make the soap sweat when you take it out. I would just let it sit until it's cool, then try to unmold it. Making sure that you're not pouring into your molds when the soap is too hot will help you not have soap getting stuck in the molds.

5) what bases are best for dry sensitive acne prone skin? For sensitive & acne prone skin, I'd go for a castile base or goats milk base.
Thank you for all your help!

I just wanted to add that in my experience, adding extra oils/butters to your soap isn't necessary when you find the right soap base.

 

[sillysoapysophy]

Thank you Genny!

 

[sperry]

I'm still new... but have some experience on the re-melting question. (Relevance is questionable, though...lol.) I am trying to build the perfect mold, and am continuously filling different molds with M&P. It was simple to remelt the same soap each time, and I figured I would until I saw some radical change in the end product. I don't know how many times I've re-melted and poured the same batch of soap, but I'm thinking I've got to be pushing ten times. VISUALLY (surely not the best test of soap) there is no difference between the product after the first melt and the one I poured last night.

 

[lisamaliga]

I'm still new... but have some experience on the re-melting question. (Relevance is questionable, though...lol.) I am trying to build the perfect mold, and am continuously filling different molds with M&P. It was simple to remelt the same soap each time, and I figured I would until I saw some radical change in the end product. I don't know how many times I've re-melted and poured the same batch of soap, but I'm thinking I've got to be pushing ten times. VISUALLY (surely not the best test of soap) there is no difference between the product after the first melt and the one I poured last night.

Sperry,
You must have a pretty good soap base to be able to melt it 10 times & see no difference. My suggestion is to keep using it for your test base until you get that perfect mold. But after that many meltings, it probably won't have a very good lather.

 

[sperry]

It's New Directions Clear, if you are interested. (Buyer beware: they are in Canada and shipping costs and time are crazy.) Yes... I'll keep using it for test runs. But THANKS TO THIS FORUM (again) I will DEFINITELY use fresh M&P on my final tests. All I need is to find out that my "perfect" mold works great as long as the base has been melted and poured 25 times, and is completely devoid of moisture.

 

[heatherg23]

Overheating soap can turn it brown and get burnt. Do it 30 secs at a time.

#3 - rebatching: I've done a ton of research over the internet and there are different views and techniques. Here is what I plan on doing with bars of soap I bought....http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapm ... soap_3.htm You use a cheese grater on the soap. Then there are dif ways to do it. You can put the grated soap in a freezer zip lock bag and put it in a pot of boiling or simmering water on your stove. You can try to melt it in the microwave. Even a crockpot...I've seen several videos on youtube using that.

Youtube.com is a great re-source (soapqueen). It's also called "re-milling". You can do a search on the net using that word also. The internet has so much info on soapmaking it's crazy.

Heather