Sticky feeling after washing hands

[shunt2011]

No I didn't use any of that but i will definitely try that next time. How much salt per pound would you suggest? Now I came to a slight trace in just a couple minutes. I stick stirred in bursts and hand stirred in between. I stuck with 40% lard but did 30% olive oil, 5% castor and 25 coconut oil. I used Coconut Lime Verbena at 6%. Figured that I would give that a shot. I used 31% water. Now the superfat I am still kind of a little confused on so I left it at 5%. I have heard people minimizing it to 3%. I need to study up some more on all of that. I let the oils and lye get to about 110 degrees. Funny enough I somehow managed to get them to cool at the same temperature lol. Lucky I guess

Your recipe should be perfect. Should be a good soap. Some find anything over 20% CO drying. But you may love it. I stick around 20% for the most part.

Your salt soap recipe isn't a good one. Salt Soap requires high CO. Anywhere between 80-110% with 18-20% SF. I do 80% CO, 15% Avocado Oil, 5% Castor and 18% SF. I use 50% weight of oils as salt. I use a 29% lye concentration as it gives me more time to get the batter into the mold and will allow a swirl even. I generally do a loaf mold and cut within 3-4 hours. It is still very warm when cut. Otherwise use individual molds if you have them and cover them well.

 

[Candle Guy]

Todd thanks a lot man. So far so good with all of the help. I just did cranberry woods with the same method except I used 1 teaspoon of salt and 33 lye on this one. I also added some dye just to try out. I poured it and it looked great. I had to spritz a little alcohol on the top because I had more bubbles than I wanted. Its covered up now and I will check the temp in a bit to make sure the fragrance oil doesn't mess with the temp. Thanks a lot for the salt recipe. I will have to try that soon. I appreciate the wealth of info and you sharing a recipe

 

[Candle Guy]

I do have a couple individual molds I bought and used melt and pour in those so I should be set there. I just need to get moving on it soon and see where these recipes land me.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Todd thanks a lot man. So far so good with all of the help. I just did cranberry woods with the same method except I used 1 teaspoon of salt and 33 lye on this one. I also added some dye just to try out. I poured it and it looked great. I had to spritz a little alcohol on the top because I had more bubbles than I wanted. Its covered up now and I will check the temp in a bit to make sure the fragrance oil doesn't mess with the temp. Thanks a lot for the salt recipe. I will have to try that soon. I appreciate the wealth of info and you sharing a recipe

When you say you added dye do you mean mica or ultramarines? Because dye shouldn't be be used in soap.

 

[Ladka]

... you add the water to the lye...

This must be a typo ?!?

 

[Candle Guy]

It was dye that I bought for my melt and pour soap from Candle Science. Maybe it's called something else? Lol lemme check

 

[Candle Guy]

Here is the bottle

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Here is the bottle

Those are meant for melt and pour and some cosmetics. If it works at all it will completely disappear most likely.

For lye based soap you want to use micas, iron oxides, ultramarines or natural colorants.

 

[Candle Guy]

Ahhh I did not know that. Thank you. So will it mess up my batch or just fade away like you said?

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Ahhh I did not know that. Thank you. So will it mess up my batch or just fade away like you said?

It should just fade away but who knows you could be the first one that it works for.

 

[Candle Guy]

Lol well that was an oops moment. It's all good though. I can make another one and forget about the coloring until I get the appropriate products.

 

[earlene]

Your colorants need to be stable in the high pH environment, which is why not all colorants will work in lye soap.

Make sure your supplier includes information about stability in Cold Process soap. If it is not addressed on their website (if that is where you are buying), then it's most likely not pH stable for CP or HP soap. Some suppliers even include pictures of how the colorant looks in CP soap, and that's really nice.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Your colorants need to be stable in the high pH environment, which is why not all colorants will work in lye soap.

Make sure your supplier includes information about stability in Cold Process soap. If it is not addressed on their website (if that is where you are buying), then it's most likely not pH stable for CP or HP soap. Some suppliers even include pictures of how the colorant looks in CP soap, and that's really nice.

This was my next comment.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Lol well that was an oops moment. It's all good though. I can make another one and forget about the coloring until I get the appropriate products.

Mad micas and just Pigments are my two favorite places to buy mica. Just Pigments has free shipping on $10 or more and they are fast.

 

[Arimara]

Mad micas and just Pigments are my two favorite places to buy mica. Just Pigments has free shipping on $10 or more and they are fast.

I did not know that about mad micas. I'm only starting to use micas and hoping they won't irritate the heck out my skin.

 

[Candle Guy]

Update: I called Candle Science and told them what I did lol. They said don't worry it is safe but you may not achieve a vibrant color with the liquid dye I used. So hopefully I will be safe for this mess up lol

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I did not know that about mad micas. I'm only starting to use micas and hoping they won't irritate the heck out my skin.

They should not. Mica is a mineral very similar to talc (talcum powder) but just slightly harder. However it is ground into a powder with the same micron size as talc. Or slightly larger for a glitter. I have only heard of it irritating people who have hyper sensitive skin conditions. Also keep in mind that it will only be in contact with your skin for a very short time before it is washed away. You are more likely to have problems with a oil that you use before the mica would bother you. In nature it can actually rot and become a goopy mess.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Update: I called Candle Science and told them what I did lol. They said don't worry it is safe but you may not achieve a vibrant color with the liquid dye I used. So hopefully I will be safe for this mess up lol

Yes it is perfectly safe. I use it in my foaming hand wash that I make.

 

[Candle Guy]

Hey Todd I was looking at the Mad Mica website and they have some cool stuff. So if I purchase Micas for my soap do I need any other additives for it to work?

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Hey Todd I was looking at the Mad Mica website and they have some cool stuff. So if I purchase Micas for my soap do I need any other additives for it to work?

If I am making a single color soap I will hold back an ounce or two of my recipe on the lightest oil to mix the mica in and make sure that there are no clumps. Then add it back to the full batch and mix it in. If I am doing a swirl of one or more colors I will just usually add the color straight into the separate container that my batter is in and mix it with a spatula or whisk.

You can also use a light oil like safflower or sweat almond oil to liquefy your mica. This ounce of oil is in addition to the oil that is used in your recipe. If you keep your SF low then this additional oil will not cause any problems. For example if your recipe calls for 16 ounces of oil, you will end up with a 1/2 or 1 ounce of additional oil but that oil is not figured into your recipe. It is more like an additive that doesn't get figured into the recipe through your soap calculator.

If you are doing a multiple color swirl your best bet is to just add it in dry or you can pour a little batter into a small bowl mix the mica in and then add it back to the batter that you have separated.

I would also recommend that you find a YouTube video that is demonstrating swirls and or adding color because it is much easier to understand what I am telling you if you actually see how it is done. I am not a big video learner but for this I found the videos helpful. Watch one then ask questions if you have any. Trust me.