Suuuuuuper fluid recipe

[MGM]

Hi all. I want to try some intricate pours that will require a very thin batter than *stays thin*. I've already resigned myself to working without an FO, just in case, but I'm wondering your favourite recipes for when you want something thin and slow. 100% lard? I had quite a bit of success with this recipe, but after 7 loaves of it, I'm ready to try something different.
Any faves?

(and also, I probably WILL add fragrance, it'll be hard not to. but i will DEFINITELY read reviews first! I always think I do, and then the pudding in my bowl makes it very clear that I did not...)

 

[shunt2011]

I do 45% Lard, 20% CO, 10% Shea, 20% liquid oil and 5% Castor. I have lots of time. Many times I just let it set on the counter for awhile to get it to where I want it. I soap fairly cool. Room temp lye and just warm oils.

 

[Obsidian]

Look for FO that slows or reverses trace. One I can think of is crisp anjour pear from BB, its not very pear like to me but man does it slow things down.
Its a nice enough fruity scent and it seemed to last a fair amount too.

 

[goat soap rulz!]

My recipe is with goats milk, but it stays pretty thin. 30% coconut oil, 37% olive oil, and 33% lard. I usually let it sit on the counter while I measure my FO and colorants. It did thicken up quickly when I put a misbehaving FO in it though!

Maybe an idea for you is instead of using a stick blender, you could use as a handheld blender like this one (link)? Before I knew, that is what I used and my soap would emulsify, but would NEVER trace!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I had quite a bit of success with this recipe, but after 7 loaves of it, I'm ready to try something different.

I vote for "that recipe" with the MGM Side Swirl. Those thin lines between the colors are amazing.
It would be good to know how it stands up with fragrance.

 

[Anstarx]

I recently designed a recipe for my tea tree charcoal soap. I needed to to be at light trace because I want to do a light layer. I divided the emulsified batch in two, added my colorant and EO, and had to constantly SB for at least 5 minutes for it to reach a light trace.
Coconut 15%
Palm 20%
Shea Butter 15%
Camellia 20%
Castor 5%
Olive 15%
Canola 10%
I was aiming to be fancy but also cut cost at the same time so you can probably sub lard for palm and shea, use olive or almond for camellia, etc.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

you can probably sub lard for shea,

This is so true! I was putting a batch together once and ran out of shea butter while weighing oils. I went to soap cald, put 100% shea butter in and hit "calculate". Results showed up on the right column on the list of oils. Then I ticked each oil on the list one-by-one. Those numbers showed up in the left column. Lard was almost identical to shea butter. (That was a long time ago. I see they've changed "Lard" to "Manteca" brand which is more specific and so not as close to shea but close enough to sub.)

 

[MGM]

I vote for "that recipe" with the MGM Side Swirl. Those thin lines between the colors are amazing.
It would be good to know how it stands up with fragrance.

Aww thanks Zany. Though you should know that everything I accomplish is absolute happenstance. Remember when I made your Castile and ended up with brie cheese??

I think I'll try all of these suggestions, @shunt2011 and @Anstarx , too, and report back.
Unless I get distracted.....

 

[Megan]

(and also, I probably WILL add fragrance, it'll be hard not to. but i will DEFINITELY read reviews first! I always think I do, and then the pudding in my bowl makes it very clear that I did not...)

Sometimes even when you read every review exhaustively, you can still have a bad time with a fragrance. I'm looking at you Lavender Luxury from NG...among others.

 

[dibbles]

I think you are okay using animal fats, so I would say lard. If I'm using FO, and want to make sure that the batter will stay fluid for a long time, I will use 30-45% lard, 20-23% CO (even up to 25%), drop my castor to 2-3% or eliminate it completely, OO in the 15-25% range and other liquid oils to make up the rest (nothing magic, but usually sweet almond, sunflower or avocado). I use sodium citrate, sodium lactate and granulated sugar with no problems. Probably avoid TD or clays until you know how your recipe behaves. I have also used shea at 10% or cocoa butter at 8-10% and not had any problems. Stay away from OO pomace, palm oil and soy wax for the most working time IMO.

I think the most important things are to soap on the cool side and to get to emulsion and stop. Put the stick blender away at that point. Be patient while waiting for emulsion - it can take awhile with mostly hand stirring and short bursts with the SB.

Good luck - let us know how it goes.

 

[szaza]

I've noticed quite a bit of difference in trace time between soft oils as well. HO sunflower traces the slowest for me, while RBO accelerates like crazy. SAO and OO also trace quite slowly, while AvO is a bit quicker but still workable.

ETA: I sometimes use orange EO to slow trace. It doesn't stick, but I feel it slows trace enough to be worth it (and I make sure the other scents in the blend do stick, so I don't end up with scentless soap)

 

[MGM]

I did it! My first spin swirl!
And of course I scented it (Eucalyptus-Spearmint from NDA, which I knew didn't accelerate nor discolour). Used @shunt2011 's recipe, with grapeseed and sunflower oils, adding 5% extra sunflower as I'm out of castor. I intended to add sugar to the water for bubbles but forgot. It's safe in the oven CPOPing now.

 

[dibbles]

Look at you go! That's a beautiful soap - it looks like everything went to plan.

 

[szaza]

That soap looks amazing!!

 

[shunt2011]

Looks awesome! Can’t wait to see it cut. Pretty!

 

[MGM]

Basement still smells great! Took the sides off the mold this morning, but not rushing it so I don't much or dent it. Will monitor throughout the day and then CUT!

 

[Adobehead]

This is so true! I was putting a batch together once and ran out of shea butter while weighing oils. I went to soap cald, put 100% shea butter in and hit "calculate". Results showed up on the right column on the list of oils. Then I ticked each oil on the list one-by-one. Those numbers showed up in the left column. Lard was almost identical to shea butter. (That was a long time ago. I see they've changed "Lard" to "Manteca" brand which is more specific and so not as close to shea but close enough to sub.)

View attachment 47442
View attachment 47441

lard is called manteca in Spanish.

 

[Bari b]

Basement still smells great! Took the sides off the mold this morning, but not rushing it so I don't much or dent it. Will monitor throughout the day and then CUT!

Can't wait to see it! The top is gorgeous!

 

[MGM]

Can't wait to see it! The top is gorgeous!

It's all the way through like that! Cut should be pretty impressive....usually just the bottom that's a bit of a dud ;-)

 

[LilianNoir]

This is beautiful. I can't wait to have a slab mold to do stuff like this.