I have been soaping for quite some time, however I have always been a hot process soaper. Where is the best place to start to "learn" cold process? I admit I'm a bit afraid of the idea of sap not occurring before I pour. There are so many possibilities with cp though that I really want to get past this molehill made mountain.
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snappyllama
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I've always considered hot process to be much harder than cold process so I think you'll take to it really easily.
Probably the only thing more problematic is fragrance... be prepared to use more. I like a strongly scented bar, so I normally go with .75oz ppo - 1oz ppo (unless it is a really strong FO). Fragrances can morph, seize, rice, heat, accelerate, fade, or leak. They are the biggest "unknown" and culprit for issues with CP. Check reviews closely for usage in CP to get an idea of what to expect. When you're making the transition, just pick FOs that behave well. To buy myself some semblance of stability, I add FO to my oils before my lye solution.
Another tip: Know that you can put down the stick blender. You do not need to blend to full trace... so long as the batter is emulsified - you're good to go. Try pulsing lightly and mostly just stirring with the stick blender. Then watch the batter for a minute: if everything stays together and there isn't any free-floating oil, you can separate for coloring and go to town with swirls or whatever.
Also important: take pictures and post them of your inaugural CP soap!
Probably the only thing more problematic is fragrance... be prepared to use more. I like a strongly scented bar, so I normally go with .75oz ppo - 1oz ppo (unless it is a really strong FO). Fragrances can morph, seize, rice, heat, accelerate, fade, or leak. They are the biggest "unknown" and culprit for issues with CP. Check reviews closely for usage in CP to get an idea of what to expect. When you're making the transition, just pick FOs that behave well. To buy myself some semblance of stability, I add FO to my oils before my lye solution.
Another tip: Know that you can put down the stick blender. You do not need to blend to full trace... so long as the batter is emulsified - you're good to go. Try pulsing lightly and mostly just stirring with the stick blender. Then watch the batter for a minute: if everything stays together and there isn't any free-floating oil, you can separate for coloring and go to town with swirls or whatever.
Also important: take pictures and post them of your inaugural CP soap!
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If you are now doing HP, then you should be able to do CP with no problem. Depending on the what I am trying to achieve, I stick blend to light trace. If you are going to attempt swirling, then you might want to just blend to emulsion and then separate the soap into portions. Some FOs do misbehave in CP soap. Checking reviews before using should help with that. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Ditto all the above^^^^.
One way to look at it is that cold process is just hot process, but without cooking the batter. They both start out the same, ie, pour lye into oils, stir/stickblend to emulsification or light trace.....but instead of putting your soaping pot into the oven at this point, or turning on your crockpot, just add your scent (if you chose to not add them to your oils), do whatever you're going to do with your colorants and pour into the mold while everything is still nicely smooth and pourable. You can swirl either before pouring (ITP swirl) or swirl after pouring (or both).
No need to worry about it not being fully saponified before pouring into the mold. Saponification is going to happen sooner or later no matter what.....sooner if you encourage gel, later if you don't, but you can rest assured that it will happen. I encourage gel in mine and it's fully saponified within 6 to 18 hours after pour when I go to unmold and cut -no zap present- depending on my recipe.
As Snappyllama said, the most problematic thing you'll run into will be your fragrance, but if you do your research on the review boards first, and/or ask around the form if the fragrance you are wanting to soap causes acceleration or not, it can totally be a non-issue.
IrishLass
One way to look at it is that cold process is just hot process, but without cooking the batter. They both start out the same, ie, pour lye into oils, stir/stickblend to emulsification or light trace.....but instead of putting your soaping pot into the oven at this point, or turning on your crockpot, just add your scent (if you chose to not add them to your oils), do whatever you're going to do with your colorants and pour into the mold while everything is still nicely smooth and pourable. You can swirl either before pouring (ITP swirl) or swirl after pouring (or both).
No need to worry about it not being fully saponified before pouring into the mold. Saponification is going to happen sooner or later no matter what.....sooner if you encourage gel, later if you don't, but you can rest assured that it will happen. I encourage gel in mine and it's fully saponified within 6 to 18 hours after pour when I go to unmold and cut -no zap present- depending on my recipe.
As Snappyllama said, the most problematic thing you'll run into will be your fragrance, but if you do your research on the review boards first, and/or ask around the form if the fragrance you are wanting to soap causes acceleration or not, it can totally be a non-issue.
IrishLass
