Someone else I'm afraid. Thank you.
The soap recipe thread
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Someone else I'm afraid. Thank you.
There are a few here who have mentioned they masterbatch their lye with silk, not all of them using Tussah Silk.
I've been using silk in my masterbatch NaOH. Recently I made a masterbatch with cornsilk instead to use until I run out of it, then I'll go back to the silk.
I use a product that looks like this from another vendor, who no longer carries them: (Link) I chose these from a recommendation by cmzaha. I cut them into little slivers prior to adding to the hot lye solution. It does take a lot of careful stirring to get them completely dissolved.
I found the cornsilk much harder to dissolve than the silk cocoons. I ended up having to toss out a lot of the cornsilk because it wasn't dissolving as easily or quickly as the silk cocoons, in spite of continuous stirring. But, then again, I didn't cut it up into tiny bits; maybe it would have dissolved more readily.
I've been using silk in my masterbatch NaOH. Recently I made a masterbatch with cornsilk instead to use until I run out of it, then I'll go back to the silk.
I use a product that looks like this from another vendor, who no longer carries them: (Link) I chose these from a recommendation by cmzaha. I cut them into little slivers prior to adding to the hot lye solution. It does take a lot of careful stirring to get them completely dissolved.
I found the cornsilk much harder to dissolve than the silk cocoons. I ended up having to toss out a lot of the cornsilk because it wasn't dissolving as easily or quickly as the silk cocoons, in spite of continuous stirring. But, then again, I didn't cut it up into tiny bits; maybe it would have dissolved more readily.
violets2217
Well-Known Member
Like the silky hairy stuff from corn on the cobs? Cool!
Yes. It can be purchased as a powder from variety of vendors, and it used in cosmetics. The powder might be easier to dissolve in hot lye than the dried corn silk from corn cobs. But cutting them into teeny tiny pieces would probably have helped as well, but I didn't realize until I had already dropped it into the solution and by then it was too late.
violets2217
Well-Known Member
So in theory...next time I have corn
I could wash and dehydrate the silk then grind it in my spice grinder and add it to soap! I’ll need to read up on this! Thanks!!!!
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
All the reading you need to do is what you just wrote! LOL That's the way I used corn silk in soap the first time I tried it ages ago. It gives a surprisingly "silky" feel to the soap.So in theory...next time I have corn
Ladka
Well-Known Member
Interesting! This year I grew one corn plant on my balcony (to be honest, I don't know how it came there). I ate the grains from one cob and the other was somehow useles. I harvested the silky hairs and dried them without knowing what to do with them.
I may give it a try when I get to a fresh packet of NaOH.
I may give it a try when I get to a fresh packet of NaOH.
Thank you for the recipe- I am excited to add butters to my soap, as I’ve tried most of the standard oils. I have a question- with your Regular Soap recipe, you mention that 60% hard oils/butters cuts down on play time, if you use the heat transfer method. Could you tell me why that is? Is it because hard oils/butters trace faster? Or because they solidify so you have to make sure you don’t get below their melting points? Ok, TIA!!!
My standard soap recipe:
(Vegan, and palm free)
20% each of Soy Wax, CO, OO and RBO
10% Shea Butter
5% each of Avocado oil and Castor Oil
4-5% superfat depending on my mood.
30% lye concentration.
It's rare that I make this without substituting the water with something else - aloe juice being the most common, but often coconut milk or oat milk (using split method). Sometimes beer or hard cider, ginger beer, sometimes fruit purees as a portion of the water.
(Vegan, and palm free)
20% each of Soy Wax, CO, OO and RBO
10% Shea Butter
5% each of Avocado oil and Castor Oil
4-5% superfat depending on my mood.
30% lye concentration.
It's rare that I make this without substituting the water with something else - aloe juice being the most common, but often coconut milk or oat milk (using split method). Sometimes beer or hard cider, ginger beer, sometimes fruit purees as a portion of the water.
I believe the reason why I have less play time is because 1) hard oils/butters trace quicker overall as compared to soft oils, and 2) I'm quick starting the saponification process with the high heat. @DeeAnna has a much better handle on the science of soap making so she could probably explain it better. I just know that by the time my hard oils/butters are melted, my batter is thicker than what it is if I just melt the hard oils/butters, added the soft oils, then added my Lye Solution.
Now I have soaped TOO cool. I master batch my oils/butters and lye solution, and out of curiosity I wanted to see what would happen if I didn't remelt the oils/butters so I made a test batch with no color or scent. It should be noted that the hard oils/butters never fully solidify because of the soft oils, but is the consistency of waffle batter. Anyhoo...with the oils/butters and lye/water at about 70F, the result was a grainy looking bar of soap with obvious stearic spots. It was an okay bar of soap, it got me clean, but it just didn't feel right.
Good info- thank you. I forgot about how high heat can speed up sopanification. I found a great local source for small amounts (<1lb) of cocoa and Shea butters so should be pouring some new soap tomorrow or even today. Have a good one.
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