Tried my first batch....not sure how it will come out.....

uplandermom · Jan 16, 2008

Well, I tried my very first batch of CP tonight.

What I had the most problem with was the temperature of the oils and lye.
They were 100 degrees each when I finally mixed and started stirring...but by the time the trace happened after about 20 minutes, they had really cooled down. I felt no heat coming from the batch at all.

When I took the class on making CP soap, she told us to let the lye and oils cool to between 98 and 100 degrees.

I piled blankets on top of the mold and placed it in a warm corner in my furnace room....

So I guess this might be a mess. We will see this time tomorrow, I guess.

Guest · Jan 17, 2008

This web site is better than any class.......

I only do CP soaps however I have evolved to RTCP soaps because I learned from others here that you can have all your oils and lye/liquid mixture be room temp and still make soap.

I made a batch with the lye/liquid mixture that i made up days ahead of time and it was most definately room temp, and the soap turned out great. And the oils were all room temp, just creamed to blend well.

There are several threads on RTCP soap, you might want to go back and read some. They are awesome, and it's a much easier and less stressful technique.

Lane · Jan 17, 2008

I agree completely with Faithy...RTCP is much more of a 'calmer' process... I use to be paranoid about the temps and gel phase and heat, I did one RTCP batch and I am hooked...

The heat is caused form the chemical reaction...Even if you don't mix at a higher temp, the temp will rise if you brought it to proper trace. Were you hand stirring or stick blending?