Underrated and Overrated Soaping Ingredients

[The_Phoenix]

Hi there !
Sorry, I don't get it... Your rice water equals the amount of water necessary in the recipe right ? and you then add the lye into the frozen rice water ? (sorry, I get confused with the 50:50 lye solution...) ...

Correct. I don’t think of it as “rice water” though. It’s just the water needed for my recipe with some rice flour added. I freeze that and then add my 50/50 water/lye solution* when I am ready to make my soap. Does that make sense?

*I master batch a large amount of 50:50 water:lye solution.

 

[The_Phoenix]

I've been using aloe vera juice and adding sorbitol to it as my liquid, so now I'm wondering if maybe I could add a little rice flour to that mix and freeze it before adding the lye, like I would do if making milk soap? If I didn't freeze it, do you think it might scorch?

I freeze my “rice water” because I want it to be ready for when I want to make soap. The rice flour has never “scorched” on me. After I add the 50:50 lye solution. Once the lye solution melts the “rice water,” the solution is at a perfect temperature to make soap. No waiting for it to Coll down because it’s already cool enough to make soap with.

My advice is to test the rice flour in a small batch before using in in a large batch of soap. And test it without any other additives. Just use plain distilled water and your regular recipe. That will allow you to experience what the starch in rice does to the resulting soap.

 

[CecileBC]

Correct. I don’t think of it as “rice water” though. It’s just the water needed for my recipe with some rice flour added. I freeze that and then add my 50/50 water/lye solution* when I am ready to make my soap. Does that make sense?

*I master batch a large amount of 50:50 water:lye solution.

Yes perfet sense, thank you ! I just wrote down the maths to do to add the correct amount of water. It's pretty simple I can't wait to try all of this

 

[ngio]

I made GM soap for a wholesale customer for 10 years. They used fresh GM from their goats; I used Meyenburg Powder GM. (available at most grocery stores) Their customers couldn't tell the difference.

TIP: I made the lye solution the night before processing and put it in the fridge to chlll overnight. I added the powdered GM to my warmed oils, SB'ed for 1 minute to fully incorporate, before adding the lye solution straight from the fridge. Waaaay easier than the traditional method for making GM soap.

I also have used powdered buttermilk. Nice.

That's so interesting! Does the lye not need to go through geo thermal reaction (I think it's called) , reaching certain temperature to make soap soap?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Does the lye not need to go through geo thermal reaction (I think it's called) , reaching certain temperature to make soap soap?

The lye solution heats up to about 160°F when you add the NaOH to the water. Then it cools down to a temp where you would normally add it to your soap batch -- any where from "room temp" to 135°F or so, depending on the type of soap you're making.

For goat milk soap, it's a known "heater" prone to "volcano" or scorching. So you want to "soap cool" by adding the cold lye solution straight from the fridge OR do the traditional method by adding the NaOH (slowly) to ice cubes made from the goat milk to keep the lye cool enough to make soap.

I hope that answers your question and that it makes sense.

 

[Christa10]

I freeze my “rice water” because I want it to be ready for when I want to make soap. The rice flour has never “scorched” on me. After I add the 50:50 lye solution. Once the lye solution melts the “rice water,” the solution is at a perfect temperature to make soap. No waiting for it to Coll down because it’s already cool enough to make soap with.

My advice is to test the rice flour in a small batch before using in in a large batch of soap. And test it without any other additives. Just use plain distilled water and your regular recipe. That will allow you to experience what the starch in rice does to the resulting soap.

Thanks. I am making soap this weekend so I'll try a small batch. What percentage of rice flour do you use?

 

[The_Phoenix]

Tanks. I am making soap this weekend so I'll try a small batch. What percentage of rice flour do you use?

Err, I don't really go by a percentage. You really only need a small amount. For my 1,400g batch (of fats), I use a teaspoon. For my 3,400g batch (of fats), I use 2 tsp.

 

[therealshari]

This is a most interesting thread. I haven't heard of anyone using the recipie/method that I do, so I'll add it here. I selected the products for cost primarily but I also wanted a nice bar.

I use CO, OO, Rice bran oil, Soybean Oil, and Shea Butter, 30/23/13/21/13%. I add Sodium Lactate to help with hardness.

I can do most anything with this recipie. For swirl in the pot, I use it just at emulsion. I can SB a little longer to get it to MT or even past that.

 

[saintalchemist]

I made GM soap for a wholesale customer for 10 years. They used fresh GM from their goats; I used Meyenburg Powder GM. (available at most grocery stores) Their customers couldn't tell the difference.

TIP: I made the lye solution the night before processing and put it in the fridge to chlll overnight. I added the powdered GM to my warmed oils, SB'ed for 1 minute to fully incorporate, before adding the lye solution straight from the fridge. Waaaay easier than the traditional method for making GM soap.

I also have used powdered buttermilk. Nice.

Why do you refrigerate the lye mixture? Does goat milk recipes need to have cold lye?

 

[Shelley D]

Why do you refrigerate the lye mixture? Does goat milk recipes need to have cold lye?

Milk in soap recipes is notorious for scorching due to the heat the lye solution generates so soapers come up with all kinds of ways to "soap cool" (at cooler temperatures) to prevent the scorching, otherwise you end up with any number of the problems mentioned in the thread. But, if you take your time and soap cool, you get an amazing super creamy gentle soap

 

[AliOop]

Why do you refrigerate the lye mixture? Does goat milk recipes need to have cold lye?

Lye solution should never be stored at 65F or less, because at that temperature, the lye starts to "undissolve" itself, that is, to precipitate out of solution. Thus, if it sits too long in the fridge or any location at 65F or lower, you can end up with large or small chunks of solid lye at the bottom of the solution. These will not dissolve in your soap batter, and that will make your soap very unsafe to use.

It is much safer to either make it ahead of time and let it cool off at room temp; set the container of hot lye solution in an ice bath to cool off faster, checking temps often; or make it with frozen liquid, such as distilled water ice cubes, frozen goat milk cubes, frozen aloe vera juice cubes, etc.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Lye solution should never be stored at 65F or less,

Just to clarify, I never store my water-based lye solution in the fridge. For GM soap, which is known to heat up, I make it fresh and then chill it in the fridge over night. The next morning, I add it to my room temp FAs (that contain GM power, fragrance, and any other additives) while SB-ing, straight from the fridge. Quicker and easier than the ice cube method. I cover the batch to ensure gel, but I do not insulate to avoid over-heating.

because at that temperature, the lye starts to "undissolve" itself, that is, to precipitate out of solution

Good to know!

 

[saintalchemist]

Just to clarify, I never store my water-based lye solution in the fridge. For GM soap, which is known to heat up, I make it fresh and then chill it in the fridge over night. The next morning, I add it to my room temp FAs (that contain GM power, fragrance, and any other additives) while SB-ing, straight from the fridge. Quicker and easier than the ice cube method. I cover the batch to ensure gel, but I do not insulate to avoid over-heating.


Good to know!

When using aloe vera for water for Cold Process soap... what temperature should it be brought too? I was planning on doing 100F oil and 100F aloe-vera-water... But should it be cooler? Thanks

 

[KiwiMoose]

When using aloe vera for water for Cold Process soap... what temperature should it be brought too? I was planning on doing 100F oil and 100F aloe-vera-water... But should it be cooler? Thanks

It's personal choice really, and dependent upon a lot of factors. I tend to soap around 40 degrees (approx 100 of your degrees). Sometimes I aim for a bit cooler when I want to do more swirls or intricate designs. But my recipe contains a lot of hard oils, so i want to soap warm enough to keep them melted.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I was planning on doing 100F oil and 100F aloe-vera-water... But should it be cooler?

Like @KiwiMoose said, "it depends". There are times when you want to soap cool to prevent a batch from overheating, like with milk soaps, cinnamon/clove and some other fragrances, sugar like honey or maple syrup soap, beer soap. You also want to soap cool to have enough time to play with different colorants when making fancy artisan designs. These are things you will learn as you go along.

I don't do fancy designs with few exceptions. So, for my Plain Jane soaps (no heaters):
Formulas high in hard oils (like Basic Trinty of Oils) - 120° - 135°F
Formulas high in liquid oils (like ZNSC) - 100° - 120°F

Aloe Vera Juice for water to make the lye solution doesn't matter. What matters is the FAs (Fatty Acids) used. To learn more, go to @DeeAnna 's Soapy Stuff -- a treasure trove of advice about all things soapy.

 

[Christa10]

In reference to adding rice flour to milk soap - I've been adding powdered milk and colloidal oats to the heated oil. Could I also add the rice flour to the oil instead of adding it to the lye solution?

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

I think Shea makes a bad creamier and gentle on the skin - sort of moisturising.

I have a friend who is a farmer and likes 35/30/30/5%olive/palm/coconut/castor it is a cleansing soap that will get you squeaky clean.

I use olive, avocado, Shea and castor and no coconut oil because I want a hard bar that leaves my skin clean but not that squeaky dry feeling. Everyone’s skin is different and what we want in a bar is different too.

Would you be willing to share how much of those oils you use? That sounds like just the kind of bar I want.

 

[Relle]

Would you be willing to share how much of those oils you use? That sounds like just the kind of bar I want.

I'm not sure when pj is coming back in, she has other outside commitments and is not sure is she will be around again.

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

I'm not sure when pj is coming back in, she has other outside commitments and is not sure is she will be around again.

Oh thank you for letting me know.

 

[Kaybrantley]

What a great thread!

I'm only in my second year of soap making so take everything with a grain of salt, but I have an opinion that not any of you seem to share. That is that I do not like olive oil in my soap. Any soap that I have OO in gets super mushy since my bars experience high traffic and my climate is super humid. Even bars that I buy from professional soapmakers that have OO in them, go mushy on me, no matter how well I treat them. From hearing everyone rave about it in soap, I figured I'd love it, but nope. It's just not for me. Just goes to show you that for certain ingredients, people can have wildly different results based on conditions and personal preference.