Why do you CP?

[Mommysoaper]

Personally, I like HP and CP. Usually when I am making a batch or two of CP, I already have a batch of HP cooking away in the crock pot. That way, by the time I'm done with the CP soaps, the HP soap is ready for coloring, fragrancing, and molding. I enjoy being able to make intricate and complicated swirls with CP, but I also enjoy the rustic look of HP. I like the challenge of swirling, layering and even making leopard spots with HP. Also, I don't babysit the crock pot. If I make a batch of HP on its own, I put the oils and lye solution in, SB, then set on low. Since I'm a stay at home mom of 4 I am busy but find myself in the kitchen all of the time anyway so I just check on it when I'm in the kitchen. When it's done I turn it off and remove the inner crock from the pot itself and let it cool a bit. Then I color, fragrance and mold! Easy peasy lemon squeezy (got that from my 4 year old).

 

[Candybee]

Mommysoaper I love the way you explain your HP process. I want to do HP on occasion as I want to learn all the soap processes I can. Right now I only do CP. I think I would like to be able to do HP for those FOs I love but fade or morph in CP. It would be a great advantage to have both processes down. You make it sound simple. Shoot, if you can juggle 4 kids, CP and HP I think I should be able to handle the occasional HP. LOL!

I am surprised there are not more HP'ers here. On another forum there seemed to be an even ratio of HP'ers and CP'ers. It always gave me the impression more people liked HP over CP. Guess I was wrong.

 

[Moonshea Botanicals]

I am puzzled as to some of the "old-fashioned" and "real soap" comments; HP is real, from-scratch soap-- it ain't melt-n-pour or anything.

I began doing M&P in Girl Scouts doing a project for a business badge. And I thought that was it for making soap, for a long time.
In high school I went on a school trip to Willaimsburg, VA. It was there that I saw how soap was actually made.
I am a Wiccan & a medievalist. I like that I can create something using ideas forged centuries ago. I like blending science & 'magic' together to make something spectacular.

The 'old fashioned' way of making soap is, historically speaking, CP. HP is just another, more modern way of doing it. Melt & pour is another. CPOP is yet another. The result is the same...SOAP.

 

[lpstephy85]

The first batch that I made was CP and I made two different recipes. One came out nice and hard and the other came out really soft and I wasn't happy with that. I read more about HP and gave that a spin and like it a lot. I was able to make two batches of HP in 4-5 hours on a Sunday. I didn't really babysit the crock pot but I also wasn't to far away. I would just check it every 10-15 minutes until the center was gone (if you have done HP, you know what I mean). Again though, one batch came out better than the other but it wasn't the softness, it was the color (the brick red one). I am sure it will grow on me though.

 

[WallFlower]

I started off with melt and pour when i was 14 years old. Really got into it back then. I always strived to make the pretty swirls and nicely shaped tops like all the other soap makers. I would come clode but i never liked the results and i didnt enjoy the feel of m&p either. I wanted to make cp soap but as a 14-15 year old girl my mom was against letting me handle lye. So when i became 18 I started buying supplies to make my 1st cp soap finally. Now I am 21 years old and havent gone back to m&p. I plan to move on to liquid and whipped soap one day.

 

[bodhi]

You are exactly right. Just because the HP method saponifies the soap quicker so you can use it right after you are finished does not mean the soap has cured! You still need to cure your soap whether you CP or HP. ALL soap needs to cure.

Agreed.

Because when I refuse to strap on the goggles and gloves I feel like I am living dangerously and am a crazy mad scientist, and even if I do blow up my lab (read: kitchen) I shall be swept off my feet by Tom Hiddleston who will save me from certain death. We shall then ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

That and I like playing around with percentages and such to get a nice bar of soap that I made from basic household items.

This too, though I have no idea who Tom Hiddleston is.

Plus, i prefer the look and feel of cp.

 

[new12soap]

The 'old fashioned' way of making soap is, historically speaking, CP.

Hmmm... soap has been cooked in a pot over a fire for centuries upon centuries, so not sure how you mean that it is historically CP.

I guess I am the lone dissenter here, I vastly prefer HP. MUCH less "fussiness" IMO, no taking everything's temperature, waiting for lye to cool and everything has to be within 10 degrees of each other, no worry about ricing or accelerating or seizing with fragrances (and btw you use about half as much fragrance in HP which also makes it more economical), I never get ash or separation or overheating or cracking or partial gel, fragrance doesn't morph or anything weird like it can w CP. I don't really "babysit" mine, I just throw it all in the crockpot and let it cook while I put everything away, then give it a stir. It usually finishes in the time I am washing everything anyway, so to me it really doesn't take any longer. I can swirl my colors, I can make milk soaps, salt bars, and castille, I get a nice smooth pour (yes, even in a tube mold), and my bars don't look at all "chunky". Are they as smooth as CP? probably not, but to me the advantages of HP are sooooo worth it.

I originally started soaping when I found out you could HP it. Making something and sticking it in a closet for 6 weeks before you can even try it out and see if you did it right was just never going to happen around here! Of course, HP does also benefit from a good long cure, but it is safe to use within an hour of when you started and to me that makes a big difference too.

 

[Mockingbird Ramble]

Agreed.



This too, though I have no idea who Tom Hiddleston is.

Plus, i prefer the look and feel of cp.

He is the guy who plays Loki in The Avengers and Thor. I am proud of myself because he is actually born in the same decade as I am, unlike Gregory Peck or Paul Newman!

 

[scrubbie]

I am an HP soap maker. I have done Cp but felt that the reason I HP is because i am controlling hahaha. I can control the process so much better than CP. In HP I dont have to worry about f/os or e/os just soap add superfats and scent and color.

 

[OliveOil2]

I love CP because it pours into the mold, and then it just has to cure. I plan on trying HP one day, probably with a high Olive Oil recipe. I have rebatched in the crock pot and really really hate doing it, so that has played into putting off trying HP. When I first started soaping I felt that there were so many more steps to HP and that meant more chances of messing up As already stated HP still needs to cure for water evaporation. I always wait at least four weeks and more ofter six weeks before giving away or selling, but feel that they are neutral much sooner.