Cream Soap

So, my grown up soap molds arrived, and I decided that I could not wait any longer to try my hand at a milk soap. Not having any goat's milk or other fancy ones readily available, I used I a 10% Milkfat cream.

I read about a lot of different ways to do it, and decided on the split method. That is, adding the cream at trace, and subtracting the amount of cream from my total liquid. The rest of my liquid was distilled water, which is what I mixed my lye in.

Also, our apartment is usually on the warm side (My coconut oil is always liquid), due to the way the heating system in our building works. I know milk soaps can easily overheat, so I decided to try and prevent gel. After lining my mold, I put it in the fridge to chill the wood somewhat, as it will give the soap a lot of insulation, and I wanted it to start cool. And of course, after soaping, I put it in the fridge to keep it as cool as possible as it saponifies.

So far, I love my mold. It feels very sturdy, and it is going to be a dream to get the soap out with the collapsible sides. What I didn't do, was the calculation to measure how much oil in weight I should use to fill my mold, so I ended up with more batter than would fit. I put the extra in a small silicone tray of heart molds I have used for making bath bombs. I may do that on purpose in future batches, as after my initial reaction of "Eeeek! What I am going to do with the extra?" I am now kind of excited that I will have small soap to test with at different stages of the cure, and it would be a great way to make embeds for future batches.

The recipe I used was:
40 % Olive oil pomace
30% Coconut Oil 76 deg
10% Castor
10% Shea Butter
10% Sweet Almond Oil

I also added Creamy Cinnamon Chai FO  at trace, after mixing in the cream. I have to say, I really, really love this fragrance. It's definitely one I will buy again. It is supposed to discolour to tan, but I am embracing the brown, as they say.

The FO did not accelerate my trace at all, but I found that the cream really did. I am going to have a hard time waiting for it to set so I can cut, and an even harder time waiting to try it. It looked so much creamier that any of my previous batches.

You can see a small jar of Mica in the background, originally I was going to colour this one, but decided against it. The scent really seemed to demand a natural colour.


***Update****

It's a good thing I put it in the fridge to prevent gel. It's achieved full gel while in there, so it is likely it would have overheated for sure if I left it out.

Lessons learned

Well, it looks like my soap from yesterday should be ok. I unmolded it, and while it is not exactly pretty, it is tongue neutral. It also looks like the fragrance separated, but none of the soaping oils did. Should be usable after a nice cure.

I did learn a few things from this batch:

1) It's been a good plan to make small batches as I learn, and hen using a new FO that has not been reviewed by other soap makers, I will stick to small ones, even as I gain more experience. When things started going wrong, I didn't panic much. Partly due to the research I have done in preparing for this craft. I did know that rebatching is not only possible, but not too much of a hassle. But even if it had not turned out, or been unsalvageable, I wasn't going to stress about that small amount of oils.

2) Cranberry seeds will discolour from red to brown in CP soap, and end up looking like flax seeds. They still look kinda cool in the soap, but not as pretty as in my head.

Even with the problems, I am still having quite a lot of fun with this. I need to start clearing some more space for curing, though, lol.

Troubleshooting

So, I think I may have experienced accelerated trace tonight.

My recipe was

water 172g
NaOH 63 g

Olive oil pomace 182g
Coconut oil 72deg 136g
Palm oil 113g
Castor 23g

and I tossed in about 3/4 tablespoon of cranberry seeds as an exfoliant. Things were going very well until I added my FO, a scent called White Sage. I love the scent, but my soap went from a light to medium trace to almost like mashed potatoes. I blended a bit more to try and smooth it out, but am worried I will end up with separation and have to rebatch.

Here is what it looks like now

I will post more pics if  I get separation, or if I am able to cut and cure it as is. I am kinda relieved it happened,  I've been worrying about how to deal with things if they go wrong. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Colour woes

So I unmolded the soap I coloured with Paprika and Tumeric. I expected the tumeric portion to be more distinct, but I still think it looks quite pretty. Tongue neutral, no funny discolouring or texture, so all in all, I say it's a success!

Batch 2

I made my second batch tonight, and I am very excited to see it unmolded.

First, my recipe:


 Almond Oil, sweet  68 g
 Coconut Oil, 76 deg 136 g
 Cocoa Butter  22g
 Castor Oil  45g
 Olive Oil pomace  181 g

Water 172g
Lye - NaOH  62 g

I split the soap batter in half at trace, and added Sugar Plum FO from Voyageur Soap & Candle Company to both halves, 1/4 tsp tumeric to one half, and 1/4 tsp paprika to the other for colour. I didn't notice any acceleration of trace, and it's a bit too early to tell if it will discolour.

I just did a simple layer, no swirl for me this time. Maybe next time I have two colours.

Looks like it is getting a nice gel on already. I am very excited to cut this one and see what the layers look like.

My soaping wishlist

I have been reading a lot on different techniques and types of soap. Here are the ones that I really really want to try.

In no particular order:

1) coffee soap
2) Beer soap
3) Wine soap
4) Salt bar
5) Milk Soap
6) Coloured soap
7) Castille soap
8) Two Coloured soap
9) Column swirl
10) Mantra swirl
11) ITP swirl
12) Whipped soap


We are going to be one dang clean household.

Unmolding a Mystery

Ok, I was so excited for the unmolding of my first CP soap made on my own! I couldn't wait to come here and post about it.


Overall, I am pleased with the result. It looks very consistent for texture and colour throughout, and I believe I saw it go to full gel, although it's kind of hard to tell from the view you get from the top of a Pringles can.

Speaking of Pringles cans, they are not for me for use as a mold. The heat from the process caused the plastic lining of the can to bubble, and gave the outside of my soap an odd look.

I was a little worried about the appearance at first, but it passed the zap test, and the inside looks great, so I am pretty sure that is just from the lining bubbling out.

Now I just have to wait 4 to 6 weeks to try it. I was joking to my other half we would have to clear out the storage closet for me to store my supplies and dry my soaps. I was only half kidding.