I think it depends on your recipe. I get a faster trace with my normal recipe if I soap over 105, but other recipes were fine at 115 and the castile I did at 125. If you have a lot of hard fats and butters, I wouldn't go too high. I like to soap at 90-100. That gives me the most time if I'm swirling or anything.
Soap Makers Help!
- Thread starter Jenlyn9483
- Start date
I measure melt my solid oils on low heat. While they're melting, I weigh my liquid oils.
I remove the solid oils from the heat before they are melted all the way and let the residual heat do it's thing. Sometimes I'll use a stick blender to get those last pieces that do not want to melt when I'm ready to pour the liquid oils into the melted solid oils (I lurves my stick blender!)
Next, I'll weigh out my frozen milk.
I freeze the milk in gallon zip baggies that have frozen on it's side on a cookie sheet.. It's easy to stack them in the freezer like this once they're frozen. Some folks freeze their milk in ice cube trays, then store the frozen cubes in freezer bags.
My frozen milk is chunked up into approx 1" cubes. The pot with the frozen milk is placed in a sink of cold water.
I then weigh my lye, then do the dump/mix method previously described. and pour imediately into my waiting oils.
My lye/milk solution is around 70* F and my oils are about 110*F.
Once I've poured my soap into the slabs, I insulate well with 2 wool blankets.
Yes, I let my milk soaps go into full gel.
No, I do not get brown or tan soap (unless the EO/FO is discoloring)
There are pictures on my soap making page
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapmaking
Some oils help slow trace (lard and olive oil come to mind).
The challenge with soaping too cool when using a lot of solid oils is that you may experience false trace. This is when your soap solution is cool enough to start solidifying your solid oils. You may mistake it for trace, when it is not. You need to know the melting point of your solid oils. and stay above that.
When I started soaping, the recommended soap temp was between 125*-130* F.
I remove the solid oils from the heat before they are melted all the way and let the residual heat do it's thing. Sometimes I'll use a stick blender to get those last pieces that do not want to melt when I'm ready to pour the liquid oils into the melted solid oils (I lurves my stick blender!)
Next, I'll weigh out my frozen milk.
I freeze the milk in gallon zip baggies that have frozen on it's side on a cookie sheet.. It's easy to stack them in the freezer like this once they're frozen. Some folks freeze their milk in ice cube trays, then store the frozen cubes in freezer bags.
My frozen milk is chunked up into approx 1" cubes. The pot with the frozen milk is placed in a sink of cold water.
I then weigh my lye, then do the dump/mix method previously described. and pour imediately into my waiting oils.
My lye/milk solution is around 70* F and my oils are about 110*F.
Once I've poured my soap into the slabs, I insulate well with 2 wool blankets.
Yes, I let my milk soaps go into full gel.
No, I do not get brown or tan soap (unless the EO/FO is discoloring)
There are pictures on my soap making page
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapmaking
Some oils help slow trace (lard and olive oil come to mind).
The challenge with soaping too cool when using a lot of solid oils is that you may experience false trace. This is when your soap solution is cool enough to start solidifying your solid oils. You may mistake it for trace, when it is not. You need to know the melting point of your solid oils. and stay above that.
When I started soaping, the recommended soap temp was between 125*-130* F.
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So the longer you leave the lye w/milk the hotter it will get?? I was just amazed that it started out cool then got VERY hot the longer it sat and it was about 120 when I poured it into the oils which were about 95.... I was using palm, shea, olive, and coconut and adding mango for superfat....
trial and error in all things....
If I need a quick batch, I bought the melt and pour from TNS which I find is not like the stuff I bought at Hobby-Lobby when I first started soaping.... I still haven't gotten the liquid right with the TNS MP... Anyone else use this and can suggest the right liquid addition.... I had 2 lbs of MP and used 1/4 c of goat's milk and it wouldn't harden... I ended up making a CP and dumping in the MP... it hardened quite nicely but I needed the cure time of the MP to fill a special request for a manly-woodsy scent.... I used cedarwood and anise ... about 15 drops of each....
trial and error in all things....
If I need a quick batch, I bought the melt and pour from TNS which I find is not like the stuff I bought at Hobby-Lobby when I first started soaping.... I still haven't gotten the liquid right with the TNS MP... Anyone else use this and can suggest the right liquid addition.... I had 2 lbs of MP and used 1/4 c of goat's milk and it wouldn't harden... I ended up making a CP and dumping in the MP... it hardened quite nicely but I needed the cure time of the MP to fill a special request for a manly-woodsy scent.... I used cedarwood and anise ... about 15 drops of each....
Quote:
Oh my, Yes!!! Take room temperature water, add lye and it will get over 200*F very quickly!! The same happens with lye and milk. If you allow the milk/lye solution to get too hot, you will burn the milk sugars and end up with a dark soap and you will start the saponification process.
trial and error in all things....
Oh my, Yes!!! Take room temperature water, add lye and it will get over 200*F very quickly!! The same happens with lye and milk. If you allow the milk/lye solution to get too hot, you will burn the milk sugars and end up with a dark soap and you will start the saponification process.
trial and error in all things....
I still haven't gotten the liquid right with the TNS MP... Anyone else use this and can suggest the right liquid addition.... I had 2 lbs of MP and used 1/4 c of goat's milk and it wouldn't harden...
I'm not a M&P soaper, but it is my understanding that you may want to add a bit of oil or butter to M&P, but not a liquid.
M&P bases are NOT the same as CP shreds/noodles, et al. M&P has alcohol added to allow it to melt.
I'm not a M&P soaper, but it is my understanding that you may want to add a bit of oil or butter to M&P, but not a liquid.
M&P bases are NOT the same as CP shreds/noodles, et al. M&P has alcohol added to allow it to melt.
well... its taken a week and a half but i have managed to read this whole thing!
i need a new hobby like i need another hole in my head but i do believe i will give this soaping thing a try... i'm justifying it by calling it a "life skill" lol! when i get everything i need i'm going to try a simple castile soap
Quote:
welcome to the dark side
Well would it be more bubbly then dark I guess lol. Anyway, Welcome to soaping
Great post on your web page on soap making MullersLane.
Thanks for sharing that. I liked it... simple and to the point.
Well after spending months following this thread it's finally come. The day for me to make my first batch.
Ok not until Friday but it is comming!
Thanks to all of you for your inspiration, and sharing your successes as well as your dissapointments.
Thanks for sharing that. I liked it... simple and to the point.
Well after spending months following this thread it's finally come. The day for me to make my first batch.
Ok not until Friday but it is comming!
Thanks to all of you for your inspiration, and sharing your successes as well as your dissapointments.
Last edited:
Made my soap and used my mold! I did pumpkin cheese cake with granny's pie crust FOs. It looks like butterscotch. my basement smells wonderful and I need another curing rack
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