Soap Makers Help!

[MSDeb]

Quote:
Whats the actual post number, we all have our pages set to show different numbers of posts.

Gah~ sorry~ #5085

Thank you

 

[swirler]

Quote:
They are quicker to use-readiness with my castile. Much quicker. And that's even with a heavy water discount on the CP side.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

What if...
I wanted to hurry-up curing on CP soap? Would lots of air circulation (fans and dessicant) and 90 degree temp speed the process?
All they need to do is lose water, right? I zap-tested all the bars and no zap right out of the molds.

Lisa

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Quote:
They are quicker to use-readiness with my castile. Much quicker. And that's even with a heavy water discount on the CP side.

What a difference the other side of the world and equator can make! I've only been making soaps since 1999, milk soaps exclusively since 2001 and didn't try my first HP until 2005.

With my milk soaps, I usually use a 65:35 milk:lye ratio for my CP soap recipe. For the HP soap I documented in 1995, I used a 75:25 milk:lye ratio (full liquid amount of 37.5% of oils). I have made subsequent HP soaps using my regular recipe and using a 70:30 milk:lye ratio but my results have always ended up the same ... it takes longer for the HP soaps to get as hard as my CP soaps.

For HP with full milk in the lye solution, I wouldn't want to go much beyond the 70:30 ratio. Wonder if it is because of the raw milk (Jersey cow with all the cream!) that is making the difference or our soap recipes or the climate?

What ratio of liquid:lye do you use for your HP??

What if...
I wanted to hurry-up curing on CP soap?

Dipsy,
How much liquid (water, milk, et al) are you using for your soap recipe? I don't need to know your oils, just the amount of lye and the amount of liquid you are using. To make a quicker 'cure' for CP soaps, you need to decrease your liquid amount. That is easier said than done. You need to accommodate the types of oils you are using (solid vs liquid oils) and the FO or EO you are using. They can all play a part in how far you can discount your liquid.

Read both pages of this to help get you started.​

 

[swirler]

I used a 28-30% lye solution for my last HP castile, so a little less water than yours, no milk. (Sometimes I put in a little milk, but it's a concentrated milk powder slurry at the end - I have no access to raw milk unfortunately! And am jealous.) For cold process castile I usually do about 45% lye solution unless I'm using tricky FOs or swirls or etc. The CP takes 3 months before it's starting to feel really hard to the touch, but it doesn't behave really well in the shower until about six months (IMO). The HP loses that snottiness faster for me, and feels harder faster.

Our climate varies from (briefly) cool and humid to (mostly) warm to very hot and dry. But it seems - perhaps with climate change? - that we're getting more humidity going on than we used to.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

It has to be the milk then, since subsequent HP trials were 30% solutions.

I'm pretty humid here, except for the winters when when have the wood stove going (from mid-October through mid-May).

They only time I see condensation on the windows during that time is when we're boiling maple sap for syrup!!!

Once the weather warms up, we are quite humid here. Sounds like we're about opposite! I have a hot and dry climate inside the house during the winter (because of the wood stove) and a hot and humid summer (no A/C).

We used to have our own Jersey cow, but with the children moving out, it doesn't make any sense getting 4 gallons a milk a day. We have good friends down the road a piece (about 30 minutes) that have an organic dairy. We trade them for raw milk. (Can't be beat for milk soaps (higher butterfat than goat) or for making butter (again, higher butterfat) or making cheese (once again, higher butter fat!!)

And yes, my cholesterol is wonderful drinking and using all this raw milk, butter & cheeses! In fact, my HDL is sky high!!

 

[Bettacreek]

Hot process soap is ready to use after you make it. There really isn't a "cure period" with hot process. The same recipes can be used as HP or CP, so I'm not sure where the extra water is coming from... Handmilling adds extra water, however it's already cured soap, so again, there's not cure time as far as chemical reactions go. HP can be used as soon as it's done cooking, however, most people put it into their molds, then let them cool, remove/cut, then let them set for a day or so so that they can finish hardening up. But the cure is completely done, the chemical reaction is done in HP once the bars are cooled. You can even scrape the crock pot and use that soap immediately after cooking.

 

[ChicksterJo]

Bettacreek, thanks for your input! I cut my 2nd batch this morning. The annatto powder worked really well and the soaps smell like a loaf of pumpkin bread. My SO loves it and jokingly put it close to his mouth

I went to the health food store today and found some raspberry flavored tea. I will try making some of it into tea and then grinding the rest up enough to put it in the mixture before I put it in the mold. I will grind it enough so it won't be too rough on the skin. This thread is so great; I'm still on page 430!

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Quote:
As are CP soaps that have gone through gel stage and cooled.

"Cure" time is the amount of time needed for excess liquid to evaporate from both CP & HP soap.

The same recipes can be used as HP or CP, so I'm not sure where the extra water is coming from...

I discount the liquid in my lye solution for my CP soaps. I do not discount the liquid for HP soaps, hence extra liquid in HP soaps that need time to evaporate.​

 

[Bettacreek]

Quote:
As are CP soaps that have gone through gel stage and cooled.

"Cure" time is the amount of time needed for excess liquid to evaporate from both CP & HP soap.

The same recipes can be used as HP or CP, so I'm not sure where the extra water is coming from...

I discount the liquid in my lye solution for my CP soaps. I do not discount the liquid for HP soaps, hence extra liquid in HP soaps that need time to evaporate.​

I'm still not sure why your HP soaps take longer... Are you adding extra fluids to the HP batches? I use a 3:1 water:lye ratio and HP is ready to go the next day. My CP takes eight weeks to be ready, and this is the exact same recipe.