Soap Makers Help!

[miracle acres farm]

Cheeptrick,

I was just wondering what kind of forms are you using to make your soap?

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
OK, so you're heating the milk to match the temperature of the lye/water? Maybe I'll try that next time.

No...I do not heat the milk....it is just refrigerated. I mix 2.8lbs of distilled water with 473 grams of lye...then let it cool down to 80 degrees and then RIGHT before mixing lye with oils I stir the cold milk into the lye solution....it does heat it up a few degrees but it does not matter. Then I mix the milk/lye solution with the oils and at trace I add 1 cup oatmeal, warmed honey, and then fragrance oils in that order. The fragrance oils always start the batch to setting up quickly and I do not like to pour at pudding stage it is too much scraping of the pan....I prefer to pour when the soap is still very liquid.

I have been wanting to try coffee grounds...I'll have to give it a go sometime.

I've used poppy seeds, raspberry seeds, calendula flowers, annetto seeds, lavender flowers, and dead sea salt in my soaps. I LOVE the salt bars.....I sprinkle the dead sea salt on top!! They do sting a little in the shower though.

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
2x4's on the sides with 1x6's for the bottoms. DH made them for me...he drilled them on the ends so I can put wooden pegs in so it can break away. I've got 4 of these going right now...I may need more when my online site opens....so I can keep up with the business.

MAKE THEM.....do not buy them. It is WAY cheaper....I have been called CHEAPTRICK too!!

But seriously....I'm all about saving a buck and looking for existing ways to solve a problem without spending a dime. I do frequent thrift stores, dumps, my neighbors trash to save a buck too! NO shame here!! LOL

Use freezer paper inside the molds and saran wrap the ends to prevent spillage. I also use PVC molds with plumbing rubber caps on the end. I think you can see one of them in the photos posted previously. I LOVE the round soap....BUT it is tough to wrap FYI!!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
Thanks for the explanation. I'll give that a try. Some observations -

You let yours cool to 80. I was right around 93 when I mixed my oils and milk/lye. Next time I'll go lower as well.

The milk/lye had shifted colors from being mixed initially. I did manage to keep it to a minimum by keeping it in the ice bath.

I did my additions in the exact order you did. However, my honey wasn't heated. I had mixed it with the avocado oil. It was a minimal amount of honey, just a couple tablespoons, but not all of it came out of the cup it was in, so I probably only added 1.5 T in all.

I did pour thinner than pudding stage. My other batches have been closer to pudding stage so I wanted to back this one down a bit.

I think I was so afraid of messing this one up that I probably needed to just take a breather and stick it outside the minute I noticed something odd, instead of taking pictures and stuff.

 

[cheeptrick]

I use organic honey in the BEAR plastic container...and I boil water in the microwave in a bowl and then float the honey container in the hot/boiling water and by the time I'm ready at trace it pours out very easily. It does not really need to be the same temp....but at least near it.

Even with a very small amount of honey or milk....or any honey products like beeswax...it super heats your batch. And when you get these super high temps the honey causes these orange jelly like splotches inside your soap. I switched to beeswax instead of fresh honey because of this problem...most of my customers do not care and have never said a thing.....but it is my nemesis!! The dreaded ORANGE blobs.....this is why I stopped gelling...it prevents the blobs! Plus my soap is not as waxy....it is more creamy.

 

[redhead83402]

so do any of you use tallow very much for your soaps? I have seen some really great looking recipes out of these library books ( one was a storey publication) that use tallow. In fact, a few of the recipes use almost only tallow. I am wondering if using this fat will affect the appearance of the soap.
~Red

 

[cheeptrick]

Hey.....I was dreaming about soaping last night. I found this online blog about milk based soaps...I wanted to try to better explain why the milk scorched the soap batch. This article was really helpful for me....I just had to find it again.

If you use non pasturized milk you run the risk of scorching your soap...the enzymes and milk solids are much more pronounced in fresh milk and it scorches quicker. Your gel phase was way too hot...and it caused the soap to discolor even more tan than usual. I'd save the good fresh stuff for milk, cheese, butter etc...but that is just me. If your soap gets this hot you defeat the purpose for the milk in the first place heating it up to pasturized levels anyhow...so the fresh milk vs. pasturized is moot. Those who report red/orange gel phase in milk based soaps are in fact scorching their soap. You will know when you are cutting your bars....it will have a funky smell. This article explains it better...

http://home.earthlink.net/~skinesscentuals/GoatsMilk.htm

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I order TSC book! Just ordered it this morning and it should be here in three days.

 

[cockadoodlemom]

Got a ? Can you use a metal cookie tin for a mold as long as you line it with a trash bag? Just wondering cause some site I was looking at about molds said you could and I thought you could not mix lye with metal. Sorry if I am asking something that has already been answered.

 

[MissPrissy]

If it is lined with a thick layer of plastic the soap won't be touching the metal.