I had a huge amount of red bee balm growing down on the back 40, and it makes for a very refreshing tea which I drink all summer. The other day, I thought the petals, which are very soft and pleasant to look at would look great in a clear soap base, and maybe a spearmint scent. I tried every trick I could think of to get the petals to stay in suspension , but at the end of the day, they all flocked together by the time the soap set. I poured at the lowest temp. I could, put a little soap in the mold, and tried layering the petals, etc. and still no go. any one have any ideas? Thanks.
Blossom question
- Thread starter hozhed
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I don't think it's a good idea even if you can get them suspended properly, hozhed. MP is more forgiving of a lot of things, but you still have to worry about the decay/mold ...
Well, if that's the case, I guess I had better remelt, strain and start over on another recipe. thanks
navigator9
Well-Known Member
I don't do M&P at all, so I can't speak to that, but in this video, Ariane Arsenault speaks about keeping things suspended in M&P, so I thought it might be of some interest to you. HTH [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjmWHmj5Hvg[/ame]
I'm not sure if I would re-use that since the botanicals are already in there. Not sure though, maybe straining would remove enough of whatever is problematic to avoid any problems. I have a long mp tip doc with reminder stuff on various things, here is some on remelting/suspending, it might help. Sorry for the inadequate attribution, I am usually better about adding links but didn't here for some reason. I just realized there are no smf posts, here, it must have been from before I found the forum 
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Remelting: “You can remelt the MP soap base in the microwave, just don't overheat. You may find additional fragrance is needed since reheating soap base can diminish (burn-off) the scent. Add approximately 1/2 the amount of fragrance you originally added. You don't want to over saturate the soap base with fragrance as it could cause seepage issues and cause pitting in your molds. It may be necessary to add a small amount of water to the soap base when reheating. This helps to replenish some of the moisture extracted in the first heating.” From Go Planet Earth.
Suspending floating botanicals/additives:
Melt the soap, add color, fragrance and additives. Leave soap in mixing container and cover with plastic wrap. Once the soap reaches 115-120 ºF stir once and pour into the mold. The soap will re-harden quickly, not allowing additives to sink. MP BASE NEEDS TO BE AT 120 OR BELOW TO SUSPEND PROPERLY.
Teachpost soap re suspension: “[FONT="]Whenever I suspend in m&p, I melt, add my stuff and then stir and stir and stir [[FONT="]BC notes[FONT="]: [FONT="]not[FONT="]e issues w/over[FONT="]-stirring here, maybe not a good idea] [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]until it is the consistency of thin goo. Then pour really really fast. You might try that. If it gets too thick before you pour, zap it for about 5 secs in the microwave.” Follow up post by Soap Queen agreed and said work quick after pour, only have 30 secs left before it is set.[/FONT]
[FONT="]From Dish poster: [add botanicals at low temp and then] “[/FONT]If you want to REALLY make sure they suspend, you can put the mold into the fridge immediately after pouring.”
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Remelting: “You can remelt the MP soap base in the microwave, just don't overheat. You may find additional fragrance is needed since reheating soap base can diminish (burn-off) the scent. Add approximately 1/2 the amount of fragrance you originally added. You don't want to over saturate the soap base with fragrance as it could cause seepage issues and cause pitting in your molds. It may be necessary to add a small amount of water to the soap base when reheating. This helps to replenish some of the moisture extracted in the first heating.” From Go Planet Earth.
Suspending floating botanicals/additives:
Melt the soap, add color, fragrance and additives. Leave soap in mixing container and cover with plastic wrap. Once the soap reaches 115-120 ºF stir once and pour into the mold. The soap will re-harden quickly, not allowing additives to sink. MP BASE NEEDS TO BE AT 120 OR BELOW TO SUSPEND PROPERLY.
Teachpost soap re suspension: “[FONT="]Whenever I suspend in m&p, I melt, add my stuff and then stir and stir and stir [[FONT="]BC notes[FONT="]: [FONT="]not[FONT="]e issues w/over[FONT="]-stirring here, maybe not a good idea] [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]until it is the consistency of thin goo. Then pour really really fast. You might try that. If it gets too thick before you pour, zap it for about 5 secs in the microwave.” Follow up post by Soap Queen agreed and said work quick after pour, only have 30 secs left before it is set.[/FONT]
[FONT="]From Dish poster: [add botanicals at low temp and then] “[/FONT]If you want to REALLY make sure they suspend, you can put the mold into the fridge immediately after pouring.”
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