Total Beginner But Very Interested and Ready to Start

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Phantasm

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Messages
19
Reaction score
6
Location
Gillingham, Kent UK.
Hello everyone,

I recently retired early (nice I know), and heard about soap making and rather fancied it.

I have read up a lot, watched and continue to watch tutorials, and have called a couple of shops for advice as to how to begin. I have everything on order so I can start in a small way at the weekend. I am however a little confused with a couple of matters.

1. I am going to start with HP, and as I have a slow cooker I never use, that is one less item to buy. I have tried it out this evening, but it is taking an age to heat up some water I am using as a test. When heating my oils/fats prior to adding the lye, could I heat first on the stove to speed things up, or just let it take its time in the slow cooker?

2. One shop owner I spoke to stated to me that HP and CP are the same, and that what I read on the internet is wrong. Either I melt and pour, which I do not want to do, or HP/CP. Surely HP and CP are totally different methods, seeing as every post, article and video I have watched states they are?

Thanks
 
Welcome and congrats on your retirement!

To answer your question:

Hot process is the process of adding your oils and fats to your slowcooker pot, waiting for them to melt, then adding your warm lye solution to the pot. Stick-blend, keeping everything nice and hot in your slowcooker then wait for the soap to "cook" for a few hours - and go through gel and saponification. Then you can zap-test it to make sure it has fully saponified, then dump it into your mold. These soaps often look more rustic because of the thick batter consistency.

Hot process can work nicely if you are using temperamental fragrance oils/essential oils or wish to superfat your soap with a particular oil. Adding your superfat after your batter is zap-free means that saponification has already occured and your oil of choice will remain mostly untouched in the final soap.

Cold process is the process of melting your oils to around 100-120 degrees then adding your cooled lye solution (room temperature to 120 degrees). Your batter remains a lot more fluid, allowing for complex swirls, patterns and multiple colours.

With cold process, the gelling and saponification occurs after you've poured your batter into your mold - over the span of several days. With cold process, you cannot control your superfat oil (your superfat will end up a combination of all the oils in your recipe) and some temperamental fragrances can cause problems like seizing and ricing if you're not careful.

So! The main difference is: hot process saponifies in the slowcooker before molding, while cold-process saponifies after you mold it, over the course of a few days.

Both methods require a cure time of 4-6 weeks to become good soap. And hot process requires more water content than cold process.

And you can heat your oils to melt them in a slowcooker, microwave, stovetop... I prefer the convenience of microwave.
 
Thanks.

No way am I zap testing!

I saw a tutorial on how to use phenolphthaleinm and that is my testing.

Microwaving seems sensible, it took over an hour to get about two pints of water up to temperature, but then again, what is the rush?

Just one more question. During HP, one tutorial advised regular stiring, another stated not to stir much. Does it really matter if it is stirred every 10-15 minutes over 1 1/2 - 2 hours?

Thanks.
 
Hah! You'll find that 99% of the people here in the forum will recommend you get over your fears of zap-testing, as it's the only reliable way of testing for free lye in your finished soap without very expensive tools. :mrgreen:

I promise it's not that scary.

Our resident scientist Deanna has a nice writeup about it on her blog: https://classicbells.com/soap/zapTest.html

And as for the HP question, unfortunately I've shared the full extent to my knowledge, as I am a cold-process kinda gal. I'm sure you'll get some responses from more experienced HP'ers soon. :)
 
Welcome fellow early retiree! You've found a very rewarding hobby, and one that absolutely requires lots and lots of patience.

For your questions, yes, you can use your stove to heat or even just begin heating your oils. Using a water bath/double boiler/bain marie setup can help get them heated to the correct temps without accidentally scorching your oils.

I'm inclined to say the one shop keeper was correct, hot and cold process are pretty much the same thing, the only difference is that with hot process you apply external heat to hurry along saponification. Cold process you let it provide its own heat mostly, and it saponifies at a slower rate.

As far as relative difficulty levels, I'd say that hot process is actually a bit more difficult than cold process. You have to keep an eye on your soap, making sure it doesn't volcano or get too dry or too hot (soap can scorch- burnt soap does not smell nice) with HP. With CP, you don't have quite so many worries about temperature effects (unless you use a fragrance or additions that cause it to heat up beyond what it normally would). You also, as Toxikon noted, are able to do a lot more design-wise with CP.

Yes, how often you stir HP soap can make a difference. The more you stir, the more water it loses during cooking, which will make it more difficult to get into a mold.

Zap testing, done correctly, is no worse than putting your tongue across the terminals of a 9v battery. IrishLass also wrote out instructions how to do it here- http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=63199

I deliberately zap tested a soap I knew still had unreacted lye in it, just to see what it felt like. Seriously, it's like a quick electrical shock. Surprising, and if you've done it correctly, not even painful. Unmistakable, though.

Chemical pH testing will NOT tell you if you still have unreacted lye in your soap. The zap test does, reliably and safely.
 
As others have said, the strips are unreliable in telling you whether there is unreacted lye in your finished product. All they will tell you is the pH of your soap, which can be anywhere from about 8.5-11 with handmade soap.

Depending on how much water you use, the more you stir, the dryier your HP will become.
My preferred method of soaping is CP, however, when I HP I only stir it once.

Welcome, congrats on the early retirement, and happy soaping. :)
 
I agree that HP is a bit more work than CP and you have DO have to keep a close eye on the soap in the crockpot. For example, I had a batch rise up out of the crockpot and spill all over my worktable once when I left it alone too long (I got distracted and forgot about it.) A big mess to clean up for sure, though in the end everything was nice and clean afterward.

But stirring constantly is not required unless it starts rising up over the top and spilling down the sides! You can beat down the volcano by stirring and reducing heat. But if it's very hot, it's also hard to handle, so always keep hot pads at the ready. I've had to take the crockpot insert out of the heating vessel in order the allow for heat reduction more quickly.

Some crockpots don't work quite as well as others, due to being old and finicky or for whatever reason, and you can't be sure when it will go bad and overheat or heat unevenly. So I would suggest using an Infra Red Digital Thermometer to test the different areas of your crockpot to determine if it is heating evenly and work accordingly.

Also if you are going to use the 'intermittent stirring intervals' method, I suggest setting timer so you don't forget to come back and check on your soap. Also spread out towels or other protective and easy to clean covering over your work space in case of any spillage/overflow. And don't fill your vessel completely, as you need to allow for space for the soap to rise as it goes through the stages in HP.
 
Cheers.

Yup, I think I have most of the gear, I certainly do not intend to leave it alone for long, to stir or not to stir, t'was the question. Going to watch a tutorial or two more, but information overload is starting to rear its head, I need to actually do it.

One thing I do know, lye is very nasty stuff, rubber gloves and care.
 
Feel free to post your recipe here in the forum for feedback before you take the plunge. We'll let you know if something sounds off.

Do you have a particular recipe in mind? Have you chosen your lye calculator yet? I personally recommend the Soapee.com calculator, it has a nice clean user interface and is very easy to use.
 
Can you tell us where you are located?

CP and HP are both the same and different. LOL!

They are the same in that they use the same recipes, and in that the end result is the same (soap). But they are different in their methods.

When you add your lye to your water (and not your water to your lye!) it will generate heat. Many soapers will put their oils in the slow cooker, add the lye to the water, then immediately pour the hot lye water over the cool oils. Then set your slow cooker to low. (Use a plastic pitcher for your lye water, not glass)
 
Feel free to post your recipe here in the forum for feedback before you take the plunge. We'll let you know if something sounds off.

Do you have a particular recipe in mind? Have you chosen your lye calculator yet? I personally recommend the Soapee.com calculator, it has a nice clean user interface and is very easy to use.

No, not yet. I have spent hours reading up and watching tutorials. I am going to wait until I have the ingredients, and then pick a recipe. It sounds like a plan though, but it will be a very simple recipe. I will start to look at various possibles tomorrow, Friday is scheduled to be D-Day.

Yup, know about proper heat resistant plastic for lye. Will be using distilled water, rubber gloves, but the jury is out on the long sleeves, from what I read it can be easier to get it off skin rather than cloth, still it is cold here, so long sleeves it will doubtless be. Keep vinegar handy. I have a ph tester for plant feeding, but every tutorial bar one seems to suggest zapping......ooooerr.

Next week I am away for the final stage of a year of horrific dental work :crazy::eek:in Hungary, so it is a very good time to start, it gets a week of curing while I am away.
 
Careful with vinegar, you do not want to put vinegar directly on a lye burn. IF you get lye or raw soap on yourself, rinse very thoroughly under cold running water. If you put vinegar directly on yourself after getting lye or batter, you could end up with a very nasty chemical burn...

Yes, a pH tester will do exactly what it's designed to do. Test the pH, it will not, however, let you know if there is free lye in your soap. Zap testing is the quickest, easiest, cheapest way to do that.

Good luck with your dental procedures.
 
Last edited:
Oh dear, I am now horribly confused as it is late here.

Oils will be coconut, olive and palm, so I need a recipe with only those for now. How much of each I have no clue.

My first setback and not even switched the cooker on.....

Edit: The site has loads of recipes, I will look tomorrow
 
Oh dear, I am now horribly confused as it is late here.

Oils will be coconut, olive and palm, so I need a recipe with only those for now. How much of each I have no clue.

My first setback and not even switched the cooker on.....

Edit: The site has loads of recipes, I will look tomorrow

Here is a very simple one:
Coconut 20%
Olive 30%
Palm 50%
5% superfat

You want your soap to fill your slow cooker NO MORE than half way. Soap batter weighs (roughly) the same as water, so you can use that to calculate your volume. For example, if I know my slow cooker holds 100 ounces (by volume) then I will make a soap recipe that is 50 ounces (by weight). Oil is roughly 2/3 of a recipe so in that case, it would be a recipe with 32-33 ounces of oil and 16 ounces of water (approximately).
 
Time I logged off for tonight.

What a truly lovely welcome from you all, and thank you for making me feel part of a team so early.

I do not understand superfat yet, although I have heard about it, I will check it out tomorrow.

I do wish to add some fragrance, but every single tutorial shows when to do it, all I need to find out is how much. Another job for tomorrow.

Thank you for all the advice. I will check how much my cooker holds in the morning. In the meantime there are one or two beers calling out to me, so I better go see what they want..!

Thanks again all.
 
1. I am going to start with HP, and as I have a slow cooker I never use, that is one less item to buy. I have tried it out this evening, but it is taking an age to heat up some water I am using as a test. When heating my oils/fats prior to adding the lye, could I heat first on the stove to speed things up, or just let it take its time in the slow cooker?

Thanks

Do not put the insert of your slow cooker directly on the stove. It might crack. If it is ceramic and you are in a hurry it would be best to heat it in the microwave.
 
Back
Top