first soaping try - advice on concentrations

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Saltysteele

Saltysteele

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This weekend I plan on trying my first batch. Going to be using CP, with lard, OO and CO as the oils.

What would y'all suggest as a good concentration? Let's say a 5 pound batch?

Is 0.7 ppo standard concentration for FO's? I'm going to be using liquid crack, rosemary mint, paradise and coconut pear. (Well, maybe not all this weekend, but eventually)

For coloring and additives, I'll be using rosemary powder (rosemary and mint), tumeric powder (coconut and pear), aquamarine (paradise) and lemon powder (liquid crack).

What do you suggest for strengths of these powders?

actually, was just reading some suggest 1/2 tsp ppo.

Thanks, all!! I'm anxious for this weekend :)
 
Of the FOs you mentioned, I've only soaped Paradise, and I can vouch that it's good and strong at .7 oz ppo.

A good standard is .7 to .8 oz ppo, but sometimes if an FO is really light I'll use 1 oz ppo, but that's a very rare occurance for me. Also- sometimes a fragrance can be so strong that very little is needed. Daystar's Mineral Waters Spa is like that for me. I only need .4 oz ppo of that one.

As for the powders, I can't say since I've never used those particular ones. Hopefully someone with more knowlege about those will chime in.

Since this is your first soap, you may want to consider making a smaller batch, say about 2 lbs worth, just in case something goes wonky. It's much easier and less heartbreaking to write off 2 lbs of oils than 5 if all doesn't go as planned your first time out.

Good luck and happy soaping! Let us know how it went! :)


IrishLass
 
Ditto on the smaller batches...
My first batch was 8 pounds and came out beautifully! So my second batch was 8 pounds and... well let's just say I will be grating that batch into other batches for years to come. What a let down.

As for FO amounts .7 to 1 oz PPO is standard unless you know that you should use more or less. For CP that you will gel you should err on the high side and if you are planning to prevent gel (by refrigerating) then you may be able to get away with a little less.
 
Okay, cool! Thank you for your advice!! This is so exciting :D


I will drop down to 2# batches.

So, it won't hurt the soap if I prevent gel? I like the whiter, creamier look, but I don't want to ruin it.

I understand about the oils, thank you for the advice!! I've got some cool citrus and basil that is kind of weak in the bottle, while paradise, on the other hand, is pretty dang strong :)

If anyone has advice on any of the other scents, I'd love to hear it! The powders, too.

Also, I know I can find a recipe using lard, oo and co, but I was hoping someone here could give some advice on the best proportions. Should I superfat? How much? With what? Huh? Huh? Huh??? :lol:

Thanks for any and all advice ladies and gents! :)
 
I prevent gel in almost all of my batches and so far so good.
I also like the lighter look and creamier texture.

The main thing to watch out for is partial gel (the center of the soap gels and the outside does not - giving you a bullseye look). This can happen when you TRY to gel also. You can minimize this by pre-chilling your mold in the fridge and soaping a little cooler... and also popping the mold in the fridge/freezer immediately after the pour (so plan ahead). Also do not cover or insulate the soap unless you just want to use some thin plastic wrap on top to minimize ash.

I like to build up my own recipes using a soap calculator like this one:
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp
Learn to use one of these and you will never need another recipe again. It also makes it very easy to change the size of your batches.
FYI - I find it more precise to use grams instead of ounces/pounds but that's a personal preference. Superfat, lye concentration etc are all personal choices as well.

Everyone develops the methods that works best for them... you will soon find yours.

Good luck and enjoy!
 
xyxoxy, I noticed your post and this probably sounds like a dumn question, but being fairly new to this...how do you prevent gel? My first couple of batches did not gel and they seem to be creamier looking than batches that did gel. Or maybe it just seems that way because they are somewhat different. Would they be creamier looking?
bnky
 
Hi Bnky...
The only dumb question is the one not asked. :)

Basically if you insulate your soap (wrap it up in blankets etc) and allow it to heat up as it wants to do as a result of the chemical process... and then VERY slowly cool down over several hours or days... that will allow your soap to gel. Some soaping books seem to be under the impression that this is a must for soap... it is not.

So to PREVENT gel you simply try to minimize the heat and the "cooking" action of the lye any way you can. Some people freeze their soap as soon as they pour it. So far the fridge has worked well for me but freezing may be better for ingredients like milk, honey, and unstable FO's that like to heat things up more than usual.

I soap at room temperature, pre-chill my molds, and place them in the fridge for 48 hours.... that works well for me.

A fun experiment is to make a 2 pound batch and split it between two 1 pound molds. Insulate one of them to gel - and refrigerate the other to prevent gel. You'll be surprised at the difference. And BOTH will be good soap.
 
Thank you...I will give that a try. Didn't realize that would prevent gel. Bnky
 
Saltysteele said:
Also, I know I can find a recipe using lard, oo and co, but I was hoping someone here could give some advice on the best proportions. Should I superfat? How much? With what? Huh? Huh? Huh??? :lol:
Click to expand...

Unless you are going heavy on the superfat, I would say keep your CO at or below 30%. If you want to use more CO, bump your superfat up to 10 or 15% to counteract the drying effect of CO soap. There really are no "best" proportions, it's a matter of personal preference. A nice starter batch might be 50% lard, 25% OO, 25% CO with a 6 or 7% superfat. Contrary to what you have probably read in some of the books, we don't really get to choose which fats stay unsaponified in CP. The lye eats what the lye wants, so your superfat is going to consist of a mix of the oils in your soap, not one specific oil.

Hope this helps :)
 
Sounds like you have your recipe picked out (saw on another post). I would start with 1/2 tsp of your spices like you mentioned. I've only used a spice one, parsley powder, and mixed it with a tbsp of my oils and added it at very thin trace.

As for FO's...if they are weak use 1 oz ppo. If they are strong I use about 0.8 oz ppo. Some say 0.7 oz ppo, but I go a little higher than that.
 
Great, thanks, guys!!

Now, when using 25% CO, are we talking the 76 degree stuff? (not sure what they all are, but I've see the 76 degree stuff, some 80 or 90 something degree stuff and fractionated)

do you think with that much CO i should add a little castor (like in the other recipe)?
 
I always add 5% castor oll, gives a nice lather to the soap. I'd one some batches without and really like it with it in small amounts.
 
The CO 76 is what I use. As I see it, the castor is a personal pref, and not related to the amount of CO. I counter the drying effect of CO by using a lye discount of 7-8%. I don't have any prob with castor, but I rarely use it. If you have it, definitely try it. Many soapers swear by it. I'd suggest about 3-5%.
 
Great! Thanks for your help!!

Hopefully I'll have some nice looking soap by the end of this weekend!
 

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