Options About Adding Earl Grey Tea to CP Liquid & Bar Soap

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How about placing them like this without covering ? Unfortunately i don't have any shelf for them. Is it safe to put them inside home ? They're giving off good smell to the house :) May be i can take them out to the balcony in the night and take back to inside tomorrow.
They are fine like that, and perfectly safe to keep inside.
 
How about placing them like this without covering ? Unfortunately i don't have any shelf for them. Is it safe to put them inside home ? They're giving off good smell to the house :) May be i can take them out to the balcony in the night and take back to inside tomorrow.
That looks perfect! The good-smelling house is always a wonderful side benefit to soap-making. :)
 
Is there any marginal benefit about the curing time ? I mean, does the longer curing time result the better soap until the last marginal beneficial point ?

For example, when you're thirsty you drink a glass of water and you get the benefit of being hydrated. You drink one glass more, hydrate yourself more. But with the 3rd glass you reach the marginal point of benefit and after 3rd glass every water intake brings side effect instead of benefit such as bloating.

I don't know if i could express myself accurately because of i'm not a native English speaker :)
 
...does the longer curing time result the better soap until the last marginal beneficial point ?...

Yes, the rate at which the soap improves during cure does slow down as time passes. That's why most people use a rule of thumb to allow 4-6 weeks, maybe even 8 weeks, for curing. That length of time seems to work fine for most soaps most of the time to develop good lather, sufficient hardness, mildness to the skin, and good longevity.

There are some soap recipes that do seem to need more cure time before the soap is at its best. IMO, these "late bloomers" are typically soap that is high in one type of fat -- typical examples are include soaps that are all or mostly olive oil or coconut oil or lard.

A soap made from 80% lard, 20% coconut (or was it 85% lard, 15% coconut?) that I made early in my soapy misadventures taught me the importance of curing soap long enough to get good results. This soap lathered very poorly after the normal 4-8 week cure, but it lathered surprisingly well at 6 months.
 
Yes, the rate at which the soap improves during cure does slow down as time passes. That's why most people use a rule of thumb to allow 4-6 weeks, maybe even 8 weeks, for curing. That length of time seems to work fine for most soaps most of the time to develop good lather, sufficient hardness, mildness to the skin, and good longevity.

There are some soap recipes that do seem to need more cure time before the soap is at its best. IMO, these "late bloomers" are typically soap that is high in one type of fat -- typical examples are include soaps that are all or mostly olive oil or coconut oil or lard.

A soap made from 80% lard, 20% coconut (or was it 85% lard, 15% coconut?) that I made early in my soapy misadventures taught me the importance of curing soap long enough to get good results. This soap lathered very poorly after the normal 4-8 week cure, but it lathered surprisingly well at 6 months.
Thank you 🙏 I'm also interested in cocoa and mango butter. Does using mango butter make any difference or give any extra in terms of quality and scent after saponification is complete ? For instance, can we understand the difference between Palm-Coconut-Olive soap and Mango-Coconut-Olive soap ? Can we just say ''Yes, it's so obvious that this soap was made of mango butter'' ?
 
...Does using mango butter make any difference or give any extra in terms of quality and scent after saponification is complete ? For instance, can we understand the difference between Palm-Coconut-Olive soap and Mango-Coconut-Olive soap ? Can we just say ''Yes, it's so obvious that this soap was made of mango butter'' ?

I think you have to keep in mind that the fats used to make soap don't remain fats after saponification is done. The only exception is the fat that remains as superfat and (a) superfat is only a small portion of the soap that mostly goes down the drain when bathing and (b) it's likely the superfat is never 100% the original intact fat after the lye gets done reacting fully, so any residual mango butter probably isn't fully mango butter anymore.

Saponification breaks down the fats into fatty acids and those FAs are turned into the soap. The properties of soap are far more similar to the properties of the FAs, not of the fats.

In the end, however, you have to do your own testing to determine whether you think an expensive or unusual fat adds enough benefit to be worth using in your soap. I'd say newer soapers are more caught up in the idea of using exotic fats in soap for their purported luxury benefits, but as one gets more experience, experience tends to prove otherwise. And if you get into selling, the extra expense also argues against using costly fats.

One reason why experienced soap makers might use nut butters in their soap is if they're trying to avoid animal fats (lard, tallow), soy (hydrogenated soy, aka soy wax), and palm oil. All these fats are rich sources of palmitic and stearic acids that add physical hardness and lower water solubility to the soap. The net effect of having a moderate amount of these FAs in soap is that they increase the longevity and mildness of the soap.

The secondary reason why the nut butters are used is "label appeal." My friend Renae taught me how to make soap; she always put 10% shea in her batches. I started making soap with her shea-based recipe, but eventually eliminated shea in my favorite recipe. After trying my mostly-lard soaps, Renae realized the soap was just as nice as her shea-based recipe.

The scent provided by fats is insignificant -- even those who say they can smell the scent of unrefined cocoa butter in soap, for example, never say it's a strong, lasting scent. Same goes for the fragrance provided by infused oils, teas, etc. There simply isn't enough of the scent in these ingredients to add a lasting, definite fragrance in soap.

Essential oils (EOs) and fragrance oils (FOs) are a LOT more concentrated, so they are considerably more likely to scent soap well enough to please most people. And some EOs and FOs still don't work well. And they all tend to fade over time.
 
I don’t think you need to freeze your tea, just let it cool to room temperature; my lye water never really got passed 80 C, which is the temperature I brew tea at 🤷‍♀️

Also, I tried CP with bergamot EO and it’s quite weak; might need a lot or maybe FO might linger longer.

Definitely grind your tea leaves to a powder or at least flakes the size of glitter. Keep in mind they can seep a little in the soap, so don’t aim for a light-colored soap.
I make Earl Grey soap and never freeze my tea. I just let it cool and then add Bergamot as the Earl Grey scent does not endure.
 
Hi All.

I love the smell and the taste of earl grey tea a lot. So thinking of using it both in my liquid and bar soap and i've been considering my options about how to add it effectively.

- For CP bar soap, I want to use the tea instead of water. I plan to brew earl grey tea with distilled water, freeze it and make earl grey ice cubes. Then i'm gonna add the lye over those ice cubes and add some tea leaves as well. Is it a bad idea ? I need your recommendations.

- For CP liquid soap, can i use brewed tea instead of water ? And also, once the curing process is completed, can i dilute it with brewed tea instead of water ? Does using tea for dilution cause rancidity ?

My main goal is to give the scent of Bergamot as much as possible.

Thanks.
First thank you! Brilliant idea brewing tea to amp up the bergamot!

i grind horsetail, mallow root, lavender, rose buds, chamomile flowers, calendula and dried rosemary superfine and make a super strong tea for my argan and silk shampoo bars. I use same ground herb mix for my rinse. The scent is clean and herbaceous. It is faintly scented but then i didn't add any EO's or FO's.

Thanks for posting this.
 

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