Pumpkin - milk soap

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grayceworks

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My first HP attempt! I think it turned out fairly decent. I need to practice making pretty tops for sure... I just smoothed this one out like frosting and sprinkled a tiny bit of nutmeg, but it looks okay to me, and smells wonderful! Pumpkin, milk, and coconut, olive, shea. With orange, cardamom, cinnamon, and a couple smidges of other EO's. I like how i don't need as much EO with HP.

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Heh, I finally experienced zap. Tested it in the crockpot to see if it was done. Nope -- cooked another 15min and tried again, then it was zap-free. :) I had some leftover, and used my individual molds for the first time. I gotta pack it better -- still getting a lot of bubbles. But my loaf seems relatively bubble-free, so i'm happy with that too!

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And my first cpop attempt -- i think my oven was too warm, or i needed to completely uncover it after or something, as it had a layer of oily stuff all over. Wiped some off and the rest reabsorbed. Same recipe as my other 'ugly soap', and this one is not too pretty either -- i definitely think when i finally reach a point of selling, i'll keep making it and call it ugly soap, lol. It feels wonderful to wash with for my eczema even being brand-new soap.

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I think i'm officially addicted. I'm already trying to decide what to experiment with next. And should my next experiment use cp, hp, cpop, or what? Coffee, i think. Or carrots. Or oats n honey. I can't decide.

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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/
 
Looks good. Sounds/looks like your CPOP overheated. I've never had luck with that myself. Others swear by it. I just insulate and watch and never get partial gel. I suppose like everything else it just takes practice.
 
Yeah that's what I figured. It overheated previous time with the same recipe with only towels but a misbehaving FO. This time, no misbehaving FO, and it wasn't gelling, so I popped it in the oven, and then it was too much lol. Still is a very nice soap to use. Lots of OO.

Maybe there's something in the recipe causing it? Besides that one FO? I hope not, because it's really nice on my skin and face.

UGLY SOAP RECIPE:
32oz batch
Water - 8.4oz (33% concentration) plus 1.5T sugar
Lye - 4.1oz
SF 7%

.75oz lemongrass EO
.75oz coco-mango FO
Parsley and madder root

Olive oil - 33.13% - 10.6oz
Mango butter - 26.25% - 8.4oz
Cocoa butter - 9.38% - 3oz
Coconut oil - 9.38% - 3oz
Avocado oil - 9.38% - 3oz
Apricot Kernel Oil - 9.38% - 3oz
Jojoba oil - 3.13% - 1oz

I CP this at room temp, add the colors at light trace after dividing it into 2 containers. Then add the lemongrass to the parsley side and go to a bit thicker trace, and finally add the coco-mango to the madder-root side, and it thickens up pretty quick. Pour, attempt swirls, etc,

Cover with plastic wrap on top, and either towels or this last time put in 170F oven.

I think I might try HP next time with this and see if it helps.

Ideas and suggestions always welcomed! Thanks!





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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/
 
Your pumpkin look good. When you CPOP, you don't need to cover your mold and only heat it to 170* F. If you try carrot or honey, be careful as both can cause overheating.
 
Looks great! I made a soap with pumpkin and goats milk powder and covered with a blanket (forced gel) and it got way over heated. It's difficult to do, but leave it alone for a few days in the mold if it happens again, sometimes the oil absorbs back in.
 
It looks great! I love the vintage style of soap and photos!
 
Oh my gosh that pumpkin bar sounds amazing! You let me know if you want to trade! *eyebrow wiggle*
 
I just tried the pumpkin bar, and now I can't decide which recipe I like better, the 'ugly soap' OO one, or the pumpkin one, which is also a lot of OO.

Here's the basic recipe i used for the pumpkin one:

PUMPKIN AND MILK SOAP.
makes 40oz.
Total liquids, approx 20oz. I have decided that too much water is better than not enough, even if it takes longer to firm up. LOL Also, I figured it could use a bit extra since I was cooking it.

I dissolved 2tbsp milk powder in an ounce or so of water, until it was just thin enough to pour and lumps were gone. I added 2T sugar and .5tsp salt to 6oz more water, and dissolved the lye in this. Added the milk stuff and stirred a lot but had a few lumps which I strained out just in case. Then added a 15oz can of pumpkin which ended up being about 13oz when I weighed it.

Liquids - 20oz
Lye - 5.8oz (this is the amount for 0% SF -- I calculated the SF amt separately)
8% SF (added 2.8 - 3oz coconut oil after cook)

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Olive oil 25% 10oz
Coconut oil 22.5% 9oz
Crisco w palm 18.75% 7.5oz
Palm oil 18.75% 7.5oz
Castor oil 6.25% 2.5oz
Shea butter 6.25% 2.5oz
Jojoba oil 2.5% 1oz


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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/
 
Thanks for the recipe for the pumpkin soap! Did you scent with anything besides the can of pumpkin? (And was it pumpkin pie pumpkin or plain?) I might try this with a few mods - I don't have all the oils on hand.
 
You did great!! I really love your addition of spices and natural things. They all look great!


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You did great!! I really love your addition of spices and natural things. They all look great!
Thanks! :)

Thanks for the recipe for the pumpkin soap! Did you scent with anything besides the can of pumpkin? (And was it pumpkin pie pumpkin or plain?) I might try this with a few mods - I don't have all the oils on hand.

It was plain pumpkin -- don't want all the extra stuff in pumpkin pie mix. ;)

I scented it with almost but not quite 2oz of essential oils. I used a bit of Orange, Cardamom, and Cinnamon EO's. And a pinch of ground nutmeg (maybe 1/4tsp? ) and funny, but the nutmeg is as strong scented as the rest, even though I put that tiny bit in before the cook, and the EO's after the cook.

Plus, in addition to the natural pumpkin scent (a bit of which survived the cook) there is also the natural shea butter scent which also survives the process, and is very complimentary to the other scents.

I gave a bar to one of my co-workers today, let her guess the scent -- She said it smelled like pumpkin-orange cake. Mission accomplished! :)
 
Yes, thanks for posting your recipe...the soaps look good enough to eat, pumpkin is PERFECT for this time of year. Also, you should try a honey oatmeal soap, mine turned out great (basic OO,CO,PO and goat's milk with ground oatmeal and oatmeal flakes on the top). I CP'd it with no scent and it smells naturally clean and a little sweet from the honey.
I think my problem is overheating, after reading this thread- so thanks for posting
 
Yes, thanks for posting your recipe...the soaps look good enough to eat, pumpkin is PERFECT for this time of year.

Funny you should say that... I left it cooling in the silicone loaf pan on the stove while I left for work. My husband got home from work a little while later, and called me to ask if the pumpkin cake was ready to eat or not. Had to tell him, no, that's soap! lol
 
Funny you should say that... I left it cooling in the silicone loaf pan on the stove while I left for work. My husband got home from work a little while later, and called me to ask if the pumpkin cake was ready to eat or not. Had to tell him, no, that's soap! lol

LOL! I'll bet he was disappointed after he learned that he didn't get to eat that wonderful smelling "cake".
 
It there another EO that's close to Cardamom? I thought Ylang Ylang was pricey! :shock: HOLY COCKROACHES!
 
It there another EO that's close to Cardamom? I thought Ylang Ylang was pricey! :shock: HOLY COCKROACHES!


Yeah, I think I paid $15/oz for my cardamom oil --- but just like Ylang Ylang -- It's POTENT! I used maybe 1/4tsp of it in the total 2 oz of EO's. I don't think there's anything that really smells close to it. Cardamom is pretty unique. lol

I read that in one of the recipes as I was researching, that either salt or sodium lactate would make a harder bar, and another place it said it would give HP soap a smoother pour... so I figured I'd try it. :)
 
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