Batch #3. Adventures in a crock pot

[dragonstar]

Saturday night I made my 3rd batch of soap.
My first 2 were grandparents soaps. The 2nd coming out much better than the first.
I had a day off and wanted to try again but no alcohol.....oh well HP it is....
I went a little over board on the oils but I'm not asshamed....I did decide to cross the tallow line. Our Walmart sells it. Also olive and coconut palm and a few others. Charcoal, pinrtar and mint just to I like them.
Lesson learned was use more water . The saop made it to vasiliev stage.but was thick and when unfolded you can see all the lines .
I removed from mold little less than a day. A nice hard bar. I used the crumbs to wash my hands. Very lathery. Not as moisturizing as I would prefer. I also learned I need to add the charcoal at the beginning not the end. The color is not even .

 

[Dawni]

You actually can add the charcoal at the end, but you'll have to mix really well.

The challenge for me in HP is figuring out how much to use to get black - I have turned out different shades of grey - and I've read that if you SB it into your oils you have a better chance of getting black. Haven't tried that because I've not made a solid black bar yet.

Or was that mix it into your lye? Hmm..

Careful about using more water, because your soap might warp and shrink while it's curing. I have a batch that now leans sideways after half a year. What I do is reserve part of the water called for, and add it really hot at the end of the cook, to try n get a more fluid consistency. Not lifting the lid often also helps keep the moisture in.

That being said, it's nice soap! I'm sure when it cures it'll feel much better when you use it

 

[zanzalawi]

YASSS tallow!
wait to determine if it feels moisturizing for it to have time to cure, it becomes milder with age for sure. and tallow is pretty delicious feeling on the skin
i like the texture that activated charcoal adds to a bar- nice light exfoliation
to make my HP a bit more fluid and easier to work with- after the cook is done i add in sodium lactate and plain yogurt. @Dawni is right about leaving the lid on, haha, thats a hard one for me. i've also used plastic wrap on the top to keep moisture in as it cooks

 

[dixiedragon]

You will find that your soap gets less stripping (more moisturizing) as it ages. New soap as always very drying and harsh.

It also looks like it might have overcooked a bit. What I do is let my soap cook for 20-30 min on low, then put it on High which bumps it into vaseline stage. That helps me avoid the overcooked bits.