CP and HP?

[mips]

Hey people,

I'm all new to the soapmaking, and I kinda started doing it cause I think the soap I love the most is just too expensive, I pay 3,20 in euro for 100 gram. So I thought about making it myself.

This week I started with the MP soapmaking... but it feels a little 'fake', if you know what I mean.

Now I've read up on a lot of things, and I've wondered, what advantages a soap will get when using HP. I mean, you also add lye to oils, and then heat it extra, right? What gives this extra to the soap what CP doesn't give?

Also, does anyone know a good site with recipes for soap making?

Thanks a lot!

Greets,

Kim

 

[CaliChan]

Since your new I recommend that you do CP first. Its very simple and easy.
Every one says that with HP you can use the bars faster but im not sold on that.
But with HP you don't have to worry about a parcial gel. But its a little more tricky to do swirls and stuff
I like CP. You can chose whether or not to gel your soaps and in my opinion it gives you a lot more control.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Hot Process method is used to force saponification, hence "making soap" faster. It is ready to unmold much quicker and some think it is ready to use right away (I still advocate a 4 week cure). Gelling CP soap is basically the same idea, but takes longer. The final product between HP and CP is the same, except aesthetically. HP tends to look more rustic and is almost impossible to do fancy swirls with.

 

[100%Natural]

When HP is done properly it cuts down on cure time and also neutralizes the soap while in the pot. CP can take much longer to cure and usually isn't fit for use for 6 weeks or so. Some say more time, some say less.

I'm a hardcore CPer with several HP batches under my belt. It's only a personal choice to make CP as both soaps are excellent when done correctly.

Good luck on your soaping journey and be warned - IT IS AN ADDICTING PURSUIT!

 

[mips]

I did want to try CP first, I already ordered some safety goggles online and a temperature gun... figured my baking thermometer wouldn't like the lye

What's this gel you're talking about? Haven't seen that in youtube movies before.

 

[mips]

Thanks for the quick answers guys! Guess I wont be looking for a slowcooker/crockpot then! CP sounds fine by me!

 

[CaliChan]

Gelling is when your soap is saponifiying (sp) if you chose to gel your soaps you can either stick it in the oven (CPOP) or you can simply insulate it. You will see your soap turn translucent or gel like.
If you chose not to gel your soaps it takes longer to unmold. Usually between 2 or 3 days instead of 24 hours (for geled soaps) both have their pros and cons
If you gel your soaps and your adding things like salt milk and sugars you run the risk of your ingredients burning or your soap overheating. So a lot of goats milk diapers don't gel
But if your not adding anything like that to your soaps its usually fine to gel them
You'll probably want to try both eventually. Its more of a preference thing.

 

[CaliChan]

Soapers ****** goats milk SOAPERS
Gotta love auto correct lol

 

[mips]

Oke, so if I "gell" my soap, it's just fastening the curing process basically? Like HP.

Then I don't really feel like gelling it. I'm fine with waiting.. I kinda like the process with the least work :silent: kinda lazy I guess :mrgreen:

I do like to be able to make a translucent MP base for when I'm really lazy, but at least I still made the MP base myself then... Also I don't really like the MP base I got now, it feels kinda dry on the skin, but maybe it's also the oil I used (chamomile), so I still have to try with another soap.

Can someone also explain the 'superfat'-thing, I haven't fully understood that either. I think it's the oils/fats you add AFTER the lye process? I guess it's called 'trace' ?

 

[CaliChan]

Gelling isn't really making the curing process go faster. I use my non gelled and my gelled soaps at 6 weeks. You can just unmold them faster. If your not using goats milk in your soaps I strongly recommend gelling it. I did an experiment with my soap
One had goats milk and the other didnt. Both weren't gelled. I was able to unmold the goats milk one in 2 days. But the non goats milk batch took almost 2 weeks before I could cut into it.
Superfatting is left over fats that are not soaponified. If you don't super fat your soap then it will be really harsh on your skin
Most people tend to super fat between 5-10% I haven't seen a lot of posts with higher than that.

 

[CaliChan]

Trace is when there is no longer any seporation between the oils/fats and the lye water. You will be able to draw a figure 8 in your soap batter and will still be able to see it. If you pour before trace then the water and oil can/will seporate.

 

[mips]

So superfatting means you add 5-10% extra oil and the same lye you would use for not superfatting?

I guess that's why the soap base I bought feels so wrong on my skin... cause it's not superfattened.

Can I do anything about that by the way? Adding some extra oil? It will probably take longer to take out the mold then, but now I still got 2 kilo of soap that will feel wrong on the skin.

 

[melstan775]

I'm going to simplify gelling for you. When your soap is sitting around saponifying, it "cooks" chemically. The result is a soap with a more translucent look and brighter colors. If you like a softer, creamier looking soap, just put yur soap in the freezer to cool it down. When soap is cold it won't gel, so it takes a few extra days for it to be saponified. Gelling is a personal preference only. It still takes weeks to cure either way.

 

[CaliChan]

If you use soapcalc you can punch in the numbers you want for your oils and the percentage of super fat
If you bought a MP base its likely already superfatted. MP is just processed differently so that it can be re melted over and over and it gives it a waxy feel. My cousin does melt and pour and we both gave bars to my aunt to try and compare. She said the MP didn't last as long, didn't lather up the same, and had a gross texture when compared to the CP soap.

 

[mips]

Thanks guys... I think there's just a lot of information that's not easy to find on internet, but I think I get it now... I did see the superfat option in lye-calculators... just wondered what it really meant.

I really wanna know what I'm doing and what everything is. Maybe more than other people.

I'd like to make as natural as possible soap... I hate it how I'm reading my shampoo bottle and it says "parabens" and "Sodium Benzoate" those are things that are not good for people.

 

[CaliChan]

I don't blame you. I spent months researching soap before I dove into it.
There's a lot of natural colorants out there and a lot are availible at your local grocery store
Just always make sure that when you go to try a soap recipe always run it through a soap calculator to make sure its not lye heavy. There's a lot of good and bad information on the web
But this site is a good one. If you ever have any questions there is always some one on here that will be happy to help.

 

[mips]

I plan to make translucent soap with Loofah's in the soap. That's also the soap I buy at the soapstore which is in my eyes, way too pricey, at least for soap I think. I can make it myself, and then it wont be free either, but it will be cheaper.

I also plan on giving soaps away to friends for birthdays and such, and selling some in small amounts. Cause I will probably make more soaps than I can ever use... I like it a lot more than I thought I would.

 

[CaliChan]

Haha oh yeah I give soap away to my friends every chance I get and I still have a surplus
Just make sure that you keep track of all your recipes and take lots of notes. Every one makes mistakes with soap making eventually. If you keep notes you'll know how to fix them
I'm currently on the hunt for a good translucent recipe. I haven't tried it yet but its definitely on the to do list. I bought some mica and they don't show up very well in CP. They're supposed to work much better intranslucent soap. But I refuse to do MP even if it is from scratch. x.x I'll let you know how it goes

 

[Smee]

"...Haha oh yeah I give soap away to my friends every chance I get and I still have a surplus..."

Just do what I do: Drive around your neighborhood after dark and look for people who
left their car windows down. Toss a few bars in! Or, another option is to put the soap
in brown paper lunch-size bags. Again, walk the neighborhood and drop off bags at
everyone's front doors. Ring the bell & RUN!!!

Works for surplus zucchini, too!

Meanwhile, mips - back on topic here. Google is your friend!
Do searches for cold process soap making, or room temperature soap making,
and read, read, read before you start.

 

[mips]

I'm more of a youtube watcher but I watch a ton of movies every night! Tends to stick more than reading for me... thanks to my dyslexia... :roll:

I love soaping 101... I watched this one movie of the soap queen I think, of how to make MP soap... turns out it was how to cut the MP soap into blocks and how to melt it in the microwave