CP issues, not thickening

[scouter139]

Nope...remember though, even the newest soap is still 2 weeks old. I haven't tried it with brand new soap. It gets a little mushy when it's warmed but it hardens up when it cools. I've seen a big difference in the bars. While I definately won't use that recipe again, it saved the bars from being a total dissapointment.

I do plan on trying it on a fresh batch.

 

[tespring]

The first time I attempted to make soap, I used the regular beaters on it and it took me 3-4 HOURS to get to trace. I thought I had done it totally wrong and then POOF, it was there and it was thick. I was totally missing the trails and since I had never seen trace but only read about it being like thin pudding I was thinking thin pudding as if it were watered down a bit. lol

I was reading something about how they used to make pure Castile soap and it said that in the old days, that it actually took days to make. They would leave it at night and not stir it and then get up in the morning and start stirring it again. Thank goodness for those magic wands we now call submersion blenders.

I use some Canola Oil, Safflower and Sunflower in my soaps and they are good, but I only use them at less than 15%. There is a table online somewhere that shows how much each oil should be and why but I cannot remember where I saw it at.

Good luck with your soap!

 

[Jamison]

What are your thoughts on adding beeswax?

 

[tespring]

I added a small amount of beeswax to my "Bee" soap, but I do not gel it because it tends to over heat. In my bee soap I have honey, beeswax, bee pollen oil cinnamon for scent. That soap makes the skin SO smooth it is unbelievable.

 

[Jamison]

I added a small amount of beeswax to my "Bee" soap, but I do not gel it because it tends to over heat. In my bee soap I have honey, beeswax, bee pollen oil cinnamon for scent. That soap makes the skin SO smooth it is unbelievable.

What do you mean by gel it?


thanks

 

[tespring]

Here is a definition of it: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapg ... lstage.htm

 

[Jamison]

Here is a definition of it: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapg ... lstage.htm

I see... How do you stop it from happening then?


I thought that was a fairly important part of the process.

 

[tespring]

I do what is called cold soaping, where I do not heat my oils and I actually cool my lye/water mixture down before I put them into my oils.

Some people put their soap mold in the fridge to keep it from gelling.

Hot process, CPOP and HPCP, should always gel because you take it past the gelling process when you are doing the hot or oven process.

From what I can tell so far with my soaps, it is just an effect of color but not necessarily of performance. Others that have soaped longer might be able to tell you the difference though, so far, I haven't seen a huge difference except color.

Southern Soapers has a pdf with some pictures on it to show the difference between gel and not gelled.

I hope that I explained that good, I know when I first started soaping, the terms were SO confusing to me and every time I explained it to my husband he got more confused. I finally had him sit down and make a batch of his own so he could see the whole process. I am still finding out new things every day in this forum, a lot of good information passes through here! lol

 

[Jamison]

I think I need to get some soaping under my belt and then I'll re-read what you said..... I've got the KISS approach right now.