I've been trying various techniques just to see what I like. Mostly I'm stuck on RTCP... so easy and somewhat predictable. I especially like the batches that go right in the fridge to prevent gel.
However some recipes I WANT to gel so I put them in a warmed oven (turned off) to insure full gel.
Others I want to add some expensive oils AFTER gel to be sure they survive the lye monster. So I've tried HP on the stove and then placed the mold in a warmed oven. First one worked ok but most of my botanicals seemed to disappear. The same recipe in an insulated CP batch looked VERY different. I think I may have evaporated some of my scent too. I tried again and the next batch smelled GREAT but seemed kinda goopy and hard to work with. I could not blend the color in smoothly before it felt like I HAD to get it in the mold. Ended up rebatching about half of it. Feels great but looks a little TOO rustic even for me.
It's all been a good learning experience though I was leaning away from HP, but now that I know the SL trick I'm gonna have to try again. I would really like to get HP to work for me since it seems like that's the only way to insure I'm not wasting my nicer "superfatting" oils.
However some recipes I WANT to gel so I put them in a warmed oven (turned off) to insure full gel.
Others I want to add some expensive oils AFTER gel to be sure they survive the lye monster. So I've tried HP on the stove and then placed the mold in a warmed oven. First one worked ok but most of my botanicals seemed to disappear. The same recipe in an insulated CP batch looked VERY different. I think I may have evaporated some of my scent too. I tried again and the next batch smelled GREAT but seemed kinda goopy and hard to work with. I could not blend the color in smoothly before it felt like I HAD to get it in the mold. Ended up rebatching about half of it. Feels great but looks a little TOO rustic even for me.
It's all been a good learning experience though I was leaning away from HP, but now that I know the SL trick I'm gonna have to try again. I would really like to get HP to work for me since it seems like that's the only way to insure I'm not wasting my nicer "superfatting" oils.
