How do you use Butter Blends in soaping?

[MrsFusion]

I'm sure the answer is simple...

Do you use them just like cocoa butter or shea? Or do you add them at trace? There are some yummy looking ones out there that I would like to try

I've been researching chamomile, I want to make a nice soap with it. I just saw Chamomile Butter Blend on wsp, so I was thinking that it might work???

 

[agriffin]

The only problem with using these is the ingredients are:

Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil (and) Chamaemelum nobile extract (and) Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil

Since you don't know the exact amounts of sweet almond or the veg oil...you can't figure out an accurate amount of lye to use.

I save butter blends like these for B&B products.

 

[MrsFusion]

Thank you agriffin!

 

[tisci]

Glad this was posted! I was just looking at the blends & wondering.

 

[carebear]

I don't know that I"d use that for soaping - but that's just me. I'd save it for skin care. Or maybe not - it's sweet almond oil, shortening, and then the extract.

Anyway, the WSP sites that for NaOH you should use the value NaOH .132, which is the same as illipe butter, shea oil, and sal butter - so just choose one of those.

If you are patient, you can purchase chamomile flowers and infuse your oil - that's what *I* would do. Cuz I've more time than money LOL.

 

[carebear]

Since you don't know the exact amounts of sweet almond or the veg oil...you can't figure out an accurate amount of lye to use.

in this case you don't need to, because WSP gives you the info.

 

[MrsFusion]

Carebear, I was just reading about infusing your own oils. I think I'm going to try this! Which brings me to another question-

Does anyone here grow and dry their own flowers/herbs for soap making? I'm thinking that it would be a smart option, since I don't sell. Gotta save where I can

 

[sugah]

I'm with carebear for oil infusion. I'm actually infusing rosemary and sage in olive oil for my next shampoo bar attempt. It's been 10 days and the initial golden color of olive oil turned dark green.

 

[heartandsoap]

I saw those butters too because I went to check out the molds on sale. They look delicious.
I'm also infusing oils. In the summer you can use the sun to steep the infusion. In the winter you can use a warm water bath to heat the bottle. I'm using herbal teas. You can use fresh herbs but then you will also have water in the oil which may lead to bacterial growth.

 

[carebear]

I get my herbs at Mountain Rose Herb or Atlantic Spice (or the west coast cousin San Francisco Herb.

Mountain Rose is absolutely top quality, and often has organic available.
Atlantic Spice & San Fran are also good quality but usually significantly cheaper - tho you usually have to buy by the pound which is a LOT when we're talking dried herbs.

 

[agriffin]

Since you don't know the exact amounts of sweet almond or the veg oil...you can't figure out an accurate amount of lye to use.

in this case you don't need to, because WSP gives you the info.

I see they do now.

 

[soapbuddy]

Just so you know, there is no need to add any oil or butter at trace. The lye is still quite active at this point and it will take whatever it wants. There is no guarantee that any particular oil or butter will end up as your superfat.

 

[heartandsoap]

Just so you know, there is no need to add any oil or butter at trace. The lye is still quite active at this point and it will take whatever it wants. There is no guarantee that any particular oil or butter will end up as your superfat.

My understanding is that when trace occurs saponification is advanced and the desired oils will be left unsaponified. It's my practice to superfat at a light trace. Does anyone else do this? I superfat with the more expensive oils and butters so this is of interest to me. The books I have on soap making recommend it. But, to be honest, the recipes in these books are not good. I learned everything the hard way. I have continued with the superfatting tho as it has never caused any problems for me. I'm happy with my soap but don't want to false advertise to my friends and family if this is the case. Always appreciate the feedback in this forum.

 

[LadyM]

Does anyone here grow and dry their own flowers/herbs for soap making? I'm thinking that it would be a smart option, since I don't sell. Gotta save where I can

I've been growing and drying Calendula and it's fantastic!!
I normally buy it from Mountain Rose Herbs but decided to give the grow your own a try. They are so beautiful in my garden and the petals dry nicely. Of course I've been harvesting lots of flowers for only a small collective amount of petals so far but it's still so fulfilling.

 

[pixybratt]

Monterey Bay Spice Company
herbco.com

has great quality herbs and clays and you don't always have to buy a pound most you an get a 1/4# but it is often more cost efficient to buy a pound.

 

[heartandsoap]

Does anyone here grow and dry their own flowers/herbs for soap making? I'm thinking that it would be a smart option, since I don't sell. Gotta save where I can

I've been growing and drying Calendula and it's fantastic!!
I normally buy it from Mountain Rose Herbs but decided to give the grow your own a try. They are so beautiful in my garden and the petals dry nicely. Of course I've been harvesting lots of flowers for only a small collective amount of petals so far but it's still so fulfilling.

Calendula is great to grow. It spreads like weeds and the seeds are easy to harvest. I do it too. just love it.

 

[TessC]

My understanding is that when trace occurs saponification is advanced and the desired oils will be left unsaponified. It's my practice to superfat at a light trace. Does anyone else do this? I superfat with the more expensive oils and butters so this is of interest to me. The books I have on soap making recommend it. But, to be honest, the recipes in these books are not good. I learned everything the hard way. I have continued with the superfatting tho as it has never caused any problems for me. I'm happy with my soap but don't want to false advertise to my friends and family if this is the case. Always appreciate the feedback in this forum.

Yeah, that's the same thing I read in a lot of the soap books when I went on a binge and checked out tons of them from the library and I started off saving some oils to add at trace, but I no longer believe that adding superfat oils at trace does any good at all, so everything goes in at once now. That's after reading tons and tons of posts and trying both ways with my own soaps, I'm afraid that I can't provide any cold hard numbers or statistics or concrete proof, it's just the conclusion I've come to over time from reading the views of soapers who are far more experienced than I am.

 

[heartandsoap]

thanks for the advice Tess, appreciate it.

 

[tespring]

I think that adding the superfatting oils after the cook would work if you were doing HP, wouldn't it? Doesn't the cook make it go through the saponification process?

 

[TessC]

Yeah, HP is a whole different animal. I don't make HP at all but I know that plenty of the people who do HP will hold back their high-dollar luxury superfatting oils and butters until after the cook.