Kiwi_Brin
Member
New soaper. Not yet made any soap. I read iso alc can reduce Ash in cp and maybe other benefits. Is iso alc useful for hp soap at any phase?
Is isopropyl alcohol useful in hot process?
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Obsidian
Well-Known Member
No, since HP is already saponified when its put in the mold, alcohol won't do anything.
Not sure what other benefits you read about, its really only used for ash. I don't use it at all, ever.
Not sure what other benefits you read about, its really only used for ash. I don't use it at all, ever.
I've never heard of any other benefits other than helping to prevent ash in CP. I do spritz my soaps after pouring and then cover. I get very little ash.
Bladesmith
Well-Known Member
Not a lot of uses for Isopropyl. But, you can use other (fatty) alcohols like cetyl alcohol added after the cook to add some stability to your lather.
Alcohol (mainly ethanol, not isopropanol) in combination with glycerin and a sugar solution are used in HP to make translucent soap. It's an entirely different and more complicated process though.. Alcohol alone would probably not work and make the soap more drying.
What I did once was that I mixed isopropanol and little bit bronze mica in a small spray bottle. Shook it up and sprayed it on top of my cold process soap (but it will work the same in HP, except remove soda ash, since there is no soda ash to remove). It did a good job in making a metallic shine on the top, and most important, it halfway camouflaged my very ugly looking top.
