Making a soap with honey..... *UPDATE*

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I almost always use 1 tsp honey ppo. Though my teaspoons are measured more by eye than by any actual spoon and are probably on the heavy side.

I usually soap at room temp and my lye is premixed 50/50 also used at room temp. I dissolve the honey in my additional liquid (usually aloe juice lately) and then add my 50/50 lye mix to THAT. It always turns bright orange and heats up slightly when I do it this way but it has never affected the final color of the soap and I've never had a soap volcano...
(you just WATCH what happens tomorrow... :wink: )

That said... I have been thinking that it might be more effective if I wait and add it in at trace or at least after the lye has been added to my oils.
 
Well I used honey in my soap yesterday.... about 3-4 tablespoons of honey warmed on the stove (a lot more than any of you guys seem to like to use!) at light trace.

Didn't want it to overheat so I left it uncovered on the table after pouring. From the looks of it this morning, it only reached a partial gel. Didn't seem to act any differently that my regular soaps...
 
I love honey, I used it the other day in a GM soap.. the soap is a light caramel (typical GM) but when I was blending it, it sure did turn orange!
That simmered down though, it was tan by the time I cut it.
 
Those bars look GREAT ! ! ! I've been trying to get some bars to turn out "rustic" like that. Maybe I'll try adding my honey to my lye water instead of at trace. I usually add 1 TBSP ppo at trace, then set the mold on a folded polar fleece blanket and wrap it well. It turns about the color of your finished bars for a few hours, but as the bars cure, they turn a creamy, off-white. And I use goat milk, too. I was thinking of trying HP to get more of a rustic look to my soaps. But you managed to do it without even trying! I'm jealous!

don't be jealous, they all got tossed in the bin - this was the same batch that l added cinnamon to (l don't remember exactly how much, but it was too much) and l burned myself using them *ouch*. So after the honey volcano, the cleaning up, rebatching and cinnamon burns, l wasn't game to risk keeping them LOL :?
 
I use honey all the time too....I just cover the soap with saran wrap and don't wrap it. It gets pretty hot. I haven't had any trouble yet. (She says, knowing full well she just jinxed herself) :wink:
 
I use a tablespoon per pound of oils. The only time it turned orange was when I put it in before cooking the soap. When I add it after cooking, it does not affect the color at all. I use a honey scented FO that colors the soap a pale yellow.
 
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