My first two batches.

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Braam

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Joined
Oct 19, 2015
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Hi,

One week ago i started to make my own soap. after reading a lot of artikels about making soap i decided to make one CP en onde CPOP soaps to see and experience these two and how the soap willl look. The both are now curing for 1 week and i will let the CPOP cure for another week before i will test this one. is this good or should the CPOP cure longer?

both soaps are experimental made.

CPOP:
made with dried lavender.
walnut oil 125gr
olive oil 350gr
coconut oil 250gr
cacaobutter 75gr

NaOH 113gr
Water 305gr

CP:
Green tea.
olive oil 440gr
coconut oil 216gr

NaOH 93gr
water 251gr

i used a soapcalc to make these recipes and basicly on trying out if this will work for a first soap.

i will put a picture with both of the soaps.
the white on on the left is the CPOP and the brown on the right the CP.

What do you all think of my first try?
The dark inside of the brown soap, will this go away and be more like the outside during curing?
and what process do you prefer, CP or CPOP?

thanks.

2015_10_19_11_22_35.jpg
 
Both will need a good 4 week cure - you can try them out before hand, but make no judgements on the quality of the soap until at least 4 weeks out.

CP or CPOP is down to whether or not you want to gel the soap, although you don't need to use CPOP to get a gel, it is a good way to do so. I wonder if you mean CPOP (pouring the soap in to the mould and then putting the mould in the oven) or HP (cooking the soap through saponification and then putting it in moulds)?
 
in some dutch CPOP articles i read they said that the soap will be good right away for using but i already thought its better to wait at least a couple of weeks just to be sure. Don't want to mess up the soap but trying to make some good soaps.

I used CPOP (pouring the soap in the mould and then put it in the oven).
 
I usually work by -

Safe to use = no zap (all lye is reacted)

Ready to use = fully cured. Varies from recipe to recipe

In between = is safe, but not yet ready.

So while it IS safe, that doesn't mean that it is by any means ready to use
 
All soap does best with at least a 4 week cure. If using full liquid it can usually use a bit longer. Also, it can also vary from recipe to recipe. 100% Olive does best at 6-12 months or longer. Salt bars kind of the same.

I highly suggest reading the forum and you will gain a ton of knowledge.
 
Last edited:
Hello Braam! Congratulations on your two beautiful soaps. All of the terms and abbreviations can be confusing in the beginning. CP refers to Cold Process soapmaking. It's called cold process because we apply only enough heat to just melt the hard oils, instead of boiling the soap as they used to do years ago. At one time, soapmakers were even called "soap boilers". CPOP refers to Cold Process Oven Process, which means to use the regular cold process method, but then put the soap into a warm oven in order to insure that it will gel all the way to the edges. The darker area in your brown soap is partial gel. This is only an aesthetic issue, it does not affect the quality of the soap at all. Gel occurs because the process of saponification produces heat. The greater the mass of the soap, like in a large loaf mold, the greater chance of gel occurring. Gel starts in the center of the soap and works it's way outward, and sometimes there isn't quite enough heat for it to gel all the way to the edges, and this is why some of us CPOP, to give it that little extra nudge. Gelled soaps vs ungelled soaps are a personal preference, and some people like one better than the other, so it's good to experiment and see which you prefer. Some people put their soaps in the refrigerator or freezer after pouring, to make sure that it will not gel. If you use small, individual molds, they will probably not gel without encouragement. You can also encourage gel by covering your mold with a towel or blanket to keep the heat in. And as Craig and shunt mentioned, all soaps benefit from at least a 4 week cure to be their best. There are lots of tips and techniques that you will learn along the way, but you've made a great start with your two successful batches!
 
All so does best with at least a 4 week cure. If using full liquid it can usually use a bit longer. Also, it can also vary from recipe to recipe. 100% Olive does best at 6-12 months or longer. Salt bars kind of the same.

I highly suggest reading the forum and you will gain a ton of knowledge.

Salt bars also need a 6 month cure? Good to know! Thank you!
 
All soap does best with at least a 4 week cure. If using full liquid it can usually use a bit longer. Also, it can also vary from recipe to recipe. 100% Olive does best at 6-12 months or longer. Salt bars kind of the same.

I highly suggest reading the forum and you will gain a ton of knowledge.

wow, thats a lot longer than i read in other articles haha :p

when i made these 2 soaps i thought the CPOP one will be more gel looking and the CP more creme.
 
If by dark inside you are talking about the color difference that is gel and will not go away. Your FO might darken your soaps more as they cure depending on the vanillan content they have. CP can gel and mine sometimes do depending on how hot I soaped and if I help them stay hot after pouring.
 

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