New here from California

[geniash]

Hello fellow crafters!
So glad to find this forum. I've been binge reading lye-based forum primarily but will check out the rest as well! I started middle of this year with soapmaking for home but the hobby quicky became a bit more intense. I tried selling my creations on a neighbor's holiday boutique and it went so well! I have a custom order to fullfill plus my usual favorites to make. Is there a forum dedicated to sellers? Looking forward to collaborate and meet new friends here!

 

[Teri Collins]

Welcome...I'm a newbie as well and have been researching the use of Sodium Lactate to help in the curing process...I hope we both get the help we're looking for...I have a feeling that won't be a problem...I've really enjoyed reading the posts here...Good luck ! Teri

 

[Megan]

Welcome...I'm a newbie as well and have been researching the use of Sodium Lactate to help in the curing process...I hope we both get the help we're looking for...I have a feeling that won't be a problem...I've really enjoyed reading the posts here...Good luck ! Teri

From what I understand SL does not shorten cure time. It just helps you unmold faster, and provides lather boosting effects. Curing will depend on your base oils, along with how much water you use in your batch.

Also, Welcome to both of you!

 

[shunt2011]

Welcome. There is a business forum but you have to be a member for 3 months and have 50 posts. It’s also recommended you have been soaping for at least a year, knowing your soap inside and out. How it performs and lasts. Anyone can ,Alex and sell soap but won’t sell long of its not good soap.

Sodium lactate as nothing to do with cure. It makes soap easier to unfold sooner with. There is nothing that will take place of a good cure of at least 4-6 weeks. High olive even longer.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Geniash, and welcome, Teri!

As Megan and Shunt said, sodium lactate does not have much to do with cure, e.g., helping the soap to cure quicker or anything of that nature. There are no short-cuts around a good cure, as we all have eventually found out sooner or later. lol Instead, it's a wonderful additive that does a handful of other lovely things. I use it in almost every batch of bar soap, and in every batch of my liquid soap.

In my bar soap it lends a level of hardness that allows it to be unmolded quicker, and it also gives a lovely creamy 'body' to my lather as if I had added milk or cream to my soap. And when making bar soap via the HP method, it lends a certain level of fluidity to my batter, making for a smoother pour. In my liquid soap, it helps the paste to soften/break up for a quicker dilution.


IrishLass

 

[geniash]

Thank you everyone for a warm welcome! Although I've been making soap for 6 months, I've studied a lot of internet/books/videos and anything I can find on the topic. My passion is soap with added botanicals from my garden - calendula, hyssop, rosemary, more ideas brewing for the next year. Initially I started with alcohol extract from flowers (calendula), however alcohol speeds up trace so most of my botanical soaps are hot method. I am currently steeping rosehips in glycerin to give it a try. I have chemistry background, so making soaps comes almost naturally to me. Here are some of my creations, but that's only a small portion of it. Thanks again everyone, looking forward to be an active sharing member.

IMG_3754

• geniash
• Dec 4, 2018

Various cold process soaps, different recipes.

 

[Teri Collins]

Thank you to all that have responded...I guess you just can't believe everything you read or hear on the web... I truly believe there's nothing better than time to cure all, in anything we do in life...Soap is just another venture for me...Thanks again..!

Welcome, Geniash, and welcome, Teri!

As Megan and Shunt said, sodium lactate does not have much to do with cure, e.g., helping the soap to cure quicker or anything of that nature. There are no short-cuts around a good cure, as we all have eventually found out sooner or later. lol Instead, it's a wonderful additive that does a handful of other lovely things. I use it in almost every batch of bar soap, and in every batch of my liquid soap.

In my bar soap it lends a level of hardness that allows it to be unmolded quicker, and it also gives a lovely creamy 'body' to my lather as if I had added milk or cream to my soap. And when making bar soap via the HP method, it lends a certain level of fluidity to my batter, making for a smoother pour. In my liquid soap, it helps the paste to soften/break up for a quicker dilution.


IrishLass

Thank you IrishLass...how do I make sure I measure correctly in order to add the Sodium Lactate to a batch...? I use just Goats milk, Olive oil, Lye & Distilled water along with an essential oil...

 

[IrishLass]

I use 2% sodium lactate (in 60% solution) as per the weight of the oils in my batch. For example, if my batch contains 500 grams oils/fats, I would weigh out 10 grams of my sodium lactate solution on my scale and then add that to my lye water (500 x 2% = 10).


IrishLass

 

[Relle]

Welcome Geniash .

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.