hud
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Hello denisedh, here how you measure it, multiply 0.39 x the width x the hight x the length of your loaf and you'll get the weight of your loaf. Hope this helps:smile:
outside bubbles on my CPOP?
- Thread starter denisedh
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Hello denisedh, here how you measure it, multiply 0.39 x the width x the hight x the length of your loaf and you'll get the weight of your loaf. Hope this helps:smile:
rainycityjen
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As usual, I find these posts exactly AFTER I need them. I made my first CPOP yesterday in a silicone baking mold. It was a thrift store buy, but seemed exceptionally thick and rigid. I kept the oven at 170 for 2 hours, just above the 150 temp. The result: shallow surface bubbles on three sides.
denisedh
Member
Thank you so much and now I'm trying to figure out why I need and what in the world is a water or lye discount -
I have seen several formulas here and also have downloaded the soapcalc pro app on my phone. Now, if I need to keep practicing. I've successfully made 2 recipes that I calculated the lye wrong and the soap will be too caustic and must be thrown away. such is the learning curve!
hud
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Denise, you may check this link, I hope this helps
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=50850
navigator9
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I don't leave my oven on after I put the soap in. I preheat the mold while I'm soaping, in the oven at lowest temp. After I pour, I put it in the oven, close the door, turn the oven off, and leave it. Keeping the oven on for two hours may be getting the soap too hot.
rainycityjen
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It was a CPOP attempt - I thought the oven is left on for CPOP, and turned off if you simply want to ensure gel in regular CP?
ngian
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That must be true as Mr Kevin Dunn has also reported the case of CPOP where you bake your soap for 4 hours at 60°C (or for ~3 hours at 70-75°C with air ventilation as a friend has advised me), so as to ensure gel and also help with water evaporation.
Nikos
"...I thought the oven is left on for CPOP, and turned off if you simply want to ensure gel in regular CP? ..."
If you want to be a purist, cold process (CP) is soapmaking without added heat. So, no, putting the soap into a preheated warm oven doesn't qualify as CP. Putting the soap on a warm heating pad wouldn't be purist CP either.
And, again, if you want to be a purist, the CPOP method is cold process soapmaking with added heat from the oven. The general rule of thumb is about 170 deg F for about 1 hour.
But if I've learned one adage about soap making, it's this -- there are many ways to reach Rome.
If you can figure out how to modify the CPOP Rule of Thumb to gel your soap using less heat or less time, there are some real advantages. Some recipes, such as those high in coconut or scented with tricky fragrances, will overheat and crack, separate, or even volcano if you pop that baby into a 170 deg F oven and let it bake for an hour.
Less fussy recipes might also benefit from a shorter or cooler heating period: There will be less loss of fragrance from the soap. The texture on the top of the soap may stay a little nicer. There may be less soda ash on the top as well. Any botanical ingredients (including superfat) may be less prone to long-term deterioration and rancidity.
"...bake your soap for 4 hours at 60°C [140 deg F] (or for ~3 hours at 70-75°C [170 deg F] with air ventilation...)"
What a researcher does to meet the goals of a scientific experiment is one thing. What a soap maker might want to do to ensure good appearance and longevity might be another! Just a thought....
If you want to be a purist, cold process (CP) is soapmaking without added heat. So, no, putting the soap into a preheated warm oven doesn't qualify as CP. Putting the soap on a warm heating pad wouldn't be purist CP either.
And, again, if you want to be a purist, the CPOP method is cold process soapmaking with added heat from the oven. The general rule of thumb is about 170 deg F for about 1 hour.
But if I've learned one adage about soap making, it's this -- there are many ways to reach Rome.
If you can figure out how to modify the CPOP Rule of Thumb to gel your soap using less heat or less time, there are some real advantages. Some recipes, such as those high in coconut or scented with tricky fragrances, will overheat and crack, separate, or even volcano if you pop that baby into a 170 deg F oven and let it bake for an hour.
Less fussy recipes might also benefit from a shorter or cooler heating period: There will be less loss of fragrance from the soap. The texture on the top of the soap may stay a little nicer. There may be less soda ash on the top as well. Any botanical ingredients (including superfat) may be less prone to long-term deterioration and rancidity.
"...bake your soap for 4 hours at 60°C [140 deg F] (or for ~3 hours at 70-75°C [170 deg F] with air ventilation...)"
What a researcher does to meet the goals of a scientific experiment is one thing. What a soap maker might want to do to ensure good appearance and longevity might be another! Just a thought....
I'm very new here and I thought my first batch would end up in the bin because it was lye heavy. I decided to let it cure because I wanted to see how it changed during the curing time. I zap tested it from time to time out of curiosity and it always failed. Then after about three weeks it passed the test! Five weeks of curing time and I've been using the soap for about five days now.....it's lovely. Just wondering if it might be worth letting your soaps cure to see what happens?
This is an explanation by The Efficacious Gentleman as to why it passed the zap test after so long
It is possible -
There was a crazy (crazy good!) thread with a VERY lye heavy Castile, where the soap was left and the excess lye reacted with the air to neutralise over time. That soap had a large amount of water which helped to migrate the lye to the outside of the soap where it could react. It was extremely interesting, I must say.
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navigator9
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Years ago, when I was learning to make soap, the CPOP instructions I read, ( and as DeeAnna stated, there are as many ways to do anything soap related as there are soapmakers!) advised to turn the oven off after placing the soap in it. I preheat the mold in the oven first, so that it's nice and warm when I pour, and then turn the oven off after placing the mold in it. My soap gels to the edges every time. I'm able to unmold cleanly the following day, and never have to place the silicone mold in the freezer to unmold, as I've heard some they they need to do. Also, I've never had a cracked top or a volcano. And maybe this might have something to do with why I never get bubbles when I CPOP? I can't imagine what the advantage of heating the soap beyond gel would be. All I know is, I've been doing it this way for years......and it works for me. Every time.
kharmon320
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I do the same as navigator9. I turn on oven to 170 for a few minutes, put soap in and then peak occasionally. I'm really only trying to ensure that it completely gels. The few times that I've left it on, I get the bubbles (in different silicone molds). I use ED molds all the time without any bubbles, but if my temp stays at 170 then I get bubbles and alligator skin on top. I think it's just too hot. Denise- the mold is still perfectly usable. I do have to insulate if I just set it on a table. To begin with, I used the cardboard box to place the mold in, fold up top, wrap in towel, blanket, etc. It helps insulate and keep from bowing too bad.
ETA: I don't believe that if I CPOP the soap it will be cured quicker. That's just my humble opinion. I only use the oven sometimes to make sure the soap gels thoroughly. In my silicone molds, the ends sometimes don't gel completely.
ETA: I don't believe that if I CPOP the soap it will be cured quicker. That's just my humble opinion. I only use the oven sometimes to make sure the soap gels thoroughly. In my silicone molds, the ends sometimes don't gel completely.
JustBeachy
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I've been slammed with work and a new grandkid, so I haven't had time to run some experiment, but research is turning up some differences in the silicone used by different suppliers. I'll get back in the swing here in a week or so, and try some liner "curing". See if that helps.
biarine
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That's a lovely soap, I am trying to do the same. I am just newbie in soap making it's about six months now and I enjoy it. I made a lot of HP than CP. I used my knowledge in doing natural perfume for my essential oil blend. I had hardship in CP after the saponification my scent just vanished, no scent left or just very faint. But in HP my blend shines. Hopefully I can learn more technic here.
denisedh
Member
studying and learning
Just wanted all of you to know on this thread that I am still studying and learning so so much! I'm lucky to have a husband who is a chemist and he has been "pretty" helpful when I ask him a halfway intelligent question that he can answer about ingredients that we use in soap making and their interactions, etc. I am a painter/artist and have no background in chemistry aside the fact that I mixed glazes for my pottery in college and oil paint knowledge (I'm an oil painter) - which do me absolutely no good at all in soap making.
My studies have led me to realize the importance of understanding what the properties of oils and butters have to do with the eventual outcome of the soap - EVERYTHING! I had no idea.
This venture started out with me interested in making bath bombs like Lush..... I really did turn a corner when I became totally obsessed with making CP soap!!
I'm still reading everything you are saying about this bubbling - and as long as I keep the silicone mold out of the oven I think I'm good!
Just wanted all of you to know on this thread that I am still studying and learning so so much! I'm lucky to have a husband who is a chemist and he has been "pretty" helpful when I ask him a halfway intelligent question that he can answer about ingredients that we use in soap making and their interactions, etc. I am a painter/artist and have no background in chemistry aside the fact that I mixed glazes for my pottery in college and oil paint knowledge (I'm an oil painter) - which do me absolutely no good at all in soap making.
My studies have led me to realize the importance of understanding what the properties of oils and butters have to do with the eventual outcome of the soap - EVERYTHING! I had no idea.
This venture started out with me interested in making bath bombs like Lush..... I really did turn a corner when I became totally obsessed with making CP soap!!
I'm still reading everything you are saying about this bubbling - and as long as I keep the silicone mold out of the oven I think I'm good!
denisedh
Member
Cookie
Cookie said:
Cookie - I am definitely looking forward to seeing what happens in the next week - which will be 4 weeks since I made the soap. I did plane off the edges - but kept them all so I could see - but I really don't think those bubbles are going anywhere - the soap is looking good.
I haven't gotten my nerve up to zap test -- I accidentally got lye on my lips the first time I made soap and it burned for a few hours so i really don't want to even remotely feel that again!!
denise
Cookie said:
Cookie - I am definitely looking forward to seeing what happens in the next week - which will be 4 weeks since I made the soap. I did plane off the edges - but kept them all so I could see - but I really don't think those bubbles are going anywhere - the soap is looking good.
I haven't gotten my nerve up to zap test -- I accidentally got lye on my lips the first time I made soap and it burned for a few hours so i really don't want to even remotely feel that again!!
denise
