Re-batching question

[sperry]

I have designed and built a prototype mold that works great for M&P. It occurred to me that it might work for CP, so I'd like to test it with CP. However, I have never made CP soap, and I would rather not go to all the trouble of making one batch just to test if I don't have to. Question: would the test be valid if I used re-batched CP rather than a batch from scratch? That is, would the mold know if I poured re-batched or a batch from scratch into it? Thanks.

 

[ClaraSuds]

Re-batched soap doesn't have a similar texture to CP soap. It tends to be thick and lumpy and won't gel or go through the same process as CP since it's already saponified and gelled. CP and MP soap are probably the most similar. It's a lot less work to make a CP batch than it would be to re-batch a ready-made soap. All you need are some vegetable oils\lard and lye to make a CP batch. It takes about 30mins and if you are just testing CP and don't care about the soap you could go ultra cheap and easy and just use all lard and lye. This will give you the behaviour of CP soap in your mould for a proper test including the gel phase which is significant to CP soap makers.

 

[sperry]

Clarasuds.... Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the useful info. I'll take your advise. (I've watched my sister make CP, and it didn't look simple... but your idea should work.)

 

[sperry]

I checked Basic Soap Making by Patsy Buck out of the library. The first recipe is 4 ounces of coconut oil, 4oz of olive oil, 4 oz of safflower oil, and 3 ounces of canola oil. 2 ounces of ly and 5 of water. I am making this batch strictly to test my mold. Question: can I substitute Crisco for the 15 oz of oils? Question 2... I remember someone saying that the temps of the oils and the lye had to be close when mixed, but the author says nothing about that.... just that the lye needs to come down to 100 degrees before mixing. The GOAL is to make a cheap batch to test the mold... so any advise greatly accepted. (The only oil I have on hand is olive.)

 

[Lindy]

Actually if you shred the soap with a cheese grater you can get it to pour and be smooth like CP.

The tutorial on how to do it is HERE

 

[sperry]

Lindy... interesting... So I guess the question is: is it the soap itself that makes it harder to remove from molds, or is it the process? I think it would be safest for me to test the process. Is there a super simple recipe anyone knows? CLarasuds... you mentioned crisco and lye?

 

[Lindy]

Sperry try the following recipe:

• Olive Oil - 70%[/*:m:3mo3vm7j]
• Coconut Oil - 30%[/*:m:3mo3vm7j]
• Superfat @ 5%[/*:m:3mo3vm7j]
• Lye Concentration 35%[/*:m:3mo3vm7j]

This is a basic Bastille and it will give you a hard bar that is high in conditioning properties....

What is your mould made out of? If it is plastic then you should wipe it down lightly with mineral oil to get the soap to release. If you are not gelling your soap you will need to let it sit a little longer. But I really need to know more about your mould to speak intelligently about it.....

 

[sperry]

textured 1/2" HDPE. I'm hoping the design will make CP easy to remove. I'm not optimistic... but it's been fun working on it. And it works beautifully for M&P.

 

[sperry]

Just as a test for my mold, I poured 2 ounces of pure lye (Rooto) into 5 ounces of room temperature water (filtered, not distilled), stirred until all lye disolved. Melted 1 pound of Crisco. When both hit 100 degrees, I poured the lyewater into the Crisco and stirred (spatula) to what I thought was trace. It took about 25 minutes. I covered it with 5 layers of cloth and let it sit a day. (I put it on a tile floor. So the bottom may have been a bit cool while the soap sat.) After 24 hours it was an even brown color and the texture of Crisco with fine grit added. After two days, no change. Any ideas what went wrong? Do I wait it out? Throw it away and try again? What should I do different? Thanks.

 

[honor435]

uncover and let get hard, ive never made 100% anything, but it should get hard thats what they used to use in the old days.

 

[Hausfrau007]

When you say "what I thought was trace" -- what did it that trace look like? I've never stirred with a spatula before; I either use a whisk or my trusty hand blender. Also, according to soapcalc, your measurements for water and lye are a bit off. Do you have a digital scale that measures precisely?

 

[sperry]

Trace... the drips and streams from the spatula stayed on top the surface of the "pudding" for a second or two. The scale is very accurate.