Red Wine Soap Recipe Help

[Aspiringdakini]

I like the following recipe because I have all of these ingredients lol. I was just a bit worried about the "will foam a lot" part. Is there anything I can do to make it not foam too much? Or at least not foam A LOT? I am a bit worried about this because I don't know how much it will foam and I am not sure if my bowl is going to be big enough. I have heard and read that it can be fierce and volcano-like and that scares me a bit. I thought I would put it in the sink to be safe but if it spills over, all of the recipe measurements are off so that is no good. If there is a way to avoid the foaming all together that would be great but if not, how can I keep the foaming down to a minimal? Also, do I stir while it is foaming or just leave it to foam?


Lastly, why nonmetalic bowls? I have a stainless steel bowl that would work great because it is huge but it says no metalic bowls !?!??!

Is this recipe safe and reliable?

Instructions

1. • 1 Simmer 6 oz. of wine for five minutes, and then add enough water so that the liquid equals 18 oz.
     
     
   • 2 Place the wine and water into a very large, nonmetallic bowl. Add 7 ¾ oz. of lye to the liquid, and let it foam. It will foam a lot, so make sure your bowl is large enough to prevent spillage.
     
     
   • 3 Mix together 15 oz. of coconut oil, 15 oz. of olive oil and 24 oz. of vegetable shortening. Add the lye mixture to the oil and shortening mixture when the lye mixture and the oils (containing the melted shortening) feel warm when touched. Mix everything with a wooden spoon or immersion blender.
     
     
   • 4 Add 1 oz. of the blend of essential oils that you have chosen once the mixture of lye and fats has reached a pudding-like consistency. Stir well with a wooden spoon.
     
     
   • 5 Add 1 oz. each of glycerin and essential oil. Pour the entire mixture into a soap mold and allow to sit and harden for at least 48 hours. Remove from mold, and then slice into bars and allow to cure for two to three weeks.
     
     

Might I add that this is such a wonderful site especially for newby's like me who need all the help they can get lol! Thanks everyone for being so helpful and kind. <3

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[melstan775]

I just happen to be trolling late tonight, and I'm new so I can't say for sure .but this came up yesterday and the advice was to boil the wine half down and let it sit a day or two to make sure all the alcohol was evaporated, and that should help the fizz factor.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

I make wine soap, but instead of using it as my entire liquid for my lye solution, I add the boiled and concentrated wine at trace. I subtract the amount of wine I'm adding from my lye solution upfront. You definitely want to simmer the wine to reduce as much alcohol as possible. Five minutes isn't gonna do it. Try simmering it long enough to reduce it by half it's volume. I have never had any volcanos or overheating doing it this way, and if you're a newbie to soapmaking, it may be a little less stressful :wink:
Also, instruction #5 - there's no need to add glycerine with your essential oils. You could add 2 oz at trace...no need to separate it into (2) 1 oz portions, mixing one of those with glycerin.

 

[Aspiringdakini]

I make wine soap, but instead of using it as my entire liquid for my lye solution, I add the boiled and concentrated wine at trace. I subtract the amount of wine I'm adding from my lye solution upfront. You definitely want to simmer the wine to reduce as much alcohol as possible. Five minutes isn't gonna do it. Try simmering it long enough to reduce it by half it's volume. I have never had any volcanos or overheating doing it this way, and if you're a newbie to soapmaking, it may be a little less stressful :wink:
Also, instruction #5 - there's no need to add glycerine with your essential oils. You could add 2 oz at trace...no need to separate it into (2) 1 oz portions, mixing one of those with glycerin.

Thanks for that info!!! So should I just have 18 oz of water mixed with the lye then add the 6oz of cooked wine at trace? Or should it be 12 oz of water? I get confused very easily with this stuff if you can't tell lol. :shifty:

 

[Kersten]

Lastly, why nonmetalic bowls? I have a stainless steel bowl that would work great because it is huge but it says no metalic bowls !?!??!
----

Lye will react with and work to dissolve many metals, but stainless steel is safe.

 

[Aspiringdakini]

Thank you! Is plastic safe to use? I bought some cheap buckets to use that are deep. I thought that would be better for mixing. Will it be okay using plastic?

P.S. I love your quote about travel! So true.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Your recipe is calling for 6 oz simmered wine and 18 oz of water = 24 oz liquid. I would make my lye solution with 18 oz of water and add 6 oz of concentrated wine at trace (simmered down to concentrate from 12 oz). Make sense?

Make sure your plastic buckets are Polypropylene (PP) or HDPE. It needs to withstand temps of at least 200 degrees F for lye solution. Rubbermaid plastics and pitchers usually are.

 

[maiseycat]

Your recipe is calling for 6 oz simmered wine and 18 oz of water = 24 oz liquid. I would make my lye solution with 18 oz of water and add 6 oz of concentrated wine at trace (simmered down to concentrate from 12 oz). Make sense?

Make sure your plastic buckets are Polypropylene (PP) or HDPE. It needs to withstand temps of at least 200 degrees F for lye solution. Rubbermaid plastics and pitchers usually are.

I actually read that as after she simmers the wine, she is supposed to add enough water so that the total equals 18 oz. If she is adding at trace, she should subtract the amount of the reduced wine from her total liquid of 18 oz.

 

[Aspiringdakini]

Yay okay thank you. My buckets are "PP" lol but now I am confused again about the amounts of liquid to use?!?! It is simmered wine plus water to = 18oz so I should simmer the 6oz of wine down, weigh it, (let's say it weights 4 oz after simmered) then use 14 oz of water with my lye and then add the 4oz of simmered wine at trace?!?!? Is this right? SO confusing lol! I am assuming it is not going to bubble up doing it this way as well since I am adding the wine at trace?

Also, my wine is getting a bit old now. The only reason I had the idea to make this is because I had some left over but after I boiled a bit of it, it smelled a bit vinegary. Is this okay? Thank you!!!!

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

I actually read that as after she simmers the wine, she is supposed to add enough water so that the total equals 18 oz. If she is adding at trace, she should subtract the amount of the reduced wine from her total liquid of 18 oz.

You're right! I just reread and you are correct: a total of 18 oz liquid. Either way, I would still add the concentrated wine at trace ...just my preferred method.

 

[kdaniels8811]

I just made wine soap, simmered half a bottle of merlot down to half the volume (just eyeballed it), let it sit overnight to cool and used my standard GM soap recipe but instead of GM, I used wine/water for the liquid. Right now it is a brown shade, I was hoping for more of dark red. The scent was awful so I threw in some sample scents I had in the stash, does anyone make a good wine scented EO? Looking for suggestions, thanks!!