I made a soap today that I've made before as both CP and HP. I decided to try my first CPOP procedure.
The Soap:
40% Palm
25% Olive
25% Coconut
10% Shea Butter
Full water, 5% superfat.
Fragrance: Crafter's Choice Strawberry Shortcake at about 5%. (Used before in CP without problems.)
Making the soap batter went fine. The time I did CP, the trace jumped from light to pudding-like very quickly (before adding the fragrance) so I made sure to separate the bit I wanted to color once I had a light but stable trace.
Colored w/ CC "red bath bomb" lake color. (Reviews on their site indicate other people have used it successfully in soap.) Did my first in-pot swirl. Overmixed, but it's still a nice subtle effect.
I CPOP'd it for an hour in a 150 degree oven. After 30 minutes when I checked it, it wasn't gelled all the way.
Once it was all gelled and I took it out, I had small bubbles, and an oily sheen (but not puddles) on top. The oil doesn't feel odd, nor does it smell overwhelmingly of the fragrance.
It tested 7-7.5 on my pH strips, and felt fine on my skin when I tested a bar after it cooled. I sacrificed one by cutting it in half, and it did not have any seepage or oily feeling on the inside.
Here are the finished bars:
All in all i'm pleased for my first swirl and CPOP, but I wish I knew what caused the oiliness.
I have two working theories:
1. I jumped the gun on the trace, poured too early, and it separated a little.
2. I somehow caused the superfats to be squeezed out of it?
What do you say, SMF-ers?
The Soap:
40% Palm
25% Olive
25% Coconut
10% Shea Butter
Full water, 5% superfat.
Fragrance: Crafter's Choice Strawberry Shortcake at about 5%. (Used before in CP without problems.)
Making the soap batter went fine. The time I did CP, the trace jumped from light to pudding-like very quickly (before adding the fragrance) so I made sure to separate the bit I wanted to color once I had a light but stable trace.
Colored w/ CC "red bath bomb" lake color. (Reviews on their site indicate other people have used it successfully in soap.) Did my first in-pot swirl. Overmixed, but it's still a nice subtle effect.
I CPOP'd it for an hour in a 150 degree oven. After 30 minutes when I checked it, it wasn't gelled all the way.
Once it was all gelled and I took it out, I had small bubbles, and an oily sheen (but not puddles) on top. The oil doesn't feel odd, nor does it smell overwhelmingly of the fragrance.
It tested 7-7.5 on my pH strips, and felt fine on my skin when I tested a bar after it cooled. I sacrificed one by cutting it in half, and it did not have any seepage or oily feeling on the inside.
Here are the finished bars:
All in all i'm pleased for my first swirl and CPOP, but I wish I knew what caused the oiliness.
I have two working theories:
1. I jumped the gun on the trace, poured too early, and it separated a little.
2. I somehow caused the superfats to be squeezed out of it?
What do you say, SMF-ers?