They Call Me Ambitious..

[hmlove1218]

You can call me ambitious all you want, but so far I've had pretty good soaping luck and would really like to try a milk soap (as my third soap!) and want y'all's advice and opinions before I start.

All I have is 2% cow's milk will it still work? I know I should freeze the milk into a slush before mixing it with the lye. Also, I've read that putting the mixing bowl in a bowl of ice will also help keep the temperatures down and help avoid scorching the milk.

I'm looking to make a facial bar this time and would like to add pureed fruits/vegetables to my recipe. I need to discount my water for the amount of puree correct?

I'm going to use organic stage 2 baby foods and have a couple of packets that I can't decide between. According to Google, all of the combination's I have are good for your skin in some way, but which would be the best (or should I maybe combine all three?): 1. Pears, Peaches, and Strawberries 2. Pear and Spinach 3. Apples, Blueberries, and Spinach

I am also considering adding raw honey to it, any tips there?

I'm wanting to try it with this triple butter recipe:

Mango Seed Butter 5%
Cocoa Butter 5%
Shea Butter 5%
Castor Oil 15%
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 20%
Crisco, old 15%
Olive Oil 35%

Thanks in advance!

 

[Obsidian]

Yes, 2% will work just fine. Carrot is great for a facial bar and will make your soap a pretty light orange, discount your water by the amount of puree used. Honey would be ok to but you are looking at a bar thats very likely to overheat if you use milk, honey and a fruit/veggie so plan on preventing gel.

I didn't run your recipe through a calc but there are a couple things I would would change right away. Drop your castor down to 5%, too much will make a soft sticky bar. Since you want a facial bar, I'd also lower to coconut to 15%. I'd drop the crisco completely and make up the difference with olive oil. If you do want to include crisco, drop it down to 10%, the old version is soybean oil and it can be prone to going rancid.

 

[hmlove1218]

Yes, 2% will work just fine. Carrot is great for a facial bar and will make your soap a pretty light orange, discount your water by the amount of puree used. Honey would be ok to but you are looking at a bar thats very likely to overheat if you use milk, honey and a fruit/veggie so plan on preventing gel.

I didn't run your recipe through a calc but there are a couple things I would would change right away. Drop your castor down to 5%, too much will make a soft sticky bar. Since you want a facial bar, I'd also lower to coconut to 15%. I'd drop the crisco completely and make up the difference with olive oil. If you do want to include crisco, drop it down to 10%, the old version is soybean oil and it can be prone to going rancid.

Whoops. Good catch on the Castor oil typo. Ill rerun it through soapcalc using the other amounts you've suggested.

I was planning to put it in a 6 bar mold. Should I also take extra precaution and put it in the fridge?

 

[Obsidian]

The fridge would be good but if you have a cool room or basement, that would probably be ok.

 

[hmlove1218]

How does this recipe look?

Almond Oil, sweet 15%
Beeswax 5%
Castor Oil 5%
Olive Oil 43%
Mango Seed Butter 10%
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 15%
Shea Butter 7%

Hardness 29 - 54 33
Cleansing 12 - 22 10
Conditioning 44 - 69 66
Bubbly 14 - 46 15
Creamy 16 - 48 25
Iodine 41 - 70 66
INS 136 - 165 130

 

[karenbeth]

That's a lot of beeswax. Better to keep it at 2% or it will trace very quickly. That much beeswax can make your soap drag on skin.

 

[hmlove1218]

Ok so I changed it up again lol. How's this look? I had to add back in the crisco because I just realized I'm running low on OO and I really don't want to make a batch less than 1lb.

I plan to try my hand at HP methinks..

Almond Oil, sweet 8%
Beeswax 2%
Castor Oil 5%
Olive Oil 40%
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 15%
Crisco, new w/palm 10%
Sunflower Oil 10%

After Cook:
Mango Seed Butter 10%

 

[Obsidian]

That looks better and will be awesome as a HP with the mango butter.

 

[hmlove1218]

It's cooking now Anyone know about how long it will take for it to finish? And is it normal for it to have "gelled"? It hasn't been in there long enough to go through gel phase, but the whole thing partially solidified a few minutes after I turned the crock pot on. I stirred it down, but there's still little clumps in it.

 

[Obsidian]

It doesn't take me more then a hour or so of cooking to finish HP. Going solid like that is normal, just stir it down and let it finish cooking.

 

[hmlove1218]

Phew lol. I was worried something had gone wrong.

 

[cmzaha]

When thinking about making a facial bar and teh additives it is best to remember what the oil bring to the party and which additives. If I am making a cucumber facial bar I use some grapeseed oil since it is also an astringent oil like the cucumber. Avocado puree will add moisturizing properties along with avocado oil to soaps etc. I always to try to match the purees with the types of oils. Mango is a slightly astringent butter
You really do not want to stir it down. After trace when it looks like it has solidified just leave it and if you watch you will see the outside edges starting to gel. It actually look like it folds in on itself as it is cooking and gelling. Do leave the crockpot on low

 

[hmlove1218]

I haven't stirred it but once or twice and none since it started to gel. And speaking of, that seems to be a really polarizing issue. It seems like half of the how-tos said stir occasionally and the other half said don't stir at all. Is it a preference thing or is there a reason behind each stance?

 

[hmlove1218]

Just had my first positive zap test. That is not very pleasant..

 

[hmlove1218]

Not the prettiest soaps I've ever made but I'm pretty pleased with myself that I made hot processed soaps. And they smell like yummy Guava Fig!

 

[new12soap]

LOL to stir or not to stir, that seems to be the question!

I stir. A lot. It makes me feel better to be involved, and I get nicely cooked soap with no icky dried out hard chunks in it. My friend, on the other hand, does not stir her HP at all, and swears that when she does stir is the only time she gets those chunks!

 

[Obsidian]

I also stir, a lot. I want to make sure that everything is mixed together equally.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

A stirrer here, too! I should try to avoid scraping the sides above the soap-line too much and then there will be fewer chunks. Personally, I don't mind the chunks as I tend to go for the rustic look

 

[Happysoap]

I HP only my test batches. no patience. On one of my threads somebody suggested to usse 3.5x the suggested water. I have to xay I really liked the method. It made everything easier. Don't need to stir so much and everythiing ends up nice and mixed. one or two good stirs during the cook. towards tbe end I just leave the lid open for water to evapprate.