Transparent Soap

[Traumabrew]

I started making a batch of transparent soap today. I used rosin (again) but only at 5% (last time was 10%). Transparent soap is a hot process soap so I had everything nice and melted in the crock pot and added my lye. Again, near instantaneous saponification. It turned into a flaky, dry mass. I kept mashing and sticking blending. During this a small bit landed on my lip and it was zap free. So I took a small sample and got the result you see in the pic when I washed my hands with it. That is from soap, that was literally maybe 3 or 4 minutes earlier just separate oils and lye.

I re ran my calculations and everything is in order in regards to water and lye amounts. I rechecked my oil weights.

So, if you are ever in a hurry or want to speed up saponification, add some rosin. Its the nuclear bomb of soap making. But be prepared. I might start to add my lye solution in steps next time.

 

[DeeAnna]

Start soaping with just the lye solution and the fats. Keep the rosin in a separate warm water bath to keep it nice and liquid, but not any hotter than necessary. When the soap gets to emulsion or trace, whichever you prefer, then start adding the rosin in a thin stream as you stir continuously. I use a whisk or spatula, not a stick blender.

The old makers sometimes saponified the rosin separate from the normal soap and then combined the two after the rodeo settled down.

 

[xyxoxy]

Sorry if this is a bit of a thread hijack...
I've been away from the forum for some time but getting back into B&B stuff lately now that I have more free time.

This is the first I have heard of adding rosin to a soap. Can you elaborate a bit? I'm thinking of rosin as the solid amber blocks from my stringed instruments days. Is that what we're talking about? Or is this the rosin produced in the cannabis industry? Or something else? Do you grind it or otherwise get it into a liquid form?

And what does it bring to the finished product? Scent? Texture? Suds? Label appeal?
Is this similar to a pine tar soap?

Thanks...

 

[Traumabrew]

Pine rosin is also called colophony. It was used back in the day and is used in liquid soap making and can be used for CP or HP soap too.

I have been experimenting with it. In transparent soap, it adds a amber color to the soap naturally, is good for lather and makes clear soap.

There are several good threads on the forums here about it.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=42744

Things I have learned about it, it gets wicked hot wicked fast when adding to lye. Even small amounts creates extreme acceleration. Of note, I do not get this wicked acceleration when I am making LS with either 100% KOH or 90/10 KOH/NaOH; only with 100% NaOH.

I bought a couple pounds of pine rosin from here: http://www.diamondgforestproducts.com/

 

[SunRiseArts]

Start soaping with just the lye solution and the fats. Keep the rosin in a separate warm water bath to keep it nice and liquid, but not any hotter than necessary. When the soap gets to emulsion or trace, whichever you prefer, then start adding the rosin in a thin stream as you stir continuously. I use a whisk or spatula, not a stick blender.

The old makers sometimes saponified the rosin separate from the normal soap and then combined the two after the rodeo settled down.

genius!

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, it's the same stuff that's used on violin bows and on dance floors. I have some info about it in my pine tar soap article: https://classicbells.com/soap/pineTarSoap.html