Obsidian
Well-Known Member
Maybe someone can offer some advice. I made a small batch of frankincense and myrrh soap today with some OO that I had infused with the natural resins.
I used a combination of oil infusion and solvent distillation to incorporate as much of the resins as I could. the solvent (vodka) was cooked off leaving just the oil and a small amount of fine resins behind.
The mix was very, very strong scented in the hopes that some scent will remain in the soap. It took over 8 months to extract all the goodness from the resins the way I did it.
Anyways.. my soap seized after about 20 seconds of stick blending. I mixed the lye in by hand and all looked well so I hit it with the ST and blam! thick, lumpy almost ricey looking mess.
I was able to get it in the mold but this was very disapointing. I have 2 pounds of frankincense and myrrh resin for making soap but I can't do it like this again.
Regular oil infusion seems wasteful, you have to remove most of the tears and your oil isn't really very strong smelling. I could powder them but all that does is make scratchy soap.
Is there a good way to use natural resins that won't make my soap seize and look ugly or feel like gravel?
What made it seize anyways? is it the resins themselves or maybe traces of vodka that didn't get cooked off?
I used a combination of oil infusion and solvent distillation to incorporate as much of the resins as I could. the solvent (vodka) was cooked off leaving just the oil and a small amount of fine resins behind.
The mix was very, very strong scented in the hopes that some scent will remain in the soap. It took over 8 months to extract all the goodness from the resins the way I did it.
Anyways.. my soap seized after about 20 seconds of stick blending. I mixed the lye in by hand and all looked well so I hit it with the ST and blam! thick, lumpy almost ricey looking mess.
I was able to get it in the mold but this was very disapointing. I have 2 pounds of frankincense and myrrh resin for making soap but I can't do it like this again.
Regular oil infusion seems wasteful, you have to remove most of the tears and your oil isn't really very strong smelling. I could powder them but all that does is make scratchy soap.
Is there a good way to use natural resins that won't make my soap seize and look ugly or feel like gravel?
What made it seize anyways? is it the resins themselves or maybe traces of vodka that didn't get cooked off?