Pros and Cons...?

[thecandlespastore]

What are the pros and cons of using M&P? Never did M&P, I luv my CP. Used to buy glycerin soaps and they melted way too fast for me.

What are the pros and cons of making HP Soap? Pros are that all that lye is cooked out immediately, cons would be that you have to watch it like a hawk.

What are the pros and cons of making CP Soap? I love CP, so I would have to say 1. I love that I can put so many oils and herbs, etc and come out with a finished product that I made from the ground up. 2. Love the texture of the bar. 3. Lasts for quite awhile. 4. Its like fine wine, gets better with age. Cons...can't think of one right now:grin2:

[beau's mama]

...Never did M&P, I luv my CP. Used to buy glycerin soaps and they melted way too fast for me.

You are right about the glycerin soap melting fast, but I've added different oils to my M&P plus PKO flakes & a little extra CO...hardens that bar right up & still gives a good lather that feels soft. Took me everyday for almost 2 wks to get the pko flakes right...the first batch I did made the bars so damned hard that they wouldn't even lather! I could feel the oils, but not a stitch of lather! So I did what my Nana used to do with soap when the bars became to small to us... I cut it up I put the whole batch in a jar with some boiling water...we're still using it for bubble bath!

Yep, Nana always knew how to get multiple uses out of anything!

Sharon

[CareBear]

I guess I am slightly nervous about the M&P because the previous experience with Michael's stuff. There was no lather and just a waste of time and money. I could avoid that (but bring on a whole new batch of problems) with the CP or HP.

I guess I'll give the M&P bases a try, they can't be worse than Michaels!

Kelly, why don't you post in the classifieds for a couple of pounds of SFIC or other high quality MP. That way you can try a few before you get to nervous.

I have some SFIC GM MP that lathers like a mofo, but I find it a bit drying. Someday I will play around with how to fix that if it is possible, but until then I'll stick with CP cause I can customize it AND make it gorgeous.

[MarieJeanette]

Pros and Cons of M & P..........I love playing with M & P. There are so many creative things you can do with it and the scents don't morph. The cons for me would be that it's darn near impossible to do decent swirls with it, it doesn't last as long, and I don't have much control over the base ingredients, except for deciding what base to choose. (I use WSP bases and some SFIC)

Pros and Cons of HP.............I have yet to try HP, so my eperiences with that are nil.

Pros and Cons of CP................I once used to think that I would always be doing MP because I was totally petrified of lye, but I'm now so in love with making CP.

I've gotten over the 'lye factor' and it's really not as bad as what my overactive mind had been conjuring up. I've found that it's about as risky as driving a car is risky, or cooking over campfire is risky, or making French-fries is risky. If the proper precautions are adhered to, there's nothing to get freaked out over at all. I really don't know why I waited so long to try CP.

The pros for me of CP are that I have total control over the ingredients, as well as limitless recipe combinations to try. I can buy mostly all my ingredients, except scents, at either Walmart, the health-food store, or the supermarket. I can design my own recipe on SoapCalc to get the individual kind of soap I like. I can do swirls. The CP soap lasts longer and feels nicer to my skin. It's smells wonderful and looks great.

The cons would have to be the lye factor, but that is truly very easily overcome.... You would have to be on the lookout for acceleration with certain F/Os, but once you figure out which F/Os accelerate, you can modify your recipe or plan of action for next time around...... There are other potential problems such as ricing, overheating, separation, etc, to be on the lookout for, but then again, there are also successful remedies for those problems. If all else fails, rebatch! All in all, to me at any rate, the cons end up being so much non-cons when all is said and done, as long as you are prepared beforehand.

Have fun whatever you decide to try!

MarieJeanete

[shutterbugg]

The CP tutorial is actually at http://watersgulch.com/howtocp.shtml The page here never got finished.

Robin you should really fix that!!!!

[shutterbugg]

I was scared to death of the lye, took me almost one year to get over that!! Now i can smack myself for waiting so long!! As long as you are careful its not really that bad... Heck your not a "true" soaper till you get at least one lye burn!! LOL joking ladies!!!!!!

Dont get me wrong, lye is dangerous, but so are alot of other things

[SassyLady]

I did M&P once with stuff from JoAnn's. I really didn't like it. It's sitting in a box somewhere around here. I don't want to use it and I sure as heck don't want to give it to someone and have them associate it with me.

I researched like crazy, mostly on this site, but also several others before I settled on CPHP as the method I wanted to try. I'm too impatient to wait the required 4 - 6 weeks for CP to cure. If you use proper safety measures, it's much like cooking, in fact it IS cooking!!! ( I like to cook!! ) I like adding my goodies at the end of the cook. I think my goodies have more "punch" when they don't go through saponification, just my opinion. I will probably give CP a try at some point next year, but for now, CPHP is my true love.

Also, you mentioned that you don't want to use a crock pot. There are other methods of HP: like oven process, direct heat, double boiler, and even CP that you cure in the oven overnight in order to speed up saponificaton. I would suggest that you do a few searches on here to check out the different methods before you settle on one. Just don't give up on making your own from scratch, it really is very rewarding.

A decent scale that weighs in grams is really helpful in correctly measuring your ingredients, whether you do HP or CP. Also, the soapcalc is an amazing way to waste alot of time. I have formulated many recipes on that site, some of which I have actually made!!

Don't be afraid of lye, just have the proper respect for it!! Fire is dangerous, but millions of us grill out without a second thought to the danger.

Whatever you do, have fun.

Lisa

[Kelly]

Thank you so much. You are all very helpful. I'll ease my way into soap making as I did candle making, read read read, think think think, read read read, think about starting, read read read, then DO IT! In fact if I'm as lucky with soap as I was with candles, it'll go great. My first candle burned nearly perfectly, second one well that's a different story, but I think with the internet and access to these boards, candlemakers, soapers and other crafters can avoid a lot of frustration by researching before doing.

Ok... I am starting to build a little more courage!! Thanks again to everyone replied to this thread!!!

~Kelly~