Curing time~

[OFCILynn]

Well, I made my first batch of CP soap last night in my favorite scent........Catalipa by Solas. I didnt have enough of my refined shea so I had to mix some of my unrefined to make up for it. I hope that doesnt make a huge difference in quality other than color! With NO coloring or FO at all, the batch was a yellow!! I should have added the FO when it was a VERY THIN trace and not a light trace as this stuff thickened quickly and I only hit it for approximately 20 seconds with the stick blender!! By the time I poured the soap into my squeeze bottles and started my squiggles in my mold, it was already setting up and what was in my bowl of uncolored had traced completely and I had to scoop it up!! I was heartbroken but I do know its all trial and error with each and every FO! BUT>I did do my first batch of CP! LOL For the most part, I like it if I can get the timing down right!

Now, here is my question, this particular recipe that I created and have made using the CPHP method has 35.39% olive oil. I read somewhere that if you have a high percentage of OO, you have to let the soap cure longer! Is 35% high?? How long do you think I need to allow this soap to cure? Also, I used thechemistrystore.com's soap dye and my gosh, it took so much to color my 4 cups worth! (I made a 8lb batch) I think I should have only colored 2 cups worth personally but live and learn! I didnt have any green in select shades and have not used them yet, are they really that much better than other dyes? My next batch I make, Ill use SS and see what I think, I just didnt have any green to test with! LOL

TIA All!!

Hugs,

Lynn

[OFCILynn]

:bump: Bump for a reply???!!!!:bump:

[Crafty1_AJ]

With HP soap, you're not really curing it to ensure that it's fully saponified and mild. Assuming it's fully cooked, the sap process should be finished at molding time. So the "cure" time for HP is really just to let some water dry out of the soap so the bar will be harder and last longer.

hth. Congrats on your first batch!

[OFCILynn]

Hi AJ, thanks for replying! What I made was my first batch of CP soap! I have made CPHP soap in the past and know that as long as it is cooked right that it is ready right away as soon as it hardens! Again, this is CP soap and know that it has to cure! I had read that with high amounts of Olive Oil that the cure time is longer but I cant find more info on that and dont know if the amount that I have in my recipe is considered high or not to make this qualify for longer curing! Make sense??

Thanks for the congrats!

Lynn

[cas]

Pics?

When you add scent to the soap, you should mix with your spoon and not the stick blender. The stick blender will help accelerate the process once the FO is added. I did that the first time and like you, had to scoop the soap into the mold. Since then, I add FO, and stir with the spoon until it is nice and incorporated.

[OFCILynn]

Hi Chris, Boy, I sure did not put enough info in my first post and made it so confusing!! I was really depressed when I wrote it! LOL I only used the stick blender BEFORE I added the FO and only stirred with a spoon after I added it! I do know now to add this FO with this recipe at a very, very light trace. If that doesnt work, I may even allow my oils and lye soluction to cool even more before mixing. I had both at 100 degrees. I did only do short bursts with the stick blender as I saw that it was trying to thicken very quickly! Thinking back, I do recall that when I made my CPHP soap that it got to trace very quickly then too! Hmmm, wonder if it has to do with my actual recipe! I love this learning process but hate wasting supplies especially when I am about out of so many of them!

God Bless,

Lynn

[eugenia]

35% is not a large amount of olive oil. I cure all my soaps for 6 weeks. The amount of water is the biggest factor on how long they take to get hard. I've found that soaping RT, adding the FO to the oils, and hand stirring all help to make the batch more cooperative.

Some oils trace much fasters than others. I use a lot of the fast ones in my recipes and I find that the above helps immensely.

Forgot to ask, is that a floral? Lots of them are seizers.

[Brenda]

Congrats on your first batch of CP! Sorry your encountered some frustrations. I use almost 50% olive oil in all my soaps and find that a four week cure is necessary for them to lose enough moisture. If you gel your soap, the 4 weeks (in my experience), is enough for the bars to lose enough water for a nice hard bar. If the soap remains ungelled, then I try to give it a couple weeks longer plus the additional couple of days it needs to sit in the mold.

I'm a big fan of adding the FO straight into my cooled oils. I seem to be able to control the process easier most of the time using this method. Once in a while when I want a reverse swirl with unscented soap (to prevent discoloration from certain FOs) I'll add the FO after the oils are opaque and I've dipped out my unscented portion. But I do like pouring them directly into the oils first!

You could try an in-the-pot swirl! Those are fun and easy to do and give nice results. Once it's in the mold give it a few swirls with a spatula and you're all set. I think it was Crafty1_AJ that posted her method... but I could be mistaken...

Have fun!

Oopsie, e beat me to it!

[mystical_angel1219]

I cure all my soaps 4-6 weeks, water discount or not.

Lynn, if you make your lye solution & mix your oils the day before you will have less to worry about. This is my biggest timesaver. I melt my hard oils, add the soft oils, FO and colorant (if you are doing a solid color) and leave them with the lye solution pitcher somewhere safe overnight. Then when I feel like soaping, I pour the lye into the oils and stir with a slotted silicone spoon until the mixture is completely emulisified. Then I hit with the stick blender a few times to encourage trace, and pour into my mold at thin trace. My soap comes out smooth as glass this way with little worries of seizing. I will NEVER go back to watching temperatures after using this method.

Edited to add: I see a few of us do it this way.. LOL!

[eugenia]

Edited to add: I see a few of us do it this way.. LOL!

This is the BEST tip I can give to any soaper. Too bad it took me a few years to figure it out!

[OFCILynn]

Thank you all for your replies! Glad to know that 35% isnt too much! I am doing a 5% water discount and using SoapMaker, it says that my lye solution is at 29.8%. Please bear with me as I am still of course learning even how to use soapmaker and how all the numbers work together! I believe I have put together a great bar of soap, at least according to the numbers that is! LOL I have used the same recipe, minus TD and Oatmeal which I used in my CPHP soaps and have found my bars pretty moisturizing.

I use:

Olive Oil

Rice Bran

Coconut oil

Mango

Castor

Palm Kernal

Shea Butter

Soap Maker numbers are:

H=6.3

FL=4.3

SL=6.8

M=6.3

Comparing other recipes, my numbers seem pretty good and I know that in time, I will be able to improve them even more but for creating a first time recipe, I think the numbers are decent! Please tell me if any of the ingredients that I am using are fast tracing ingredients.

I peeked and saw that it jelled a hour after it was poured into the mold. Today, 15 hours after I poured into my mold, I unmolded and cut my bars! I really should have waited a bit more as they were still a bit too soft. It is amazing watching the color changing! The natural yellow isnt as yellow at the moment but it is still pretty dark for my liking! Looking at the above list, can any of you tell WHICH ingredient is causing me such yellowness?? This was pretty yellow before I added the FO so I know that isnt it!

I hate asking all of these questions and not getting this perfect the FIRST time but know that my friends on CT here understand and for that, I thank you all who are trying to help assist me!!

God Bless,

Lynn

Mystic>I will try just what you mentioned!! Not having to watch the temps sure does seem like a easier way to do this. I never imagined that this would work but you can bet that I will give it a try.......just as soon as I get my butters! LOL

[mystical_angel1219]

This is the BEST tip I can give to any soaper. Too bad it took me a few years to figure it out!

I learned this after my first "swap worthy" soap I was making for a Disher swap. Talk about baptism by fire! HA HA..!!

I did Seredipities Pink Grapefruit. What a disaster.. LOL, I had to smash the living daylights out of it. It tried to rice on me, the color wouldn't blend- but I wasn't having it. Now I soap everything practically stone cold with much better results.

I haven't got to "false trace" yet- but I am hoping that day never comes.

[eugenia]

Link to fast tracers

http://www.soapnuts.com/indexoils.html

[eugenia]

I haven't got to "false trace" yet- but I am hoping that day never comes.

Me either, and I've been soaping RT for a year.

[OFCILynn]

Ok, please educate me here, what does RT stand for??

Ok, try not to laugh too hard! I am already so disappointed in my first Cp soap!! I am going to post the picture of this soap in this thread here instead of the gallery since it was discussed here. Please move this if I am breaking the rules!

The yellow isnt this dark now! Scrap pieces!

So sorry for the quality of the photos! My camera is broken and I cant change the settings on it now! This soap was poured at midnight last night.

Thanks for the link of fast tracing ingredients!!

God Bless,

Lynn

[Brenda]

RT means room temperature. A wonderful way to soap.

[cas]

Oh good, I'm not the only one who does RT then! I did the whole temp thing the first time and was like "forget this!" And I will mix, melt and let it sit for a little while and then after an hour or so I combine, etc.

The soap looks good for your first time! Mine looked terrible my first time, but it sure did make a good bar. LOL

[OFCILynn]

Now dont I feel really dumb!! Duh!! Makes sense!!........NOW!! Thank you all who have shared this tip with me! Cant wait to try it the RT way next time! LOL

Hus,

Lynn

[Michi]

I think it looks great, especially for your first CP batch! You did good girl!

I've always done mine at RT-I read and read for like 6 mths. before I started and everyone was saying how much easier it was, so that's how I started and would never do it any other way (considering I don't even own a thermometer anymore. LOL).

[Crafty1_AJ]

Oh yeah, soaping cool rocks. I always do, and have had next to NIL on problematic batches. You have ample time to swirl that way too.