OFCILynn Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I am going to try to make some RT soap as I have done CPHP! Can I have opinions on which is better. Use my lye solution at RT that has been made up the day before or add the warm lye solution to my RT butters and oils?? Im still a newbie at all of this and definately to the RT method! I know everyone has a preferance but Id sure appreciate opinions. Thanks all!God Bless,LynnPS>Wanted to add that I only have wooden log molds so that may make a bit of a difference too over a slab mold!PSS>Is the cure time for RT soap the same as CP or HP soap?? Please forgive the questions, some things are hard to research and find answers for! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeJae Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I am going to try to make some RT soap as I have done CPHP! Can I have opinions on which is better. Use my lye solution at RT that has been made up the day before or add the warm lye solution to my RT butters and oils?? Im still a newbie at all of this and definately to the RT method! I know everyone has a preferance but Id sure appreciate opinions. Thanks all!God Bless,LynnPS>Wanted to add that I only have wooden log molds so that may make a bit of a difference too over a slab mold!PSS>Is the cure time for RT soap the same as CP or HP soap?? Please forgive the questions, some things are hard to research and find answers for! Thanks again!Wish I could help but I don't know what RT is.....and wouldn't mind knowing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OFCILynn Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 LOL Thanks DeeJay for wanting to help! RT stands for Room Temp, no crock pots, no heating oils, everything is room temp. However, I have seen this done with using the lye solution as it was still warm AND have seen it where it was made with the lye solution completly cooled! Not sure which is best! HTP's!God Bless,Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeJae Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 WOW, how do you melt the hard oils???Sounds neat.I do room temp CP but never heard of doing just Room Temp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I mix both the day before.e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soycrazy Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I do the hot lye method to melt the hard oils. I've had problems with melting some things like soy wax, but then I remembered I had my water in the fridge doh! I can't really compare it with RT though since I haven't tried it yet, but I plan on trying it soon. With the method I use I notice it takes a bit to trace is that the same with RT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Here's how *I* interpret RTCP. I make up my lye solution and let it come to room temp. I melt and mix my oils and butters and let the mixture come to room temp (unless it's got a lot of PKO, or is almost all hard oils it'll stay liquid and clear). THEN I soap. Guess it could also be called soaping cool....Others will leave their butters and oils alone (not heat or melt) and pour the HOT lye solution over them and let the heat of that melt things. I get uneven results with that at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBE Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I do the same as Carebear.... I mix my lye and water, and it usually comes to RT in about 3-4 hours. After I do my lye mixture, I melt all my hard oils & butters (PKO, Shea, Cocoa, etc), then add my liquid oils to the melted hard oils and butters. When my lye is cooled to RT, my oils are cool to RT too. Then... I get to soapin'!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann M Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I do what I refer to as RTCP. I mix my lye solution and set it aside for a few minutes. I get all of my oils together and melt my hard oils ( PKO, mango). When the hard oils are melted I pour them over my softer oils ( coconut and palm) and stir with a wooden spoon. I then add my liquid oils. At this point there are chunks of unmelted oils so I add the hot lye. At this point I usually use short bursts with the stick blender to help facilitate melting of all oils. I stick blend, then stir over and over until all is melted. I then stick blend until I reach trace, add fo/color and other additives and pour into molds. It is so quick and easy. I have been doing this method since mid Spring and it is such a time saver. Ann M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel91805 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 As you can see...there are about as many methods as there are soapers! The night before soaping, I melt all my oils and mix them together and then divide them into my soaping buckets. I use PKO in my base recipe, so just before soaping, I zap the bucket in the microwave for 60 seconds if there is any solid oils hanging around. Then I add the FO to the oils and mix it in. For the lye mixture...for the water I use a combination of ice and chilled distilled water. The lye melts the ice. If there is more water than ice, I will have to let the lye cool down a little bit. Most times when I pour the lye water into the oils, it is a bit chilled. Works for me, and I don't have lye water hanging around overnight.Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeJae Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Here's how *I* interpret RTCP. I make up my lye solution and let it come to room temp. I melt and mix my oils and butters and let the mixture come to room temp (unless it's got a lot of PKO, or is almost all hard oils it'll stay liquid and clear). THEN I soap. Guess it could also be called soaping cool....Others will leave their butters and oils alone (not heat or melt) and pour the HOT lye solution over them and let the heat of that melt things. I get uneven results with that at best.That is how I do it to but never heard it called RTCP, I just call it plain old CP! Shows you how much I know....I was just taught from the beginning to let them both come to room temp before mixing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OFCILynn Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 I love hearing of the different ways others do this! I'm going to embarrass myself here I'm sure by asking this. I have read that even with all the ingredients at RT, lye solution RT, NOT cooled, that the lye solution will create a chemical reaction with the hard butters and finish melting them all. Then you zap it a few times with a SB! My interpretation from you all here is that either the butters have to be completely melted or the lye solution has to still be warm to soften the hard butters the rest of the way! Can anyone clarify this for me? If I melted the butters a day before and left them at RT, the next day wouldn't they solidify again?? Would the RT lye solution create enough of a reaction to melt the butters back down again? I'm feeling more confused here as most of the methods mentioned in this thread do seem like good Ole CP or CPHP soap! I am going to assume here also that since most of these methods are so close to CP that the cure time would still be 4-6 weeks and would not be ready immediately like CPHP????????? I'm wondering now if I shouldn't just stick with the CPHP method but maybe let my lye solution cool down alot more than 90-100 before I add it to the melted butters and oils in my Crockpot. Thank you all for your input here!!!!!!!!!!God Bless,Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I love hearing of the different ways others do this! I'm going to embarrass myself here I'm sure by asking this. I have read that even with all the ingredients at RT, lye solution RT, NOT cooled, that the lye solution will create a chemical reaction with the hard butters and finish melting them all. Then you zap it a few times with a SB! My interpretation from you all here is that either the butters have to be completely melted or the lye solution has to still be warm to soften the hard butters the rest of the way! Can anyone clarify this for me? If I melted the butters a day before and left them at RT, the next day wouldn't they solidify again?? Would the RT lye solution create enough of a reaction to melt the butters back down again? I'm feeling more confused here as most of the methods mentioned in this thread do seem like good Ole CP or CPHP soap! I am going to assume here also that since most of these methods are so close to CP that the cure time would still be 4-6 weeks and would not be ready immediately like CPHP????????? I'm wondering now if I shouldn't just stick with the CPHP method but maybe let my lye solution cool down alot more than 90-100 before I add it to the melted butters and oils in my Crockpot. Thank you all for your input here!!!!!!!!!!God Bless,LynnThere are proponents of both ways -Some say the true RTCP is to leave your butters (and oils) as they are at room temp - (not melted) and then pour the hot lye solution over them to melt them, SBing to smooth things out. Never worked well for me that way but some swear by it.If you pre-melt your butters AND THEN BLEND WITH YOUR LIQUID OILS your mix will stay liquid. If you have a bunch of PKO or a lot of hard butters in your mix it could cloud up or get thick on you as it sits - I then zap a bit in the microwave to make it just barely warm enough to be clear before adding the lye which has cooled down to the room temperature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OFCILynn Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 Thanks CB!! Makes sense with the added liquid oils added to the melted butters on keeping them soft/melted! I appreciate your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Thanks CB!! Makes sense with the added liquid oils added to the melted butters on keeping them soft/melted! I appreciate your input!CB is totally correct. This is the only way I soap since discovering this method. It makes a huge difference.e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeJae Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Exactly as I was taught, You would almost think that CareBear taught me but she didn't! I have never had a problem with adding the liquid oils to the melted hard oils and having it solidify again. Lord knows I have tried a whole bunch of recipes.As for leaving to get RT.I make mine around 5PM and about 11pm, when I am ready to make soaps, they are ready to go. I use to put some cold water and ice in the sink with the lye but don't do that anymore cause it would get it down to 50-65* and would never come back up, no matter how long I left it.Now with it leaving 5-6 hours, they both are at about 90-95* and ready to go. But by any means I AM NO EXPERT, as we all know. But just putting in my two scents.....:tiptoe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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