Melt & pour vs. Hot/Cold pour

[TiffTiff89]

Is melt and pour soaps just an easy way out?

Whgat do most on here like and why?

Also, this may seem like a stupid question but do you use the same FO in soaps that candle makers like me use in candles? Just doing some research.......

[LovelyLathers]

I wouldn't say M&P is the easy way out but just another way of doing soap. I used to make M&P until I realized there was so many people who had allergies to many of the ingredients in it and CP was so easy as long as you do the research needed in every aspect of it. In CP you have control of all the ingredients you put in it. Some find doing M&P easiest due to their living situtations and build the confidence to make CP.

FO's have to be skin and soap safe in order to use them in soaps no matter which kind you make. Some are only candle safe. Some great info on CP soapmaking is available in http://www.millersoap.com/

[soapmom25]

I choose to do only M&P because of my niche ~ the "shapes" ... fun colors, designs, etc. I wouldn't have that versatility with HP or CP.

Just depends on what you want to do ~ there's a market for all!

[kinipela]

I do only m&p. I've never tried Cp/Hp etc. At this time, I have no desire to try it either. If I want it, I'll buy it. I just don't want to mess with the lye. My m&p is frequently mistaken for Cp/Hp.

[kbuck]

I do the melt and pour because I don't have room to do CP and I don't want to have the lye sitting around in case my kids got into it. Also I get enough candle wax and lotion on me when I pour things that I don't want to take the chance of getting myself hurt also.

There are several different kinds of melt and pour out there. I use SFIC shea butter base and then add some other things to it. It's just like a candle wax, the base is a starting point for you and you can then make it your own blend if you want.

HTH,

Kim

[Rebecca]

Same here.

I do M&P for the fun and it seems that I can do those faster then whipped soap. I don't like the lye sitting around either because I don't have the time to do soap with all that goes on and supplies just sit til they get lost or go bad. So unless my parents have the kids over night or something, M&P is what I prefer to do.

[GrandmaArial]

I find MP is easier, both to pour and clean up. And depending on what you do with it, less time consuming, you can pop it out of the mold and use it an hour or so after pouring if you want (if you put it some place nice and cold). What I like about MP is it is so versatile in what you can do with it appearance wise. I think of MP as sculpting. I like to pour MP into elaborate molds, then carefully modify the shape with my old clay sculpting tools and “paint” it with pigment mixed in water. After it’s dry dip in clear MP to seal. Depending on how elaborate you get this can be very time consuming but the results can be spectacular! And clean up is so much easier, no raw soap or oily bowls to deal with. It’s already soap so add water to wash and rinse. Because it molds so easy you can use very elaborate molds with a great deal of fine detail. You can get very creative with MP, at least visually. My problem with MP is I have never had success in adding additives to it. And I love my herbs and botanicals! You can only change the nature of the soap so much, like starting with a boxed cake mix. You can add colors and flavors, fruits, what ever and almost make it a whole new animal, but the nature of the cake mix is always there. Don’t think I’m bashing MP, I love it! I started with MP, and still keep 20 or so lbs available for when I get the urge to make something really pretty. And others have learned to use additives to improve the quality of the soap, to adjust it to more their liking. And really MP makes the prettiest soaps I think, or at least I can make prettiest soap with MP.

CP is harder to make pretty, you are more limited (or at least I am) on how elaborate I can get with appearances. You can use the milkyway molds or candy molds, what ever, but it is more difficult to get it poured before the batter gets to thick and I always have to wait sometimes more than a week before I can get it out of the mold intact. Also it is more labor intensive just to make the soap it’s self. And waiting 24 hours to know what it’s going to look like after pouring is hard (and it does change subtly, sometimes dramatically with gel) and a month to cure is very hard! And colors are so much more difficult to judge because of the PH, getting just the right shade is hard since you won’t know until after you mix it exactly what color vegetable colors will be so for bright vibrant colors you do need to look at the more expensive CP safe colors. However, this has actually helped push me to make better (if not prettier) soap using botanicals and herbs. I can use all the soft oil in my recipe to infuse with herbs, spices, or botanicals if I want (and I often do).

With CP I get to design the soap I want. Not just what it looks like, but the characteristics of it. I choose the oils and additives. I choose how conditioning or cleansing it is, what kind of lather, what kind of texture. I design the very nature of the soap I make. One of the most satisfying points of CP is being able to create a soap that has the attributes someone is looking for, and I control the ingredients, this is soap I can use knowing there are no hydrocarbons snuck in for me to react to. Maybe it’s just a control issue, but I like that I am in complete control of everything that goes in my soap. And then there are swirls, something that is difficult to do in both HP and MP. Yes, CP is my passion. Clean up is a royal pain and it hurts when an experiment doesn’t work and you have to toss a couple lbs of oils, but the successes are wonderful! For myself, I find CP the most rewarding.

The two biggest draws of HP is that you don’t have to wait as long ( a few days compared to a month) to experience the final product, how ever it is more intensive and time consuming to initially produce than CP and scents stay stronger and truer than with CP. Clean up is a little easier than CP (less raw batter to deal with, but same oily bowls). Some people produce beautiful swirls, I can’t. My HP is frankly ugly. Still, like CP, you get to design the qualities of the soap, and that means a lot to me.

It is really individual choice, what fits your life style, your needs. Try them all, find out what satisfies you.

As for FOs check before you buy. Although many candle safe scents are skin safe, many are not. Also, although I know some soapers who use candle dyes in soap, it is not advised. Although the amount is very small and most people probably won’t react to the hydrocarbon based oils and/or chemicals used to make the candle dyes up some could, and potentially have serious reactions.