Finally did it.

[izzy2]

Well I finally went ahead and made the Shortening and Shea Sudsy soap that is posted in the recipes. I used goat's milk for the liquid. I added the lye to the goat's milk and then added the lye/milk mixture to the oils. Think it all went good until I added the f/o. It was at thin trace so I added the f/o and I stirred it all in and it was very thick to stir (almost like a thick brownie batter). Does it sound like my f/o accelerated the trace?

I had got some soap out into a little dish to mix with my colour before I added the f/o to the soap. I poured the soap into my shoe box mold and by the time I went to swirl the coloured soap, it was also very thick and I kind of had to glob it on top.

Any suggestions on whether I did this properly or something I may have done wrong? Your help is greatly appreciated!!

[jbren]

what temperatures did you use, if any? And what fragrance did you use?

I usually do room temp, and I add my FO to my oils before my lye solution.

[izzy2]

I did room temp but I added f/o after I mixed lye with oils. I used BCN Purely Herbal.

[jbren]

There was only one reply at the Fragrance Review board that said that FO was speedy, and she used a hefty water discount. The other posters said they had no problems with acceleration.

Maybe try adding the FO to your oils first, stickblend, then proceed with your lye solution. It seems to work for me, however I DO have some FOs that are a bit speedy...these I hand stir to trace.

[Scent Cellar]

I soap BCN's Purely Herbal regularly but I soap at room temps with a 33% lye solution and don't have any problems. Maybe it is the shea that gives your recipe a fast acceleration.

[izzy2]

Ok I might try another batch this weekend with a different F/O (maybe Peak's clean cotton). I had picked Purely Herbal from the Fragrance review board thinking it would be good to try.

So I add the F/O to the melted butters/oils, add the lye mixture, stir to trace, take out some soap for colouring, pour into mold, add coloured soap (planning on trying swirling) and then it's done. should I put the lid on my shoe box mold and then wrap in towels?

This particular recipe called for sugar and salt but I don't think it dissolved completely. Can I put this in with my butters and melt them this way? Would this work ok?

Is lye flake form and lye crystals the same? I had picked up some name brand lye at the hardward store and it is labeled as lye crystals. (they didn't have Gillette's lye which I had used before).

Thanks for all your help!

[LovelyLathers]

I add my FO at very light trace and stir by hand in case it moves fast. I never stick blend it in. Also I add sugar & salt to the water stir until disolved then add the lye when I use them. Make sure they are dissolved all the way before adding the lye otherwise they will not dissolve. You can cover it and put towels around it if you want to get gel. But if you are using GM then no gel. I put mine in the refrig or freezer. As far as the lye, what brand is it? Make sure it is 100%. I never heard of the brand you mentioned so I do not know if it 100%. I have never used the flakes only crystals so I can't help you there either.

[Fire and Ice]

GM soaps can move sllightly fast so switch to a whisk after you have added the milk/lye to the batch. I have made this several times with GM but it's the full water - 12 0z for the Goat's milk. Keep your temps are cool as possible.

My lye is mixed with water, not GM and I would never do a water discount with GM soap either.

As I have never tried or used that scent, I can't say if it accelerated the trace or not

Anything will GM, I try to just leave alone on the counter. It will gel but because it's not insolated, I don't worry about over heating problems. But I'm working with wooden molds, not a shoe box.

Fire