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melt and pour questions


dragontears

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I've been known to add about everything but the kitchen sink to my MP soap. It's hard to mess a batch of that up. I have discovered things that make a MP bar luxurious and lathery such as shea butter, and castor and other oils..you just have to dive into it unafraid. With CP soap I am careful to stick to a recipe for obvious reasons, but with MP, I can soap like I bake..tossing whatever sounds good in..if you start doing this, be sure to write down what you tossed, or duplicating a batch is next to impossible~ ask me how I know ;)

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I've been known to add about everything but the kitchen sink to my MP soap. It's hard to mess a batch of that up. I have discovered things that make a MP bar luxurious and lathery such as shea butter, and castor and other oils..you just have to dive into it unafraid. With CP soap I am careful to stick to a recipe for obvious reasons, but with MP, I can soap like I bake..tossing whatever sounds good in..if you start doing this, be sure to write down what you tossed, or duplicating a batch is next to impossible~ ask me how I know ;)

Shea Butter helps the lather?? I'll have to try some.... I finally ordered in a co-op castor oil as that's where I need help (lathering) not to mention making the bar harder. I have been adding stearic acid and haven't noticed a difference :sad2:. I'm not real happy yet w/ it, Prairieannie have you noticed the sweat issue to be less or more when you add stuff to it? I haven't added anything yet except oatmeal to my oatmeal base (I know a real rebel I am :P). I only use WSP's bases and they say not to add anything to it so I haven't yet. Oh another question do you think that adding stuff cuts down on the preservatives already in the base so we should add more? Sorry DT didn't mean to steal the thread hopefully these questions will help you as well. TIA:)

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I probably should re-word that... Shea butter to my knowledge doesn't help the lather, but does make it a much more luxurious bar IMO. Another thing that I think makes the bar more luxurious is adding cream, or goats milk. I truely love the thick creamy lather that I get when I use these things. With everything that I've added to MP soap, I started with 1 to 2 TBS and worked my way up or down from there... You don't need to add a lot to make a big difference. I make 4 pound batches. Jojoba oil in combination with shea butter and castor oil will make a bar that you will probably never want to change :) I always add vitamin E oil in every batch. I've hoped that this would help as a natural preservative, although I have no idea if it really works, I have never had a batch go rancid, moldy or bad yet, and I've been making MP soap since last spring. Even on bars that have sat in my shower for quite awhile, never looked, smelled, or felt like they should have had more of a preservative in them.

I'm not sure if the sweating issue is climate related or not, I am beginning to believe it must be, because I don't ever have a problem with it.. I have wrapped soap immediately after unmolding, and I have left it for weeks without a wrapper and didn't notice it being moist or sweating, so I can't help with that..it's pretty dry here where we live, so maybe that's why??

I have found that so far, I like the MP base from Essentials by Catalina the best. I've just recently started using it, and have soaped almost 20 pounds of it, all of the above things that I've mentioned adding to it have resulted in the yummiest bars and I try a bar from every single batch! :D I'll stick with them until I happen upon something I like better..i've heard wonderful things about a few other bases out there that one day I'll try just because I've gotta know! :) Have fun with your MP ladies... I love doing both MP and CP but for something you can use immediately, and have more creative license with, MP just can't be beat!

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  • 1 year later...

Hi Prairieannie,

I,like you, love the idea of adding "the kitchen sink" :smiley2:

I have a couple of question, if you don't mind:

How much vitamin E oil do you use per pound?

If you add cream (heavy whipping cream?) won't it go "sour"?

Any other combinations that you would like to share?

Have you tried the French Milled bases from Nature's Garden? I tried all three types and really love them!

Thanks!

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Hi Prairieannie,

I,like you, love the idea of adding "the kitchen sink" :smiley2:

I have a couple of question, if you don't mind:

How much vitamin E oil do you use per pound?

If you add cream (heavy whipping cream?) won't it go "sour"?

Any other combinations that you would like to share?

Have you tried the French Milled bases from Nature's Garden? I tried all three types and really love them!

Thanks!

Hi :)

Vitamin E oil.. about 1 tsp pp.

Cream has not made any of my soap go sour.. I don't know why, but it doesn't. I use fresh goat milk in soap too and it doesn't go bad.

Try using added glycerine for extra lathering power, and remember that the creamier the substance, most likely the creamier the lather, so creams, milks, etc. are going to make a more luxurious lather than a bubbly lather.

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Hi :)

Vitamin E oil.. about 1 tsp pp.

Cream has not made any of my soap go sour.. I don't know why, but it doesn't. I use fresh goat milk in soap too and it doesn't go bad.

Try using added glycerine for extra lathering power, and remember that the creamier the substance, most likely the creamier the lather, so creams, milks, etc. are going to make a more luxurious lather than a bubbly lather.

I am so happy I found this thread, it's been on my mind for a long time, how to add milk to my soap :bliss: You answered my nagging question! Thank you so much prairieannie you are a Heaven sent Angel!!!

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I would love to hear how it turns out for you!! Please let me know :)

I need to put you in my Angel stash!!! *lol* I went to the market to purchase the milk I needed and Lo and Behold I found a craft table for my kitchen in the lower level of my home and I was looking for one for a good while! So know i can soap all day and relax on my laptop and send pictures of my soap Thank You SOOOOOO much!!!!! I will be posting pictures soon as they cure *hugs*

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I got an awesome MP soap book for my birthday - it has 300 recipies in it - I never knew there were so many things I could do with MP! It's called 300 handcrafted soaps by Marie Browning. I found it on Amazon and pointed DH in the right direction. I highly recommend it!

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I need to put you in my Angel stash!!! *lol* I went to the market to purchase the milk I needed and Lo and Behold I found a craft table for my kitchen in the lower level of my home and I was looking for one for a good while! So know i can soap all day and relax on my laptop and send pictures of my soap Thank You SOOOOOO much!!!!! I will be posting pictures soon as they cure *hugs*

How cool is that? Sounds like you hit the jackpot! :)

traceyy~~

Stupid question.....but as far as adding cream and milk...what kind of cream and milk? The kind you buy at the grocery store? Like regular 2% milk?Today 08:57 AM

I use fresh goat's milk... BUT, you can use powdered goat's milk (reconstitute it first of course, I'd use distilled water but I don't honestly think it matters that much) You can also use goat's milk from a can. I Freeze my GM and just use it as needed. A good trick that someone taught me from here was to freeze your milk in icecube trays, and that will give you just perfect smaller amounts to work with. I started doing this for my CP soap, but of course it works well for MP soap too.

candlebean~~

I got an awesome MP soap book for my birthday - it has 300 recipies in it - I never knew there were so many things I could do with MP! It's called 300 handcrafted soaps by Marie Browning. I found it on Amazon and pointed DH in the right direction. I highly recommend it!

That sounds like a really fun book to have. Let us know if you find any kick butt recipes in there you'd like to share :)

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  • 5 weeks later...

I use fresh goat's milk... BUT, you can use powdered goat's milk (reconstitute it first of course, I'd use distilled water but I don't honestly think it matters that much)

prairieannie,

Stupid question here....How exactly do you reconstitute it? Tonight I was given a full bag of powdered goats milk and not real sure how to add it in the M&P soaps. I made my first M&P soap last night with nothing added in the first batch and Hazelnut Coffee in the second batch.

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prairieannie,

Stupid question here....How exactly do you reconstitute it? Tonight I was given a full bag of powdered goats milk and not real sure how to add it in the M&P soaps. I made my first M&P soap last night with nothing added in the first batch and Hazelnut Coffee in the second batch.

Not a stupid question! Reconstitute it by adding distilled water to it to make it liquid. When I've used powdered milk I just went with the directions on the can. Does your bag have directions on how to make the milk?

Congrats on your first batch! :)

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