M&P Recipes

[tamese]

I tried this recipe and the lather is great, but the bar seems a little oily. I tried to only use 4 oz. Of base and 1 tsp of shea butter, 1/4 tsp of castor oil and liquid glycerin combined (in 1/4 tsp measuring spoon put half of castor and half glycerin). Hope that makes sense. So should this soap feel oily with these ingredients or did I use to much castor and glycerin? I love the soap, but wondering is it ok for the soap to feel this way before it is even used?

Creamy Shea Butter Soap

1 lb white base

1 tsp castor oil

2-3 tsp shea butter

1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin

2-3 tsp fragrance oil (optional)

Melt your base then add the shea butter and stir until melted in base. Then add the castor oil, vegetable glycerin, and fragrance oil and blend thoroughly. Pour into your mold then let base cool completely before demolding.

Tips/Notes: Shea butter adds wonderful emolliency and moisturizing to any soap. The castor oil adds an additional element of moisturizing and wonder creaminess to your lather. The glycerin aides moisture retention for your skin. This is a very moisturizing bar of soap that is gentle enough for any skin type.

You can save time by adding the shea butter in before you start melting your base.

[Candybee]

Its not supposed to feel greasy. If you are using 4 oz of base your additives must be a quarter of the recipe. So:

4 oz base

1/4 tsp castor oil

1/2 - 3/4 tsp shea butter

1/8 tsp glycerin (optional-- this small amt probably won't make a difference)

add scent by the drop until it smells right to you.

I think you just used to much additives. Remelt it down and add a bit more base.

[tamese]

Thanks Candybee I will try it again.

[Candybee]

I thought of something else. Occasionally some soaps might have a 'greasy' feeling for a day or two and then are fine after a week or more. Even M&P soap is better when cured a bit. If the greasy feel never goes away then its obviously too much oil/butter added.

I prefer to use a bar of soap after at least 2 days cure. Then the bar has hardened up and it lathers better too.

You know no one talks much about M&P curing but I find its just like other handmade soap-- the longer it cures the better it gets!

Edited May 25, 2012 by Candybee

[tamese]

Thanks Candybee I will try to wait I'm so impatient I never make it past I day but I'm working on my patience. LOL. I cant wait to try again because with to many oils it still got a great lather. Think it lathered better than any combos I tried. Oh and your recipe for OMH is awesome as well.

[Candybee]

Wait until you've been making soap for a year or two and pull out a bar thats been sitting in your linen closet for a few months. I love well aged soaps that keep their scent. They have the best lather and I also like to find out if a scent lasted.

Glad you like the OMH recipe.

[tamese]

Candybee I tried it again and you were right I had to much oil. It is not oily anymore. I haven't used it yet but I think it's going to turn out nice. Today I will try a plain goats milk soap with no scent or color. Think I will add a little honey. I would like to use it on my face so would it be okay to use castor oil or should I just use the honey. Thanks for the help!

Edited May 27, 2012 by tamese

[Candybee]

Its okay to use both. The amount of castor oil you use in the recipe won't make your face oily. If you have problem oily skin then go ahead and try skipping the castor and add lemon essential oil instead. Its a wonderful astringent and makes a lovely scented soap.

[laurenscandlebakery]

I am going to try the Creamy Shea Butter recipe. I found liquid glycerin at Bramble Berry. Is this the same as "vegetable glycerin" that is in the recipe?

[jackbenimble]

I am going to try the Creamy Shea Butter recipe. I found liquid glycerin at Bramble Berry. Is this the same as "vegetable glycerin" that is in the recipe?

Yes, most wholesale companies that say glycerin are referring to veg glycerin.

[traok]

I know its an older post butI thought I would add my THANKS TO ALL who put up their recipes and suggestions. So far we have made

The lemon sugar scrub

Oatmeal Milk and Honey

Jack Frost Bars

Goats milk Recipe

Spectacular.. I was skeptical they would live up to the hype ..Ie Homemade Vs store bought. But my wife convinced me and im sold..

Can we post photos here ? The jack frost bars look sooo cool

Thanks Again

Traok

[Darbla]

This is PraireAnnie's recipe:

2lb white soap base (I use EBC, but you can use what you have)

1/2 cup fresh goat milk (you can use canned or powdered if you want)

4T liquid soap (unscented, undyed)

2T honey

2T shea butter

1T cocoa butter

1T olive oil

1 T jojoba oil

I want to try it but do not have shea butter or cooca butter. I'm also considering leaving out the honey but I will keep it if it really contributes some positive qualities. Can any of you who have worked more with add-ins than I have give me an idea what difference it will make if I leave those out? Or is there something else I can put in there that would give back the same qualities? I'm trying to use up stuff I have on hand and not spend money on more.

[blacktieaffair]

Can you tell us " what stuff I have on hand" ? Maybe we can figure out something you can replace or use in place of something else

[chuck_35550]

I made Annie's recipe using a clear base from Columbus. The first and second layer looked bad and the resulting soap was rubbery. I remelted the soaps and doubled the amount of mp and added 1 tsp collodial oatmeal to each pound. The whipped tops were a total disaster but the bars were beautiful and the layers held together very well. I gave a bar to my dw and she was unimpressed and gave me the bar back to try out. The soap absolutely will not lather and the feel is slimey on the skin and does not leave you feeling clean or anything. Any suggestions on saving 4 pounds of work intensive soap? TIA

Steve

[jackbenimble]

I made Annie's recipe using a clear base from Columbus. The first and second layer looked bad and the resulting soap was rubbery. I remelted the soaps and doubled the amount of mp and added 1 tsp collodial oatmeal to each pound. The whipped tops were a total disaster but the bars were beautiful and the layers held together very well. I gave a bar to my dw and she was unimpressed and gave me the bar back to try out. The soap absolutely will not lather and the feel is slimey on the skin and does not leave you feeling clean or anything. Any suggestions on saving 4 pounds of work intensive soap? TIA

Steve

You may be able to add more MP base to gat back some lather and make it less slimy. If it were me I do 4 more lbs of unaltered base to your original 4 lbs.

Just to add- IMO PA recipe works best with the sfic white low sweat base. But that's just what worked for me. I actually use Candybee's OMH 2 recipe in my MP soaps and it's lather was great!

Edited October 29, 2012 by jackbenimble

[chuck_35550]

Thanks for the advice Jack. Seems like it must be the jojoba that shut down the lather, maybe. What about some castor? Gosh, 8 pounds of soap that might be worthless is a big loss for me but I hate to throw away 4 pounds as it is.

Steve

[jackbenimble]

Yes the jojoba may have been it because it's a liquid form of wax from what I've read. You should PM Candybee. She's really good at salvaging mest up MP.

[Candybee]

Steve

Prairieannie uses the base from Essentials by Catalina. I don't know which base you are using but I know not all M&P bases are created equal. Also, her recipe calls for waiting several days for the soap to cure as it will be soft and take longer to harden up.

I know that quite a few bases out there won't take all the ingredients in her recipe and may lose their lather. So you have to test out your particular base to see what % of oils/butters and other ingredients it will take before you compromise lather, emolliency, etc.

My OMH recipe was designed for most bases and if you compare you will notice I don't put in as much oils and butters. With M&P you want to find the least amount necessary to achieve the soaping properties you are looking for. For example a little bit of olive oil 1/2 to 1 tsp pp of base goes a long way-- more and your soap may be greasy and lose lather.

I hope this helps. Most M&P soap disasters are salvageable but you will have to use those soaps and add more base. Just remelt and add more base. The good news is that you never have to waste your M&P. Just remelt and start over.

[babudust]

If you don't have 76 degree coconut oil, could you use extra virgin coconut oil instead, would it change the bar of soap?

[chuck_35550]

That makes sense Candybee. The base is from Columbus and not a high dollar base. I' ll have to cut the color layers and add more base. Thanks.

Steve

[Candybee]

Steve

Haven't used the Columbus bases but if you do a search you will find a mixed bag review of them. I had once thought of getting them as the price was pretty good but after reading reviews decided not to go with them. From what I understand they quality is rather poor. But as I mentioned I have not used them so can't be sure. So I am not surprised when you mention you had a soap "disaster" with them.

Go ahead and try remelting and adding more base-- try a 50/50% blend; old soap, new base to start. If it still doesn't work remelt again and add another 25% new base. If it still doesn't work consider buying a new base altogether.

Bases I have used successfully are:

Stephenson bases (The Chemistry Store) - good quality

Essentials by Catalina bases - good quality but very soft; use hardening additives in base; beeswax, CO, OO, palm stearic, etc.

Peaks

C&S (my personal fav bases); tons of lather, they take a boatload of additives and still lather but C&S can't keep them in stock

Candlewic - good; a bit soft and use additives sparingly until you get a good feel for the base and what it will take

WSP - only used the white base; very soft and nice but can't take much in the way of additives; heard other bases were better but haven't tried them.

Hope this info helps you a bit.

RE: virgin coconut oil; any coconut oil will work beautifully in M&P. But regular CO works the same and is by far the cheapest.

[Ivy]

Candybee, prarieannie...Thank you both for your generous recipies... I decided to combine them both....I liked candys idea that you shouldnt have to add extra soap to your base but, I also loved all the additives annie put in hers lool... I tried to to go down the middle.. but, a lass it wasnt sudsy enough and a little too drying..In hopes of saving my first ever batch.. I remelted, added a touch of emu oil and a lil Dr bonners.. I now really like it!

Now I have a good understanding of what to do next time

For the person that was asking about veg glycerine... You can get that at like hobby lobby, in the cake decorating Isle..its in about a 2 oz bottle with "Wilton" written on the front...It doesnt say "veg" but trust me..I researched the heck out of it once..It's cool to use

Edited November 8, 2012 by Ivy

[HayCreekCandles]

BUMMMPPPP!!!! I love love love this thread!! Never knew it was here!!

Edited April 18, 2013 by HayCreekCandles

[franu61]

Hi All,

I just poured my first M&P soap. I can see a new addiction in my future One question: should I cover the loaf/molds while I am waiting for them to harden? TIA

Fran

[ksranch]

Hi All,

I just poured my first M&P soap. I can see a new addiction in my future One question: should I cover the loaf/molds while I am waiting for them to harden? TIA

Fran

I never have, and don't see why you would need to. JMO