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Teach Soap • View topic - My first batch of CP soap....

Teach Soap

Soap Making Recipes, Tips and Tutorials
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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:51 pm 

Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:15 pm
Posts: 49
Well. My package from Amazon finally arrived. 8 Cup Pyrex measuring cup, Cuisinart 200w stick blender, DeWalt goggles, thick pvc coated gloves, silicone spatula, and a pair of high temp plastic mixing spoons (safe to 450* suposedly, more than enough for lye/water). In addition to other gear from MP soap (scales and such) I was almost ready to go. Only 3 other things I needed to do.

Get oils.
Get Lye
Get the nerve to do it.

I mean we all watched before thinking about CP soap, right? It's lye! It eats chicken legs!!

Well due to my lack of available oils because of my location I decided to throw caution to the find and bought myself a 3 LB container of Crisco (new formula, with palm oil). Luckily I can get actual Red Devil lye, 100% lye, no additives. Odd huh? No "common" oils, but Red Devil right there on the shelf. Whatever, back to the story.

I went to the soap calc and popped in my recipe and it spit out the right amounts of water and lye so I went ahead and printed it. The next step was to assemble everything. I got all of my supplies together in one spot, one thing in the back of my mind always gnawing at me. "This is lye, you will end up blind and missing large amount of skin" Always thinking on the lye I adjusted the strap on my goggles and donned my gloves. First thing I noticed. These gloves will stop lye in it's tracks. They have a thin cotton fluff liner for comfort. They even have textured portions on the palm and fingers. They also completely mess with your tactile feedback. I had no clue if I was using enough pressure to hold the lye container. Exactly what the voice in my head needed to torment me more. but I calmed myself down and slowed poured, keeping an eye on the scale watching the grams slowly go up. Then, it was done. I had my lye poured. I quickly weighed out my water and was quite pleased. Until I realized one thing. Crisco is a solid at room temperature. In all my lye worrying I forgot to weigh and melt my Crisco ahead of time!!

So I put the water, and the lye off to the side and weighed the crisco then popped it in the microwave. 2 minutes later it is at a nice toasty 166* and sitting in there to keep warm. Outside I went, goggles on and hands in gloves. Remeber how it's hard to tell pressure in them? Even harder to open the back door to go outside, but I made it. Poured my lye into the water and NOT water into lye. Because said so. We all watched it before opening our lye, RIGHT?? Good.

After my lye/water mixture turned from white to cloudy to clear, I went back inside. More fun with door and stupid, YET SAFE, gloves. Take the Crisco out of the microwave, check temp with my nifty laser digital thermometer (so worth the money, seriously) and the temp is about 5* different. Now I pour my lye/water into my oil. Time for the stick blender!

In no time I had myself trace. Next up, my FO. Yeah! Time for some Oatmeal Milk and Honey CP. It's what I always wanted to make. From years ago when I was on vacation and the hotel had little soaps in the room with that fragrance. That's right no regular junk, actual oatmeal milkd and honey soap, with oatmeal in it. Well I looked in my container and got bummed out. No OMH. Oh well, next best thing, Energy! Nope. Not enough to use, would be half of what I needed if I was lucky. So I went with my daughter and niece's favorite. Love Spell. (Note to self, BUY MORE OATMEAL MILK AND HONEY!!!)

Poured in the Love Spell, mix thoroughly, then grab the purple oxide and dump. Mix again, then pour into my silicone mold. Thin sheet of cling wrap on the top, wrap in a towel and it's now sitting on a table to do it's thing.

Well, that's it...I was done. Honestly it wasn't that bad.

The main thing I learned today is this. Don't let lye scare you! Seriously. I was so worried about how dangerous lye is that I forgot something as simple as melt your solid oils ahead of time. Don't get me wrong. Lye is dangerous (Do I need to link that video again? Cause I will, don't tempt me!) But with some safety gear, prep work, and common sense you will be fine.

I'll upload some pictures in a few minutes. The first is my gear I used today, and the second is my first batch sitting snug in it's mold.

Now for something else I wanted to talk about, my gear.

The first is my stick blender.

Not sure how many of you watch Good Eats on the Food Network, but it helped with this part. One thing Alton Brown doesn't do is say "Buy this make and model kitchen appliance." Instead he says "look for this, this and this, then pick what suits you" Well one thing I remember from an episode where he explained stand mixers, and another on blenders. Never ever get an underpowered appliance for what you need. When you start mixing your oil and lye/water, it will thicken (trace). Well, if you have a weak motor you will strain it more and it will overheat sooner, and fail sooner. So I saw a 120 watt stick blender on Amazon by Proctor Silex (who?) for $15, and a 200 watt one by Cuisinart (I know that name). Yeah it was $30, but it was almost double the power, and a well known company that makes quality appliances, so I got that one.

So when I finally crank up the stick blender those 200 watts were apparent. It formed a nice vortex in my mixture and even stuck itself to the bottom of my measuring cup, I had to give a little bit of a tug to remove it. I liked that, lots of power means faster trace. It got warm to the touch, but not hot. it was still easy to hold. I pulsed it a bit, stirred with it off, and sometimes just held the button and let that sucker go. I am glad I bought this particular model now.

The second is my goggles. But wait, you're thinking "The goggles! They do nothing!" Yeah there's nothing special about goggles, as long as they cover your eyes they work. There's no bells and whistles or flashing lights. They sit on your face, and do nothing. Well...that's not entirely true... My goggles do nothing. Some of you have goggles that do something. They fog up. I live in a hot climate. If I had plain goggles on when I went outside to mix my lye and water I know for a fact I wouldn't have seen a thing I was doing within 20 seconds. The goggles I got have concealed vents to control fog and they are like a diver's mask, it has a rubber seal so it fits your face good so no icky lye fumes or worse still, lye itself, is gonna get to your eyes in these puppies unless you pour it into the top of your goggles. The vens are along the top. I had them on for several minutes (While pouring and weighing the lye, and the lye/water mixing) I had zero fog. Awesome goggles.)

My only needs now are one or two smaller pyrex measuring cups to split my soap and color different for swirls, and a large bin to set things in when I am done to make cleaning easier. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off today cleaning. Take large pyrex outside, hose like mad get almost everything out. then back inside to the sink with some Dawn and scrub more. If I had a container like a rubbermaid container I could drop it all in, put it on a shelf out of the way, then clean in a day or two when it's turned to soap.

I can say this. I had a lot of fun today after I got over my initial AHHH LYE BURNING!!! fears. Now I will wait a few days to unmold and cut, then let it cure (stupid silicone mold, I want it out in 24 hours!) Assuming it turns out ok I'll be getting a nice wooden mold (why yes, I do already have a roll of freezer paper hehe) and some coconut and palm oils from Brabmel Berry. As well as some more Oatmeal Milk and Honey FO, and Energy (dad's absolute favorite). Plus I am dying to try the 10x Orange since it apparently doesn't need an anchor.

I hope you all didn't fall asleep after reading all that. I just noticed several new people asking questions and I thought maybe my not so little story would help them understand a bit more.

Main things to take from this ramble are. Gather everything together ahead of time. To quote alton Brown: "Organization will set you free."

Lye is dangerous, wear your protective gear and as long as you are careful, you will should be fine.

Oh and no matter where you get your recipe from, run it through a soap calculator to make sure the numbers match up. Yuo never kno when someone will make a typo. :wink: :oops:


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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 1:17 pm 

Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:15 pm
Posts: 49
My gear from today:

Image

Shortly after being put in the mold:

Image

Then, I decided to sneak a peak, then wrapped it up tight again.

Image

Almost looks like little air pockets on the top not sure what that's all about. I might have to sneak another peak later to make sure it's not gonna overflow or anything. But hey, live and learn, right? If nothing else that sucker is gelling nicely :D Not bad for a first try using Crisco :lol:


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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 1:41 pm 

Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:58 pm
Posts: 206
Location: Wisconsin
Congrats on your first batch! I remember thinking "well that was anti-climatic" when I was done with my first one. I always make my lye water then melt my oils. It takes my lye water time to cool so when I melt the oils second I don't have to wait as long for the temp to drop in the water. Can't wait to see the cut pics!

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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 1:50 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:48 am
Posts: 207
Location: Oklahoma City
:lol: You crack me up! And I LOVE Alton! I no longer have cable, so I miss him dearly :( Thank you for sharing this because I have a lot of the same fears with using the lye, and I also have a 2.5 year old here at home so I think I will be waiting a couple of years 'til he's off to school before getting the chance to attempt any CP. I do know that I shall be bookmarking your story so that I can come back to it now and then to help alleviate my fears ^_^

Your soap looks a lovely purple color! And where did you buy the Lovespell FO? It sounds interesting!

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Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!


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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 2:41 pm 

Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:15 pm
Posts: 49
I tried to add some humor to it so people would understand that lye is only as dangerous as you make it. If you're protected and careful there should be no surprises. (That goes for other activities too :oops: haha)

The Love Spell is a Victoria Secret's clone I got from Wholesale Supplies Plus. My daughter had some body spray someone gave her that was that scent and it is a perfect clone. Hard to describe but I would say sweet, but not sickening, and lightly floral, but not enough to tickle your nose. It's a very nice scent, an amazing clone. They classify it as: "Blend of Summer Flowers and Orange Comparable to: Victoria Secret" the orange part is very subdued tho, it doesn't jump out and scream I've got citrus! So I guess my description wasn't that far off from theirs. :lol:

Oh, almost forgot something from the story. I added some of the color to the soap and got a pink color, poured that first, then added more for that awesome purple, and poured from height so it tunneled in. I am hoping that when cut I will have a purple top and core, with a pink jacket around the bottom for an odd two-toned look. No swirling. Saving that for future batch after this one is cured and tested :)

Will post pics in a couple of days once cut. (Silicone molds take longer to harden up I understand)


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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 4:39 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:14 pm
Posts: 24336
Location: Mistress Of Lather
Congrats on your batch! I would replace those pyrex cups with heavy duty plastic pitcher (to mix your lye water in) and heavy duty plastic bowl (a nice deep one) to mix your melted oils and lye. You can also use a stainless steel pot to melt your oils and then mix your soap in. Over time, lye will etch glass and create microtears. Your pyrex can shatter, creating a serious hazard. Pyrex cups are great to measure fragrance or essential oils though.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.


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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 10:06 pm 

Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:42 pm
Posts: 454
I like to point out some of the following to folks that are paranoid about lye:

Have you ever used a stove? You could burn yourself on an electric stove, and with a gas stove you've got an open flame. You could set something on fire, and burn your house down! Or the gas itself could cause an explosion, blowing your house to bits!

Ever use a sharp knife? You could cut yourself and bleed to death!

Drive a car? You could run over somebody, or drive off a bridge, or the car could blow up!

:D

The truth is, people use stoves and knives, and drive cars, every day. They've learned how to use them safely, and one can do the same with lye. There's no reason to be so scared of lye to the point where you won't make soap. It really won't leap out of the pot and chase you around the kitchen. :D

I do think that people who have never made soap before may be afraid of lye because they just assume that one splash of lye will mean their arm will fall off. Getting a bit of lye splashed on your arm IS NOT the same as sticking a lighted match to your flesh. If this should happen, you have plenty of time to calmly walk to the sink and rinse your arm off with cold water.

I do agree with Soapbuddy about switching the Pyrex out for plastic. Look for Rubbermaid Tupperware, or Sterlite. If the pitcher or bowl in question is dishwasher safe, you can certainly use it for soapmaking.

Oh, and welcome to the addiction! :D

Anita


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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2011 4:09 am 

Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 1:39 pm
Posts: 43
I would just add that vinegar is your friend when it comes to the possibility of lye mishaps. Vinegar counteracts and neutralizes the lye so I always keep my big ol' bottle of vinegar on the counter when I'm using lye. I haven't had to use it (well, I wipe down my counter and tools with it afterwards), but it's still nice to have on hand for just in case.


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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2011 9:01 am 
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Location: Mistress Of Lather
If any lye gets on your skin, wash thoroughly with lots and lots of water first. Lye water and vinegar can create an exothermic reaction (heat), making any skin burn worse. It's fine for your counters.

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Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.


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PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:29 pm 

Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:15 pm
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Well, I took it out of the mold about 2 hours ago. (So just a tiny bit over 48 hours in the mold. Top was firm the to touch, sides and bottom were sticky. corners stuck in the mold. I assume I should have left in it longer? Also, when cutting my soap cutter went through it quite easily. The bars had to be slid away from the cutter. again first batch so not sure if it is normal, or just needed more cure time where it was in a silicone mold. (Either way I plan to get a wooden mold for better results)

Image

Looks like my two-tone worked. Has a nice pink cap to it. So for now it will cure in that pan with the freezer paper lining. I'll flip it over in a week to cure that side, then flip again for a week, and repeat for teh 4-5 weeks to keep the curing even for the side on the bottom. I assume it worked because when washing out the mold I got some bubbles. :mrgreen:


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PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 5:17 pm 
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Location: Wisconsin
Congrats on your results! It is always a relief to get that first batch out of the way. You did a really good job.

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Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!


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PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 5:30 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:48 am
Posts: 207
Location: Oklahoma City
It turned out lovely! I like the color variation you were able to get. Congrats!

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New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!


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PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 5:47 pm 
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Congrats! looks good! If the bars were sticky, try adding some salt to your lye water next time (about 1 tsp. for a 1 lb. batch) and see if that makes any difference.

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Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.


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