Soap Making 101

[me&thegals]

yep, I always added my pureed ... whatever... to my pitcher, then added what ever other liquid was called for (milk, water, etc.) till it weighed what the recipe said. Just my opinion, but I'd be careful with added all veggies for the liquid, 'cause I wouldn't want to chance the soap not having enough liquid and it developing ash. I always ran my adjustments thru the lye calculator at thesage.com

Where in thesage.com calculator would you add something like pureed cukes?

 

[okiegirl1]

yep, I always added my pureed ... whatever... to my pitcher, then added what ever other liquid was called for (milk, water, etc.) till it weighed what the recipe said. Just my opinion, but I'd be careful with added all veggies for the liquid, 'cause I wouldn't want to chance the soap not having enough liquid and it developing ash. I always ran my adjustments thru the lye calculator at thesage.com

Where in thesage.com calculator would you add something like pureed cukes?

I would always just put "water/cuke" then where it has notes, I put how many cukes pureed to make up half the water.

is that about as clear as mud?

 

[punkin]

but you have to be careful with vanilla. a good vanilla will go DARK when sponified. I actually like to do a swirl with vanilla so you're not trying to talk people into washing with dark brown soap.

as far as the natural cuke, no I didn't add an FO use usually people wanting something natural like that don't want a fragrance. You could add a cuc/mel FO if you wanted, but I never did. the cuke makes dark specks in the soap.

Thanks, Okiegirl.

I did do carrot juice one time and it made a really pretty orangey color.

 

[FarmerChick]

depends on vanilla
fragrance oil vs. essential oils are way diff. in coloring factor.

 

[me&thegals]

I would always just put "water/cuke" then where it has notes, I put how many cukes pureed to make up half the water.

is that about as clear as mud?

I was under the impression that the "notes" section was just for personal reference, not actually calculated by thesage... Is that true?

Also, for any of these purees or liquids, do I freeze as I would for goat's milk? Is it the sugar in the milk/liquid that tends to burn with the lye if not properly frozen ahead of time?

Thanks!

 

[okiegirl1]

yes it's true it's basically for your own notes, but you use the same weight regardless of the liquid.

I never froze my cucumbers, but it may be a good idea. I dunno, never tried. I know it couldn't hurt.

 

[punkin]

I would always just put "water/cuke" then where it has notes, I put how many cukes pureed to make up half the water.

is that about as clear as mud?

I was under the impression that the "notes" section was just for personal reference, not actually calculated by thesage... Is that true?

Also, for any of these purees or liquids, do I freeze as I would for goat's milk? Is it the sugar in the milk/liquid that tends to burn with the lye if not properly frozen ahead of time?

Thanks!

I always add my goat milk to the mixture after I have mixed the lye/water with the oils. That way, the goat milk or other liquid doesn't come into contact with the lye. The lye is neutralized after you add it to the oils so it doesn't burn the milk.

Right?

 

[okiegirl1]

do you reduce the water amount that goes into the lye to make up for the amount of GM added?

I just freeze my GM and add the cubes to the dry lye. doesn't scorch that way

 

[okiegirl1]

The lye is neutralized after you add it to the oils so it doesn't burn the milk.

Right?

no, the lye isn't neutralized until the sponification is complete. that's why soap that hasn't cured long enough can still zap you when you do the tounge test. what burns the milk is the high temp the lye gets to when it's added to a liquid.

 

[me&thegals]

I did an oatmeal-carrot batch tonight. I dumbly added lye to the warm carrot-juice-water mixture. Duh! I would definitely partially freeze next time, as the solution was seriously bubbling and I feel discolored the carrots a tad.

At trace, I mixed in about 3 T (24 oz of oil) of blended oats, dumped the soap in a silicone loaf pan, then liberally sprinkled the top with whole oats. We'll see...

By the way, here's some soap porn for you all. I hate the word "porn," but it really fits! http://www.patti-flynn.com/blog/2009/10/12/1385/ I want to EAT that soap!