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Colorants • Molds • Additives • Oils/Butters
• Add a Tip/Hint •
Melt & Pour
• I add a touch of beeswax to my melt and pour for a longer lasting soap as an option for people that don't like the idea of stearic acid.
- Contributed By: Nadine
• Melt & Pour Soap has a tendency to "sweat". After trying many different approaches, I finally found a solution: at the same time as I add my fragrance and colorant, I also add 1 T. Aloe Vera liquid to each pound of M&P base (clear OR opaque). In addition to its beneficial effect, AloeVera makes the base even softer and more "pliable" than it already is. Depending upon how hard I want the finished product to be, I then add EITHER 1/2-1 T. Jojoba Oil OR a "pinch" (approximately 1/8 tsp.) of STEARIC ACID to my base. NOTE: I can use the Jojoba Oil in either my clear or opaque bases but since the Stearic Acid has a tendency to "dull" clear M&P, I reserve its use for when I am working with opaque M&P.
- Contributed By: ManassasMa
• To embed soap chunks or shapes into another bar of soap, melt the main/base soap, let it cool a bit. Spray the soap chunks or soap shapes with rubbing alcohol and place in the mold. Then when the base soap is starting to get thicker/cooler, pour this over the shape/chunks in the mold. Make sure to lift up the chunks/shapes once your pour the overpour so that they are surrounded by soap.
• Create layered soaps - melt/scent/color some soap, and pour one layer of it into your mold. Let that start to set - in the mean time, melt/scent/color the next layer. When the first layer has a thick skin, and when the next layer is cooled a bit, spray the first layer with rubbing alcohol, and pour the second layer. You can repeat this with as many layers as you'd like!
Cold Process
• Add a little borax, about 3oz to a batch of soap, add it to the lye. It makes the soap really smooth to the skin and adds a little more suds. - Lois • You may want to mix your fragrance or essential oils in before your colorants - some fragrance/essential oils give off a color of their own.
• Using a stick blender can greatly reduce the time it takes to achive "trace" in your soapmaking. I had one batch that took me over an hour to trace when stirring by hand but it traced in less than 10 min. with a stick blender!
Essential & Fragrance Oils
• Rosemary EO is not recommended for individuals with high blood pressure or epilepsy.
• When adding scents to melt and pour soap, make sure that it has cooled off a bit - that way your fragrance won't burn off.
Colorants
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Aqua - add blue to green Gray - add small amount of black Coral - add yellow to pink Pink - add small amount of red Purple - add blue to red Light Tan - add black to orange Teal Green - add black to green Dusty Rose - add small amount of black to red |
Magenta - add red to wine Orange - add yellow to red Wine - add red to purple Brown - add blue to orange Lime - add green to yellow Moss Green - add red to green Turquoise - add green to blue |
Natural Colorants for Handmade Soap...
beta carotene = yellow (less than 1/4 tsp. will color over 15 lbs of soap!)
cinnamon = orange to brown
tumeric = yellow
paprika = red to brown
cocoa = brown to chocolate
chlorophyll = green
sage = green/musty to gray/green
beet = pink to rose
hibiscus = rose to purple
orange peel = yellow
fennel = green
dill = light to dark green
rosemary = green to brown
ginger = light caramel
blackberry = light mustard
blueberry = light mustard
lettuce = very pale green
carrot = light orange
rosehips = light to deep pink
cilantro = pale green at first, then brown
Marigolds = bright yellow or orange
aloe vera = pale green
rose petals = yucky brown
dandelions = faded yellow to brown flecks
cucumber = pale green
yellow cornmeal = light yellowish tan
Molds
• For those wishing to make a nice sized shower bar, @6-7 ounces, Gladware snack containers with 3/4 to 1 cup of soap poured in are perfect! They make a "family-sized" bar that lasts forever. They are also fairly inexpensive, so if the cold-process heats up it's easy to throw away and replace. This doesn't happen very often so a few packages of containers will set you up in molds for quite some time. - Contributed By: Susie Hughes
• When using wooden molds for cold process soap, line them either with freezer paper (with the waxed side in) or a plastic garbage bag. This lets the soap come out nice and easy. The freezer paper gives a nice wrinkle free soap.
Oils/Butters
• Shea Butter...This butter can get grainy when used in lip balms and lotion bars if heated too hot. To avoid this, do not heat it higher than 125 degrees.
• General Usage Amounts for CP Soap:
Canola Oil - less than 15%
Coconut Oil - 5-30%
Palm Kernal Oil - 20-50%
Palm Oil - 12-45%
Cocoa Butter - 2-15%
Shea Butter - 2-12%
Tallow - 20-50% (but can be used 100% if you want)