Making melt and pour from scratch went really well. Going to be tweaking the recipe for better lather, less sticky, more transparent etc. I'm very pleased with it so far and would happily use it as it is for myself, in fact I have been hehe. The stickiness has reduced overnight so it most definitely needs curing, which was expected, just surprised at the difference. When I cure my lye soaps the only difference I notice in the feel is hardness really and that's over a long time. So today when I picked up my block of melt and pour and felt that it was so different to yesterday I was intrigued. Did a short video on the results and that is here:This batch was made with propylene glycol but is palm and surfactant free, a big chunk of the recipe being shea butter. I want to see if I can make a batch without the propylene glycol. While I'm not overly fussed about being 'all-natural' for my own personal reasons, I know many of my friends and family are so getting a soap base that uses mostly natural ingredients would be great. I don't have high hopes for removing the propylene glycol but we'll see. I also didn't use alcohol to make this soap, denatured alcohol is a hassle to get in the UK just for a hobby, and I think bypassing the alcohol detracts from the clarity but I'm guessing helps keep the soap from being too drying on the skin, but is just an honest guess I haven't researched it.
Anywho it's late, thanks for stopping by, take care all :) xxx
Can you share your recipe? I made clear soap and added glycerin, sugar, and vodka. I followed this recipe:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bearchele.com/soap/Tutorial.html
My soaps turned out so super moisturizing and are wonderful to use, but they are a bit cloudy. I think it is because I used vodka and not everclear (higher alcohol content). Yours look very pretty! I am going to try clear soap again soon and will let you know how it turns out if you are interested!
Hey, sorry I won't share my recipe, one it's not perfected and two I put a lot of time into it and don't feel comfortable to give it away.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I like how they look too. I was aiming for good re-melting over clarity and I got that. Try lowering your sugar to avoid cloudiness and maybe you can up your alcohol, I never used alcohol so that's just a guess :)
Have you tried using denatured ethanol instead of everclear or vodka? You can get a very high alcohol percentage without paying high tax (so cheaper). As I understand it there's a thin line between enough and too much sugar. I'd love to know how the next batch goes, do let me know ^_^