See also:
* [http://omnitech.net/soapmaking/supplies/ Supplies and Equipment] – [http://omnitech.net/soapmaking/ingredients/ Ingredients] – [http://omnitech.net/soapmaking/lessons-learned/ Lessons Learned]
* [http://omnitech.net/soapmaking/first-batch/ First Batch] – [http://omnitech.net/soapmaking/second-batch/ Second Batch] – [http://omnitech.net/soapmaking/third-batch/ Third Batch]
==Plans==
This will be based on what I have lying around the house, and in 3` tubes. Plans were for a vegan, nut free, EO free soap.
I wanted to substantially superfat this because some of soapcalc.net’s figures were 5% over stochiometric measures.
I also wanted a substantial water discount, because I hate waiting a long time for it to dry.
==Ingredients==
384g Water (Tap, not deionized)
293g NaOH (Lye, Essential Depot)
104g Candellila Wax (Texas Natural)
325g Palm Oil (Spectrum)
405g Crisco (New, Vegan, with Palm & Soybean)
452g Cottonseed Oil (Includes Vitamin E for preservative action)
143g Coconut Oil, 92deg (Spectrum organic)
974g Soybean Oil (Kroger)
40g zinc oxide (Essential depot)
Color/scent is spices heated in oil for 20-30 minutes, then strained through a fine mesh. There are still some particles, but 75% of the spices and 40% of the oil stayed in the strainer or on the pan, and the rest was colored oil with fine particles.
37g soybean oil (kroger)
10g Cinnamon (SF Herb)
3g paprika (Sam’s/Wal-Mart)
2g Turmeric (SF Herb)
1.5g Cloves (McCormick)
That’s 2424g of oil (including spice oil) and 15.8% water. Lye discount is 11%. This was just right for 24`x3` of tubular mold, after compacting. Compacting was really difficult, but I found that a bottle of hard cider was just the right size. Though for the full tube, the jar of coconut oil allowed me to really bear down on it.
==Experience==
I tried adding preservative and softener to the water first, then adding the lye. Half way through, this turned into a hygroscopic gel. I got concerned, stopped, and rinsed it with a million gallons down my drain, along with the rest of the lye in my pourer. I didn’t want to spread it out, and decided it was easier just to remeasure clean.
Water discount gives less time to transfer from the pot to the mold. It sets up pretty quickly, which leads to air voids. Procedurally, this ended up not the best looking soap, due to having to re-form a couple bars.
The soap stayed warm for quite a while. I’m not sure, but it might be due to a slower lye reaction. I poured the lye in, but didn’t stir for a couple of minutes while I cleaned up. The end result was that I found 2 pockets of unreacted oil, which really looked more like oil-filled foam. Pretty, but not what I was going for. I threw one blob away, and the other was tiny, so I left it.
I used spice oil, home made, as color and scent. A) I didn’t use enough. The end result is that it’s very pretty, but not strong enough scent. Or maybe the scent is just weird. Also, B) I should have pulled out some oatmealsoap and mixed it all thoroughly there first. The end result is that a few darker streaks caused the soap to not stick to itself during forming.
I left the soap warm during the mix, and got a little volcano action. It was pretty awesome, and stayed about 2` below the top of the pot due to being well oversized.
I decided to use the mixer intermittently in the post-volcano soap, and got a second volcano action. This was much more vigorous, and took a lot of stirring to bring down. I had a little soft, oily soap near the edges at the end, and mixed those with the spoon instead.
Now, it’s important to remember that volcano is caused by steam. Well, what of it? Um, well, soap and oils hold a hotter steam than free atmosphere, plus the soap itself can hold more heat. My mixer had a plastic head on it, and came out improperly shaped.
