Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Crock Pot Hot Process Soap!

Hot Process Soap is the same basic soap as Cold Process...without the hefty wait time! Although it does not look as smooth it is still beautiful and smells great too! If space is an issue or time, Hot Process or HP soap may be your best friend! I am really just a novice myself with HP although I am a seasoned CP soaper. I am finding this method is quite interesting and fulfilling to make. I am testing a variety of recipes in the coming months to see what works best for me and will likely begin to sell some of these soaps as well. I am thinking about trying a shampoo bar next! I love finding new methods of making the things I love!


 



To begin here is what you will need to make Hot Process Soap in your Crock Pot!

Crock Pot with high and low settings (one with a removable crock is best), Digital Scale, Gloves, Eye Protection, Respirator Mask, Stick Blender, Spatula, Stainless Spoon, Wire Whisk or Potato Masher
Pyrex or HDPE plastic Measure Cups (1 for lye water and one for weighing the oils)

Soap Oils: I did a small batch but you can adjust this to your liking later too
6 oz Crisco or Ez Soy Wax
6 oz Coconut Oil
6 oz Palm Oil
6 oz Olive Oil
3.35 oz Sodium Hydroxide
9 oz. water
1.5 oz fragrance. I used our Drakkar Type
Gel Tones Colorant. I used Neon Green which comes out a very nice minty color.
Milky Way Molds 

Start by weighing out the Sodium Hydroxide into a Glass Pyrex (plastic is static prone, glass is not) and by weighing into a Pyrex measure Cup 9 ounces of ICE COLD water. Wearing your eye protection and respirator mask and gloves, place the cup of water in a sink and SLOWLY add the lye to the water stirring constantly using a stainless steel or plastic spoon. THIS WILL GET VERY HOT!!! Lye is VERY caustic! If any should splash on you, IMMEDIATELY rinse well with ice cold water! Never mix lye outside and then move indoors. Use the vent on your range to ventilate the room or open a door or a window. Your respirator will allow you to breathe safely during this process. Spilling lye is far more dangerous.

Once this is done, weigh your oils and place in the crock pot on high until they are melted. Always use your scale to weigh your oils. They do not need to be melted before placing in the crock pot for HP soap. 



 
After the oils have all melted, add your lye solution and stir until it is blended using the spoon to avoid splashing any of the lye water. This is important, remember lye can be dangerous. Keep your hands gloved and your eye protection on at all times when handling the lye and raw soap.








Now Stick blend your soap until it reaches trace. Trace looks like this. Sort of like a thick cooked pudding. This will take a few minutes depending on your particular recipe. Blend in 30 second bursts followed by stirring gently using the stick blender. Burst, stir etc. Now its time to cover the soap up and let it cook!







 
Keep stirring your soap. It will bubble, froth, separate like curds and finally begin to look like vaseline, that is soap kiddo's!  Use a spoon, potato masher or stainless whisk for this stage. Stir WELL, keep on stirring, people flop at this stage because they aren't stirring well enough.


 
 Once it looks like vaseline, add your scent, dye and stir well then mold. Wait until the soap cools and remove from the molds. 










Bitter Creek sells Milky Way molds that are GREAT for making HP soap!! Be sure to grease them before placing the soap in them for easier release. Pam Cooking Spray works great!

Monday, April 14, 2014

Fresh Peach After Bath Oil

This month I wanted to do something that just screamed summer. It had to smell like summer, be a product I'd use in the summer and so on! I love the water & I love the sun but both tend to dry my skin out. Here is the perfect solution for summer OR winter dry skin! After Bath Oil Spray! So simple to make and yet so nice for that weary dry skin without feeling oily!

First of all, you will need to have a digital scale to weigh your scent, and the Cyclomethicone and the Rice Bran oil. I like Rice Bran oil because it is very light and absorbs nicely into the skin without feeling too heavy. Because you will be using 50% Cyclomethicone, the finished product will have a silky smooth, almost powdery feel! It's quite amazing!


What you will need:

Fresh Peach Fragrance Oil, BCS
Cyclomethicone
Rice Bran Oil

8 oz Black Spray Cap
8 oz Clear Bullet Bottle


1. On your digital scale weight out 4 oz of Rice Bran oil.
2. To that weigh in .4 oz of Fresh Peach Fragrance.
This will be 5% of the total weight of the product so you will know that as long as by IFRA standards your scent is at least 5% safe for 4.C Body creams, oils, lotions of all types (except baby products) per the charts on our site.
3. Blend these items well to prevent any chance of the fragrance not blending with the Cyclomethicone in the next step.
4. Now weigh in 4 oz of Cyclomethicone
5. Place the cap on the bottle
6. Shake well.


As you can see, this is a very quick, simple project to make but it has an amazingly wonderful effect on dry, weary skin! The added bonus is the great scent along with the great product. An excellent product to sell any time of year, in any climate! This product feels amazing! Use on wet or dry skin, any time!


Happy Bath & Body Creating!
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