Testing Egyptian Amber Fragrance Oil from Candle Science in Cold Process Soap

I have recently decided to start soap-making again and I will be testing some FO's again. 1st up is Candle Science's Egyptian Amber Fragrance Oil.
I used a very basic recipe with Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil & Castor Oil and soaped at 80 degrees and here are my findings?

Did the Fragrance Oil accelerate trace?  No, as you can see in the picture above, the soap is still fluid while being poured into the mold.  (Good FO for swirling)

 
Did it discolor the soap? My soap recipe makes a pretty white/cream color bar and as you can see in the picture above it does discolor the soap to a golden amber hue.  Titanium Dioxide would help to keep the soap lighter for coloring and swirling techniques.

any other issues with the Fragrance oil? No, the dots on the top of the soap are just condensation from me not putting plastic wrap on top of the soap during the soapnification process.  I will remove these with my bevel or just a potato peeler.

Up next....I am testing the Coffee FO from Candle Science.  I will be using coffee as my liquid and also adding coffee grounds for an exfoliating property. 

Do you have any FO's that you would like me to test?

Do you test your FO's before buying?

Thanks in advance for commenting.

Soap Making - Formulating a Soap Recipe

When I first started making soap I used a recipe out of The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques for Creating Colorful and Fragrant Soaps (Everything: Sports and Hobbies) this book has many basic recipes which are good for the Beginner Soap maker.  The recipe I used was as follows
Olive Oil       9oz                                                Lye      2.4oz
Coconut Oil  4oz                                                Water  6oz
Palm Oil        3oz
Castor Oil      1 Tbsp

I made this recipe several times to get comfortable with the soap making process; then I started to formulate my own recipes using SoapCalc the first thing I did was decide what kind of oils and butters I wanted to use.  Choosing your oils and Butters according to the quality they will bring to the soap.  The book I found that has one of the most in-depth overview of soap making oils is The Soapmaker's Companion: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques & Know-How (Natural Body Series - The Natural Way to Enhance Your Life) This book details the Benefits of the oil, the best way to use in soap making and also a recommended percentage to use in your soap recipe.

There are several factors to consider when formulating your soap recipe.

1.  What oils/butters do you have on hand or that you will be able to get your hands on
2.  What are the qualities you wish to have in the final soap

For example Coconut oil is know for giving soap creamy lather, so it is an oil commonly used by soap makers but if used in too high of a percentage it can make your final soap too drying to the skin.

Once you have the oils/butter that you will be using in your soap recipe, plug the oils into the soap calc template and you can either but in the percentage you want to use of the oil (example: Coconut Oil, 30%; Palm Oil 30%; Olive Oil 30%, Castor Oil 10%. 

Then enter the Superfat amount, most people use a minimum of 5% with a maximum of 10%.  What is superfat? To superfat your some is also known as a lye discount, which means you use less lye than is needed to fully saponify all the oils, some some of the oils/butters will remain in its original state and lend more conditioning quality to the soap.  A problem may occur when you have a high superfat with oils that have a short shelf life; without the use of a preservative your soap will have a higher probability of going rancid. So please take that into consideration when formulating your soap recipe.

Finally you can change the Water as % of oil number, this number will discount the water in your recipe and speed up the cure (a little) by having less water in the final soap that needs to evaporate.  Most soap makers use a percentage of 33% to 35%.  

And that's it, hit the "Calculate recipe" button and Viola! You will have your recipe ready to print. 

There is an old school way of formulate a recipe checkout this Blog Post to formulate a soap recipe from scratch. Please leave a comment if you have any other questions. 

Andrea Mack

Helen's Hands Soap

Oatmeal Milk and Honey Hot Process Soap Tutorial

Here is my 2nd YouTube Hot Process soap Tutorial.  This is part one of a two part series, I will be doing more tutorials and video's showcasing my products that are available on my website Helen's Hands Soap
If you would like to see more tutorials or have soap making questions please feel free to email me at andrea.mack@helenshandssoap.com

Part 1 of my Hot Process soap How-to Video.

This is my video detailing how I make Hot-Process soap using a crock-pot.  Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel as I will be posting more video's showcasing my products as well as other how-to videos. 

New website coming along!

I am working on a new website and what an undertaking this is! I am building my inventory and picking what products I would like to make.  A lot of decisions especially for a procrastinator like me. Sometimes I find it very difficult to focus and my mind wonders....often! But I am determined to get this website up and running by Wednesday, April 6, 2011.  I am putting this out there for some accountability and a little bit of pressure. So check out my website...still under construction, so please don't mind the dust and the empty shelves, the grand opening is coming soon! Helen's Hands Soap

Soap Making 101 - My YouTube Video Series

This is the 1st video in a Series, that I will be publishing on YouTube.  The Series will include the following lessons:


1. Gathering & Organizing information, before you make your 1st batch
2. Gathering your ingredients (what to buy and where to buy it from)
3. Choosing your mold and gathering your equipment
4. Now you are ready to Make Soap


These video's will be uploaded on Monday's and Fridays for the next 2 weeks.  I am also thinking about doing a live soap making presentation on UStream or BlogTV, depending on the interest for something like that.  Please let me know your thoughts and is there is any other topic your would like to see.


Check out these soap making books:

Video about testing Fragrance Oils in soap.

Check Out my other YT Video's about soap making and Helen's Hands

Testing Fragrances for Cold-Process Soap making

When I began Soap making I would just order supplies without really thinking about it. I was just trying to buy them inexpensively, after all the more inexpensive your ingredients, the greater your profit margin (if you are selling your soap).  But, as I got more savvy I realized the importance of testing your ingredients before purchasing that ingredient in bulk. Especially fragrance oil because as most soap-maker's know the addition of a fragrance oil can be the perfect addition or the beginning of a science experiment gone horribly wrong. Fragrance oils are notorious for cause ricing & seizing in cold process soaps and trust me, having 8lb's of a fragrance oil that you cannot use is a waste of money no matter how good the price was.

So when one of my favorite suppliers Nature's Garden started a VIP Customer Testing Program, I jumped at the chance to get a free sample of a fragrance oil that they were considering adding to their extensive line of fragrance oils. Please go to their website for all of the details about the program.  With my latest order I received a 1oz sample of Pear Tart Fragrance oil that was safe for Bath & Body products and candles.  The scent is very sweet but not overpoweringly sweet, instead of Pear Tart a better name would be Anjou Pear because I associate Anjou Pears with a sweetness that definetly comes through in the fragrance.

When testing an FO for Cold-Process soap I make 1 or 2 pound batches, no larger.  Because in the event that the FO does something funky (i.e ricing, seizing, soap on a stick) The last thing I want to be doing is fighting a 10lb batch of soap into a mold as it fights me back.  That is not my idea of fun.  So to test this FO I made a standard 1# batch using Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut oil, Shea Butter, Soybean and Castor Oil; with a 7% Superfat. My temps were about 85 Degrees for both oils and lye.  When testing an FO I do not add colorant because I want to see if the FO is going to discolor the soap.  This is what the soap looked like in the mold:

As you can see there is very little discoloration and the scent is strong.  I used the entire 1oz for the 1# batch.

Here are some pictures of the soap cut into bars.

This FO accelerated trace a little; not enough to be in danger of becoming soap on a stick, but after adding the FO it took only 2-3 pulses with my stick blender to obtain a thick trace.  It was then put into the mold, insulated for 12 hours and then cut.





I give this Fragrance Oil 5 out of 5 stars for cold process soap.  If you are looking for a sweet Pear fragrance, look no further.  I am hoping that Nature's Garden adds this to their line as this will make a great addition to my Spring Line.  

What is your favorite Fragrance oil?


A brief update from yesterday's post. I completed 2 things of of my To Do List from yesterday! So Operation Stop Procrastination is in full swing!

Collecting Rain Water to use in your Soap making

It has been raining the last 2 days here in NJ and as I was about to start making soap I remembered reading that rain water can be used in your soap.  Armed with a bunch of empty plastic containers I took my umbrella and went outside. No Need to let all that water go to waste. 

It was pouring, so it was the perfect time to collect some rainwater! 

I got some empty plastic bowls and put them on my front step, since it was raining very hard, they filled up FAST!

When they filled up, I brought them into the house and filtered the water through a stainer lined with a paper towel to remove any sediments that may have been in the bowl.

I plan on getting several large 5 gallon plastic buckets from Lowe's, because I ran out of pitcher's quickly and I could have collected a lot more water.  

After collecting and straining the water I put them into a bunch of these plastic container's and put them in the refrigerator to use in my next batch of soap.  Stay tuned to see what happens!

There are many resources on the web to make rain water collectors, from the very simple. to the very elaborate.

Making Homemade Soap - Making a 1lb test batch.

This morning I decided to try one of the several 1oz Fragrance oils that I got from Elements Bath and Body.  Since I am new to soap making I buy 1oz of any fragrance oil and do a 1lb Test Batch before investing in larger quantities.  So this is my Step by step process:

1. Always start with an accurate scale, preferably one with a TARE button, that weighs in Ounces and grams.  For a starter scale I got this postage scale and it works fine. I have it covered with plastic to protect it from an accidental spill. 

2. ALWAYS use protective gear when working with Sodium Hydroxide aka Lye.  This is a caustic substance that can burn the skin.  Wearing protective eye gear and gloves is a must, remember...Safety first. 

3. Also keep some Vinegar on hand to neutralize the lye in your containers and for any unfortunate spills.  I keep some in a spray bottle and in a container with water to drop in any utensils that have come in contact with lye.

4. This is Sodium Hydroxide that was purchased from Lowe's.  If you purchase from a hardware store or chain store (Lowe's, Home Depot) make sure it is 100% lye! If you can find a local chemical company to purchase from that might be more cost effective, especially if you are going to be making soap in large quantities.  This 16oz bottle cost $12.99; you can also purchase online.  Essential Depot is a website that has very good prices and the shipping is very reasonable. 

5. I use distilled water in my soap; I get it from my local Walgreen's when it goes on sale for $.69 a gallon and just buy 10 gallons at a time.  Some people use rain water (I have done that yet, but I am going to try it one day) It isn't suggested that you use tap water because Tap water contains minerals and impurities such as calcium, magnesium as well as organic material.






















This is the recipe that I used for this 1lb batch.  I figured this out using the lye calculator at SoapCalc, When you find a recipe on the web or in a book, it is always a good practice to run it through a lye calculator.  People make errors or they may superfat 5% and you want a Superfat of 8%! So just to be on the safe side double check all recipes through a lye calculator. 

1# Test Batch

6.4 oz     Lard

4.8 oz  Olive Oil

2.4 oz   Coconut Oil

.8oz  Sweet Almond Oil

.2oz Castor Oil

1.4oz Shea Butter

6.1oz Distilled water

2.1oz Sodium Hydroxide (lye)

1/8 tsp Ground Annatto 

1oz Amber Sunset FO

6. Measure out your lye and water.

   7. Add the Lye to the water and stir (do this in a well ventilated area) or in your kitchen with your exhaust fan on. 

Safety tip: Never add the water to the lye; it will can cause a volcano effect! (not good)    

 I used cold water so the water only heated up to 146 degree F; if I had used room temp water, the lye water mixture can get as hot as 200 degrees F.  Put this to the side and mix together your oils.

8. Measure out your oils.  Be sure to TARE you scale after putting the jar or container on your scale.  This will make sure that the scale is only measuring the weight of the oils and not the container.  

This is the Lard

9. This is the Shea Butter.  I brought this from Ebay; the buyer also has a website Butters and Oils.

10. I use a double boiler method to melt my solid oils.  You can also use the microwave or direct heat.  While the solid oils melt, I measure out the liquid oils.

                                                                  

11. Next I measured out the coconut oil.  This coconut oil has a 76 degree melting point, so it is liquid, since it has been a hot summer here in NJ.

12. Weighed out the Sweet Almond Oil.  I am going to use this oil to mix with the colorant and add at trace.

13. Next I weighed out the Olive oil.  Keep in mind that the color of your oils will affect the color of your soap.  I am using a golden colored olive oil, instead of a green EVOO which would give the soap a greenish hue.

14. I measured out the Castor oil (forgot to take a pic of that) and this is fragrance oil &  Ground Annatto that I will be using as a colorant.  I have my mold ready and  lined with plastic wrap.

15. After I added the liquid oils to the melted solid oils the temp was 132 degrees F, so I put it in an ice bath to lower the temp to around 100 degrees.

16. The oils and lye are close to the same temp...time to mix and make soap! 

17. Mix the lye and oil together and the saponification process starts.

18. At a light trace I added the Ground Annatto mixed in with the sweet Almond oil. Also, added in the Fragrance oil and mix by hand and a couple of bursts with the stick blender.

19. Poured into the mold at a thick trace and wrapped up for the night...

In the morning, it is all set up and ready to be cut.  The mold breaks away, very easily.  I love the color; goes perfect with the name of the FO; Amber Sunset.

I put the soap in a mitre box to cut, 1 pound of oils, makes 5- 4.5 to 5oz bars. These bars will have to cure to about 3-4 weeks before being ready for use.

If you have any questions feel free to ask, and my next post will be about trying to make a salt bar.  Stay tuned for more of Andrea's adventure's in soap making.

Here is a good book about soap making, perfect for beginners.