Soapmaking the Hot Process Way
Direct Heat Hot Process © 2000 (Camille Pratt)
The following is taken from list member Camille's first experience with direct heat HP soapmaking. For best results, please follow the links posted below and take a look at all that is involved before attempting this process.
Experiment Batch Number 1.....
Made a batch with 2# of oils in it:20 oz. olive
8 oz. coconut
4 oz. corn
4.4 oz. lye
12 oz. waterMixed at 100°. When it traced, I turned up the heat SLOWLY and kept
stirring AT ALL TIMES until the thermometer hit 220°. I won't go above this until the water boils off. I never let it do the volcano thing where it leaps out of the
pot. When they say 'stir constantly' it means to stir constantly! When temps rise above 220°, then all the water is gone from the liquids. You are now playing with lye and water. So the rise in temps looked like this:175°- soap 'grits' or 'curds' appeared
195°- partial separation occurred
200°- full separation occurred
220°- gently rolling boil and some champagne bubbles show up
250°- went straight into the 'gell' stagePoured and smoothed in mold. All of the above characteristics I saw
were what was supposed to happen (the grits, the seperation the bubbbles and the
gell).
I wanted to note that the pictures were invaluable, though I never had
the three different heat ups to achieve the champagne bubbles. Just one. That is
it. The soap is sitting in the mold as hard as you please, and I will pop it out of
the mold and cut tomorrow.
Here are those sites again, the Walton feed one was useless to me, but
some one else might benefit from it:http://members.tripod.com/allcrafts/index.html (this is the one with photos)
http://www.lis.ab.ca/walton/old/soapcook.html (Walton Feed Store site)
http://www.rainbowmeadow.com/hotprocess.html (A variation of Walton Feeds)The best advice I can give you is to be prepared. Understand what you
should see and you won't get lost. Here is the other tip I got from perusing the
sites, and this helped because I didn't know what to look for temperature-wise:Pure Olive oil needs 330°
Oil blends need 250-270°There was no way I needed to exceed the 250° on this particular batch.
Higher doesn't mean better or faster. This is one of those times in life that if you
don't have the time, don't do it. I made me nervous and jittery...kind of like the
first time you step over the lip of a cliff when you rappel (sp), your mind says NO!
and tries to get into direct defiance with your body.
Print out the sheets, read them, understand what you are looking for
and when, don't rush, and don't cheat, and you will have no problems...oh, and one more thing...be sure to pee before you get started, because you can't once the soap
starts up! It took about an hour and a half, but I think it is because it was such a
small batch. Going to do a 5-6#er tomorrow because I must, and because the palm oil is here!Experiment Batch Number 2.....
24 oz. Coconut oil
40 oz. Olive oil
16 oz. Palm oil11.3 oz. lye
30 oz. water
wow. Took over 2 1/2 hours, but this is waaaaay better than yesterday's
2# batch. It went through the champagne bubbles 2 times(like on the instruction page I sent yesterday with the phots). She is right on the money with those
photos. The only improvement I would add to her site is if she had listed the temps. The temps are the same as yesterday, and that exothermic thing was really neat (where it continues to make the champagne bubbles and sort of turn on itself in a sort of self stir). This is the directions I would recommend....http://members.tripod.com/allcrafts/index.html
175°- soap 'grits' or 'curds' appeared
195°- partial separation occured
200°- full separation occured
220°- gently rolling boil and lots champagne bubbles show up
250°- pulled off of heat twice to let it do it's exothermic thing,
reheated back up
twice. After second REHEAT, no bubbles, and on to 'gell' after melding
back together.I put it in the mold and washed my hands with the stuff I didn't scoop
out of the pot! No harshness, and no tingles. Big fat bubbles. I Scented this one
with FO and threw in some cornmeal. If you don't have everything pre-measure on HP, then don't bother.
I am so pleased! Wouldn't want to do it everyday, but the very idea of
using soap right after you make it is great, not that 2-3 hours stirring isn't a
price to pay!
I hope I helped you all who want to try this, or have tried it and had
problems. Not for the impatient, or faint-of-heart! Kind of like looking into the
pit of hell. Those of you who do HP all the time (or often) are probably laughing at
me, but this is just so (where's the Hollinator? I'm going to be forced to steal
this from her today...) kewl!The Big TEST.....Actually Using The Finished Soap!!!!!!!!!
It looks like CP after its 4-8 week cure. I kid you not!
I could have killed someone with that big ole block of soap. You can't even leave an indention on it. I already cut it and trimmed up the bars and rebatched the
trimmings.
I have used it several times tonight, in fact just soaping up my hands
for the h*ll of it now (!!!) because I just cannot get over those fat, creamy bubbles
and no harsh after-burn. It is very mild. I don't need any fancy tests to see if a
soap is cured...you see, I have these totally reactionary items attached to my
body. They are called the back of my hands. If something is not deemed acceptable, it was because the back of my hands complained about it. They hurt, get super dry looking and angry.
They are very pleased puppies right now!
You see, the first boil (with the big bubbles) is the water boiling
off. The 'Champagne bubbles' is when the lye is involved with its process with
the oils (sapping its heart out). Then when the champagne bubbles are gone, all
that is left is a gell/pudding/custard... THAT is the finished soap...it is sitting at
about 225° to 250°, so you have to be careful of that.
I am just flat-out sold on this (can you tell?). There is a definite
place for HP in my life, but I would never abandon CP and I do love to rebatch.For more hot process information/directions, follow the links below:
http://www.soapnuts.com/myhp.html (pictures of a first attempt at double-boiler enclosed HP)
http://www.soapnuts.com/cphp.html (crockpot hot process, 3 versions)
Quick Links Menu of most popular pages (visit the main home page for all links)
Contact E-mail: webmaster@soapnuts.com
Copyright Notice!
All content provided on this Web site, excluding button icons, graphics, images, noted original author's works is the copyright of Rebecca Erisch, and is protected by applicable U.S. and international copyright laws. Information may be used for personal use only. Any other use--including display, distribution, modification, republication, reproduction, or transmission--of the content on this Web site is strictly prohibited. Copyright (c) 1999 Rebecca Erisch. All rights reserved.