# Greasy soap?



## MamaTiger (Jun 11, 2008)

I just made a trial batch of soap...made a few batches before, but years ago. 

2.25 oz lye
7 oz water
2 oz castor oil
4 oz coconut oil
4 oz olive oil
6 oz lard
1 T fragrance oil

When I was pouring it up, it felt very greasy. Is that normal? Will it turn out ok when it hardens?

Also, instead of the blue coloring making a blue tint, it seems to be greyish. Why is that?


----------



## MamaTiger (Jun 11, 2008)

After an hour and a half, the swirls look pink! I used blue! This is really strange!


----------



## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

I ran your formula through a lye calc and it looks fine @ 5% lye discount. You could have used less water...around 5 oz. That could be part of the reason it's so soft to start out with. Fresh traced soap is still very greasy...it takes 24-48 hours for the lye to do it's thing. Also, lard and olive is slower to trace than most oils. Insulate it well, then check it at 24 hours. I think it will turn out fine.

What kind of colorant are you using?


----------



## MamaTiger (Jun 11, 2008)

Thanks--I did run it thru soapcalc before using that recipe. I'd forgotten that it takes time for the soap to feel less greasy.

The coloring is Da Bomb Soap Dye Blue #1 from Nature's Garden.

I have it wrapped in towels and will check it again tomorrow afternoon.

It took me awhile to work up the courage to tackle this soap making again...but now I'm wanting to do it again! lol


----------



## fransean (Dec 21, 2002)

some coloring does not turn out the same color as it looks...........does that make sense? So your blue may actually be pink but just look blue prior to adding it to soap.

Greasy? Like a layer of oil on top that did not get mixed in? See how it looks later but it might be that you had a false trace and it needed to be mixed longer.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

To answer your color question, this particular colorant is FD&C Blue #1. On Nature's Garden website, their specifics about FD&C Blue #1 says



> Also referred to as Brilliant blue. Recommended for melt and pour soap bases, bath gel, lotion making, bath salts, smelly jellies. Not for use in oil based products or candles. Blue #1 is not stable in high ph conditions, and will turn a purple color in cold/hot process soap.


----------



## MamaTiger (Jun 11, 2008)

Well, that's exactly what color the swirls are this morning! lol

What colorants would you all recommend that will hold true in cold process soap?

And this is the first time I've tried swirling color in soap and at least the tops of them look great! I just used a smallish box and made 1 lb as a trial batch. It's harder this am...I think it might just turn out fine with enough curing time.


----------



## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Ultramarine blue works well for me. Oxides and ultramarines usually hold up well in cp soap.


----------



## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

I use powdered oxides in my cold process soap. I've been pretty happy with how they look and hold their color. I get mine from Wholesale Supplies Plus. A little goes a long way!


----------



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Another oxide and ultra marine user.

Mix your oxides with oil to disperse. Mix your ultra marine with water to disperse. OR mix either with glycerin to disperse.


----------



## MamaTiger (Jun 11, 2008)

Thanks! I've cut my soap--it's hardened nicely, not greasy at all and the color swirls look good throughout. I tried out a tiny bar today and it suds really well and feels moisturizing...so I'm happy.

I'll look into those coloring suggestions. Thanks so much!

Does anyone use powdered goats milk? I've been thinking of using that since I don't currently have access to real goats milk...


----------



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Nope ... I've used raw cow's milk the past 10 years.

I did use powdered GM 13 or 14 years ago, then went with canned GM, then we got a family milk cow. We no longer have a milk cow but we have a few friends that keep milk cows so I can always get it.

Check out Real Milk Finder to see if you can get raw milk in your area.


----------



## MamaTiger (Jun 11, 2008)

We've had a milk cow several times but are currently without. I do have a church friend with whom I barter for a gallon of milk a week...but one of my dds and my dh fight over it! They love to drink it! I have to buy store milk for cooking/baking purposes already--and I don't think they will let me use *their* milk for making soap. lol

I've never used milk in soap before--honestly, never even used coloring before this weekend...I've heard that milk soap is difficult in the beginning...was thinking that using powdered milk might be helpful in eliminating problems.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

The way I soap with milk isn't difficult at all. You just have to adjust your method of soaping a bit. Instead of making up the lye solution and allowing it to cool while you work with your oils, you get your oils ready first.

I store my milk in ziplock bags frozen on their sides (about .5 gallon in a one gallon bag). I now master batch all my oils, but when I weighed out each of my oils, this is how I proceeded.

When I'm ready to soap, the first thing I get out is my frozen milk, then I get out all the rest of my stuff (oils, molds, EO, colorants, et al). 

Next, I weigh my solid oils and get them to melting (low heat) on the stove. While they are melting, I weigh out my liquid oils.

I then chunk up my frozen milk into 1" or smaller pieces. If the milk is hard to cut, I would zap it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. Just enough to make it easy to chunk up. I weigh up my milk for the recipe.

By this time the solid oils are usually melted (or very close to it). If there are small unmelted pieces, I just zap them with my stick blender. Pour the liquid oils into the melted solid oils.

I put the container with the weighed, frozen milk chunks in a sink of cold water.

Only then do I weigh up my lye. At this point, some soapers will s-l-o-w-l-y add the lye to the frozen milk..... not me .... I add about 1/3 of the lye to the frozen milk, stir it well to get it thawing, add about half of remaining lye, stir some more, then add the rest of the lye, stir it some more, then get at it using the stick blender to dissolve the remaining milk chunks and ensure the lye is incorporated. I use a rubber spatula once around the container to make sure any lye sticking on the side goes into the milk/lye mixture.

Pour immediately into the waiting oils, stir, stick blend and proceed to soap as normal.

Easy peasy.

Pictures of this process on my soapmaking page


----------



## MamaTiger (Jun 11, 2008)

Thanks! I have looked over your site repeatedly during the past few months while I geared myself up to make soap.

Any hints you can give me on cutting soap? I'm not too great at that.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Nope ... I can't cut a straight bar of soap if my life depended on it. That's why I've used Kelsei molds the past 13 years!.


----------

