Stephenson Melt And Pour Soap Base Clear SLS FREE - 1Kg

Product Information

Step 7: Mix for about 2-4 minutes. Stop mixing and see if a skin forms. If a skin forms, pour in your sugar solution.

Step 4: Once my oils were melted I created the lye solution. I wanted it to be nice and hot. To make a lye solution weigh the water and sodium hydroxide into two separate containers. Pour the lye into the water and stir.

Removing Soaps From The Mould

Isopropyl – Isopropyl is also commonly called rubbing alcohol. It comes in different strengths, from 50%, 70% and 90%. Like I said, isopropyl doesn’t seem to be the best in transparent soap but it is cheaper than ethyl and does work. Use the highest strength that you can find.

For more vibrant, stable colors, go for mineral colorants: ultramarines, iron or chromium oxides. These mineral colorants for soap making are still considered natural ingredients, even though they are manufactured to make the minerals safe (by removing harmful heavy metals). For batch #3 I walked up to the liquor store and bought some Everclear. I bumped up the glycerin and the sugar solution. I started using white sugar at this point. For batch #6 I wanted to leave out the sugar solution and just use alcohol and glycerin. I bumped up the alcohol a bit.Step 2– Weigh the lye and distilled water into two separate containers. Add the lye to the water while stirring to create a solution. Be sure to mix in a well-ventilated area. Be sure to wear safety goggles and gloves. Clean-up is easy. (After all, it’s just soap you’re cleaning off your supplies.) Just soak the molds in hot water, rinse and dry well. The addition of extra ingredients is more leisurely using this method, as continuous low heat is available to keep the mixture from forming a skin. Again, be careful not to introduce bubbles if at all possible. Fragrance should be the last addition, as heat will cause some evaporation. Again, work on around 20ml of fragrance or essential oil per Kilo for a meaningful fragrance. Step 10– After two hours, test your soap for clarity. You can do this by pouring a bit of soap mixture onto a cold glass cup. When you first remove the press and seal, you’ll notice lots of foam. I simply sprayed with alcohol and it went away.

Use little quantities of colorant if you really want to keep your soap highly transparent. More than 1/16 of a teaspoon, depending on the colorant, and the soap becomes opaque. The best way is to add very little colorant at a time until you are satisfied with the color and soap transparency. Be sure to wrap your soap up or it will sweat…especially batches 5 and 6, that use a higher amount of solvents. There are my results and recipes that I’ve tried so far. As the soap cures a bit, the lather and clarity can improve. So, test your soap right after you make it and test it again in a few weeks. Step 1: Create a sugar solution. Combine water and sugar and heat just until it boils. Remove from heat and see if it is clear. It usually is clear as soon as it boils. If it isn’t clear, boil a few seconds longer. Do not let it boil for long or it will burn and discolor your soap. Set aside.So, I got experimenting! I was inspired by a post in our soapmaking group, Saponification Nation, by Harriet Pretzsch. She generously shared her procedure for making a cold process transparent soap. You can find it on her blog here. You’ll have to translate it or join our FB group and search her name…you’ll find it translated. Step 3– You don’t have to let it cool down. Pour the lye solution into your melted oils/glycerin and blend to trace. Warning! You do use alcohol in this process so be aware of open flames or anything that might ignite the fumes. I went so far as to blow out the gas starters on my stove since I was making this in my kitchen. I opened the patio door so that I had fresh air at all times. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher on hand (a bit dramatic, but you should have one in your kitchen anyways).

Step 8– Immediately cover with Press & Seal and the lid. Set to cook. You want as little evaporation of the alcohol to happen as possible so that it remains in the soap mixture to dissolve the soap. This is where I started. I didn’t have a good alcohol, only 70% isopropyl so didn’t expect super clear soap. I wanted to try it without a sugar solution.

Whatever you are doing...

There are soft forms of Melt & Pour soap bases available (often known as bath butter or 'ice cream' soap), which can be piped like a cream icing when warm, which can be used to great effect when 'decorating' soap 'cakes'. Some recipes use oils as addictives (superfat). With this, I did have bad experiences, with the oils separating from the soap base, therefore, I don’t advise it. If you make the soap base at home, add your superfat when making the soap. Use Mendrulandia soap calculator to adjust oils and lye water quantities. However, my soap base recipes already have a superfat of 5%, so you don’t really need to worry about it. If you are purchasing your soap base, follow the manufacturer’s instructions about addictives, and see if you can add an oil or butter.