Make 20 Different Fabric Flowers
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If it tests milky, you are so NOT done. If it tests milky forever, you did something wrong. In the recipes below, I’ve given you my cook times per recipe. Don’t test sample constantly. Wait at least 3 hours before test sampling, and then test sample about once an hour.
Don’t be impatient, grasshopper. Tip: Start with 2 ounces of boiling water and the 1 ounce of soap paste-then zap 45 seconds in the microwave, stir, zap again, stir, zap again, several times over and your test sample will dissolve more quickly. Once your paste is finished, weigh it. You can either weigh your crock pot before you start (crock removed from outer heating pot) or remove the paste to weigh.
I weighed my pot, but found later that when I tried to weigh the pot and paste combined, my scale couldn’t take it. It’s a pain, but not impossible, to remove the paste to weigh. Scrape it out with a big spoon and transfer to a bowl. You don’t have to get every last bit, just close enough. Weigh the paste, then return it to the crock pot. You may at this point want to store half the paste for later use.
As you move the paste back to the pot, keep your bowl on the scale and weigh out half the paste to return to the crock pot. Store the other half in a plastic baggie labeled with the recipe name and the weight of the paste for future reference. Another reason to divide your paste in half, or even in thirds, is to experiment with different dilution rates in preparing the soap.
You may also want fragrance it in separate batches to please family members or friends, or make one part unscented for someone who doesn’t like scent while still fragrancing the rest. When you divide the paste, you have room to play with each part separately in dilution, scent, color, thickening, and so on. Use soft or distilled water to dilute your paste.
Here is a dilution table showing percent of soap and percent of water added per pound of paste. Soaps made from 100 percent coconut oil will dilute at 40 percent (though that would be a very drying soap). You will have a hard time getting a recipe with any significant amount of olive oil to dilute at anything other than 20 percent.
I started out trying all of my recipes at 30 percent. If a soap doesn’t dilute in a reasonable period of time (several hours) then you’re probably at the wrong dilution rate. A soap that isn’t going to dilute at your current dilution rate will start forming a layer on top.
No matter how many times you break it up, it will keep layering. You have two choices. You can either dilute the soap further, or emulsify it with a 33 percent borax solution. Emulsification with a borax solution allows you to dilute soap at higher concentrations. Your other choice is to dilute further then thicken with glycerin. Borax is a natural mineral/salt. Glycerin is a byproduct of soap fats. Which path you choose will depend on the type of soap you’re making, its intended use, and your personal preferences.
