Cream Soap

So, my grown up soap molds arrived, and I decided that I could not wait any longer to try my hand at a milk soap. Not having any goat's milk or other fancy ones readily available, I used I a 10% Milkfat cream.

I read about a lot of different ways to do it, and decided on the split method. That is, adding the cream at trace, and subtracting the amount of cream from my total liquid. The rest of my liquid was distilled water, which is what I mixed my lye in.

Also, our apartment is usually on the warm side (My coconut oil is always liquid), due to the way the heating system in our building works. I know milk soaps can easily overheat, so I decided to try and prevent gel. After lining my mold, I put it in the fridge to chill the wood somewhat, as it will give the soap a lot of insulation, and I wanted it to start cool. And of course, after soaping, I put it in the fridge to keep it as cool as possible as it saponifies.

So far, I love my mold. It feels very sturdy, and it is going to be a dream to get the soap out with the collapsible sides. What I didn't do, was the calculation to measure how much oil in weight I should use to fill my mold, so I ended up with more batter than would fit. I put the extra in a small silicone tray of heart molds I have used for making bath bombs. I may do that on purpose in future batches, as after my initial reaction of "Eeeek! What I am going to do with the extra?" I am now kind of excited that I will have small soap to test with at different stages of the cure, and it would be a great way to make embeds for future batches.

The recipe I used was:
40 % Olive oil pomace
30% Coconut Oil 76 deg
10% Castor
10% Shea Butter
10% Sweet Almond Oil

I also added Creamy Cinnamon Chai FO  at trace, after mixing in the cream. I have to say, I really, really love this fragrance. It's definitely one I will buy again. It is supposed to discolour to tan, but I am embracing the brown, as they say.

The FO did not accelerate my trace at all, but I found that the cream really did. I am going to have a hard time waiting for it to set so I can cut, and an even harder time waiting to try it. It looked so much creamier that any of my previous batches.

You can see a small jar of Mica in the background, originally I was going to colour this one, but decided against it. The scent really seemed to demand a natural colour.


***Update****

It's a good thing I put it in the fridge to prevent gel. It's achieved full gel while in there, so it is likely it would have overheated for sure if I left it out.