This weekend I discovered that you can leave your hardening soap too long before cutting it into bars. 1-2 days is ideal. 7 days is too long
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Gina and I did a series of soap-making experiments years ago using lard and beef tallow. From my notes (just ask and I can email them to you), the combining temperature for the lye and fat makes a difference in how fast the soap sets up. At 125F, the soap was rock-hard after 1 day and needed to be cut with a bandsaw (luckily Richard had one), but it cut well. In another batch combined at 100F, it took 3 days to not quite reach that same degree of rock-hardness on the outside, but was still somewhat mushy on the inside, such that it caused the bandsaw to gum up and stop. For both experiments, we were using shallow cardboard boxes lined with garbage bags for the mould, so perhaps the lack of airflow of the plastic contributed to the way it set
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Yup - combining temps need to be the same, no matter what temp you choose. We used a candy thermometer to make sure.
The calc table we used is now gone, but would have been much the same as what you used. We were aiming for 5-6% superfatting with the lard and 11% with the beef tallow.
However, the page where got the recipe (ratios of fat:lye) is still there and - duh! - it's called laundry soap! Why didn't I see that when we were making it? No wonder it seemed too harsh for hand soap even with the extra fat! :)
'Cold cream' is the traditional name for a rose-scented moisturiser, that was the workaday moisturiser before Vaseline, Palmolive and Oil of Olay came along...and then all the big cosmetics firms.
Robert says when he was in theatre he used cold cream as a makeup remover, which may be where it survives.
We're now awash in specialist face and body creams with different scents and consistencies, but at one time, cold cream was the main option for moisturiser, makeup remover, overnight masks, whatever.
You can still get it in England at Boots. I got a pot to compare to mine. The commercial one is more strongly scented, is shinier and absorbs more easily, but otherwise seems very similar.
At their cores, moisturisers still use an emulsion of oils and waxes. They can be sourced from plants, animals or petroleum products, but you still need some combination of oil, wax, water and scent.
Better quality ones have combinations that are more pleasant, or are gentler on the skin, but all the rest is packaging and personal preference...and
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Thank you!
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The calc table we used is now gone, but would have been much the same as what you used. We were aiming for 5-6% superfatting with the lard and 11% with the beef tallow.
However, the page where got the recipe (ratios of fat:lye) is still there and - duh! - it's called laundry soap! Why didn't I see that when we were making it? No wonder it seemed too harsh for hand soap even with the extra fat! :)
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Robert says when he was in theatre he used cold cream as a makeup remover, which may be where it survives.
We're now awash in specialist face and body creams with different scents and consistencies, but at one time, cold cream was the main option for moisturiser, makeup remover, overnight masks, whatever.
You can still get it in England at Boots. I got a pot to compare to mine. The commercial one is more strongly scented, is shinier and absorbs more easily, but otherwise seems very similar.
At their cores, moisturisers still use an emulsion of oils and waxes. They can be sourced from plants, animals or petroleum products, but you still need some combination of oil, wax, water and scent.
Better quality ones have combinations that are more pleasant, or are gentler on the skin, but all the rest is packaging and personal preference...and
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