🧼 Thanks for watching! Read all about common soap making mistakes and how to avoid them here: bberry.studio/CommonSoapMakingMistakes 🧼 🧼 Video Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:28 - Not Enough Research 02:01 - Not Making a Basic Batch of Soap First 04:15 - Measuring by Volume 06:30 - Wrong Amounts of Lye, Oils, and Water 09:13 - Soaping at the Wrong Temperature 12:04 - Not Using a Fragrance Safe for Soap Making 14:33 - Stick Blending Incorrectly 17:57 - Outro 18:37 - Answering Your Questions If you have any questions, feel free to contact our customer service team at info@brambleberry.com or 877-627-7883 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. PST, Monday-Friday. You can also live chat with customer service on BrambleBerry.com from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. PST, Monday-Friday. Shop Bramble Berry: bberry.studio/_ShopBrambleBerry Recipes, Tips & Inspiration: bberry.studio/IntheStudio_Projects Facebook: facebook.com/BrambleBerry Instagram: instagram.com/brambleberry/ Twitter: twitter.com/brambleberry TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@brambleberry Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/brambleberry/
Good to know. I just started making cold process soap, my first batch accelerated quickly, I know what I did wrong though... I over blended and when I added the fragrance oil mixture, it started to seize up on me so fast. I had to plop it into the mold. It smells great, but just doesn't look so pretty.
@@candicesantiago727that the soap you keep at home for you😅😅😅 I made my third batch using sweet orange and dehydrated orange peel. I made the mistake adding another essential oil to the orange and it isn't the best in smell but I'll use it for us. Waste not want not. Lol
My soap making journey started with your book... and I am so grateful! Soap queen, your books... but also I know I can count on anything I buy from Bramble Berry.Thanks!
I learned on Soap Queen, years ago, lol! I did make a plain batch for my first with one color. I've never regretted that. Now I do all the complicated swirls and layers, but I now prefer a plain bar of soap, lol! I think everyone eventually comes full circle, if you started out with a basic bar. There's something really pure about a plain bar of soap. Ok with just a bit of goats milk, lol! It's great on the skin and simple to make and clean up afterwards! Yeah, less dishes. I'm all for that! Jill Gross
Fragrance recipes can change over time due to availability of ingredients too! Just because a fragrance worked for you perfectly last year, getting a new bottle of it and using it this year doesn't always mean it will soap the same way. I've had one bottle work perfectly, then next time I bought it, it seized up and was unusable. Definitely check reviews! Sometimes those can let you learn from another person's discovery about a fragrance changing. Just keep in mind that some oils work with some fragrances. If you don't use the same oils as someone who reported seizing did, you might have a different result and it'll work fine! If one person reports ricing or seizing, it could be due to temperature or oil recipe or something else entirely. Soapmaking is a constant battle of trying to wakeboard. Too fast or slow and things go wrong... but when you get that sweet spot that works for you, you really do have fun with it! It's a science and an art all in one!
I made my first batch about a year and a half ago with the brambleberry orange essential oil kit. It was really nice and having a scent that also colored the soap was really helpful. I've done 4 batches since then, two with the lots of lather oil mix, though i did stripes with them, and then two that i mixed the oils myself. I did have a minor failure when i tried to use a 12 cavity mold for the first time rather than a loaf mold because i tried to stripe it and it got too stiff. The soap works fine, but it doesn't look as nice as any of my other batches. I did have a bit of an issue with my most recent batch of trying to incorporate a small amount of shea butter to my oil and fat mixture. I managed eventually and it was only about 5% of the mixture, but there's probably an easier way to do it
As a seasoned soap maker.. taught by the Soap Queen and the wonderful monthly classes with kits you used to do, I still found this video very interesting. There’s nothing like learning from the master!! I built a small business of mostly craft fairs and word of mouth, but have found that the (necessary) price of insurance is too much. So now I create for fun, family and friends only. And still marvel at the bars as I get to cut them! Thanks for a great video!! 🧑🏼🎨😀
What do you mean the necessary price of insurance? I am just in the beginning phase of starting a small business with homemade soaps and body care items. I found this comment thought provoking.
@@nursekatina in this day of litigiousness, one must do their due diligence starting a body care business! Products applied to the body can cause reactions to sensitive persons…. and they can/will sue! Even with ingredients plainly labeled.🙄
Thank you so much for ALL your wonderful videos. I started making soap earlier this year, and one of the mistakes I made was trying too many different recipes and not understanding what a basic bar of soap was supposed to do/look like. I was smart enough to stay away from trying intricate designs tho! I know you don't specialize in hot process soap but I noticed your fragrances don't mention how it interacts with this method. Is that something you might consider, or it doesn't matter since you add the fragrance after the cook? Thanks again for all you do for the soap-making community ❤
Actually, if the soap is completely cured (stops losing weight), you can definitely vacuum pack a cold or hot processed soap with oxygen absorber packet. There’s a big retail company who sells only cold processed soap of 20 different kinds and they do vacuum pack their soap. No DOS as it’s already cured and they test their packaging and the best before date in a commercial lab. It may not be the best way to package for relatively newer soaps, but if the soap has enough time to cure, like 6-8 months, you can keep the freshness of the soap including the scent retention of vacuum sealed with exact size of oxygen absorbing packet. I’ve used their soaps before and it keeps it fresh. It extends the life of soaps because some soaps with higher SF may go rancid in two years. It extends the life of soaps. Same concept that oil you get is vacuum sealed or sometimes nitrogen flushed and sealed, which allows you to keep the freshness of an oil for a few years IF unopened. It’s quite common in cosmetic luxury type soaps to package like that. Definitely no DOS by packaging vacuum sealed, as they’re tested multiple times in the lab to guarantee expiry date (we have much more strict laws here than in the US for cosmetics and soaps are cosmetics here).
If the soap is fully cured, there is absolutely no need for a moisture absorber or vacuum sealing of the soap. It will last decades if made properly. Absorbers, with indercured soap, promote warping. No method, madmade or otherwise, speeds up the cure process (1) saponification, 2) water evaporation, and 3) crystallization.
I made all white 100% coconut loaf for my mom last mothers day and they turned out beautifully, I was so scared they'd be too hard but they were gorgeous and porcelain white. I've sold a few of these bars since then and called them white geisha
@@sheilahdang11 Super fatting means to reduce the amount of lye to have extra oil unsaponified to moisturize :) No need to add another oil. That's soap making basics.
Our worst experience was DOS cos of using different brands of oil that was available in the grocery, and not really checking expiry of those oils. We learned to use the same brands for our oils and check every time.
Just a little correction from a scientist point of view. Mass and weight are two different things. What you were referring to when using a measuring scale is the "mass" of the sample, not weight.
I poured the water into the lye my first batch. Received a chemical burn on my forearm. I will never forget to pour lye into water ever again! The rest of my batches have been uneventful and very fun.
Hey I made my first batch three weeks ago, I was so confused why it got trace early and it got a bit hard with 3 colors no fragrance. I guess it’s the Shea butter and mango butter 😅. I’m based in South Africa 🇿🇦
A high percentage of butters in your recipe can definitely speed up trace, making your soap batter very thick. You may find this article helpful, it has more information about creating your own recipe. Formulating Cold Process Soap Recipes: www.brambleberry.com/how-to/soap/art0025-formulating-cold-process-soap-recipes.html
When I use butters in my soap, I usually soap closer to 120-130F (48-54C), because butters have a higher melting point than even typical hard oils (coconut, babassu, palm) or animal fats (lard, tallow). That helps a lot. I love using cocoa butter in my recipes and I can usually keep my batter pretty fluid even though I usually use babassu or palm kernel flakes in combination with cocoa butter.
Yo hice mi primer lote de jabón, fui aventurera y lo hice de café con una receta de Bramble Berry. Hoy es su segundo día y la barra está muy sólida. Pero tiene lejía en la superficie. Vi que sugieres hacer el jabón a 120ºF y yo trabajé apenas a 90ºF. Solo me fijé que las temperaturas fueran iguales entre la lejía y las grasas. Hoy haré otro jabón a 120ºF. Ya les contaré cómo me queda.
Hi Annie I have purchased 2 of your books that’s fantastic I LOVE ❤️ IT SO MUCH. I learn so much techniques and I love to watch your RU-vid so much its so interesting. True lots to research
Watched your video thought it was very good and informative, 1 Question about fragrance oils ,I buy my oils through Bramble Berry but have tried others too. My problem seems to be that the soaps do not finish with a strong enough scent. I use a very basic soap recipe but after 3-4 weeks of curing the scent seems to fade a bit too much any suggestions?Thanks
Hello m malia from INDIA . From lockdown i started flowing how to do soap making in ur channel. N m so thankful to u dat now i can make super duper soap. Thanks a ton. God bless u.
I just got my order in from bramble berry for my first cold soap process, I have watched lots of videos but still seem a little confused about how to get to the right temperature before mixing. for instance if I do my lye solution then melt my oils how do I get them both at 120 at the same time, I assume if lye gets to cold you can't reheat it but if oils are too cold you can?
Yes, you can reheat your oils if they become too cool. We don't recommend reheating your lye. But don't worry too much about them being the same temperature! A difference of about 10 degrees is ideal, but if it's a little bit more (about 20 degrees), that will be okay too.
@@bramble-berry thank you for responding I finally got the nerve to make my first batch, being very nervous about the lye I over mixed it so was thicker than pudding hope it’s usable it looks okay but to early to tell.
You totally remind me of Pamela Anderson in THIS video, with her no makeup look. I enjoy your videos and JUST found your channel! So excited to make a tallow with other ingredients shampoo bar tomorrow. 😊
All of these are so great!! I started in '08 and totally had no idea about so much of this until MUCH later. My first batch went well, besides two mistakes. I chose a floral (there were no testing notes from the company I chose) not knowing that they can seize like mad. So of course, I stick blended the life outa my soap then added the fragrance... YIKES! My second mistake was that I wanted round bars, so I used a piece of PVC, and didn't secure the bottom well enough. SEIZING SOAP EVERYWHERE. I'm glad I can laugh about it now. 🤣
For years I mixed and blended by hand. Of course it took longer, but every batch turned into beautiful fragrant soap. So it can be done and should be done if you are just starting and not sure if soaping is for you or if you are just making an occasional batch for the family. No sense spending the money if you don't need to.
That's perfectly normal to get some red color in the wash-off in red-colored soap. It requires a lot of colorant to get red with a white goat milk base. This high volume of colorant tends to cause the water to also change color when the soap is used.
Such great info I love the video as a beginner soaps maker I believe I did my research and read all your info at your website I also watched all videos thanks for a great info also I have a question I been see some soap maker adding kaolin clay to Essential oil for long lasting fragrance what is the ratio to add and also can I add kaolin clay to fragrance oil too ? Please kindly answer my question
I got a terrible soap volcano when i tried to add cinnamon to an olive oil soap mix. I had to run it outside. Poured it on a tree stump I had been trying to get rid of. It completely rotted away.
Thank you for explaining the process of many questions I had. I am new and have been trying to find classes, no luck yet. So thank you for all your videos.
Great advice as always! I must confess my first cp soap was goat milk 😂. It turned out ok since I followed the method exactly. But once I just got curious because of importance,,,yeah. I burned the milk. 😂
after 6 week, I still have burning sensation of my soap base. I am using lab grade sodium hydroxide, D.Water. Volume of Sodium Hydroxide is calculated using you calculator. Please help me.
Our calculator gives the amount of sodium hydroxide by weight, not volume. Double check your measurements - a burning sensation typically means your soap is lye heavy.
Hello!! I'm new to soap making. I hear "gel phase" a lot. Do you want your soap to go through gel phase? Is there a type of soap that shouldn't go through gel phase? How do know when to let the soap go through or not go through gel phase?
I made a rosemary mint. Using evil 45%coconut 40% shea butter 15% the call said to use 4.12 oz lye and 9.22 liquid. (Used green tea) my bar after 48 hrs is still very soft and a test slice shows it is very soft in the center still sticky. Any advice??? Are my ratios wrong??
Hi Anne- Marie. Thank you for the wonderful video- your book is on the way and I am looking forward my read. I would like to know, if we use fresh botanicals- like herbs, leaves, limes, some fruits, wet puree in the cold- process method, does it mold w/ fungus and what is the approximate shelf life of these soaps.
The high pH of cold process and the saponification should prevent mold or fungus growth. We recommend storing in a cool and dry location and using your soaps within a year of production.
But the soap scum! 😢 I used to clean houses. Never use bar soap again. Gets into the air & deposits everywhere attracting dust. Fine if bathing outdoors old school style. I'm sticking w the liquid unless theres something I'm not privy to besides shutting the door, using & cleaning the bathroom fan.
There are certainly many others like yourself that prefer a liquid soap to a bar soap recipe! We have a few bases to choose from on our website if liquid soap is more your style: www.brambleberry.com/search?q=liquid+soap+base&lang=default
😄😄😄Hi Annmarie, I am on the Brambleberry lye calculator page and I do not see regular vegetable oil .. soy oil? I would like to use that in my recipe so what should I choose?
Help, I made a soap that has too much oil. I tried rebatching in slow cooker but that didn’t work, it’s still so soft. I put it in the fridge overnight but that didn’t do anything. Is there something I can do to save it, add something to soak up the extra oil?
If it's within 24 hours you're welcome to try our 'Hot Process Hero' method available here: www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/hot-process-hero-2/
i made a soap from bramble berry and my lye was very thick and gelatinous , (i used rice milk from supermarket with the NaOH), now the soap is failed, do you know how i can fix it?
Your lye solution should not be thick and gelatenous so you may have used a wrong ingredient in your recipe or your lye reacted with the rice milk to form soap instead of your oils in your recipe. We recommend working with milk at cooler temperatures to help prevent that.
It helps to store the soap where it can dry between uses, like a slotted soap dish or any container with a bit of drainage. This should prevent the soap from getting mushy after use.
Can I totally make soap outside? We have an asthma family member. Our patio faces the southeast, which is the only place I could do it, maybe early in the morning? We live in the midwest.
We have a variety of recipes available on our website here: www.brambleberry.com/articles-and-projects/projects/cold-process?prefn1=ProjectSkillLevel&prefv1=Beginner&selectedView=grid
Melt and pour soaps are great for beginners, there isn't anything you can do to increase the lather. We recommend moving into hot or cold process if you want a more customisable end product.
As the melt and pour base cools, it thickens until it's completely solid. There's a small window between when it's cooling and fully cooled that you could play with the texture of the top.
Sodium hydroxide is an alkali substance, also known as lye, that is commonly used to make soap. Alkali is necessary for soap because it reacts with the oil (fat) and creates soap in a process called saponification.
Very nice and informative video. I used to soap at 120 degrees too but noticed that some fragrances work better at lower temperatures. So I now soap at 85 degrees and have less issues with acceleration.
Thanks so much for all of the information!! I was wondering if you had a recommendation for a recipe that doesn’t include Coconut oil. I’m allergic 😅 but see that coconut is huge use
I made my first Loaf, it turned out perfect. Then I went ahead and made my second Loaf but I had to walk away from it, I was almost getting a very light to none trace at that moment. I came back in 2-3 minutes and found my batter thick so I had to pour it into the Loaf. Six days have past and still very soft. WHAT CAN I DO?
Hi! I just watched my first vidoe with you! Is there a specific place for qustions? I have been thinking of usilng kaolin, but when I did some research I found something about aluminosilicate.. We all know that aluminum is no good for our bodies.. But what about kaolin and the aluminosilicate? I'm no good at chemistry... 🙈 Thanks fot he great video! I'll be watching more! 😊 I've been making easier soaps since last august (2021). Just made my first recipe and it's just 3 weeks left of curing.... It feels like forever! 🤣 Have a great day! 💕
My very first batch of soap I made back in March and it was a three colored layered soap with rosemary and lemon. It turned out beautifully. I have been addicted since and have gotten up to doing very intricate designs and doing soap frosting as well.
@@bramble-berry it was actually done with one of your guys CP beginners kits. Oh and my husband is absolutely addicted to the apple sage and the apple bourbon fragrance oil. He’s a marine so he’s picky about his scents 😂 but he really seems to love your apple ones.
Yesterday I made shampoo bars and they look like glycerin bars! This has never happened! Same recipe! I cool oils to 100 degrees, as my recipe says. Any idea what went wrong...and if a 6 week cure will make them look any better?
Thanks for replying.... actually they have evened out....as they sit. They are losing the glycerine look, so hopefully they cure nicely. Who knows why they acted differently this time. I tested a scrap piece and it lathers beautifully! I will contact you if they don't improve. Thanks so much!
Made my first batch using BB calculator and it went to a super heavy trace almost immediately upon mixing the lye and oils. I used palm shorting, shea, coconut, and olive oil in it. It got quite hot and I had to manually push it into the mold. It was like playdough. Now a couple of days later it developed a crack on top. What happened? I even put a little extra olive oil in it to make it more liquid.
Hi! It sounds like the accelerated trace was caused by the palm shortening. It's quite a bit thicker than the palm oil on the lye calculator, we would suggest trying the recipe again with palm oil to see if it's a bit easier. For more troubleshooting assistance, you're welcome to email us at info@brambleberry.com with photos of your soap.
That volume oz measurement is a FLUID oz. It's equal to one oz by weight of distilled water at standard temperature and pressure. That's why the measurement is off for any other liquid or for solids.
For rebatch soap, we recommend using 100% cold process or hot process soap. Commercial soaps often have detergents and other ingredients that may react to the heat while melting.
When you say "soap at a lower temperature," what does that actually mean? It looks to me like when you mix the ingredients, they just get to the temperature they get to as part of the chemical reaction. It doesn't seem to be really within your control how hot they get. What do you actually DO to avoid a soap volcano or stop one that looks like it might be starting? This is probably a basic question, but I'm still a bit nervous about using the soap kit I bought from you ages ago. The idea of messing up where lye is concerned scares the daylights out of me. I wish I could make my first batch with an experienced person in the room.
There are multiple chemical reactions that take place when making soap. The only reaction that emits a lot of heat is the lye added to the water. Once that cools to a more manageable temperature (115 or so degrees F), it shouldn't get so hot again. Saponification does release energy due to the reaction process but it isn't enough to raise the temperature in a noticable way for your recipe. Dropping the initial mixing temperatures of the lye water and your oils is what we meant by this suggestion.
That just means your soap has not had enough time to set up and cure. Let the soap sit for another day or so to dry out before attempting to unmold again.
@@bramble-berryThanks a lot. Will do. I guess more time needed because I use the extra virgin olive oil? So when I keep it in mold for extra days, do I still need to cover the soap for curing? Thanks 😊 🙏
That may be related to your recipe or your fragrances that you are using. Our customer support team would be happy to help if you email them with your recipe and photos! info@brambleberry.com
Can we make all the soap without lye? With many oils and butter? Does the missing lye ruin the soap age or the making process itself?! And if we used the melt-and-pour soap base do we have to use lye?!!
Cold process soap needs lye for it to turn into soap, but our melt and pour bases already have the lye combined into it so you don't need to handle the lye with melt and pour.
@@bramble-berry that's great! Thank you. Is there a waiting period for using the soap after making it or no need?! When using the melt-and-pour soap base?
OK so when you said about the weight versus volume, I put my 16 ounce oil on the scale, and it also weighed 16 ounces, But I think now I might have it wrong?
Hi, Last night I made a French Clay Rose Soap. While making it I faced two problems:- I melted stearic acid in oils then poured lye solution then added sodium lactate and then finally blended it. It reached a very thick trace. On pouring it in the mould it didn't properly settle in it. Upon un-moulding it today the shape of the soap is not good. Please let me know where did I go wrong 😭 Secondly, for the color I added Pink french clay. Despite adding it in a good amount it didn't impart a substantial level of color in the soap. Please guide me 🙏
