# Any hot process lovers?



## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

I've made two batches now, and I love it! Since I like to hand mill my scents and such, it is really nice to be able to whip up a batch of soap and be able to shred it the next day! The way I'm doing it is really easy - I stir the batch up the trace with a good amount of heat, then heat the pot til it starts to bubble (big pot). Then I take the pot off the heat onto a towel, cover and insulate it, and walk away and go do something else. An hour or so later, it has gone through the expansion and break phase. I put it back on the stove and stir it to Vaseline and pour it in the mold. I really love that by the time it goes in the mold it is hardly caustic, if at all. It really speeds up manufacturing time for hand milled soap, since I don't have to wait for cp soap to cure.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

What is your reasoning behind hand milling? My point is that if you are already doing HP, the advantages to hand milling (ie, using less fragrance, not worrying about morphing or otherwise misbehaving, nice lather, etc) are already there. In other words, once you are done with the cook, you could allow the soap to cool down below the flash point of your fragrances and add them then, before glopping into the mold, and save yourself the additional steps.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

I have only tried hot process once with one of my first batches. Too long ago to remember if/why I didn't pursue it further. So, if you hot process is there less chance for fragrances to change/morph? And you use less? Can the fragrance still discolor the soap?


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Mainly the benefit of milling is to work smaller batches. I make big batches of soap, then make smaller batches (30oz) of this and that and pour in small decorative molds. I don't have enough molds to make larger batches, and I am no good at hand cutting bars. I don't have a log mold, and trying to cut bars of consistent size drives me crazy.:tearhair I want to see if anyone buys my soap at the reenactment before I invest in a nice mold. I don't have any plans to sell anywhere else.

You make great points. I think liquid would have to be added after it cooled to be pourable. Mine has been getting pretty stiff if it gets to the temps I normally mill at. But yeah, I think it would work for big batches - Basically it is milling without the shredding. I'm thrilled with hp. Fun


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

Why not just divide up your larger batch into 30 oz batches to scent? Or waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy easier would be to cold process it, divide your large batch into 30 oz batches and then cure for two weeks. Prettier soap to boot.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Kathy, the fragrance doesn't change because by the time you add it, saponification is done. And that's also why you can use less. Maybe not a ton less, but definitely less. Discoloration still happens, usually, especially when it is caused by vanilla, and the cooking will often result in a slightly darker bar, especially if you are using milk, but the soaps can be very attractive. This is not a strictly HP soap, but an intentional rebatch that I do in a particular way, which is very much like HP:


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Dealing with lye in 30 oz batches would be a royal pitb. I don't even own have a scale that could weigh it out accurately enough. People just have different skill sets. I'm good at hand milled soap. Here are some examples of my hand milled soap that has cured 9 months or so.

That's beautiful Stacey!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I easily shred up soap that I made the day before, in fact it sticks better in the batch. In fact the only way to get pretty curls for the top of your other bars is to shave them freshly cut the next day. Very honestly I don't do HP because it's simply not as pretty as CP, pretty sells. If it's not pretty they don't pick it up, if they don't pick it up they don't smell it and if they don't smell it they won't buy it. Plain white bars are fine, but HP swirls can't hold a candle to anything you can do in CP. It's simply a texture problem. 

But yes to each their own, twice the labor is't anything I am interested in, how much does it add to your costs, I won't even rebatch because in the end I end up with a soap that doesn't sell as fast. Vicki


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

It's the difference between you having a legitimate business, and me having a hobby. . I'm doing what I'm doing because it is what I enjoy doing. It is an art form to me. I just wondered if others enjoyed playing with hp. Maybe I've come into an oil painting forum and asked who likes water color, lol.

I can shred cp the next day, but I have to wear gloves. Is yours still caustic the next day, or do I have a problem? I don't mill caustic soap cause the whole point or me is to avoid exposing my additives to lye. I wait until my soap is cured to mill it.

I love this hp soap. It is fun to work with. Tonight I milled marbled soap with clay. I'll have to take a photo tomorrow after it unfreezes - colors are muted out of the freezer. Time consuming to swirl each individual soap in each individual mold with my finger, sure, but fun. The hp does have a different texture, and I feel it mills even better than the cp. It doesn't resist melting the way cp does. I love Stacey's soap there. I'd buy that. I adore that edgy look.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I wear gloves with any soap that is new and even soaps that are not new, when shredded in large volumes, are drying to me so I try and remember to wear those little thin rubber gloves, especially in the winter. I'm still not quite getting why you would shred up perfectly good hot process soap  You have to heat it to remelt it, and add your scents when it's heated before you pour, same as with hot process. Why not just glop out 30 ounces of hot process into a bowl, scent it, then put it in your molds? And with a hot process type soap, a plain box, lined with a garbage bag or freezer paper is going to look better when cut, when rustic is what you are looking for. I rarely even use those pretty little individual molds for CP soap because one tiny mistake, like a trapped air bubble, renders the entire soap ruined for sale. They have to be so perfect.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

No I don't wear gloves to cut my soap the next morning. And I shred in a food processor, so no I do not wear gloves. I make soap curls with a tool, butter curler, and no I do not wear gloves. Just answering your initial question, wasn't criticizing what you do.

The saponification process is over when a bar is firm enough to cut, you are doing nothing more than waiting for bars to cure, to wick out moisture.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians said:


> I won't even rebatch because in the end I end up with a soap that doesn't sell as fast. Vicki


Which is interesting, because a couple of my rebatched soaps (the one pictured above and my honey soap) are some of my best-sellers! And I do have lots of nice CP soaps with beautiful swirls, etc, too. I have one wholesale account that HP soaps are all that she wants. Different markets, I guess.


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Here it is, my first ever marbled soap. I'm just not real sure about putting hp in my little plastic molds, Anita. The hand milling makes it smoother, so I can get out air bubbles. I like the texture of my milled soap. It is different from both my hp and cp. It has a really silky feeling. But I could try it. I can always grate it up if I hate it. 

I might have a recipe that's a little lye heavy. When I grate cp soap with my box grater next day, I find it harsh on my hands. I have to wait a few days.


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## 2Sticks (Dec 13, 2007)

It's amazing how different everyones markets are. Even with Dorit and I being 30 miles away from each other, our markets are completely different. Just like Vicki, I can hardly give away rebatched soap. My customers just don't like it no matter what I do to it


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Well, we'll see if the reenactment crowd likes mine. I'm hoping the draw of having to goats to interact with, seeing the milking demonstration, will create interest in our booth. What I saw last year was people buy at booth's with alot of excitement and atmosphere. The quiet lady in the back with her soap wasn't getting any attention, and her soap was lovely. I would think a handmade look would go over with a reenactment. But if mine doesn't sell, it doesn't matter. We are there primarily as reenactors and demonstrators. I have no emotional investment in selling. My family and extended family love it and will use it. They say my bars are very long lasting, moisturizing and lather well. People are asking me for it, and I'm saying, hey, I need to build up a stash here for this event! Personally, I just love soap - all kinds. I buy soap all the time at many different venues. I have a stash that no body is allowed to touch. I love to use a new bar. I use it for a few weeks, then I let my husband take it over, and open a new bar. I've just found I can't do colored soap - using dyes, my skin objects strenuously, and I end up having to use hydrocortisone!


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

You know there was one booth too that had all kinds of pretty smelly soaps, and when you picked them up they were made in India! I don't know how they even snuck in to the event. That's against the rules, but no body was buying a thing there.


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