Fun with Bubble Bars

What I have learned so far

I have several recipes that I want to try out for making the perfect Bubble Bars.  The secret to making easy to crumble bubble bars is in the cream of tartar.  If you don't use the tartaric acid (cream of tartar) your bubble bars will be way to hard to crumble.  Also Tapioca powder, arrowroot powder and corn starch are some ingredients that seem to have similar characteristics.  I believe that they are almost interchangeable in a bubble bar recipe.  So if you don't have one but have the other then I would be comfortable substituting one of these ingredients. Keep in mind that Tapioca powder does have a higher thickening power than corn starch or arrow root powder.  And Arrowroot powder has a silkier and finer texture than corn starch.  Also I've read that Tapioca powder holds onto scent really well.  Arrowroot powder does hold scent as well.

Recipes I'm going to try

Keeping all these in mind I'm going to make the SoapQueen's recipe first for bubble bars.  However, I want to make them a bit differently only because I already have some different ingredients plus I want to make the recipe more of my own.  So I'm substituting the SLSa for another powdered surfactant Bioterge AS90  and I'm also going to substitute part of the cornstarch with arrowroot powder because it disperses in water better than cornstarch and it has a silkier texture. Also I am going to use 'turkey red' sulphured Castor oil instead of regular Castor oil because it is water soluble.  Here is the link to Anne-Marie's newest video on how to make solid bubble bath.

The next bubble bar recipe I am going to try is the one I found at Voyageur Soap & Candle Co. website.  It has an added ingredient Amphasol CG which is a liquid surfactant that will help to make the surfactants more gentle on the skin. And help to create more bubbles.  Only this recipe doesn't contain any cornstarch, tapioca starch or arrowroot powder.  I am very tempted to add some arrowroot powder but I think I should try the recipe at least once without it and see how it compares.  I think I am going to add a small amount of tapioca starch to hold onto the fragrance better and I am substituting again the surfactant used in the recipe with the one I already have Bioterge AS90.  Here is the link to the website where I found this recipe.  http://www.voyageursoapandcandle.com/Bubble_Bar_Recipe_s/289.htm


Lastly, but certainly not least If I have enough ingredients left over I am going to make the recipe from Bonnie's youtube video on how to make bubble bars.  Again I am substituting the surfactant for my Bioterge AS90 and may substitute some of the cornstarch with arrowroot powder as well.  Here is the link to Bonnie's video.

Here are my videos of the making of these bubble bars/solid bubble bath recipes.

How did the bubble bar fair.  Well not very well in my opinion.  The first bubble bars had bubbles that lasted only about 15-20 min.  Also my bubble bars from the Soap Queen's recipe fell flat on me.  I guess I messed with the recipe too much. I should have known really that a bubble bath without a foam stabilizer wasn't going to have long lasting bubbles.  Even the second recipe that I used that has a foam stabilizer the bubbles only lasted about 30-40 min.   But there wasn't as much of them.  It is an ok amount of time but if they where to last an hour that would be better.  And I would like more bubbles.  The recipe that has the foam stabilizer in it was the most difficult recipe to work with but the bubbles lasted the longest.  So I think that I may take the basic bubble bar recipe that Bonnie has and alter it to add some foam stabilizer.  Her recipe was my favorite because it was easy to work with, had lots of bubbles, and the bubbles lasted almost 30 min.  I'll have to get some more supplies since this experiment on which recipe is the best, kind of cleaned me out. LOL  More surfactants please...lol

Here are the links to all the other recipes for bubble bars I found:

 bath cookies & bubble bars-
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f26/bubble-bars-soap-enjoy-32074/#post302710
BathBodySupply.com BLOG- Recipe- Bubble Bars (Solid Bubble Bath)
Elemental Bath Company- Bubble Bars (Solid Bubble Bath)
Lushious Bubble Bar Recipe
http://www.ehow.com/how_2006749_make-bubble-bath.html
http://candles-soap.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-homemade-bubble-bath-bars-liquid-glycerin-340474/
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-bubble-bath-bars-9481427.html?cat=22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmB3_4SZIvo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiDdK7l5dAg&list=LLTtv39JpLufEPvozAExp0Gg&feature=mh_lolz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a4CXy10bD4

The Making of a Cream Soap Recipe Part Three

Making the Soap

The recipe seemed to go through the different stages very quickly.  It took no time at all for it to reach a thick trace.  My recipe didn't bubble up like I've seen in some cream soap videos.  I set my crockpot on low to cook.  I checked it every 15 min from the beginning of the cook. I turned up the heat to high halfway through to make it easier to stir although it was really hot. It took only 1 hour 30 minutes to cook out all the lye.  I tested it with phenolphthalein.  I 'supercreamed' it at that point then I let it cook for another 30 min.  After that I turned off the crockpot to let it cook down and 'relax' overnight.  My soap didn't really get super hard to mix.  It is more like a thick vaseline type consistency.  It whiped  up easily the next morning.  I didn't have to add anymore water.  I used Liquid Germaben Plus to preserve it.  I used way too much preservative, I was suppose to use 0.5% but instead used 5%, but now I won't have to add more when I put in the additives.  Plus this batch is just for me.  It looks amazing.  I used it a few times already.  I know I'm suppose to wait but the lye is dead already so I didn't see any harm in trying it.  It works well I'm glad that it will mellow out with time though because I want it to be a facial cleanser. And I don't want it to be too drying, my skin was a little tight after using it the first few times.  So my hope is that this harshness with rot out of the soap given the appropriate amount of time.

For Recipe see part two of the making of a cream soap recipe series.  :)

Here is my video of the making of my cream soap.  

The Making of a Cream Soap Recipe Part Two

My First Cream Soap Recipe

Stearic Acid 50%                                                                                                   8oz/226gms
(I'm using this as a jumping off point and will reduce that amount as I try new recipes)
Coconut Oil 5% ( I only want a small amount because of the drying properties)         0.8oz/22gms
Castor Oil 8% (has emollient properties plus bubbles  Yay!)                                   1.28oz/36gms
Cocoa Butter 5% (adds hardness, creaminess and conditioning)                                0.8oz/22gms
Shea Butter 5% (also adds hardness, creaminess and conditiong)                              0.8oz/22gms
Mango Butter 5% (another one for hardness, creaminess and conditioning)               0.8oz/22gms
Olive Oil 22% (A wonderful conditioning oil)                                                         3.52oz/99gms
Glycerin 55% (of my total Stearic Acid content)                                                    4.4oz/124gms

Batch Water (Initial amount)                                                                             14.73oz/417gms
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) 16.67%                                                                    0.53oz/15gms
Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) 83.33%                                                                 2.66oz/75gms

Replacement Water Amount                                                                             3.68oz/104gms

Total Batch Weight                                                                                    2lb 8.83oz/1157gms

Supercream Amounts

3% - Stearic Acid        0.48oz/13gms
     - Glycerin              0.72oz/20gms
__________________________________________________

4% - Stearic Acid          0.64oz/18gms

      - Glycerin               1.28oz/36gms

___________________________________________________

5% - Stearic Acid           0.80oz/22gms

      - Glycerin                2.00oz/56gms

I am going to supercream at 3% because I don't want anymore stearic acid free floating in there anymore than necessary.  Next time I may try the boric acid and water supercream instead.

Here is my video of using the Advance Lye Calculator for cream soap recipes.  

I am making this recipe as we speak and will update this post as to how it works out.  So far so good.

The Making of a Cream Soap Recipe Part one

The Elusive Cream Soap

Firstly I haven't made Cream soap....yet.  There is so little information on making this kind of soap.  It's like a TOP SECRET soap.  I can understand the fact that if you haven't made soap before it's not something you should attempt first thing.  But still, why make it so hard for soapers to learn how to make it?  And I of course have to research something to death and love to watch multiple videos on something before I attempt it myself.  So this is what I've done so far.  I found several recipes online that I ran through two different lye calculators to find out what cream soapers wanted in a recipe.  Although that may not be what I want in a cream soap it's somewhere to start.  I read over all the websites listed below. One of which is the Help section in the Summer Bee Meadows Advanced Lye Calculator, which was a big help.  Of course I watched a few YouTube videos on 'How to make cream soap'.

So what have I learned so far.  

Potassium and Sodium Hydroxide Amounts.  Snow Drift Farms website recommended anywhere from a 75%-90% Potassium Hydroxide and a 10%-25% Sodium Hydroxide amounts. Other websites state that the general amount of a 5:1 ratio of Potassium Hydroxide:Sodium Hydroxide  is used.  That would mean 83.33% Potassium Hydroxide : 16.67% Sodium Hydroxide.  If you use a higher amount of sodium hydroxide your mixture will be thicker and stiffer where as if you use a higher amount of potassium hydroxide you mixture will be softer and creamier.

Different ways to process cream soap. Cream soaps can be made with a water-only process or with a water and alcohol process similar to liquid soap making. For my purposes I'm going to stick with water only for a beginner cream soaper.  But using alcohol "provides accelerated saponification in a more diluted initial broth mixture for easier processing."(Summer Bee Meadow website)  Which I'm thinking means that it makes the mixture more fluid so it's easier to stir.

Glycerin. You may notice that glycerin is used in all the recipes in the links I provided at the end of the page.  Summer bee meadows says it's a necessity in this type of soap making although they don't mention why.  It is said though that it is auto-calculated in there calculator for 55% of the total Stearic Acid amount in the recipe.  That tells me it's probably used to combat the natural drying properties of the Stearic acid.  But that is my guess.  I haven't found any other information as to why this is a necessary piece of the cream soap puzzle.  And on the Sage forums page a writer actually used sodium lactate to replace half of her glycerin amounts and her recipe was more fluid, which is similar to what SL does for HP soap making, and it "whipped up beautifully".  I am seriously considering adding sodium lactate to my recipe.  Even though I'm a beginner.  Hey if it makes it easier I'm all for it.

Superfatting. Cream soap shouldn't be superfatted.  If you do superfat you may find your oils separate out of your cream soap solution.  So it is recommended that you don't superfat, unless you use some 'turkey red' sulfated Castor oil, since it disperses in water.  Which, is simular to liquid soap making.  It's interesting to me that if I use a water soluble oil it will be ok.  That makes me wonder if I just add some emulsifier to the cream soap can I then add more oils to superfat it?  It sounds like an experiment is on the horizon.  lol.  You don't have to worry about any excess lye if you supercream your soap.  Which is a percentage of stearic acid melted and mixed with glycerin and added after the cook.  (which just between you and me sounds like superfatting but I won't tell if you won't lol)  I think that the stearic acid may work when the other oils don't is simply because it is a co-emulsifier.  So it helps to stabilise the emulsion of water and the oils together.  The main emulsifier in a cream soap would probably be the soap itself.

Stearic Acid.  Cream soap recipes all seem to have large amounts of stearic acid.  I've read that it makes the consistency of the cream soap fluffy and whipable. Summer bee Meadows recommends a 50%-70% stearic acid amount.  Although the recipe given in the book "The Everything Soapmaking Book" has a recipe that has half that amount.   And the SnowDrift Farms website has recipes that are all around 12% stearic acid.  I'm wondering if reducing or increasing the stearic acid amount is a better way to adjust the hardness of your cream soap.  Another experiment in the making there.  Plus I don't like using that high amount of stearic acid because of the drying properties. I really want a cream facial soap that doesn't dry out the skin.  I'm hoping that if I use high amounts of hard oils that have a naturally occuring high amounts of stearic acid I won't have to use so much of the commercially produced stearic acid.

What did I learn from soapcalc.

The recipes all had several things in common.  A really high hardness number, which was attributed to the stearic acid and/or other hard oils. Amount ranged from a 54-76.  The recipes with numbers in the lower range where discribed as a medium density cream soap.  Also one of those recipes, the Everything Soapmaking Book, the author mentions on her website that her recipe can be put into pump bottles.  That tells me I probably shouldn't go any lower than 54 on hardness and also that 76 is probably really hard and may need to be put into jar containers.  All the recipes had the glycerin in the amounts stated above except for the one on the sage forum in which sodium lactate was used as well as the glycerin.  The conditioning numbers on all the recipes where pretty low. In my opinion too low.  Some  of them where "supercreamed" but stearic acid doesn't have any conditioning properties.  The one recipe that has a better conditioning number than the others was not supercreamed.  However, the glycerin and the sodium lactate would add some moisturizing, conditioning and skin softening factors.  Cleansing numbers varied as per usual recipes.  The Iodine levels on all the recipes where really, really low.  Again probably because of the high solid oil content.  The  INS numbers where way off like way higher than they are suppose to be for a bar soap.

So I took all that information and made my own first Cream Soap Recipe.  I probably should take my own advice and use a recipe that is already been done but I really want different oils in my recipe.  I don't want to use as much coconut oil as all these recipes call for.  So I decided to go for it and make my own. Next step is actually making the recipe.  Join me and see what happens.  :)

I am currently awaiting purchase of the Cream Soapmaking Booklet by Catherine Failor.  But the 5$USD book is going to cost me a pretty penny because it isn't sold in Canada.  So it's on hold till I can afford it.  Unfortunatly soaping supplies in the form of oils and lye is more important right now.  So I'm just going to go with what I have so far and experimentation.  If it doesn't work then I'll buy the book and see what hidden clues I'm missing.  :) Or, I could purchase the 'Cream Soap Naturally a reference guide for formulators' but then I'd have to sign a 'Terms and Conditions of Use Agreement' that would mean I couldn't share any information I learned with anyone else.   Bummer.  So no, I'm not going to do that because I believe that information and knowledge is for everyone to benifit and enjoy.


Here are some reference/recipe links I found that really helped me out:

http://creationsfromeden.blogspot.ca/2009/06/cream-soap-recipe.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20110825102655/http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/form_whippedsoaps.html
http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/how-to-make-soap-whipped-cream.html
http://forum.thesage.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=334http://summerbeemeadow.com/sites/all/sbm_calc_input/sbm_advanced_calculator_help_popup_processes.html#AnchorCreamSoap
http://www.saveonscents.com/skinesscentuals/SoapRecipes.htm#CREAM
http://www.saveonscents.com/skinesscentuals/Cream1.html
http://www.talksoapforum.com/cold-process-and-hot-process-discussion/cream-soap/msg157/
http://www.pawmade.com/store/WsAncillary.asp?ID=4
http://www.brambleberry.com/Making-Cream-Soap-1-Book-P4275.aspx

Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IHTkqP21-E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOUZaIML07k


Advanced Lye Calculator from summerbee meadows
https://summerbeemeadow.com/content/advanced-calculator-solid-cream-or-liquid-soaps%

Experimenting with Massage Candles

Experimenting with Massage Candles

Massage Candle made with SQ's Recipe

Once I saw the SoapQueen Anne Marie making massage candles I just had to make them.   I of course scoured the internet for whatever information I could find and I didn't find much.  I found one other recipe consising of mostly wax and some soft oils. I decided to make the one the soapqueen made.  It's always best to start out with a recipe that your sure it will work for you before venturing on in your experiments.  I of course love the way the ones I made with her recipe turned out.  They are amazing.  The left my skin feeling so soft.  They were very greasy, which is part of the point being a massage candle.  So it took a little bit for the oils to sink in my skin.  They are very luxirious feeling.  I felt as if i'd just visited a spa.  I used a strawberry fragrance oil and it kind of smelt a little burnt smelling when I burn them.  It said it was candle and skin safe on the page but perhaps I need to do more research in that area.

Here is SoapQueen's Video of Making Massage Candles 

The SoapQueens Recipe in the video goes like this

4oz skin safe soy wax (1part)

4oz deodorized Cocoa Butter(1part)

4oz Avocado Oil(1part)

5oz Shea Butter(1.25parts)

1/2oz Ylang Ylang EO(0.25parts EO all together)

1/2 oz Patchouli EO

The second recipe which I found on a few sites was basically

3oz Skin Safe Soy Wax (3parts)

1oz Liquid oil of choice (1part)

0.25oz of FO or EO (0.25parts)

I wanted to show you the link but since my first troll for massage candle recipes it seems we've had a balloon of sites putting up new recipes.  Here are a few that I found so far.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4883697_make-soy-massage-candles.html
http://www.voyageursoapandcandle.com/How_to_Make_Massage_Candles_s/339.htm
http://www.easy-aromatherapy-recipes.com/massage-candle-recipe.html
http://www.scentymental.co.uk/page_2488030.html
http://www.naturallyorganicskincare.com/soy-massage-candle-recipes/

Apparetnly I can now go all day listing sites that have recipes.  I digress.  So different than when I started.  lol

So I thought with these two recipes I should be able to make my own without too much difficulty.  Well I made up two recipes to try out on my own using mostly the soapqueens recipe as a go by. Since I saw her make them and because I wanted my recipe to have some skin loving butters as well as oils.

Massage Candle made with Recipe 1

Experimental Recipe 1 (Buttercream)

4oz (112gms) Skin Safe Soy Container Wax (1 Part)
2oz (56gms) Coconut oil (0.5 Part)
2oz (56gms) Cocoa Butter (0.5 Part)
4oz (112gms) of (109gms) Avocado Oil and Vitamine E oil (3gms) (1 Part)
2.5oz (70gms) Shea Butter (0.625 Parts)
2.5oz (70gms) Mango Butter (0.625 Parts)
                                                      1oz (28gms) Buttercream Fragrance Oil(0.25 Parts)

This recipe seemed to work out alright.  I have a ring around the candle in white, which may be from pouring slightly hot.  The candle is really soft.  Way softer than the Soap Queen candle. I can put indents in it with my fingers very easily.  It melt and pours really well.  I love the way it feels on the skin.  It's greasy and stays on the skin a good amount of time probably not as long as the SQ's recipe.  That is one thing that I was going for.  I wanted to use coconut oil because it's a good massage oil that doesn't stain your clothes or sheets.  But I think I may have gotten the ratios of hard to soft off just a bit.  It smells awesome!

Massage Candle made with Recipe 2

Experimental Recipe 2 (Love Spell)

4oz (112gms) Skin Safe Soy Container Wax (1 Part)
4oz (112gms) Coconut Oil (1 Part)
4oz (112gms) Avocado Oil (1 Part)
2.5oz (70gms) Mango Butter (0.625 Parts)
2.5oz (70gms) Shea Butter (0.625 Parts)
1oz (28gms) Love Spell Fragrance Oil (0.25 Parts)

With this recipe the ratios where way off.  It almost looks curddled on the top.  Not pretty at all!  I could probably stick my finger in all the way to the bottom if I really tried it's so soft.  It feels nice on the skin however.  I love the smooth feel and the greasiness is way better while still getting the glid.

So it's back to the drawing board for me.  Once I get some new supplies I'm going to try instead of replaceing the Cocoa butter with Coconut Oil to replace the Cocoa butter with the Mango,Cocoa, Shea butter combination and the Shea with the Coconut oil so it should look something like this plus add more soy wax just in case it's too soft.  So it should look something like this.

Experimental Recipe 3

Massage Candles made with SQ's Recipe

1.25 Parts Skin Safe Soy Wax
1/3 Parts Mango Butter
1/3 Parts Shea Butter
1/3 Parts Cocoa Butter
1 Part Avocodo Oil and Vitamin E
1 Part Coconut Oil

or this

Experimental Recipe 4
1.25 Parts Skin Safe Soy Wax
1 Part Mango Butter
1 Part Avocado Oil and Vitamin E
1 Part Coconut Oil

I may just try both.  The SQ's recipe does 4 / 6oz tins exactly.  I think for experimental purposes that's a bit too much now I have more than I need for sure.  So I'm also going to devide this recipe by 4 so that it fills only one tin for experiementing with.  Also on the Voyeageur's website in troubleshooting tips they mention that you should only add the fragrance once you know your recipe is going to work well first.  So I will not be scenting the next two experiments.  My goal for these recipes is to have a product that has really nice slip for massage.  It is moisturizing and skin softening.  While still absorbing into the skin easily and not leaving my clothes or sheets all greasy and stained.  I would love to add some Jojoba oil to the recipe and possibly some fractionated Coconut Oil so this may take some time to perfect.   But it will be fun!  :)

Here is my video making massage candles.

Pointillism Extra Credit Challenge

 http://www.photographyeagle.com/inspiration/taking-sunset-pictures/

This is my soap for the soap challenge on the facebook group page for Soaping 101.  I couldn't post my inspiration picture in the video so I thought I could get it all in on a blog post.  This was the messiest soap I've ever made.  And the most fun!  I ended up using 10 colors (2 blue, orange, hot orange/pink, hot pink, 2 yellows,3 purples) because I just couldn't go any less than that for the picture lol.  oh boy!  So my inspiration was this photo I found online of the sunset over water.  I love sunsets and skies and I frequently make soaps with the thoughts of clouds and sunsets or sunrise colors.  They are my favorite soaps.  I also use a lot of things in nature as my inspiration as well.  Flowers, trees and rocks well you get the idea.

Without further ado.  Here is the picture of the finished soap.  It's pretty good.  I have one soap that looks better than the others.  Most of them have three suns. lol I think that I'm going to try this again after I get more squeezy bottles and new colors.  I only had three bottles so I had to change out part way through.   And I used both labcolors and oxides together, I think all oxides would have made the colors stand out more especialy the yellow.  It's pretty good but I think I can make it look even better.  So I have to try this again for sure!  :)
     

 Here is the video of me making and cutting this soap.

                                             

The Making of a Soap Recipe

Step Five..

I got the chance to try out the new versions of these recipes and I can say that I like them.  I found that they are probably less expensive and still just as good as the recipes with stearic acid.  The hardness which is the reason for adding the stearic acid is not really affected much because of what I replace it with was hard oils.  Both recipes lather really well this time.  My favorite of the two is still the lard recipe but only because I like the nice natural white of the soap.  Plus I think the lard soap is cheaper.  I shall have to do an update on which one is the less expensive one.

Experimental Recipe 1A 

25% Coconut oil                            Hardness - 40
30% Palm oil                                 Cleansing - 17
10% Castor oil                              Conditioning - 56
35% Corn oil                                 Bubbly - 26
                                                       Creamy - 32
                                                       Iodine - 68
                                                       INS - 142

Experiamental Recipe 1A.  In the first recipe I used Sugar plum fragrance oil from Voyageur Soap & Candle Company.  I did not like this scent in the bottle but it was ok once in the soap and is getting better as it cures.  It doesn't seem to be discoloring the soap so far but it did accelerate trace a bit.  I used purple utramarine for the purple color and cotton candy pink mica both of which also came from Voyageur Soap & Candle Company.  I like the way both colors turned out.  I especially like the pink since I've had trouble creating a nice pink in the past.  I finally found a keeper.  I did a layering effect by spooning the soap onto the next layer but it didn't really work that well.  My layers turned out very uneven but not in a pretty way.  lol

Here is the video of me making recipe 1A.  

Experimental Recipe 2A

20% Coconut oil                           Hardness - 38

8% Castor oil                               Cleansing - 14
28% Corn oil                                Conditioning - 56
44% Lard                                      Bubbly - 21
                                                       Creamy - 32
                                                       Iodine - 67
                                                       INS - 140

Experimental Recipe 2A. In this recipe I used Buttercream Fragrance Oil from Natures Garden.  It was suppose to discolor and it does.   It didn't accelerate trace on me at all.  I love this frangrance in the bottle but find it looses something in the soap.  I think that it will do better in soap mixed with another fragrance oil. I used cocoa powder for the brown and titanium dioxide (oil soluable)  for the white.  I wanted to see if the white in the scented portion of the soap would make a difference at all in the color of the final bar. It does seem to be lighter so far.  I love the layering on this bar and will probably do that again in my final soap bar recipe.  I did a cotton candy mica swirl on top.  It looked really pretty I must say.  I purchased my colors from Voyageur Soap & Candle company.  And I used soap shreads of different colors to look like candy sprinkles on top.  Kinda worked but I think I should just use real spinkles next time.  I did still have some specks in this batch.  I've come to the conclusion that they must be air bubbles that I can see in the uncolored soap.  I also did a different layering technique in this one.  I poured the soap onto the spatula to stop the flow of the soap so as not to break through the previous layer of soap.  This technique worked better than the spoon method for sure.

Here is the  video of my making recipe 2A