Common Soap Making Mistakes & How to Avoid Them | Bramble Berry
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Starting your soap making journey is exciting, but it can be a little intimidating, too. There are always mistakes that can happen.
🧼 Thanks for watching! Read all about common soap making mistakes and how to avoid them here: https://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
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I am interested in making a high quality shaving soap that would be suitable for somewhat sensitive skin, it must have great lather and slickness. I would like a hard soap and scents would be a nice touch. The cost of ingredients are not an issue as long as I get high quality, could you offer some direction? I liked and subscribed to your channel, thank you for sharing your knowledgeable and skills. Very easy to watch video!
Very helpful information. I was guilty of over blending, therefore unable to make designs.
Hello Anne-Marie,
I encountered a problem in my recent batch 😕, I am a newbee in the soapmaking world. I calculated everything through Bumble Berry and it showed that water and lye should be 350. So I added 200 lye and 150 water. As soon as I poured the lye in the oil, it turned into a hard rock. I guess it was pretty lye heavy. Pls advice me.
Thanx you very much for the video and all explanation!
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'm from the Caribbean. Whenever rain falls my CP soap "sweats" is there anything I can do to avoid this?
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).
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?
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! 💕
👍🏻
thank you so much
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.
This is very appreciated information! Little more research under my belt and then we’ll give it a try
Thank you so much!!!!
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
This awesome. Can u do a melt & pour mistakes vid? Thanks!
My mistake is figuring lye amounts
Yes please make a M&P version of this video 🫶🏻
Thx for always sharing your knowledge, Anne Marie!! You did help a lot in this fascinating world of CP soap making!! Hugs from Argentina!
Thank you so much!!!
My mistake, lye water, not well ventilated area. I wear a mask along with the other protective gear.
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!
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
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 ❤
When you pour CP soap into individual silicone molds, how do you allow these to harden? Do you Cpop them, freeze them or wrap them in a towel and leave them to gel? Thank you in advance!
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.
Thanks so much for the useful explanations! 🥰 I made my first soap 2 weeks ago and tried it yesterday. It's slimy 😢 . Can it be beacause of the fragrance that I used ( on A….zon 😬) or is it because i tried it too early? Thanks so much! 🥰
Do we have to cover the soap after cutting it or let it uncover. ??
Trying to unmold too soon 🤦🏼♀️
I watched videos and read books and researched for 2 years before I made my first loaf of CP soap
I made a basic soap last night and i think its good
What is a good ph number to test your soap. It it 7. Love your video. A lot good information. Thanks for sharing.
I love your books, great information….
Much knowledge for beginners like me…Thank u so much mam.. Do u supply in it India mam??
I'm guilty of over mixing.
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. 😂
Soda ash 😤😤 good to know about the cooler temperatures!!
I've had issues w/cracking. What can I do to correct this?
Excellent video! I made soap for 10 months before starting my business. I learned so much in those nine months that prepared me well.
Thank you so much you are an inspiration. I bought a soap kit and the instructions said to let the lye solution reach room temperature before making soap (which is about 72 degrees), and my soap top came out very ashy and I couldn’t understand why.
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