Melanie Wilkes had it almost right – the happiest days are when Bramble Berry boxes arrive! I got my 12 bar silicone mold on Friday, so as soon as I got home I ran into the cottage to start soaping.
I had 12 fragrances I wanted to test, so I made a 35 ounce batch of just an olive, coconut and castor blend, and split it into 12 four-ounce containers. It’s a formula I’ve made before, and it comes out pretty firm, especially for a no palm oil soap.
And almost half of the soaps turned out beautifully. Half were soft either all the all the way through, or at the edges. And one was so mushy, it almost lost shape completely coming out of the mold.
I didn’t unmold these until Sunday morning. I made them Friday night.
They sat on a heating pad set to low for about the first hour, but I was afraid to leave it on longer.
I’ve only used a silicone mold once, so I wasn’t sure how well insulated it needed to be – but I covered it with a heavy towel.
None of the bars appears to have partial gel, but some are only soft on one side.
Strange, right?
I’m thinking the issue was gel phase.
Otherwise, it’s a fragrance oil issue. Each cup had 4 oz of soap before I added .25 ounces of fragrance. I didn’t mix fragrances – each had only one scent.
The scent that really went soft is Black Amber & Lavender. I’m going to try it again with the heating pad on for longer, and see if that helps, because I really like the fragrance.
Has anyone ever experienced such a range of textures in soap made from the same base but with different fragrances?
