Star Trek Inspired Soap

This soap could easily be a “Galaxy Soap” famous in soap making circles, if you forgo the star trek embeds.  The galaxy soaps I have seen though, are usually made with soap balls, which are usually formed with soaps shavings from other projects.  This one is a bit different in that regard.  I wanted a bit more control on the size, color and placement of the “planets”, so I formed them with soap dough.  I rolled long cylinder shape logs to achieve  this.

As far as the fragrance, I knew this would be a good opportunity to use a discoloring one, one with high content of vanillin.  I chose Sweet Snow type from Lone Star Candle.  It has notes of peppermint and vanilla, so it is sweet and minty.   For the “stars” I rolled skinny logs of soap dough as well, though it seems I did not make enough of them or did not distribute them properly.  I had a lot of fun making it though.

I also experimented with Tetrasodium edta.  This is a chelating agent.  This page explains better how it works in soap.  Basically, its job is to reduce soap scum in hard water areas, something that I think will be useful for soaps that are colored this dark.  It is used at a very low percentage (0.5%) of the total soap mix.  You can of course omit it and there is no need to adjust the recipe if so.  I added it to the lye water.

As usual, a link to the video is down below.

 

 

Star Trek inspired soap

Ingredient	Gram(s)	Ounce(s)	Pounds(s)	Oil %

Karite Butter (Shea)	180.50	6.37	0.40	10%
Tallow, Beef	632.13	22.30	1.39	35%
Rice Bran Oil	451.44	15.92	1	25%
Ricinus Oil (Castor Oil)	90.25	3.18	0.20	5%
Coconut Oil, 76 deg	451.44	15.92	1	25%
Olive Oil – All Grades	90.25	3.18	0.20
Ingredient	Gram(s)	Ounce(s)	Pounds(s)	Batch %
Lye – NaOH 100.000% Purity (5.000% Superfat)	262.29	9.25	0.58	9.65%
Water (33.000% Lye + 67% Water Solution)	532.53	18.78	1.17	19.59%
Total Oils	1,896.01	66.88	4.18	69.74%
Soap Weight (Pre-Cook)	2,718.87	95.91	5.99	100%

 

OPTIONAL:

Tetrasodium EDTA

0.48 Ounce(s) (0.05%)

Fragrance:

4 oz of Sweet Snow type fragrance (I used Lone Star Candle Supply) or any other fragrance as long as it does not accelerate.

Additives/ Colorants:

4 teaspoons of activated charcoal

4 teaspoons of black oxide

Decorations:

Equipment:

Plastic containers or buckets (Plastic #5 or #6) large enough for the lye, water, oils

• Stainless steel spoon (small to stir the lye and large to get the solid oils)
• Silicone spatula
• Hand blender
• Thermometer
• Scale
• Silicone liner for mold (or line with freezer paper)
• 6 lb loaf mold  (or adjust recipe to your mold by plugging into a lye calculator)
• Individual cavity molds (to pour leftover soap in case you have any)  I like having leftovers
• Safety Gear (nitrile gloves, face mask or properly sealed goggles, closed shoes).  Long sleeves and pants recommended too.
• Deli plastic sheets or saran wrap (to keep your planets soft)
• Tile or surface to work with soap dough
• Knife or Soap cutter

PROCESS:

IF USING EMBEDS, AHEAD OF TIME:

For the planets:

Mix light and bright colors to make logs, which will be the planets.  Roll them back and forth on a smooth surface to shape cylinders out of it.  I made them of three different thickness.

For the stars:

You can also roll long skinny snake rolls with white soap dough, for the stars or any other color you like.

Top embeds

You can decorate the top with soap dough balls and/or star trek embeds.  I made the embeds by making molds of the ships miniature toys.

MAKING THE SOAP

1. In a well ventilated area (outside or by a window), add gradually the lye to the distilled water and stir periodically until dissolved. Do not breathe the fumes.   You can freeze your water ahead to avoid fumes. You need to wear your safety gear.  Lye burns! You can prepare this several hours ahead, keep it properly covered.
2. While you wait for the lye water to cool down, you can weigh and melt your oils, and weigh your fragrance oil into a glass container (fragrance oils can dissolve thin plastics)
3. If you have not done so yet, measure the activated charcoal and black oxide, and disperse it in about 1-2 tablespoon of oil.  You can set this aside to add later or you can add it to your oils.  If you do this, stick blend the oils with the activated charcoal before moving on.  This will ensure an even distribution of the color.
4. When your lye solution is at 110°F (48.88°C) or cooler, add your lye solution to the oils slowly, to avoid splatters pour it on the blender shaft.
5. Stir with the blender on Off position initially, then blend for 15 second periods, alternating with stirring, until it is almost emulsified.  If you have not added the activated charcoal and pigment, add them now and continue blending, until it is emulsified.   This takes about 50 seconds to 1 minute with this recipe.
6. Add the fragrance and blend for about 10 seconds and stir with the blender off.
7. Pour enough of the soap into your mold to cover the bottom, and add your star logs, pour some more soap and add one of the planets.  You will alternate adding soap, stars and planets.  You can either place the planets to form a diagonal line, or a triangle.  I tried to go with the latter.  I placed my biggest planet first on the bottom left.  A medium sized on the right, in the middle level of the soap, and the smallest one on the top left but closer to the center.
8. You can decorate the top with either star trek embeds or “planet” ball embeds and silver glitter.
9. Take pictures!  Insulate if you can, to ensure a dark color.
10. Wait 8-12 more hours and start checking for hardness.  Try releasing from one side of the mold, and if nothing sticks back, it is ready to be removed from the mold and cut.

You can watch the video of the making below: