What is a hybrid soap? you might ask…Well, for me it is a soap made with two different methods. In this case, melt and pour and cold process soap. Though it can be argued that melt and pour is not really soap but a synthetic detergent bar. However, that is not the purpose of this post.
I like the effect of transparent soap (the clear melt and pour) on cold process because it allows for designs that are not possible with plain-opaque cold process soap. In this case I wanted to use wisteria flower embeds. But since they would be very fragile on top of a soap, I thought of encasing them with melt and pour and make it look like we are seeing the flowers through a glass window.
So I made the wisterias (as best as I could) with Soap Dough or Soap Clay, and then I embedded them into clear melt and pour. Then embedded these into cold process soap.
The Inspiration
I belong to a facebook group for book readers (Called For the Love of Books), and in it, you can ask for book suggestions or offer them if you have read one you like and want to share. I asked there for book suggestions for bed time reading. I expressed I did not want romance, murder mysteries or thrillers. I like murder mysteries books in the day time, but my brain keeps a good memory of what I read last, and I did not want that influencing my dreams, or rather causing nightmares.
A few people suggested the Mitford novels and I decided to give them a try. I have gotten to like them and they are ideal for bed time reading, they are calm novels about an episcopal priest. I did not know this prior, but episcopal priests can marry, but other than that they seem very similar to a catholic priest. (From what I can tell, though I have only visited catholic churches a handful of times, mainly for weddings and such.) Anyway, Father Tim gets a new neighbor, Cynthia. And Cynthia wears a perfume that smells like wisterias. This wisteria scent comes up so often in the first book where her character is introduced (not sure which book in the series is, though), that I got really curious and eventually determined to make a soap inspired in Wisterias.
In general, I do not like floral fragrances, so it took me a while to get around it. Then I had a hard time finding suppliers for such a fragrance. Eventually I found one at Nature’s Garden. It is a type fragrance called Wisteria blvd, which is a type of Wisteria Lane. It was not a bad floral, not too strong, not something I would wear but something I would definitely gift to my mom and aunts.
In the book there are some characters that are well advanced in years, as I read it, I anticipated some would eventually pass away. What I did not anticipate was crying when it actually happened. I felt like someone real had died, and I suppose that is what a talented writer can do.
Back to the soap, here is the recipe and supplies used in case you care to know:
Recipe Totals
| Liquid Required (I used distilled water) | 4.5 oz | 127.68 g |
| NaOH Weight (99% purity Lye or sodium hydroxide) | 2.25 oz | 63.83 g |
| Oil Weight | 16 oz | 453.59 g |
| Fragrance Oil Weight | 1 oz | 28.35 g |
| Superfat (Just FYI) | 5% | |
| Total Batch Weight (Just FYI) | 23.76 oz | 673.45 g |
| Lye Concentration (Just FYI) | 33.33% | |
| Liquid : Lye Ratio (Just FYI) | 2 :1 |
Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes
| Oil | % | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tallow Beef | 30 | 4.8 | 136.08 |
| Coconut Oil, 76 deg | 25 | 4 | 113.4 |
| Olive Oil | 21 | 3.36 | 95.25 |
| Canola Oil | 9 | 1.44 | 40.82 |
| Castor Oil | 8 | 1.28 | 36.29 |
| Shea Butter | 7 | 1.12 | 31.75 |
| Total | 100 | 16 | 453.59 |
Mold:
I used the 8″ silicone mold listed in the equipment link below.
Equipment
List of other supplies and equipment I use.
Colorants
1/2 tsp Kaolin clay (aff link) * or from Nurture (Make your own has a better price, shipping is separate, with Nurture shipping is included but price is higher).
1/2 tsp Italian green clay (aff link) * or French Green clay (aff link)
1/4 tsp of Green Mojito Mica
Fragrance
1 oz Wisteria Blvd from Nature’s Garden
Soap Base (Melt and pour)
*Affiliate links means that I will get a commission if a purchase is made visiting that link. I did not receive the product as a gift, I bought it myself even before opening an affiliate account with the supplier.
Soaps by Glenda 