So, I recently got into tiktok. Before, I had zero interest in it, because I thought it was all about people (mostly girls) dancing provocatively as they follow a popular dance routine. And yes, it is about that; if that is what you choose to watch, or what you choose in your preferences. However, I do not get that on my feed anymore. Their algorithm is pretty smart and if you quickly scroll past the same type of videos often enough, it stops showing them to you. And it shows you more of those you like and watch, or give a Like/heart to.
Anyway, I have seen videos from a couple of people that had been particularly interesting. Bible related stuff, that I did not know. I have attended church since in utero, so I have heard my share of messages and/or sermons. And yet some of the things I have watched in tiktok; I have not heard before, so they make me search and try to find out more about it, to see if it is true. (Because there is a lot of misinformation out there as well).
This is the video about the manger that I found fascinating:
And to figure out if it was true, this is one of the articles I have found about it.
Anyway, I thought of that since the manger image that I found for my soap depicts a wooden manger, which may be incorrect if the above is true. I wanted to experiment doing something similar to stenciling, but I wanted the “stencil” to be thicker, so I used a stamp to create a deep impression in the soap, that I later filled with soap dough; which essentially became an inlay technique.
Here are the supplies and recipe I used:
Recipe Totals
Please note that 1. this recipe is for two 8″ loaf molds. 2. It has a considerable water discount*. (I like a cleansing, bubbly bar) If you are a beginner, a recipe like this one might be better. 3. I am also using a dual lye blend. If you only want to use sodium hydroxide, you will need to run this through a lye calculator, I like soapmakingfriend.com
| Liquid Required | 12.17 oz | 345.06 g |
| NaOH Weight | 7.5 oz | 212.6 g |
| KOH Weight | 0.62 oz | 17.44 g at 90% Purity |
| Lye Weight | 8.11 oz | 230.04 g |
| Oil Weight | 56 oz | 1587.57 g |
| Fragrance Oil Weight | 3.5 oz | 99.22 g |
| Superfat | 5% | |
| Total Batch Weight | 79.81 oz | 2262.7 g |
| Lye Concentration | 40% | |
| NaOH / KOH Ratio | 95% / 5% |
Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes
| Oil | % | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 30 | 16.8 | 476.27 |
| Tallow Beef | 30 | 16.8 | 476.27 |
| Coconut Oil, 76 deg | 25 | 14 | 396.89 |
| Castor Oil | 8 | 4.48 | 127.01 |
| Shea Butter | 7 | 3.92 | 111.13 |
| Total | 100 | 56 | 1587.57 |
Custom Additives
| Add with the Fats | |
|---|---|
| Rosemary oleoresin | 0.03 ounce |
| Add at trace | |
| EDTA mixed with water (50/50) | 0.79 ounce |
For more information on these additives you can click in the links below, please note above links are affiliate ones
- Rosemary oleresin (My oils already had this added when I masterbatched the oils)
- Tetrasodium EDTA
My affiliate links:
Several of the links above/below are affiliate links, as the ones below. If you buy from them, it will not cost you any more, and I would get a tiny commission on it. As amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Colorants:
- Midnight blue mica 4 tsp dispersed in oil
- Snowflake Sparkle mica dispersed in oil for mica swirl
Mold:
Fragrance:
- Lunar Tides from Makeyour own
- Frankincense and Myrrh (I used NDA, but it is no longer carried and it fades anyway)
Embeds
- Soap dough (white and black)
- Clay extruder
- I used a Star/ asterisk disc that I 3d printed myself, if interested in one, contact me.
- Nativity Stamp. Same as above, I 3d printed it, if interested contact me.
Equipment
Safety Equipment:
- Nitrile gloves
- Facial Shield (I use either a facial shield or the goggles below)
- Safety Goggles
- Respirator (I use this when mixing the lye, I mix the lye in the window sill, window opened, with a pedestal fan blowing the fumes away, better yet, freeze your distilled water prior) I also try to wear long sleeves, pants and closed shoes. In my personal experience, most of my near misses (when I feel my skin itching or a slight burning sensation), or when I come contact with the soap batter, have happened when I am wiping down the containers, when I am almost done.
MAKING THE SOAP
- It will be best if a few days ahead you make the star embed, so it is ready. Use the extruder, disc and white soap dough for that.
- Normally I heat up some of my masterbatched oils, weigh what I need and set it apart.
- Then I measure the masterbatched lye needed. However, if you do not masterbatch the oils or lye, I detail it below:
- In a well ventilated area (outside or by a window), add the lye gradually to the distilled water. Do not breathe the fumes. You can freeze half of the water ahead to avoid fumes, and weigh the ice cubes. You need to wear your safety gear. Lye burns! You can prepare this several hours ahead, or even days ahead, keep it properly covered. (If making it the same day, loosely cover it to allow it to cool. Once at room temperature, use an airtight lid).
- While you wait for the lye water to cool down, you can weigh and melt your oils. Weigh your fragrance oil or essential oils into a glass container or ceramic container (fragrance oils can dissolve thin plastics).
- Prepare your colorant. Mix it with 1 tbs of olive oil or another clear oil.
- When your oils and lye solution are at or below 105°F (37.77°C), put on your PPE (Personal protective equipment) again, and add your lye solution to the oils slowly, to avoid splatters pour it on the blender shaft. If your lye solution is cooler than this, is ok. As long as it not near freezing. (Room temperature is fine). If your oils go under 95° F, warm them up to lightly above 100° F
- Stir with the blender on Off position initially, then blend for 5-7 second periods, alternating with stirring for 10 seconds or longer, until it is emulsified. This takes about 30-50 seconds with this recipe. When a recipe reaches emulsion, everything has a uniform, lighter color than before, you do not see the darker oil swirls when blending. You could bring your soap to light trace instead, since the pour is fairly simple.
- Separate half of the soap batter for the second soap
- Add half of the fragrance to first soap. Stir thoroughly for about 30 seconds. If your fragrance accelerates, do the fragrance last, after mixing the colors.
- Divide about 2 cups of the soap batter and add half of the blue colorant mix and stir.
- Pour this blue into different spots into the container with uncolored soap batter (for an “In the Pot” Swirl technique). Blend it lightly with spatula and pour into the mold.
- Add the Star embed, try to center it on the top portion.
- You can repeat the same for second soap, or like me, pour first the uncolored portion and the blue on top. Doing a spoon swirl. (Insert a stainless steel or silicone spoon and rotate it, while holding it at a slightly horizontal angle.)
- Add the Snowflakes sparkles oil mix on top for a swirl effect with a bamboo skewer (see video)
- Cover the soap to help promote gel phase if desired.
- Wait 24-48 hours and remove from the mold when it peels easily from the sides.
- To cut the soap into bars I normally use a single bar cutter. Because I had waited 3 days and because of the recipe, I was able to stamp the soap right away
- A week later, press the black soap dough into the stamped cavity, and clean it up with an old card (see video). You can smooth out the black soap dough with distilled water or alcohol and your fingers or a cloth.
- Let the soap cure for at least 4 weeks in an open area protected from direct sunlight before using. (not touching any metal)
*SUPERFAT:
By now you probably know that lye (sodium hydroxide) converts oils into soap, through a process called saponification. And you probably also know that there are specific amounts needed of each for this to happen. Because each soap has a different SAPonification value, different amounts of lye are needed for each oil.
Superfatting sounds like something I like to do to myself when I keep eating after I feel full. But in the soap world, many will know it is when you either add more oils or less lye than it is required. Let’s say, hypothetically, that you need 3 oz of lye to convert 16 oz of manacao oil (totally made up oil) into soap. If you only use 2.5 oz of lye instead of 3, that means that a percentage of the manaco oil will not become soap, but will remain an oil. And this is desirable as that extra oil will cause the soap to become more gentle on your skin, by reducing its cleansing ability slightly. But if you use 4 oz of lye instead of 3, that means all 16 oz of manacao oil will become soap, and not only that, there will be extra lye floating around. That extra lye will be looking for more oil to convert to soap, that oil could be the natural skin oils, which means this soap can burn or irritate the skin.
Usually superfat of at least 3% is recommended as oils properties may change from crop to crop. But even if you had a 0% superfat soap, it would still be gentle as handmade soap creates glycerin, which is a skin humectant. (From most commercially produced soap, glycerin is removed to be sold separately).
*LYE CONCENTRATION / WATER DISCOUNT:
Most soap calculators will give you the amount of water needed to mix the lye with, based on traditional cooking methods of making soap, what we now know as hot process. This is a big percentage of water (38% of the oils) because a lot of it would evaporate through the cooking process. However, for cold process soap this is usually too much water, which can lead to a lot of soda ash or a lot of shrinkage during the cure.
This blogpost explains it better (from modern soapmaking).
Soaps by Glenda 