Rose soap with pull screen method

A long time ago, I attempted to enroll in a correspondence drawing course by Art Instructions Schools (now closed). They were famous by posting ads in the papers like this one. And the school’s most famous alumni was Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts. (He also worked there for a while). They sent an interviewer to the house to talk to me and see my work. I showed him my sketch book and after turning a few pages he said, “Ah, here is the rose”. I asked him to explain. He said that a rose is something he found in the sketchbook of most people who like to draw. I failed my initial interview, but learned from it and I was accepted in a second attempt later. (It would not be the first interview I failed for being too honest).

Anyway, perhaps that explains or shows why I like roses so much, and why they appear in my soaps often, like in this rose soap or this other one, or even this one. This time, I wanted to try it with the pull screen method. This would mean that my soap would not smell like roses though, as every rose fragrance I have accelerates (it makes the soap batter very thick, very quickly), and this method requires a well behaved fragrance because it takes a while to pour it. I settled on Yuzu for the fragrance in the end and though I am not entirely happy with the Ombré effect, it seems promising for future attempts.

I was motivated to make this soap by the monthly challenge of the Soapmaking forum, though in the end I did not enter it, because I made it too late and did not like it as much as an entry.

Here are the supplies I used:

Recipe Totals

If you are a beginner, a recipe like this one might be better. This would be more of an intermediate project, once you have several batches under your belt. Below I am using a water discount and low superfat* percentage.

Recipe Totals

Liquid Required	4.04 oz	114.42 g
NaOH Weight	2.49 oz	70.49 g
KOH Weight	0.2 oz	5.78 g at 90% Purity
Lye Weight	2.69 oz	76.28 g
Oil Weight	18 oz	510.29 g
Fragrance Oil Weight	0 oz	0 g
Superfat		2%
Total Batch Weight	24.98 oz	708.25 g
Lye Concentration		40%
NaOH / KOH Ratio		95% / 5%

Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes

Oil	%	Ounces	Grams
Olive Oil	30	5.4	153.09
Tallow Beef	30	5.4	153.09
Coconut Oil, 76 deg	25	4.5	127.57
Castor Oil	8	1.44	40.82
Shea Butter	7	1.26	35.72
Total	100	18	510.29

Custom Additives (Optional)

Add with the Fats
Rosemary oleoresin	0.01 ounce
Add at trace
EDTA mixed with distilled water (50/50)	0.25 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 would like to support this blog, you can use them to buy any item from those stores, it will not cost you any more, and I would get a tiny % commission on it. As amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

NURTURE SOAP
AMAZON
MAKE YOUR OWN

Colorants:

1/4 tsp of each below mixed with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil prior into a funnel pitcher.

• Really red mica from Nurture Soap (Nurture soap aff link) As a red, it bleeds when using in large quantity. Use for light pink instead.

Mold:

I used a Pvc pipe as a mold

Fragrance:

Yuzu (1 oz)

Equipment

• List of regular equipment
• Soap divider. I made my own, if interested in one like mine, leave a comment below for pricing. Here are some similar soap dividers (less separators though):
• Rose pull screen disc
• To pour the soap:
• 3.5 Cup funnel pitchers
• 2 Cup funnel pitchers

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

1. First I mixed the mica with olive oil in the same container I will use to pour it (funnel Pitchers linked above), I use a tiny spatula to break down clumps.
2. To make the soap, I normally heat up some of my masterbatched oils, weigh what I need and set it apart.
3. Then I measure the masterbatched lye needed. However, if you do not masterbatch the oils or lye, I detail it below:
4. 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).
5. 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).
6. 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
7. 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.
8. Add the fragrance to the soap and stir for about 30 seconds.
9. Divide the soap into the containers, 4 oz each. One of the containers will have the red mica and the other ones will not. I will use the red soap batter to color the rest into gradient (ombre) tones. I tried doubling the colors (1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp of the mix, etc.)
10. After placing the pull screen disc (with a rod to pull it up) in the pvc pipe, I pour a layer of red at the bottom. Then I poured the remaining colors from either lighter to darker or viceversa.
11. When done pouring, slowly pull up the disc out.
12. Cover with plastic to avoid soda ash (I use Press and seal) I try to promote gel phase by putting a heating pad on the floor, putting a box on top, and putting the pvc pipe inside the box and covering it with a blanket. I leave the heating pad on for 5 hours or so, on High.
13. Wait 48 -72 hours hours to remove, I put it in the freezer for a couple hours (1 hour is enough) and then push it out. It came out flying.
14. To cut the soap into bars I normally use a single bar cutter.
15. 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.