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Melt and Pour Glycerine Soap Instructions

Equipment Needed:

1.  Double Boiler with a lid or microwave and glass or plastic bowl
2.  Spoon
3.  Knife
4.  Candy Thermometer (optional)
5.  Melt and Pour Soap Base
6.  Liquid Dye
7.  Fragrance oil or blend of Essential oils
8.  Soap Molds

Melting the Soap - Double Boiler

Cut your soap into chunks. Melt the soap over a double boiler. Keep it covered with a lid so as to avoid loss of moisture. Soap melts at approximately 140 Degrees F. Don’t let it go above 170oF as it may begin to burn, give off a bad odour and/or lose it’s transparency.
 

Melting the Soap - Microwave

Cut your soap into chunks. Place in a bowl and microwave at half power in 30 second intervals until completely melted.
 

Adding the Color

Add your liquid colorants one drop at a time once the soap has melted. If you find that it is hard to control the amount of dye and that you are using too much color, you can dye up a piece of soap and let it cool. From there you can cut off chunks of the colored soap to dye soap base in the future. Gently stir in your dye to incorporate. Avoid over mixing as this tends to cause bubbles in your soap.

Adding your Fragrance

Perfume fragrance oils and essential oils work well to fragrance your soap. Start by using ¼ teaspoon of fragrance per pound of soap and stir gently to mix in. Keep in mind that some fragrances are naturally softer than others and you can adjust the amount of fragrance to your personal preference by adding either more scent or more soap until you are satisfied with the finished product.

Other Additives

You can add other ingredients to your soap such as small amounts of vitamin E oil, almond oil and aloe vera. Avoid adding more than ¼ cup of any water based liquid to 16 oz. of melted soap and 2 tablespoons of any oil. Other liquids that can be used include herbal teas, coffee, milk, cream or honey.

You an add cornmeal or poppy seeds to make an exfoliating soap. To add oatmeal, be sure to run it through a blender so that it is finely ground. Also, avoid using instance oatmeal as it will turn to mush.

Pour Into Molds

When ready you can just pour your melted soap into soap molds. As air bubbles tend to occur, they rise to the top. You may wish to "over pour" your soap, let it set up and shave off the area affected by the bubbles. You can also spray a small amount of rubbing alcohol immediately after you pour the soap to eliminate bubbles.

Using Your Soap

You can begin using your soap as soon as it hardens.

Storing/Wrapping Your Soap

Because glycerine soap has a high moisture content, you should keep it wrapped in tightly sealed plastic to keep the moisture in.

Tips
 

• This type of soap usually contains 12% to 13% water. The process of melting it causes the water to evaporate. This is why you should keep it covered when melting it.

• If you continue to remelt and harden your soap too many times, it will loose its moisture and eventually become flaky or waxy.

• Too high of temperatures can cause your soap to burn, smell bad and lose its transparency. Avoid temperatures over 170 Degrees F. Bulk soap melts at approximately 140 Degrees F.

• You can let your soap melt half way, turn off the heat and allow it to finish melting on its own safely.

• To avoid excess bubbles in your soap, don’t stir it with too much vigour. Rather, lift the lid and nudge the chunks around once or twice during the melting process.

• Do not use candle scents to fragrance your soap as they may cause skin irritation.

• The color of your scent can affect the color of your soap. For example: cinnamon fragrance oil may turn the white soap a soft creamy color or an amber color in transparent.

• Additives will also affect the final product in terms of color and clarity.

• Applying a spritz of rubbing alcohol immediately after pouring the soap helps to eliminate bubbles in your soap.

• To release stubborn bars of soap, place the mold with the soap in the freezer for about one half hour and then try releasing it again by placing your hand over the back of the cavity and waiting for the mold to warm up enough for the soap to drop out on its own.