* 1 FD&C Bath & Body Dye (Green)
Basic Melt and Pour Soap Kit Instructions
Materials:
- Melt and Pour Soap Base
- FD
& C Liquid Bath & Body Dye
- Soap
Safe Fragrance Oil
- Soap
Mold
- Pot
or Pan or Microwave Safe Dish (Pyrex measure cups work great!)
- Stainless
Steel Spoon for stirring
*Optional supplies to purchase include a Digital Scale (to weigh the soap
base and fragrance) and a Thermometer to keep track of the temperature of the
soap base to prevent over-heating.
Melting the Soap Base:
- Microwave Method: Cut the Melt and Pour Base on
the score lines and place it in a microwave safe dish. (Pyrex measuring cups work nicely)
Place the dish in your microwave. Using full power, heat the base for one
minute at a time until it begins to melt. Once it has started to melt,
decrease this to 30 second intervals until it is fully melted stirring
often. OR
- Stove Top Method: Cut
the Melt and Pour Base on the score lines and place it in a sauce pan. Turn the heat on
Medium and stirring constantly, allow the soap to melt fully. Be sure to
stir constantly to avoid scorching!
*The melted soap should be between 130-140̊
F.
Adding the Dye:
- In your kit, you have a bottle
of FD&C Liquid Bath and Body Dye. This is the appropriate dye type for
Melt and Pour Soap. Once your soap is melted, just add the dye a drop at a
time, stirring after each until you reach your desired shade. The amount
used will vary.
*Bitter Creek offers
several other types of dye safe for Melt and Pour. They may be found under
Soapmaking Supplies, then under the Melt and Pour Supplies under Colorants.)
Adding the Fragrance:
- Your
kit comes with fragrance oils we know to be safe for Melt and Pour Soap
Making. Each bottle in the kit contains 1 weight ounce of fragrance oil.
For Melt and Pour, it is safe to use up to, but no more than ½ Weight
Ounce of fragrance per pound of soap base. Each block of Melt and Pour
Base is Two pounds. For one full block of soap, you would use up to 1 ounce
of fragrance. Stir well after adding the fragrance oil to the melted &
colored soap base.
*For your first try, you can approximate this amount by looking at the
bottles and knowing the above. If you plan to make soap for sale, then it will
be crucial you purchase a scale and weigh the fragrance and base out each time.
Pouring into Molds:
- Pour
your scented and colored soap base into the molds. Use a fine mist spray
bottle filled with Rubbing Alcohol to lightly mist the tops of each of the
just poured soaps to remove any bubbles. Allow the soaps to cool at room
temperature until completely cooled, about 4-5 hours then remove from the
molds. You may need to pull the edge of the mold back to get the soap to
release.
*You can place the mold in the freezer for a few minutes if removal is
difficult but I typically suggest waiting longer instead before resorting to
this method.