Teach Soap

Hi. I've been making my own cold process soap for about 6 months now and love the adventure! I have a soap recipe I like, except it takes about 5 days to harden up enough to remove from the mold. Then I have to wait a few more days before it is hard enough to cut. Can you take a look at my recipe and give me some ideas to speed up the hardening process?

This is for a 1 lb quantity:

olive oil, 5.2 oz
coconut oil, 3.3 oz
sweet almond oil, 1.4 oz
avacado oil, 0.7 oz
lye 1.5 oz
water 3.8 oz

At trace I add a 2% mixture of tea tree oil, chamomile oil and eucalyptus oil.

Your help is appreciated!

I should add that I usually make it in a 2 lb loaf mold. I mix the lye and oils when they are between 100 - 120F, and it usually takes 10 - 15 minutes to come to trace. After pouring into the mold I wrap it with a dish towel for a day.

You have a high amount of olive oil which can take longer to reach trace. Add some sodium lactate or salt to your batch to help it harden faster.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks soapbuddy! I will try adding salt to my next batch.