Teach Soap

Hello.
I made a few small batches of CP soap using different oils and butters and every time I slice them they crack at the bottom and some at the side making my bars quite ugly and unattractive to sell. I left it to cure for different lengths of time: 24 hours, 72 hours and one of them made with softer oils for one week before cutting but they ALWAYS CRACK!
I have made a special cutter which is not too thick to avoid damage on soaps and even my cutter is not working!
Although the water here is not hard I just use distilled water on my recipes and an accurate certified for trade/calibrated digital scale. I also use soapcalc.net to calculate my recipes even when I'm making a recipe which i got from a website or book.
Anyone has any idea how can I prevent it?
Just for a background idea I live in a very humid place, just in front of the sea shore - salty air - and constantly rainy...I'm not sure if it affects the soap or not.
Even when I follow a recipe from someone else and watch the videos their soaps slice beautifully...mine don't!
I need some help, please!

That's hard to answer without specifics on your recipes. If you don't wait long enough to cut, the soap is too creamy and soft. If you wait too long, it can be crumbly. You can't determine by what another soap maker did in a video because your conditions are different. Too much titanium dioxide also leads to crumbly soap as does too little liquid or too much lye. Too much salt or sodium lactate can cause this. Overcooking an HP soap or a CPOP soap can also dry out your soap and make it crumbly. I had a batch do this that I never did figure out what I did differently. Give us a few more details on a batch that crumbled on you and I'm sure with all the knowledge on this forum that you'll find an answer. Good luck!

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

What is your recipe? At what temp do you combine oils and lye? It's possible that your soap is overheating. Try not gelling your soap.

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

Partial gel can give you crumbly edges. Here's some pics from Amy Warden from Great Cakes Soapworks: .

You can see an extreme case here in a batch I made with a water discount: . This soap wasn't lye heavy, but that was my first guess when I saw it. I've since learned that stronger lye solutions require higher temperatures for a soap to gel (see Kevin Dunn's Scientific Soapmaking, pp. 306-312, for why), so that explains why this soap partially gelled when my other full water soaps gelled fully with my normal set-up. The partial gel left the edges really hard and crumbly but the inside texture was just like you'd expect. The appearance is more extreme because of the water discount. In use, the soap is quite lovely though it doesn't look so hot. It looks like caustic soap to me.

If it doesn't zap, put future batches in the fridge to prevent gel completely like Irena suggests, or wrap it with an extra towel to force full gel.

Just a quick note though - sometimes soap will gel even in the fridge. I made soap with buttermilk yesterday and it fully gelled in the fridge.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Let us know what happens and have fun. Remember, the soap you have is really great soap. If you're concerned about looks, you can move them quickly in a Odds and Ends basket or bundle at a slightly discounted rate.

"fridge in one batch and extra towel in another"
If your mold overheats it will crack your soap, so I would be cautious about adding an extra towel. In fact, usually with a wood mold you don't need to insulate in the Summer, the wood is sufficient. I usually cover my top just until the gel gets well underway, then I remove it. I have had good success with this method, unless I forget and leave the lid on too long, then I end up with a nice, huge crack! Lol

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy