Teach Soap

Lately all of my soap batches are coming out crumbly and I can't figure out what the problem is. I am thinking that it may be the type of lye I am using (Rooto) but, am not sure. I have used this lye previously without problems. My latest recipe is 5% castor oil, 35% coconut oil, 41% olive oil, 10% shea butter, 9% palm oil. Could someone please help me figure this out? I am at my wits end and very close to tears. P.S. I place my soaps in the fridge. Also I used Goat Milk for my lye mixture.

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Shanon
Woman, wife, mother, entrepreneur,etc, etc.
"....with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
http://www.tousheabodyboutique.com

yes my SF is 5% and I always use SoapCalc for all of my soaps. I know that one of the reasons could be "lye heavy" soap however, I am nearly positive that that is not the case here. Of the two and one-half soaps I made, I put one and one-half in the crock pot to make a fruit soap and the other one I have sitting on the counter. I am thinking that perhaps once it is at room temp for a while it will not crumble when I attempt to cut it. what is your opinion. thanks.

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Shanon
Woman, wife, mother, entrepreneur,etc, etc.
"....with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
http://www.tousheabodyboutique.com

Try adding some beeswax to your recipe. The same thing happened to me and I had no idea what caused it! I now add 1 oz. beeswax to about 52 oz. oils and run it through a lye calculator. It has worked good so far. Also gelling your soap will help to not crumble. Most of my soaps I do not gel so the crumbling was a headache Good luck

Thanks for the tips. I also have been having this problem. On thing that helped is when I got my wooden mold. The insulation of the soaps and keeping them warm longer has seemed to help. They still are not as creamy as I would like. Still can't figure out why. I see other soaps that look like a block of creamy cheese and Mine look more dry or waxy. Anyone got any other ideas as to why they might be dry. I also use calculator and measure exactly.

At what temp do you combine your oils and lye?

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

Usually at 115. Am using a temp gun

Ok, here is a thought. Palm oil contains a fairly high amount of stearic acid. Unless you melt the whole container each and every time, stir, then weigh out, the stearic will settle to the bottom. Uneven distribution of the stearic from palm oil can give you crumbly bars.

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