Teach Soap

Hello all! Newbie here. I made 3 batches of soap this past weekend. 2 turned out great and the other one, well, that's why I'm posting here to ask for your help.

I don't have the exact recipe on me as I'm at work but it was a mix of Coconut, Olive Oil, and Palm. I used a lye calculator and am fairly confident the recipe was not the issue. I also used a FO and oxide color. Having made a successful batch yesterday and re-watching soap tutorials online I think I took it to a much too heavy trace and the FO caused it to seize. As I was stirring in the FO the soap started to curdle--the outside was solidifying while the inside was gooey. I panicked because it was too gloppy to put into the mold (I thought) so I cooked it on medium-low heat on the stove for 10 minutes until it was thoroughly gooey (and yet much thicker than most soap tutorial videos show). I took it out of the mold and it is fairly hard. Did a zap test and it's just soapy. Also, when I washed out the pan I was getting lots of sudsy action whereas with the "correct" batch I did not.

My question is this: because I cooked it on the stove does that make it hot process and therefore ready to use right away??

Forgot to add... I think the temp I was mixing at (120) for lye and oils was a little high. The batch I did later at 105 didn't give me trouble but then I did pour at a light trace.

Sounds like you cooked it. If there's no zap, give it a week or so for more water to evaporate. The try it. 120 is a little high. 110 would have been better.

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

Thank you for the quick reply. I will try it in a week in a small area.

You're welcome. Sounds like your soap will be just fine.

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

In case anyone is interested in seeing my results I blogged about it. The soap in question is the last picture.

http://anthropologyofagirl.blogspot.com ... sults.html

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

They do look nice - congrats

Thank you both for the kind words. I had so much fun making them. I really have to give a lot of credit to this board; I have learned so much by lurking here.