Teach Soap

I made 2 batches of soap today using the following recipe:

8.8 oz Olive Oil
10.7 oz Coconut Oil
10.7 oz Palm Oil
5.4 oz Canola Oil
13.52 oz distilled water

I ran it through SoapCalc and I was supposed to use 5.11 of lye but I had a total brain fart on BOTH batches and used 5.9 oz of lye!

Here's my question, if I ran the recipe calculations at a 5% superfat ratio, is there any chance that if I let this soap cure enough that it could get mild enough to use? Or is it too far gone? It's been colored so I can't use it for laundry.

So you are saying that you used LESS lye than recommended? If so, it will just be more superfatted.


I had to reread that again. You're right. It is lye heavy. It would be hard to use for laundry since you colored it.

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

No.....
Everybody hold on a second. She is saying she used MORE lye that she was supposed to use....not less. She used 0.8 oz more lye so it will not be superfatted. It will be lye heavy. 5.9 is a larger number than 5.11.

You're lye heavy Midnightstorm. Even with 0% superfatt the most lye you should have used is 5.3 oz.

And Midnightstorm.....what did I telll you about using ounces instead of grams? Use grams for small batches, it's more accurate.

I'm so busted. No, SuperSoaper. I haven't converted my recipes to grams yet. I KNEW you would catch me on that! Just haven't had time. Looks like I'll be making time this evening.

I have to run out to fill my bird feeders (I only have a small window of nice weather) but I'll re-run those numbers sometime after that. I have a feeling I'll have to throw out the batch and I'm plenty upset about that. All that expensive oil and fragrance in the trash

Could she rebatch it and add some more oil or butter? Im new too, so I dont know if that would work?

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ASH

If you used the http://www.soapcalc.com , it will tell you the gram conversion so you wont have to do it manually. Using a computer takes the human error factor out of the equation.....as long as you give it the correct numbers. I'm not jumping down your neck....It just help to avoid these kind of mistakes. And when dealing with grams, you don't have to use decimal places. Lesson learned....go make something new tonight and make us proud.

Not sure soapbaby. I wouldn't trust it. Soapbuddy....what do you think about trying to rebatch?

The beauty of being able to edit your replies. Soapbuddy, can she rebatch?

Great. I managed to mess this up even with the SoapCalc doing the math And I realize now what happened which makes it even more embarrassing . . . somehow in the back of my mind I was actually trying to aim past 5.9 to get 5.11! Sheesh

Looks like I'll spend this evening on the SoapCalc web site doing the conversions. Good thing I didn't have a hot date planned for tonight. Did I mention I don't have a life?

So if these two batches aren't salvagable, then in the trash it goes. What a waste. S%&#!!

I made it a couple hours ago. Is it okay to go ahead and scoop it out of the molds now, or do I need to wait for it to harden?

If you try to scoop it out you'll just end up with a mess on your hands. Since it's a little lye heavy, it will probably get rock hard pretty quickly so I would wait until then then just pop it out of the mold.....less mess.

They're not necessarily garbage. Wait for soapbuddy to reply to see if you can add some oil and rebatch. I'd tell you but I don't know for sure because I've never done it. I don't make mistakes (yeah right!!!). I can see how 5.11 looks like a larger number than 5.9 because 11 is larger than 9. It's that pesky decimal place that is evil.

We usually use Saturday for date night but I'm not allowed to go out for a few more days. Go out there and find a nice guy who likes to make soap!!!

I hope this isn't too complicated for you, but I adjusted each oil separately to get a similar formula that you started out with.
The original formula
8.8 oz Olive Oil
10.7 oz Coconut Oil
10.7 oz Palm Oil
5.4 oz Canola Oil
To
10.5 Olive
12.9 Coconut
12.9 Palm
5.9 Canola

So in order for this batch to be safely superfatted here is what I came up with. You will need 1.7 Olive, 2.2 Coconut, 2.2 Palm, 0.5 Canola.

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

SoapBuddy, do you mean that I should add that amount of oil to the soap if I want to shred and rebatch it?

SuperSoaper, I think I've given up on the whole relationship thing. One too many broken hearts and all that I discovered there's less stress in my life when I just hang out with friends. It just so happens that I didn't schedule a night out with friends tonight because I'm feeling tired. So tonight I have a date with my sofa . . . and SoapCalc.

Just checked my silicone loaf mold that is sitting on my kitchen counter. The lye heavy soap is still in full gel and VERY soft. I wonder how long it will take it to harden. Overnight?

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

Again, if you used soapcalc, check the "print" page and it will show you the exact gram equivalents for ounces so you don't have to do it manually. Just try to get used to doing everything in grams. This pesky English Standard system is much more difficult to use than metric.

And yes, relationships are stressful at times. Especially family with siblings. I'm the only son of a large Italian family with 4 older sisters. The youngest of the 4 sisters is still 9 years older than me. My family nickname from my sisters is "ragazzaccio" in Italian. It means "brat". Yes, I love my family.

SoapBuddy . . . are you saying this can be saved if I add these oils now????

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