Teach Soap

hi everyone! about two weeks ago i made 2 batches which both failed - the first was a castille soap which has turned out hard and crumbly and has some crystalline deposits on it over the past few days. the second batch was a heated process and made a volcano in the jug which oozed over the sides and had to be manhandled into the mould - this has now dried to a soft wax after 2 weeks. i finally bit the bullet and paid for a class in soapmaking and when i showed both failures to the teacher she tasted them (yep!) and said there was nothing could be done apart from binning them. she dismissed the idea of remelting but i hate waste........ has anyone got any ideas?

If you could post your recipe, it would help us troubleshoot.
It sounds like the first batch was lye heavy and the second batch sounds like it overheated. Did you run your recipes through a lye calculator? Were your ingredients weighed accutately? Did you bring the soap to full trace? What temperatures were your lye & oils? There are so many things that could have caused your problems.

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

hi linda, thanks for your reply.

the castille recipe was from ehow:

1 qt. olive oil
1 qt. water
3/4 cup additional cold water for diluting the lye
6 oz. lye

however, i weighed out 6oz caustic soda and now realise that it is not perhaps the same as lye? It did trace but took almost 2 hours to do so! i also added hot caustic soda to cold oils - a big no-no but it didn't say anything in the recipe about allowing the lye to cool down (see http://www.ehow.com/how_6942346_make-pu ... -soap.html)

The hot process recipe was from a tv show i watched which enticed me to give the recipe a go as she made it look soooo simple!

900ml water
295g caustic soda
615g vegetable fat (in this case copra)
800ml sunflower oil
800ml olive oil

it heated up and melted fine, then i poured it into a jug to whizz it with the stick blender and it solidified but by the time i turned to fetch the mould it had volcanoed over the sides of the jug. i persevered and beat it into the mould and it looks fine but is still soft and waxy, more like slightly melted candles than soap.

by the way, i'm having better luck since lurking on this site and reading everyone's advice

Always weigh your ingredients. I always run a recipe through a lye calculator such as Soapcalc before using. For 32 oz. of olive oil SoapCalc calls for 12.16 oz of water and 4.1 oz of lye. I always wait until my lye water is somewhat clear before adding to the oils.

Ok - castille recipe:
Oils should always be measured by weight, not fluid ounces, so for 32 ounces by weight of olive oil, you should use 4.1 ounces (by weight) of NaOH (lye, caustic soda) for a 5% superfat (excess oil to ensure soap is not lye heavy and to make the soap less harsh when used). The TOTAL water amount should be 10-12 ounces by weight - there's no need to have extra water to dissolve the lye. Just mix it in the full water amount. Oils and lye water are best combined at between 110-125 deg. F. You can warm your oil slightly in the microwave or in a pot on the stove - the temp of the oil and the lye water don't have to be exactly the same, but they should be close. Castille can take longer to trace than other soaps but I think because your recipe had so much water it took even longer than necessary!

Once the soap has reached trace and you've poured it into your mold, you can insulate it lightly with a towel or blanket to encourage the soap to gel. (Gelling isn't necessary, but it will allow your soap to be unmolded sooner). If your soap goes through the gel stage, it shouldn't zap when you moisten your finger and rub the soap and then touch your finger to your tongue. If it didn't gel, it could zap for up to 3 days. It will also be softer and may not be able to be taken out of the mold after it's cooled.

If I were you, I wouldn't try the hot process recipe again until you make a few successful batches of cold process soap first. By then you'll have a better feel for the soapmaking process. Always run your recipe through a lye calculator before using it. I hope this helps!

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

I agree. All your ingredients (except for a little bit of clay or color) should always go by weight. If you are new to soapmaking, I would get a thermometer. It's possible that your soap overheated because it was too hot to begin with.

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

thanks so much for all your advice. i must admit i am still a bit fearful of the lye calculator but i am perservering - i WILL try the castille again!

one last question: does anyone think that either of my failed batches can be saved in any way?

You can always grate it up and cook it down in a crockpot. If you have a lot of soap, it will need to be divided into several different batches. After cooking the soap for a while, try the zap test, touch a little cooled soap with the end of your tongue. If it doesn't zap it is OK to use. You can also grate up the failed batches for laundry soap. Just google homemade laundry soap and you should come up with lots of links with recipes.

brilliant - thanks! i just hated the thoughts of wasting it.

thanks for such a helpful site you guys - you're the reason i haven't given up yet............

We don't let people give up! Just ask Coolah! Eventually the soap gremlins will leave you alone!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

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