Teach Soap

Hello,

I am new to M&P soap. I have watched the tutorials. My question is this: I was layering soap and it said that you should wait until the soap is less than 130 degrees before you pour the second layer. I took the soap out of the microwave and it was over 140, so I had to wait to pour. I stirred a bit so it wouldn't form a skin on top. When it finally cooled enough, I went to pour it and there were globby chunks in it!

(I used a mica to color it--don't know if this matters).

How do you let the soap cool and avoid it clumping?

Thanks!

Hi, soap4u, and welcome to the forum!

Hmm, if you've got soap chunks, it sounds like maybe your base had not melted all the way before you poured? I know I frequently have to gently stir for a bit to break down reisidual chunks after microwaving. Be careful with your stirring, though -- if you stir too quickly, you'll whip little bubbles into your soap. You can nuke it again, but it just takes that much longer to cool it back down, and you might scorch it.

It's hard sometimes to see or feel those chunks when you're stirring, especially if it's an opaque base. Move your spoon through the base slowly and really try to see or feel the chunks. It's easy to miss a few small ones.

If your base is fully melted, it shouldn't get chunks in it while you're waiting for it to cool enough to layer. It might get a skin or feel like it's turning to gel if it gets too cool. My guess is that the chunks are bits of soap that didn't fully melt in the microwave.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

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Thanks for your reply. I didn't use the correct term, I think ("chunks')--I liked your term "gel." This is more of what it was doing. So, no hard chunks (have had those and know what you mean). What happened was when I went to pour, 75% of the soap poured out, then there was this viscous goo left over in the measuring cup. It just seemed weird to me, because if this was indeed soap that had cooled too much, it was a surprise because the rest of the soap was just at the right temp to pour. I was pretty careful about stirring.

I guess it is a learning process, but I couldn't find another message from someone with this same problem, so I wondered if there was something basic I am not doing...I don't want to melt the other soap layers! (BTW..I made a Bramble Berry gingerbread man and he turned out really cute, because the "goo" stayed behind in the cup and I had enough of the good stuff to pour! : )

Glad to hear your project wasn't ruined!

Yeah, that's happened to me before where the soap starts to gel before you have a chance to pour it, like maybe if you're waiting for a layer to harden up or something. I just nuke it again in very short bursts (like 10-15 seconds) until it's liquid enough to pour well (short bursts so you don't have to wait forever for it to cool down again). Just check your temperature again before pouring so you don't melt the layer below. BB says the ideal temp to layer with their bases is 120-130 degrees, I believe. I tend to pour at the lower end of the spectrum, around 120. I hate when I melt embeds and layers!

You'll get a feel really quickly for when your soap doesn't feel right or is "seizing" up on you.

And try to save your goo, if you can. Peel it out of the measuring cup and melt it down for your next project! I love M&P because it's so forgiving and there's so little waste!

Have fun soaping!

_________________
- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
Follow me on my