Teach Soap

I am new (and totally addicted to this soaping thing). I made a nice natural soap tonight but i poured it in layers and they are popping apart. I am trying to upload the picture but need to shrink it down to get it on here so that will come soon i hope.

Here is what i did, maybe someone knows off the bat where my misstep was. I wanted to make a nice color free but lightly scented lemongrass soap with an aloe base. I have a square 1lb mold that makes the little square 2oz. bars. I have dried lemongrass and did not want it all to float to the bottom so I put the lemon grass in and poured in a thin layer of the aloe base and let it harden.

The next layer i mixed some of my clear base with the aloe and poured that on, these two layers seem to be holding together just fine (i also added a little bit of lemongrass EO to this layer). Since this layer was thicker and I am still trying to learn to be a patient person i popped the mold into the refrigerator for a few minutes. I added more of the dried lemongrass to give a cool 3D look and then poured my 3rd layer on - this was supposed to be my last layer but there as still room in the mold so i quickly melted some clear base (i was out of the aloe by this time) and poured that in to finish the pour before layer #3 got hard then i smoothed it out and let it sit on the counter, i popped it into the freezer for about 20 minutes before trying to unmold it. Well it popped out of the mold great, and cut easily. That is when my trouble began, the third layer immediately separated from the second layer and as i am letting it sit on the cutting area the 4th layer is separating from the third. I would say about half of my little bars have separated. My friends and family will be thrilled about this of course but i would like to know what i did wrong because i really liked this soap it's got a great scent and looks really cool and 3 dimensional.

thanks ladies!

Erin

You need to spray rubbing alcohol between the layers otherwise they will separate.

Can I use witch hazel instead? I thought that the alcohol may be a little drying to the skin?

thanks
e

Witch hazel has more water then alcohol. Since you don't need a lot and it will evaporate, I wouldnt worry about it drying.

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

ok i understand, i will give that a try

Thanks
Erin

Hi, citymouse!

The fridge and the freezer could be the problem, too. You want your poured layer to still be warm with a thick skin when you pour your next layer. Popping the mold in the fridge could cause the layers to harden and cool at different rates, making adhesion more difficult. It really is best to let the soap sit out on the counter for however long it takes to get a skin thick enough to support the next layer.

And, like soapbuddy said, spritzing with rubbing alcohol between layers is important.

Good luck!

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Hi -

You definitely want to spritz alcohol in between your layers - I had to learn that the hard way I actually put my alcohol spray bottle in front of the mold so I will not forget to spritz!
And let the soap set at room temperature...the fridge/freezer will set the layers at different rates...It just takes enough practice and then it will be a natural thing to do!

Good luck

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You need to spray the layers with 70% alcohol as you go and don't let the soap get to hard when you're going to pour another layer it should have a thick coat on top but it should also be warm. If you let the soap solidify completely it will be harder to have the layers not fall apart. Also make sure that the alcohol is 70% because I would use 90% and I would have the same problem as you did until I did it with 70% alcohol. Now I have no problem with them sticking together. :