Teach Soap

I am making the shampoo bars on the teach soap cold process section. i added sweet almond oil but that is the only difference.

here is the recipe:
Almond oil 5 oz
Castor Oil 8 oz
Coconut Oil 10 oz
Olive Oil 8 oz
Palm Oil 10 oz
5% Lye 5.749 oz
Water 13.53 oz

It won't trace. What did I do wrong? Can it be fixed?

i forgot to say that I added 2 oz of tea tree oil.

How long did you stick blend and did you calculate the green tea extract into the lye calculator? It can take some recipes awhile to trace but I am thinking if you added the GTE after calculating, it messed something up. I could be wrong though.

_________________
Haven

I stick blended for over 30 minutes. i used BB's EO/FO calculator - the amount was less but the recipe called for 1.5 oz of tea tree oil and my recipe weighed a little more so i added another .5 oz.

There were several things that were different and i am not sure which one was the cause.

1. different lye - i used lye i ordered from BB last night.
2. I used the castor oil you buy from walmart in the pharmacy section. don't know if that would be the cause
3. I used the majority of a bottle of tea tree essential oil but the remainder was a bottle of tea tree oil from the pharmacy section in walmart.

those are the only differences i can think of.

I'm sorry, I haven't had enough coffee yet this morning. I thought you said Green Tea Extract, not Tea Tree Oil. I don't think the castor being from wallyworld would have an impact. What temperatures did you mix at? It could just be the soft oils. You have more soft oils in the recipe than hard. Like I said earlier, some recipes just take a long time to trace, did you discount water at all? Which lye calculator did you use?

_________________
Haven

here is the original recipe from teach soap:

10 oz. Coconut Oil
10 oz. Palm Oil
8 oz. Castor Oil
8 oz. Olive Oil
12 oz. Distilled Water
5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)
1.5 oz Tea Tree Essential Oil

Your oils and lye should be around 100 degrees when combined. Add color at trace if you like, or leave neutral, then add fragrance. Stick blend to a thick trace and pour into mold. Use a spatula to create peaks on the surface for texture and grip. Remove the soap from the mold after 24 hours and cure the bars on a rack for 4-six weeks. Enjoy!

Tip! If your hair is extra dry, try incorporating some vitamin rich oils such as Avocado Oil and Sweet Almond Oil. Jojoba Oil is amazing as well, but currently a bit pricey. If you change the recipe, make sure to re-calculate the lye using the lye calculator.


I used a 5 % discount. And I used Brambleberry's Lye Calculator.

It never reached trace last night. I finally gave up and went to bed. I checked it and will post a pic in a bit. It is not good.

I'm stumped. I hope someone else can chime in with some ideas. I haven't ever had a recipe not trace. It's always been the opposite for me where it traces way faster than I expected. I'm sorry it didn't turn out for you. Don't get discouraged though, it happens to all of us at one point or another. It happened to me 2 times in one week!

_________________
Haven

What temp were your oils and lye? You might try putting the pot back on the stove and heating it on low. My suspicion is that perhaps the Wal-mart castor oil or tea tree oil is some kind of "blend" and contains mineral oil. check those bottles and see if it has a list of ingredients on it.

i added the lye when they were both about 110 degrees because i was tired, it was 2 am and i wanted to go to bed. i lost patience. i wanted to get it around 100 degrees but just could not wait anymore. i will go look now for the ingredient list.

i have a pic of the oils this morning. pretty much same as last night. my iphone camera is HORRIBLE so you may not be able to see anything.

Tea Tree oil from walmart is not the same as tea tree essential oil so that may be part of the problem. The castor from walmart is fine.
The only other thing I can think of is that one of the oils was measured incorrectly and there is too much oil for the amount of lye.

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

Tea tree OIL is NOT the same as tea tree essential oil so you added another oil that you did not calculate the lye for. Recalculate the recipe on the lye calc and add in the difference and toss it all in the crock pot and rebatch it. It can still work out.

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

It is not essential oil, it is OIL. Big difference, but as I said, no big deal to fix. Recalculate using the 2 ounces of oil and get the new lye amount. Get the scent you want to use and add it all into the crock pot and do a rebatch. It can be saved!

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Tammy, it is still liquid. would i have to add it to the crock pot?