Teach Soap

Hi, I'm a new soapmaker, and have few questions. Your suggestions would help me to make a better batch next time

1/ I made a new batch of soap, and when i went to cut it after two days it was still moist from inside. I feel it is becuase of the rainy weather where i live. Is it ok to make soap in such weather?
2/ So far have made 3-4 batches of soap, and gave it to my family & friends to get their feedback. Most of them complain about that " it is very soft & washed out really fast". What can i do to make my bars little sturdy.
3/ How can i increase lather in CP soaps?

Thanks,

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Pal

Welcome!
What was your recipe? Did you run it through a lye calculator? How much did you superfat? Did the soap gel?
How long did you let the soap cure? If the soap is not fully cured, it still contains water and won't last long.
You can add castor oil (5% and under) to help with bubbles.

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

Hey Irena, Thanks for welcoming me on this great platform.
Yeh, i used lye calc "soapcalc". My receipe was

olive oil 140gms
coconut oil 130gms
rice bran oil 100gms
sweet almond oil 30gms
lye 57gms
water 132gms
almong powder added at trace

i let it cure for almost a month. What is soap gel? Noted your point on bubbles. I made two batches recently with casstor oil. Its still curing. Would check out the result.
Is it ok to make soap in riany weather..does it affect soap qulty any way?

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Pal

Rice bran is similar to olive oil. Almond oil is a soft oil that cures out soft.
For that size recipe, I would use 56 grams of lye. You would also need 100 to 150 milliliters of liquid. Did you convert that into grams?
When soap gels, it becomes darker, soft and almost liquid. As it cools back down it becomes a solid. Do you have any butters or beeswax available? That would harden your soap. Here is a sticky I posted of what the soap looks like as it goes into gel.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5450

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

I used thesage calc & it gave me 57.39gms of lye & 100-150gms of water. Should I use the upper amount of water 150gms or lower 100gms? I discounted it at 5%. As of now have not gone above 5% but I was reading few other posts & see that you generally do 7% disc.

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Pal

The link that Irena posted has lots of good info about gel stage. I always want gel. Some soapers prefer not to gel. In my experience, gelled soap gets harder faster, so you can unmold it sooner. And it has a harder texture. When I have had soaps that didn't gel, they remained soft for much much longer, and had a tacky texture that I don't care for.

You soap has a lot of olive oil. Olive oil soap takes longer to harden. Do you have any soap left? Try it again at the 8 week mark. I think you'll find it's much harder.

I like the calculator at the sage, because I love that it gives a range for water and for lye. I do not use the max amount of water recommended unless I am using an FO or EO that seizes. I do what you did - I use an amount of water between the two.

Thanks for your info. I have one bar left from that batch. Will try that out now since its been more than two months i made that batch. I read Irena link on gel soap, and what i understand is it happens naturally. It depends on the receipe. Is there any way to ensure that your soap gel?

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Pal

To ensure gel, keep the soap warm. If you are using a log or loaf mold, you don't really have to do anything. But individual molds lose enough heat that they may not gel on their own. What I do is warm my oven. I put it on the lowest temp that will turn the oven on. Basically, you want the oven toasty warm, not hot. When the oven is toasty warm, turn it off. I put my individual molds on cookie sheets, and put them in the oven.

Noted that to gel the soap, u put the molds in the toast heated oven.
But please tell:
1. you put the molds empty or with the soap pour in it?
2. for how long u keep the molds in the oven?

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Pal

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

I sit my single and intricate molds on a towel, then cover them with plastic wrap or parchment paper (after I pour the batter in them), then lay towels on top of them. I have not had any issues with getting them to gel when I do it this way. I have lids for my wood log molds and my silicone log molds but I only use those in the Winter, if the heat is off in the soap room part of the house. Otherwise, the lids, when left on, will make the batch overheat and cause major cracking.

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

Tammy

Thanks guys for your replies. Will try them on in my next batch.

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Pal