Teach Soap

Hi,

I stay near sea so its really humid and hot out here. I will appreciate all help and suggestions on the questions i have about CP soaping.

(About the soaps i have tried- I have tried 3, 4 small batches by now- about 100 gm oils... All cp..I stir by hand and do not have a blender as of now...i superfat by about 3%)

1. everytime they are still soft after 12 hrs when i try to un-mold them
2. how to avoid glycerin dew in humidity
3. should i keep lye water ratio 1:1.2 to make cure better in humid conditions
4. should i avoid superfatting completely to get a harder bar
5. is it better to add oils to lye water or lye water to oils.

Thanks

_________________
If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane
~Jimmy Buffett

Your previous recipe, IRC, was all veg and was mostly soft oils. Those take more time. By soft, do you mean too soft to cut? My all veg batches (I don't use palm oil) may take longer than 12 hours to be firm enough to get out of the mold without mushing it.

Soap making is a bit like making wine...sometimes you just can't (and shouldn't) rush things! So the soap stays in the mold for a day or two days or longer. That's okay! I've got some pine tar soap that is still super soft and it's been in the mold for two weeks. It will get there when it gets there.

Where are you storing your soap? If you are storing it in an air conditioned room, the air conditioner will do a lot to draw the moisture from the air. I live in Alabama (very humid) and I will store soap in the house or in the attic, b/c they are dry. Soap stored in the basement (which is damp) gets mushy, sticky, etc.

If you don't have an airconditioner, you could try a de-humidifier. I knew a lady who would actually put her soaps in a food dehydrator!

But, again, during cure it's not just about the soap losing water and getting harder. It's also about the soap getting milder. Which is why I don't really mind if my soap is still soft at 12 hours. Because I wont' be using it for 6 weeks or more.

(So, in other words, keep your panties on woman! )

Thanks lovegreyhounds and dixiedragon.

i will keep your suggestions in mind: use an AC, unmold post 48 hours atleast, superfat atleast by 5%, add lye waters to oils, dun go below 1:1.5 lye water ratio..

One more question- im keeping the soap wrapped in towel even after 5 says (to avoid water droplets/glycerin dew). but worried that im not curing it in the pure sense. letting it air from all sides. am i doing something wrong.


i tried keeping the soap in oven at 50 C for an hour just to make sure that the water content goes down. just very worried if soap will become harder and not get spoiled in the humid weather ( soaping for the first time so just want to make sure all goes fine )

Appreciate all help and suggestions
Regards

LOL Dixiedragon! Here was my lesson in patience ~ I have to leave my goatsmilk soap in the Brambleberry Silicone Cube Mold for 3 weeks before I can unmold it without ruining it! When the soap does finally come out it's beautiful and worth it.

Just saw your post Rics; keeping the soap in the oven for an hour at that temp may help draw off some of the moisture,( but remember, it wont speed up the cure time) I would leave it uncovered in a dry, air conditioned room after 24-48 hrs if you are going to leave it in the mold, covering it up may hold the moisture in, just IMHO. If I need to leave my soap in the mold for more than 24 hrs, I will put it uncovered in my curing closet with the dehumidifier, I'm surrounded by sooo much humidity this rainy summer that I'm doing everything I can think of!

_________________
If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane
~Jimmy Buffett

When you say "wrapped in a towel" is the towel touching the soap? If so, then I think your towel might be absorbing that glycerin dew. If given a chance, many times the soap will reabsorb the glycerin. I put my sliced soap in cardboard boxes to cure, and I will cover the top of the box with newspaper to keep the cats out of the soap (they think it's tasty), but the paper isn't touching the bars.

hey Dixiedragon- thats good advice. the towel was touching the soaps..so i made sure its not anymore.

@Lovegreyhounds- im glad my gut feeling about warming the soap in the oven wsnt wrong. will try to do that on exceptionally rainy days. since i hv just started out may b i wont invest in a dehumidifier (may do it, if i think of turning this new hobby into a business in future) . but as of now i m relying on silica gel dessicant in a show box.

Thanks,
Rics

"1. everytime they are still soft after 12 hrs when i try to un-mold them
2. how to avoid glycerin dew in humidity
3. should i keep lye water ratio 1:1.2 to make cure better in humid conditions
4. should i avoid superfatting completely to get a harder bar
5. is it better to add oils to lye water or lye water to oils."

1. check your recipe and make sure it is at least 40% hard oils. Leave your soap in the mold for 24 hrs. at least, but you can leave it longer if need be. Add stearic acid to your recip 0.25 to 0.5 oz per pound of oils to increase hardness or add sodium lactate. Freeze your soap in the mold to help get it out of the mold.

2. Try running a dehumidifier. Make sure the soap is left to cure where air can circulate all around it.

3. The more of a lye discount you use, the less time you will have to swirl, color and design. I have lived at the ocean and I did not change my water for most recipes. Air conditioning, a dehumidifier and good curing space was what worked for me. ANd always stay at 1:1.5 or more. Any lower is too concentrated. I never soap below 1:2 ration except when doing Castille.

4. Superfatting is done to make a good, conditioning bar of soap and as insurance to prevent close calls with improper lye amounts, thus the potential for pockets. 0-3% sf is what most people use for laundry powder. I would not use less than 5% sf in my soap no matter where I lived.

5. You always add the lye into the water to create your lye bath. Then you add the lye bath into your oils.

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

Tammy

Good luck, I know you'll love it!

_________________
If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane
~Jimmy Buffett

My soaps will get glycerin dew every now and then while they're curing, especially in the spring & fall when my windows are open and the AC is off. I've found that if I leave a fan on so the air circulates more, the dew is less of a problem.

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