Teach Soap

Hi...
I have been making soap for a few years now and I pretty much have the hang of it. My family and I really enjoy our soaps..very moisturizing and creamy. I never have issues with my batches..except... for the life of me, I cannot make 100% coconut oil soap!
This should be the easiest soap to make....right?

I mean, I make other more complicated soap recipes and they've always come out great..no issues with Lye or anything.

I've tried 3 times already and they always end up lye heavy.. not sure why. (zap test)

I am using:

32 Oz of oil
4.70 oz lye
9.55 oz of water ( I always use 33% lye concentration)
at 110 degrees

Per SoapCalc.

I cut them between 8-12 hours after pouring because they get pretty hard if I leave it longer than that.
Well, every single time, they end up lye heavy... even after 2 weeks curing.. they are super lye heavy.

At first, I thought maybe my digital scale goofed up...so I got a new one... same deal.

Can anybody please tell me what I'm doing wrong?
This is driving me crazy!

Howdy,

New guy here.

What do you mean by lye heavy? How can you tell? Zap test?
Did you use cold or hot process?
Curing for CP is 4-6 (6) weeks. Rotating every week or so, right?

Anne Marie has a webpage for 100% oils.
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body ... her-tests/

Seems coconut is OK at 100%.
So the only thing I can think of is needing more curing time.

Your recipe is definitely correct for a 20% superfat. There's no way it should be lye heavy. Are you sure it zaps and doesn't just taste bad? The only other thing you can try is testing it with pH strips or phenolphthalein drops. They aren't too accurate, but should at least indicate if the soap is actually lye heavy.

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

I got some PH strips and tested the bars.. they came up to 9, which is not that bad, but still high enough for me to feel the lye on my tongue.
and that feeling lasts for hours as if I had burnt it with hot coffee.

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

What I mean by zap is...when I run my tongue through the soap bar...I get this feeling of when I burn my tongue with hot coffee..that sensation lasts for hours..its also very similar to when i touch a 9v battery with my tongue

Here is a thought. Is your scale accurate?

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

I realize this was posted a while ago and I was just wondering if you were using the correct saponification value for coconut. I didn't see that mentioned. And, if your still on here, how did it turn out?
It seemed to me that if the correct value was not being used then it would only rear its ugly head when not muddled up by other oils.