Teach Soap

So, I have my basic recipe which I love and which, up until my past 4 batches or so, has been no-fail. It has about 25% Palm in it. I've been using the Palm I got from Soap Making Resource, but recently ordered the organic Palm from Soaper's Choice. Now, on the jug it says to melt and stir before every use. Fine. I've never done it before and have had no problems, but I can follow directions, so I melted the entire jug down before I made two batches a couple of days ago. No problems. They came out beautifully.

But the last 4 batches, even though I've melted and stirred, my soap batter has become gritty looking and nearly solid in a matter of 30-45 seconds. I've been using FO's I've used before with no acceleration (BB's Kentish Rain, Energy, and WSP's Caribbean Coconut and Almond), and of course the recipe and soaping temps are identical to what I've done to make hundreds of pounds of soap.

Could it be the palm oil? That's the only variable that has changed at all. The final soap is fine, I think - no zap and washes the same, but it's such a pain in the butt to not be able to pour it into my mold (have to glop in it and much it down), or play with color/layering. The bars aren't as smooth either.

Palm oil? Or just soap gremlins? I'm honestly at a loss here and am skittish about making more soap at this point that has palm. I just ordered a bunch from Soap Making Resource, but it won't be here for a while, so I think I'm going to go on a Shea butter soap making spree until it arrives, unless I can figure out what else might be going wrong.

Soooo frustrating! Any ideas?

Yes, it could be the palm oil. Palm oil is packaged and shipped with an acid that is added to lower the pH and act as a preservative. It a liquid state, the molecular density of the acid is greater than the oil....so it will settle to the bottom. Hence the reason for melting, and separating the palm oil into smaller containers.....so each gets an equal amount of preservative. If you continue to use it straight off the top (especially in solid form), it will not have much preservative. However, once you reach the bottom of the container, you'll have a greater concentration of acids that will wreak havoc with your recipe. I don't know for certain, but it could cause the effect you mentioned. I'm no expert but this is my understanding of why it's important to melt, stir and separate the palm oil before using.

I love that organic palm oil from Soaper's Choice. I use it too. I haven't had any grittiness with it in soap. It is super rich in stearic acid which contributes to a fast trace so it's important to melt, stir thoroughly and then divide. Especially in the winter because it becomes solid. In the summer it's easy to work with. The stearic acid settles to the bottom of the jar or pail and you want it evenly distributed so that you don't have little of it some batches and a boatload of it in others. What was recommended to me was to melt, stir, and divide into amounts that I use in my recipe, then put in large freezer bags or other containers. I don't use freezer bags.

I don't know where you live but imagine that new palm oil could be a pain in the winter in a cold climate. I let mine melt outside in the sun at the end of a long, late warm fall, stirred and then divided.

Also I found that organic palm oil needs more melt, stir time when I'm soaping than the other oils I normally use. If it's still very yellow or looks gritty, it needs more melt, stir time. I wait until it looks clear. It's a great oil that contributes a lot of richness and lathering stability to soap, but I learned not to get in a rush with it.

HTH!

Thanks very much for the responses.

Justkate, I will try to be more patient! Maybe I wasn't melting it for long enough. That's a great suggestion to put it into the amounts I use in my basic recipe. I will tackle it again tomorrow, when I'm not feeling like I'm been beaten by it! I really appreciate your help.

You're welcome. Good luck.