Teach Soap

So, I tried my first batch of soap and it stuck to the mold at 24 hrs when I tried to take it out. Not the whole bar, I got the bar out, but like part of the design. So my doggy has no ears and my kitty has no nose! Is there a method for keeping the soap from leaving behind bits and pieces? I have heard cooking spray but I dunno!

You can try to freeze it, make the recipe harder with butters/beeswax or add some sodium lactate to the recipe.

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

you could put it in the freezer to shrink the soap a little so it pops out. i find leaving it in the mould longer also helps, but that takes patience and lots of moulds.

That's guys! I made a new batch this evening and one tip I found was that perhaps my soaps aren't "geling" enough because I am working with very small batches - 16 oz - and adding them together at 110 degrees. So I tried 125 tonight. It sure was way easier to pour! Guess we'll find out tomorrow! I'll pop them in the freezer after they are nice and firm.

Be careful working with higher temps. That could backfire on you if you are working with finicky EO's or FO's. Soaps don't need to gel, but with single molds you need harder oils, butters or beeswax so they come out easier out of the mold.

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

The mixture didn't separate when I added the EOs though I have seen that happen and it suuuccckkss! But I will keep that in mind. The soap came out of the mold very clean this morning. I decided to test it before I put it in the freezer and it came out NP

Why don't soaps need to gel? Isn't it part of the soaponification process? It's my understanding that if they don't gel they might become soft and flaky even after weeks of curing. Yuck! Also, what's a zap test? I have read a few threads that mention that but I dunno what it is! Or if it's even necessary for 3 bars! Thanks.

Saponification happens whether soaps gel or not. Ungelled soaps just take longer to finish the process. I prefer not to gel. The colors come out lighter and scents tend to morph less. Here is how to test for zap. Dampen your finger. Touch that finger to your soap. Then touch the tip of your finger to the tip of your tongue. If it zaps, it's like touching your tongue to a battery. One you experience it, you won't forget. Have a little apple juice handy to rinse out your mouth if it zaps.

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

I spray my molds with cooking spray wipe it out and then I have no trouble removing the soap.

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

Zap test - very scientific. Hehehe

-So, if your soap zaps, what does this tell you? What's wrong? What's the risk? Also, when would you do this? After curing?

Y'know you can read and read and read but sometimes just asking questions brings a lot of light out! So, I have a friend who makes A LOT of soap with goat's milk. She sells it. I buy mine from her (until about 4-6 weeks from now when my own are cured!) and she has been a huge source of info. But...she had an issue and I am curious how you would solve it.

She made a batch of soap but the lye mixture had cooled too much. Around 95 degrees. But she didn't want to loose the material so she mixed it. Well, the resulting mixture even at a medium trace was very thick. She had to sort of press it into her mold (a big box like mold made from wood with wax paper lining). One side is glass so she can see what's going on. Lucky brat has a brother who works with glass and plastics and he built it for her! Anywho, she could see within an hour that there were a lot of air pockets so she melted it down and added more milk. She uses a big pot with a lid and bakes it at a low temp - it took about an hour and 18 oz of milk to get a good consistency to re-pour. This was on 6 lbs of oils, so as you can imagine this is a LOT of extra fluid! Anyways, she pours it back in, no air pockets, lets it sit 48 hours, unmolds and cuts. It's still pretty soft (been 4 days). Will all that extra water ever cure out? How would you have handled it?

Thanks!

Actually she did not soap 'too cool'. Unless I am using beeswax I soap between 95 and 100. If the soap was that thick she was at a heavy or full trace. I bet the soap will cure - it will just take a very long time. It sure is nice of her to help you out... now you could return the favor - send her to the forum!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Sounds like your friend is not accurate with measuring, which could bite her in the a** at some point. If your soap zaps, even after curing, it's either lye heavy or has lye pockets in it, which could seriously burn you. I don't gel, so it takes around 3 days before my soap stops zapping. Her soap can end up still soft after curing, which means it would melt that much faster in the shower and to me, that's money down the drain. When lye cools off that much, when you add it to your oil mixture, it cools it down too and solidifies any oils or butters that you have in there. You usually get false trace this way.

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