Teach Soap

Hello all,
I make soap since more than 10 years now, and I am making CP soap. Therefore, I must admit that I had never thought of making HP soap... ( ). I know : this is a shame...

So today, I made my first batch (HP) and was all excited about it. I made many searches, read many tutorials etc etc.

So, I made a very simple all coconut oil unscented soap. I processed like with CP soap, and at heavy trace, I put the pot (with the lid) in the oven (175 degrees) for 30 minutes. Then, I mixed (with a spoon, not with the stick blender). At that stage, it was looking like a kind of dough, but not hard to mix, and I saw no separation. It seemed full of "air".

After, I put this back into the oven for 15 minutes. Then, I mixed : it was not liquid, no transparent, but looked a lot like the first time I had opened the lid : heavy apple sauce - I should mostly say : apple butter.

I made the "lather test" and the zap test. It was zapping, but then, I rubbed a bit of that paste between my rubber gloves with water and it was making a lot of lather.

Then I molded (my goodness : this does not work very well with dividers !). I wonder if it was ready or not... One tutorial says that it should be liquid at the end of the cooking, one other says that it is pretty thick (I saw pictures and could see that my mix was a lot looking heavy and thick like in some pictures I saw. Etc. There are many versions about it.

How can I know if the mix is ready ? No zap at all ? I was afraid to overcook the soap... Is it normal that I saw no division (gelled and ungelled in the same pot) but all seemed very homogenized...

My recipe (TheSage lye calculator) : coconut oil : 1380 grams - water : 500 grams - lye : 237 grams.

Ok, I molded but I don't cover it at all. Do you think the mix was ready or should I put all the stuff back in the oven ?

Thank you for reading. I hope I am clear. Sorry for my English...

You need to bring oils and lye to a true trace, then it can be cooked. Hot process soap will never be liquid again. When it's done it looks more like mashed potatoes or applesauce. Depending on the size of the batch, cooking should be done in about 45 minutes to an hour. If it zaps, there's a chance that something got miscalculated. Do you have an accurate scale?

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

Thank you Soapbuddy. Yes my scale is accurate... at least, it works well with all my other soaps. Do you think that there could have been too much lye ? I could use between 233 and 241 and I used 237. ... I saw some pictures and the consistency of my own cooked soap was the same (mashed potatoes). It was uneasy to mould this soap.

Now, after some 2 hours, I could unmould and I did again the zap test : it does not zap very much : just a bit... At the bottom of the mould (Nizzy's) it was a bit greasy.

My main questioning is that I have not seen this "separation" phase... is it normal ? I opened the lid after 30 minutes... The appearance before I mix was like a loaf of blanc manger.

I will make another test batch with different oils.

I just checked your recipe and it looks fine. 237 gms of lye will give you approximately 6% superfat, so that should be fine also. It should not zap, even a little, after 2 hours. Is it possible that you were looking at a liquid soap recipe that uses potassium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide? Did you use any fragrance? If so, was it soap safe?

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

Thank you again, Soapbuddy. You are veery patient ! I just tried this simple recipe mainly to experiment. Actually the soaps are very very hard and they smell a bit like Ivory soap. Not that bad but they are bumpy ! I washed my hands with one of them and they lather and I have no nasty feel (of course now my hands are VERY clean with that kind of stuff but coconut is drying).

Do you think it is possible that I am ok even if I did not see any separation stage ?

I will try the process with one of my basic recipes. I must say that I don't like too much this bumpy texture on the top but I will bevel the soaps (or just use them for washing clothes).

I would save it for washing dishes, counters or the floor. Have you checked to see if it zaps? Wet your finger then touch the soap with your finger. Then touch the finger to your tongue. If it zaps, it's like licking a 9 volt battery. It might not be the coconut that's drying. Let it age for 3 to 4 weeks and wash your hands with it again.

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

Ok, I did it and it does not zap. I forgot to say that it is unscented : the smell is fresh soap. I think of grinding it and wash clothes with it.

Does it sometimes happen that a soap does not separate ? Before I cooked it, I went to a very heavy trace.

I was asked to make "old country style" soap (savon du pays), and that's why I need to do some more but I will try with lard (and castor oil). Maybe I am mistaken somewhere... I will see tomorrow with another batch.

I cannot thank you enough, Soapbuddy. I wil wait before using it (that will be hard : I am looking forward to washing everything with it - except myself -.

Is a 100% coconut soap too harsh (drying) for woolens ?

No problem.
For washing woolens or clothes it's best to make coconut soap with 0% superfat. Otherwise if it's superfatted it can make the clothes dingy and dull looking.

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