Teach Soap

Hi everyone, this is my first post in this forum, hope you can be patient with me as I have a few questions. I really like this forum everyone is so helpful. I have been reading through the threads in my quest to find answers to my soaping problems, but the more I read the more confused I get. I am not new to soaping but haven't experimented that much with colors, fragrances, swirling or different textures of soap, I've been pretty happy with the natural look, also using natural colorings and essential oils (I only make soaps for my family and friends). I am now trying to make soaps with pretty colors & swirls as well as lovely fragrances. At the moment my problem is that I find it hard to control my soap going into gel even when I place the mold in the freeze, partial gel still occurs and that is affecting not only the final color of the base soap but also the color of the swirls making them darker and not very attractive. I was wondering if there is something that I am doing to create this overheating. After all the reading I have done in various forums and books I am formulating different recipes and discounting water quite a bit, also I am using pomace OO which I haven't used before and adding coconut cream to some of my soaps, would any of these things cause overheating? In the past I've never used a freezer and my soaps very rarely went into gel, cannot understand what is it that I might be doing to have such an outcome. I did a GM soap the other day, mixed at low temps, GM was added to the warm oils before the lye, then straight into freezer and it still went into partial gel, soap is a tan color with darker ring in the middle, previous GM soaps without freezing came out off white. Thank you for your advice, any suggestion is much appreciated

Both coconut cream and goat's milk have natural sugars which can heat up your soap. At what temp are you combining your lye and oils? What other oils/butters are you using besides pomace? Is it a true olive oil, or is it blended with something else?

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

I mix at around 100 lye and oils, keep mixing under a tub with ice water, the oils I use are PO,CO, castor, sweet almond, steric acid (1%) sometimes cocoa butter and pure pomace OO. I understand about the sugars in GM and Coconut cream that is why I mix at low temps and always add milks to cooled oils before the lye. I use a log mold (wooden) which I put in freezer a while before pouring so it is kind of cold when the soap is poured and in spite of all the precautions I take, my soaps seems to be overheating more than ever, could it be that I am discounting too much water? on the soap calc I go by 33% on the lye concentration. Also I have reduced CO % I only ever use 20% as compare to previously up to 40%, I am using higher amounts of OO than before up to 50%, don't know if these factors make a difference. Also I have noticed that my soaps are tracing a lot faster than previously, could it also be the warm weather?, does trace acceleration cause overheating?. Thank you for taking the time to answer my many questions

I let my oils and lye water cool to around 110 degrees (US). I find if I use ice under my batch that it cools off to quickly and I get a false trace. Pomace traces fast for me and stearic acid does too. 33% lye concentration should be fine. Sometimes essential oils or fragrance oils can accelerate trace and create a lot of heat, even in a cold environment like the fridge. Since wood molds tend to insulate heat, I would try to put the mold uncovered in a open area with a fan on it. Elevate the mold so the air from the fan can reach under the mold as well. See if that works any better for you.

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

Thank you so much for the info I will try to use EVOO instead, I've only been using Pomace in the last few weeks 'cause I found it so cheap. I didn't know about the ice water under the mixing pot could cause false trace, lesson learnt. I have noticed partial gel only on my log mold and not on single cavity molds even though I dont freeze them, I think the wooden mold has a lot to do with the overheating, maybe I need to get me those log molds made of plastic. I usually mix at room temp that when I touch the pots they feel just like the warmth of my skin, sometimes I worry that the oils are going to solidify. Will try to apply to your advice and see how I go. Thanks again

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

I am considering eliminating steric acid from my soaps but would like to replace it with something else for soap hardness, is salt a good substitute or maybe beeswax? and do these accelerate trace as well? Just wish to have a soap that is longer lasting. Regarding salt how much can I use and do I add it to water before the lye?, just not too sure I have read a bit on the subject but I forget, I have used beeswax before at 1% is that amount ok?

Try beeswax at 1% or add sodium lactate to your cooled off lye water for a harder bar.

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

thank you for the tips, I'll do some experimentation. Happy New Year

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

So the Brown rings in the center of the GM soap from the logs... that is partial gel? is there any issues with using a soap with that or is it only a cosmetic issue for the soap? I have that ring in a soap I made recently mixing lye and oils at room temp. no milk.

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

can the partial gel be remedied? can you reassemble the cut pieces in the log mold and use OP at 170 for an hour? it seems the OP 'forces' or ensures a gel.

did you say you dont gel your soaps? is the texture different? what are the advantages/disadvantages?

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

I have rebatched partially gelled soaps hoping to get a nicer looking soap but the problem is that the rebatched soap turns darker, is there a way to avoid this darkening or is it just the nature of cooked soap?