Teach Soap

For my CP soap, I got the recipe from "The Everything Soapmaking Book," and it has always performed flawlessly. I made many batches for Christmas, took a break and have started making again.

With the same ingredients (other than a different brand of olive oil), my soap is now mealy, crumbly, and brittle. On one batch, I think i have DOS. Never had it before but think that's what it is. Also, I had one batch come out very lye heavy.

Has one or more of my oils gone rancid? Is there one more prone to rancidity? I'm using olive, coconut, palm, and castor. I'm about to replace my coconut and castor, but I have a lot of palm left. Should I replace it too?

Any ideas?

This isn't going to answer your question but..............................I also made lots of beautiful soap at Christmas. Now it seems like every batch I make has some kind of issue!!!!!

How old are your oils? They do have a shelf life. Is your scale accurate?

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

I've had my oils about 4 months. In fact, I made one batch with my "old" olive oil, which appears normal. The trouble started with my next batch and the "new" olive oil. Could this be the problem?

I calibrated my scale, and it's accurate.

Is palm oil involved in your recipes?

Yes. For a 1-pound batch, I use 3 oz palm oil. I always melt it down and stir before using.

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

Ok. That's good to know. I'll switch back to the kind I used before and see if it improves. Thanks!

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

OK. I made another batch with the brand of olive oil I had previous success with.

When I went to cut it, the portion of my soap that had gelled looked normal, but all around the outsides, the soap was still crumbly and zappy.

So after rebatching that, I made a new loaf and put it in a warm oven to be sure it gelled. I'll see how that one turned out tonight.

If the edges were zappy, it's possible that you got a partial gel. My ungelled soaps take longer to completely saponify and can zap, up to 3 days later. After that they are fine. Good luck with the rebatch.

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