Teach Soap

Thanks to everyone who takes time to help with these problems. I am a newbie who made a lot of different soap batches when I started 5 weeks ago and now three have turned out problematic.

I am so irritated, in more ways than one. I made a batch of lard-olive soap four weeks ago, zap tested it (no zap), pH tested it (9.5), and then used it in the shower last night. I was bothered all night by itchy skin. I checked my notes and even though I was measuring in ounces (every batch I make now I measure in grams), the superfat percentage would have measured between 4 and 5%, more than enough to be safe, right?

The soap traced for sure. My scale is accurate per the nickel test. The cured soap did have slight white film on the top, but had no separation of any kind. I did not measure temps when I mixed the lye solution and oils. The soap gelled.

Here is the recipe, figured up using The Majestic Mountain Sage lye calc. I ran out of castor in the middle of measuring, so I used canola for the rest, after running it through the lye calc again (canola has a similar SAP value).

12 oz lard, 12 oz olive oil, 3 oz coconut oil, 3 oz sweet almond oil, .8 oz castor, .7 oz canola, 4.2 oz lye, 12.5 oz water.

I have two questions:
1) Why is soap with a 4-5% superfat percentage ending up harsh (assuming I measured correctly AND my scale is accurate)? Shouldn't there be enough fat to completely "eat" the lye, leaving some fat behind? (In other words, Soapbuddy--why do you recommend a higher superfat percentage when these things happen?)

2) If I am willing to invest more time/materials in this, will melting it down with some more oil and maybe something like goat milk, and re-curing--will that work with fully-cured soap? (I want to get it right, not trash it.)

3) Is there some variable I am not considering here?

Thanks again! This forum rocks, and I really appreciate your help, all you experienced soap makers!!

Each oil or butter for soapmaking has a SAP range which can vary from oil to oil. Depending on how the oil was harvested or processed, it can be outside of this range, which can cause problems. I superfat at 7% to be on the safe side. I don't use canola oil as it gives me DOS. I would go with a higher superfat. The slight white film on top of soap is most likely ash, which is only esthetic.

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

So the problem could be an oil outside the standard SAP range. Since we really can't know if the oil we are using IS in the standard SAP range, we should use a higher superfat to make up for it if it isn't. Thanks for the reasoning; it helps me understand this.

I have pretty much stopped adding canola, as it slows the speed of trace somewhat and the olive oil I have found is now very close in price. At 6 cents an ounce, it is the cheapest oil I have used. I didn't know about the canola-DOS issue--good to know!

I used to SF at 6% and then switched to 7%. Recently I tried 5% and the soap is fine but I much prefer 6-7%.

I do not use canola oil either, but I do a lye discount vs adding more oils (super fatting) I lye discount at 5 to 6 %.

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Four Seasons Fine Handcrafted Soaps
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_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I ended up melting the irritating batch down with an additional 3% of coconut oil added, to up the superfat to 7 or 8. I also added a little goat milk because I have heard people rave about using goat milk in a rebatch and wanted to try it. The soap is in the mold now. I guess the only way to know if I have made it work for me is to use it again. Maybe washing the inside of my elbow would be enough to test it--I do not want to spend another night itching.