Teach Soap

hello. i just joined. out of frustration over my first attempt at making soap, i went on line and stumbled across this site. Most helpful, letting me know i am not alone. couldn't describe the mess i had in my hands, but you guys described it perfect for me. i made my first batch of soap following a recipe in Mary Janes Farm Maazine (Dec-Jan 2012, page 72) I did let the lye cool down some before mixing with my oils, as it was extremely hot, even though the writer did not say so. I pour my soap batch, like she told me to, covered it with plastic at 3PM.figured i had till midnight before i could cut it. Well, at 7PM i peaked, the batch was beautiful, but solid as a rock. when i tried to cut it it would shatter and cut unevenly. still pretty. that's when i went toNorma Coney's book and decided i would grate all my soap and hand mill all of it. beautiful, no? OH. MY. GOD First attempt with my first 12 oz,9oz water, lemon and lemon peel, smelled delicious, turned into like a sponge. Today i crumbled it and put it in the microwave@80% 2min, stir, 80%, 1 1/2 min, saw the soap monster in action, managed to pour it in my molds and are anxiously waiting to see if it sets or what. If that fails, next thing will be to try and make liquid soap? or leave it like that and put it in a cute bowl with a cute spoon to use as is. what do you think? i have new materials to make me a new batch, and i would like to pour it in individual molds. is that okay? instead of one large intimidating block. thanks in advance and thanks for all the info made available to us novices.

What was the recipe you used? How accurate were your measurements (grams, ounces etc)? Do you have any idea what the actual temperature of the oils and lye were (very important!)? Was your recipe superfatted? Checked with a lye calculator? Does the soap zap?

Uh, think that will cover everything We'll figure out what happened!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

the recipe goes like this:
36 oz olive oil
12 oz canola oil
8 oz refrigerated goat's milk
16 oz coconut oil
8.9 oz lye
10 oz bottled or distilled water

Blend the goats milk into the olive and canola. Use immersion blender or a spoon to blend. Add the coconut oil.
Carefully add the lye to the water and stir gently until lye is dissolved and starts to turn clear. Pour the lye solution over the oils. My Question: does this mean pour it when it is very hot? Instruction follows: The lye will melt the coconut oil if it is solid. Use the immersion blender or a spoon and blend and blend and blend until the mixture starts to look like thickened pudding. At this point you can add essential oils if you'd like(no more than 0.5 oz)Line the plastic dish tub with parchment paper or muslin. Pour in mixture. Smooth the top of the soap with a clean spoon. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top. It should be touching the surface of the soap. Place the tub aside so the soap can set. It will take 8-10 hours to set in dry climate, up to 24 in a humid climate. My experiene: it was rock hard in 4 hours! Instruction follows:Once it has set remove to a work surface and cut the soap into 16 bars. place them back in the tub standing on their short endes to cure until completely hard (3-6 weeks) Article by Sundari Elizabeth Kraft Mary Janes Farm Magazine.
yes it zaps. i microwaved some of it and poured it in 4 small molds. It is setting. I unmolded one and it has like a little bit of brownish liquid on the bottom of the mold.

Ok, I've popped it into a lye calculator and it seems alright, 8oz less water (liquid) than suggested. I've never personally done this method of pouring the lye over the coconut oil to melt it, hopefully someone who has can help you there! Hopefully one of the more experienced folks will hop in here and help! Does the rebatch zap too? Could be that your batch is lye heavy.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

That's a big batch for your first time soap making. Plus a complicated recipe for a first timer. Milk in cp can be a pain to get right, so I wouldn't try it until having some regular batches under your belt first.
Always use a soap calculator before making a batch of soap. Here's a couple different ones:
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
http://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx

Might I suggest a couple soapmaking books before trying your next batch:
The Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso http://www.brambleberry.com/The-Everyth ... P4400.aspx
The Soapmakers Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch http://www.brambleberry.com/The-Soapmak ... P3731.aspx
Very informative. You might be able to find them at your local library.

It was so crumbly and hard because of the lack of water/liquid. So, it may not be safe to use. Plus, you didn't say what kind of olive oil it is or coconut oil. There are different kinds that do different things in soap.

I've never added the milk to the oils. Usually when I've used milk, I use frozen milk. I add the lye to the frozen milk or the frozen milk/water combo.

The brownish liquid could be milk has seeped out. Which isn't good if you already had a water discount.

Honestly, I would just trash that batch. Then read, watch Anne Marie make cp soap, read some on the forum, ask questions on the forum, etc.

Here's Anne-Marie's you tube videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR6ttCSr ... xFoZ1pCeY=

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Genny

At this point, I would just trash it as well and make a small basic recipe, til you get comfortable with the soapmaking process. ALWAYS run any recipe through a lye calculator. Mistakes as written do happen.

Here is what I get when I plug in your recipe:

Canola Oil 12 ozs. 18.75%
Coconut Oil 16 ozs. 25.00%
Olive Oil 36 ozs. 56.25%
Total Weight 64 ozs.

For this size batch you would need between 16 to 24 fluid ounces of liquid (water or milk)
8.80 of lye for a 7% superfat

Add all you oils and butters right up front. Gently melt. Meanwhile add the lye TO your water and let cool. When both are about 110 degrees combine with a stick blender or a stainless steel whisk til you reach trace. Spoon is not a very effective tool for a basic soap unless you just want to use it to texture the top. If there is any brown liquid, you either did not reach true trace, didn't properly mix or the soap overheated. Milk has natural sugars which brings gel sooner and doesn't need heavy insulation.

If the soap zaps it has free floating lye. Be aware that if you use lemon juice, it will neutralize some of your lye. Lemon essential oil would be a better choice.

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

thank you Hestey, Genny and Soapbuddy for all your suggestions. Spent part of the day experimenting with my shredded batch. Can't bring myself to throw it out. is there any way of saving it? adding more water, oil, milk? is it safe to use it as laundry detergent? bought new ingredients and are going to the library asap for the books and a fresh start. will post again when that happens. have to go to work tomorrow. ugh. There is a recipe for castile soap in norma coney book, page 45. it takes 52 oz olive oil, 7 oz of lye and 20 oz of cold water. It says that because it is only oil it must be checked twice a day. likely will see a thin layer of oil on top. Using a wooden spoon carefully stir this layer of oil back into the soap, then repalce lid and rewrap the mold. Repeat every 12 hours or so untill the layer of oil no longer forms. Am I setting myself for failure with this recipe?
Thanks, soapy friends. Talk to you soon

For 52 ozs. of olive oil, I would use 6.5 ozs. of lye for a 7% superfat and 13 to 18 fluid ounces of liquid. Checking it twice a day is not needed. Just make sure you use a stick blender and reach a true trace. You can speed up the saponification process by letting it gel in the oven. It should not have any oil on the top once fully gelled.

NEVER use a wooden spoon! Over time the wood will splinter from the reaction with lye and those splinters will end up in your soap. The way it's written, it's a recipe for failure.

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

Phew!!!! I'm soo glad i check my emails before i got off line. Thanks for your help. Will let you know how it goes. When i put it in the oven...what temperature and for how long?

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

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

You could go to Kathy Millers soap site... it is very helpful and one of the places I went to when I first started. I agree with Linda, start a little smaller. If you are doing this for personal use or for family, smaller batches let you eventually experiment with color and scent more often. I still make most of my batches with 2# of oils which works great for my use and gifting to family and close friends.

I am looking forward to see what you create!

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

Thank, Susie! I forgot about www.millersoap.com. They are a great resource!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!