Teach Soap

I am a soap newbie and wondered what I should be looking for that might be a sign of something wrong with my soaps. I have made 2 batches, first one seems ok accept I had to chop it out of my plastic mold

2nd batch also seems ok accept it has faint lines in it!

Are there any tell tale sign that my soap is unsafe for use? Other then big disasters like volcanos ect

Thanks

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I suggest you use it for a week at the sink and in the bath or shower. Then if you like it give some pieces out to other people/family/gfs to test your soap.

You did test it for lye heaviness I assume tongue test or pheno test?

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

If your soap is soft, I suggest that you recalculate your recipe and add some hard oils. How much did you superfat?

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

It is 5% superfat, being its my first 2 batches I just thought I would make sure there isn't anything that would stand out right away as a 'flag'. They are only a week or so into curing so I have some time before I want to try them..but I keep watching to see if there are any changes happening that I should be aware of

My friends and family are going to be soaped out with all my batches I think! I want to aim for 6 months and several batches before I go ahead and sell them! Lots of fun with creativity in my future!

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Most soaps get fairly hard after a week. Which oils did you use and at what %?

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

40% olive oil
25% each of palm and coconut
5% each of shea and cocoa butter

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I used the calculator on soapcal.net to get my lye/water 38%

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Since 40% of your recipe is olive oil and you used full water, then it will be softer at first. But your other oils/butters should make it a nice hard bar after a nice cure.

The only things that would make it unuseable, would be if it's lye heavy or if it goes rancid. So, if it's been a week and you've checked for active lye and there isn't any. Then you should be good to go.
Now, when you're curing it, just make sure that you're turning the bars and keeping them out of a moist environment to keep rancidity at bay.

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Genny

Yes I agree with Genny ,my 50% olive ,takes 6 to 8 weeks to get hard.

How are you testing the 'hardness' of your bars? Mine seem pretty hard now but I haven't stuck my nail in or anything

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Give it another week or so. Higher % of olive oil can start out soft, but should harden up.

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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!

I have liability for my candles business but will for sure be adding the other products I plan to make to that insurance before selling them.

There are boards for how long to make batches before selling? I didn't realize it would take a yr to be sure how the soap would react, what could happen in that amount of time that wouldn't happen in the first 6 mths?

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Genny

Would it be visible if it went rancid? I have read that some bacteria may be in it without seeing it...dangerous!

The few oils I use I think I can talk about in my sleep cause I have read so much about them. I think I am going to keep it very simple in the beginning and focus on a few really good soaps and market them while working on new fragrances. My focus would then be to have a really good soap to market so people can see how nice my product it and build from there! The soaps and lotions I am working on are to add to my already selling soy candles!

I really appreciate all the responses...I must be driving you about nutty with all the questions

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