Teach Soap

I am wondering if I can get some help with a question that I have.

It may be that I am inpatient or that maybe my latest recipe is just producing soft soap in general. The last three soap batches that I have made seem to be pretty soft during unmolding. I made a batch with Goats Milk on Friday and when I tried to unmold it this evening, Monday, the sides of the soap got caught up to the silicone mold... and it's still pretty soft . I did stick it in the freezer after I poured it, so I am hoping that it's just my inpatience that is the result and not that the recipe is just to soft in general.

The other batch that I made on Saturday afternoon I even added Sodium Lactate and when I tried to unmold it this evening some of the freezer paper caught to parts of it and it still felt a bit soft. So I decided to leave it alone and see if it may be ready by tomorrow. Here is the recipe that I am using:

Coconut 28%
Olive 35%
Rice Bran 15%
Castor 5%
Shea 9%
Mango 8%


Now I live in California, the East Bay Area, and it's been pretty warm. The house is usually around 76 to 80 degrees. Maybe it's just too warm and that is also a factor?


Maybe I am just unmolding them too early?

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Roxana
*** Just keep trying
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Since you put it in the freezer I will assume it did not gel...that can take longer to be able to unmold. But just glancing at your mix it looks to me that you have a high amount of butters. That could be the cause of the soft soap. I'm sure I have never gone over 6% butters. Did you run the recipe through a lye calc? Was your lye amount correct for your recipe? And how much water did you use?

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

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Roxana
*** Just keep trying
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My normal recipe is 10% butters and makes a VERY hard bar. It could be the temperature, the humidity, or an ingredient misbehaving. Is your shea refined? I find that my soaps with unrefined shea are quite a bit softer, even after gel. They do harden nicely during the cure period, but at first they are soft and sticky.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I live in the hot desert and prefer not to gel. It sounds like your soap didn't. I would leave it in the mold for right now.

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

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Roxana
*** Just keep trying
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Ack! Gremlins found you!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I'm sorry it's lye heavy.

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

_________________
Roxana
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All my recipes use 15~20% butter, butters make soap hard, not soft. And saturated fat traces faster than soft oil unsaturated fat. Even after refrigeration for a day and resting for another day it should not be that soft. What is your Ly concentration %? Judging from the photo you have problem dissolving lye in milk.

PS I live in south bay, weather and humidity should be very similar, if not same.

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Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

How do you think it ended up lye heavy? I've had ricing, seizing, hot soap, soap that was soft after a few days, batches that lost scent... But not lye heavy. And I want to avoid it! Is it just that the lye wasn't thoroughly mixed with the water or liquid? Or are there other causes?

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
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_________________
Roxana
*** Just keep trying
Follow my Soaping Journey at:

Your recipe looks fine to me. At what temp did you soap at?

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

My bet is that it's the FO.