Teach Soap

I made a batch of lotion tonight that didn't thicken up very much. In fact, its pretty soupy. Here's the recipe I used:

Oils - 20%
Butters - 5%
E-wax - 5%
Distilled Water - 30%

plus FO and preservative

I added more wax when I saw how thin it was, but it didn't seem to help. Any ideas on how to fix it, or is this batch just lost?

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Marcie

Sorry this doesn't make sense to me. Your numbers only add up to 60%. Where is the other 40%?

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Lisa
“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul” ~ Yiddish proverb

Let me just be sure I am clear on my last post. The percentages should add up to 100%.

So let's say you want to make a batch of lotion that comes to 16 ounces. You decide that you will use 75% water, 20% oils and butter, and 5% e-wax. 75 + 20 + 5 = 100%. After you figure this then you would do your percentage of the fragrance and preservative.

Anne-Marie's recipe has the following suggested percentages for lotion making:
70-80% Distilled Water
3-5% Stearic Acid
3-6% Emulsifing Wax
add the rest in your choice of oils and butters
To this add
.5 – 1% Preservative
.5% Fragrance

I follow this formula pretty much when I am making lotion.

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Lisa
“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul” ~ Yiddish proverb

Ooops! I meant 70% distilled water haha. Yeah, those numbers look a little funny!

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Marcie

It seems like my percentages are ok...

I'm stumped. :-/

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Marcie

how much lotion were you trying to make? how much preservative and fragrance did you add? Did you calculate properly?

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Lisa
“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul” ~ Yiddish proverb

I was trying to make 96 oz. I looked over my calculations and they check out. I added 1% each of preservative and fragrance.

I didn't use stearic acid... maybe I should have added more e-wax?

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Marcie

So you added .96 ounces (or 27 grams) each of fragrance and preservative? I only ask because not long ago I THOUGHT I calculated my 1% correctly....but didn't. I used .1 instead of .01. My lotion was thin, runny, and a loss....it was late and I wasn't paying attention. It happens.

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Lisa
“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul” ~ Yiddish proverb

Well, that's what I wrote down anyway. I suppose I could have added more than that, but I thought I was being pretty careful.

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Marcie

I always put steric acid in my lotions. However, Irena says that if you have enough e-wax in the formulation you won't need the steric....so by her method your recipe should have come out....of course I am not sure what "enough e-wax" is. Maybe someone with more lotion formulating under their belts will be able to tell us.Otherwise, I am not sure what to tell you other than wait till the morning to see what you have. It might thicken over time.

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Lisa
“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul” ~ Yiddish proverb

Well, thanks for trying to help me. I MUST be missing something... I just can't figure out what. I think I'll take your advice and pack it in for the night. I guess if all else fails, I can try to reheat and add more emulsifier.

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Marcie

Without a thickener like stearic I would up your e wax. I always use a thickener and that's with my e wax at 5%. So maybe try taking out 5% butter and adding it to your e wax. Is this the first time you've made this recipe? 96oz is a really big batch. If this is a new recipe you should always start off making a small batch (I always make like 8-10 oz and weigh in grams) that way if it doesn't turn out you're not wasting so much.

I add either stearic acid or cetyl alcohol to help with thickening. If I don't use either I up my e wax or BTMS to 8-10%.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

...and it separated. So I guess my answer is more emulsifier.

I actually did make an 8 oz batch last week and it turned out GREAT! Go figure.

Do you think this batch can be reheated and saved or do you think its done at this point?

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Marcie

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!