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ejb222

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Feb 15, 2014
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Hi,
this is my very first batch. I'm concerned that I poured these into the Tupperware 1am Monday and this is the appearance Saturday AM. Lighter on top than the rest of the mix. Also not solid. When squeezed you can see the separation that happened. Please help thanks.
Recipe:
26oz Olive oil
6oz Coconut oil
1oz Castor oil
10oz Water
4.4oz Lye

Then at light trace I added 2tbsp honey and 50g cocoa powder cinnamon mixture

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The top does look lighter. My soap with mostly olive oil takes a little longer to get hard. It may be that the cocoa settled in your soap after pouring. It is hard to tell if the soap is still in the mold or not. If you get an electric-like shock on your tongue when you do the zap test, then you need to rebatch the soap. I use an old crockpot.
 
Honey can do funny things to soap sometimes and it maybe that it caused some overheating and disruption in the appearance of the soap.
Anna Marie
 
Well...the soap is still tacky...and the "zap" is minimal. So I put them on a drying rack to sit for a month or two. I did get a lather when I rinsed my hands. Guess it's a waiting game for now. I'll try a simpler recipe in the meantime

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This is exactly what happened to my salt bar the other day. I thought I soaped too cold. I also had some oil around the soap mass that did seeped (not sure if yours did the same. I threw it in the pot and cooked it up with some water. Turned out better. Maybe HP it?

oh and your soap looks like brownies or fudge and I want to eat it. :p
 
This is exactly what happened to my salt bar the other day. I thought I soaped too cold. I also had some oil around the soap mass that did seeped (not sure if yours did the same. I threw it in the pot and cooked it up with some water. Turned out better. Maybe HP it?

oh and your soap looks like brownies or fudge and I want to eat it. :p

I know! I'm almost worried someone will come in and grab a bite off the table where it currently sits. Thanks for everyone's help. I think it will be ok if I just let it sit for a few weeks.
 
Honey is very hard to work with - just a tad too much and it will overheat. Way too much and it can separate. It can also add to the amount of ash you get. Next time, soap cool and maybe even chill your mold before pouring. And keep the honey as low as you can go - at least while learning to work with it. I've uttered more curse words when working with honey :)
 
To agree with Pamielynn- I place my mold outside since the weather is cold right now to keep any soap with honey from overheating and it works great. I also warm my honey before mixing it in to help ensure no big blobs of honey are floating around.
Cheers!
Anna Marie
 
It looks fine - that bit of crust is probably from overheating, maybe mixed with a little ash.

It looks like yummy fudge! Keep it far from children, they might want to take a bite.
 
I use honey in several soap recipes and learned to minimize the amount as it can really overheat and fast. Also, adding powders, clays, etc. can make soap 'cakey' so I don't use more than 1 tsp PPO. My guess is its a combination of both the honey and the cocoa. It overheated which caused the cracking and has a cake like looking texture.

Actually, it looks lovely. Another thing to think about it that bastile and castile soaps take a little longer to harden up so I wait at least 3-4 days or even a week before cutting. You can do a water discount that helps but using cocoa powder, honey, milk, etc. it is probably best not to do a discount until you have more soap making practice under your belt.

Another possibility is the mold itself. I don't know how sturdy the tupperware container is but if its flexible in any way handling it may cause the top of the soap to crack as you move it before the soap has hardened. Just a thought.

In any event, it looks lovely. The cut up soaps look like brownies. I think once its cured you are going to love using it.

One more thing I would like to add about using honey. I used to pour it out onto a tablespoon but doing it that way its real easy to use way more than you think you are using. So I started pouring my honey into a small plastic microwaveable cup on top of my scale. That way I can get an exact weight. I don't use more than .5oz PPO. For a 3lb recipe I will use 1oz. I also take the honey in the cup and microwave blast it for about 15-20 seconds until its liquified. I then add it to my goat milk or liquid I have reserved to use in my soap. This way I can dilute the honey and add it at light trace. It works like a charm and slows the heating down a lot.
 
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Wow. Everyone has been really helpful. I think the soap will come out well. Your feedback has given me a but more confidence while waiting for it to cure. I think in the meantime, I'll try a smaller, simpler batch without honey or cocoa so to get a truer understanding of the oils and lye etc.
Thanks again everyone!
 
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