Failed soap I need opinions

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Elias69

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Hello everybody!

I spent a lot of times going through this forum that is really helpful and I finally decided to sign up because I'm a bit new to soapmaking (1 month and a half). I already made 6 batches of soap that went out perfectly and I am truly satisfied with them. But here it is, my seventh batch is a fail (it had to happen i know lol).
The thing is, I don't really understand what went wrong as I did everything the same as I usually do and used the same recipe and ingredients as usual. Could you give me your opinions on why and what could have conducted to this fail please ? (Sorry for my poor english I am not a native speaker : P )

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Hi Elias, that nice big crack tells me your soap overheated.
Looks like it may have also caused some craziness with finished soap, but I can't tell enough from the picture. Have you cut it yet?

If you tell us your exact recipe, with weights, and any additives such as sugar, clay, and what kind of fragrance you used, that would help us troubleshoot.

Also, did you cover the soap? Gel in the oven?
 
I agree with the others. It looks like it overheated. If your ingredients and process were the same as your other batches and you used a fragrance oil that was new to you, that was probably the cause.

Your English is good, by the way, and welcome to the forum! :bunny:
 
Millie -> I actually did, I used a green tea fragrance. I usually use organic EO, could it bethe problem??
Lenarenee-> My recipe is the following 50% olive oil, 25% coconut oil, 10% castor oil 10% shea butter and 5% avocado butter. I used 3 grams of green oxide and actually totally forgot to superfat my soap this time to be honest. And i wrapped it with plastic film and wrapped it again in a towel.. And on top of that I live in a tropical country so I guess it didn't help lol. So I guess the problem is an overheat? I also never had those kind of stripes previously, as if the oils separated.. That is very disappointing because it smells very good though :)
 
It is probably not a failure just a little wonky. I fully agree that it overheated. If it is not leaking oil and does not zap in a couple of days it should be fine. Spicy, floral, and herbal fo's can tend to cause overheating. Also I find coconut fragrances to big heater uppers. This might be a fragrance that you will have to put in the freezer to stop the overheating or use it in a hot process soap. Welcome :bunny:
 
Thanks everybody for your fast answers! It's really helpful to get some help from experienced people :) So the solution might be to put it in the fridge right after poured it in the mold? And I'm also wonderingif you think that this soap can be caustic? As there are some kind of dots on it I thought it was lye that didn't fully melt
 
Your recipe looks nice! Yup, some fragrances cause trouble. But the cool thing is, you got glycerine rivers, those pretty stripes running through the green - I love those! You can test for excess lye with a zap test. There should be a thread about it in the 'stickies' in the beginner section. Welcome to the forum!
 
Those lines weren't part of your design plan? Then I'm a little worried about those lines; they could just be uncolored soap because the heat caused the colorant to move/separate. I would definitely zap test the dots you see, and also do a zap test from the line area of the soap to be sure there wasn't some lye separating out.

If you use that fragrance again, you definitely shouldn't insulate it. Keep a fan blowing on it. Also use a non-wooden mold if you have it.

It's a beautiful green color you have there!
 
Welcome Elias! :wave:

I agree with the others- your soap overheated. We all have that happen to us every now and then- usually due to sugars we may have added to our formulas, and/or to a fragrance oil and/or to over-insulating the soap mold.

Here are some things that help prevent over-heating:

1: Using a water discount, such as 1 part lye to 2 parts water (instead of a 'full-water' amount).

and/or

2) Not wrapping/insulating your mold.

and/or

3) Placing the soap in the refrigerator or a cooler/ice chest


Hopefully more will chime in with their tips.

Regarding whether it might be caustic: It's possible, but it's also just as possible the spots are harmless 'stearic spots' from the shea butter or from the avocado butter instead. I would wait a few days and then test for zap If your soap does not zap, the spots are more than likely harmless stearic spots.

Elias69 said:
I also never had those kind of stripes previously, as if the oils separated..
Click to expand...

Those stripes are actually what we call 'glycerin rivers' around here, even though their really not glycerin or rivers. Here is a good explanation of what causes them: http://auntieclaras.com/2014/05/glycerine-rivers-secret-revealed/


Hope that helps!
IrishLass :)
 
A beautiful example of glycerin rivers! Not that they're made of glycerin - it's just the name for the speckly river effect.

It's most obvious when oxides (like your green oxide, or titanium oxide for white) are used - they highlight the rivers so one part of the soap ends up with the colour and the other bit with none. Then you need to have used a fairly low lye concentration (so there is "free" water in the recipe), the soap gets hot enough to at least gel, and the soap is cooled slowly. And then, last but not least, the oils need to be of a mix that have acids that turn into soap at different speeds.

Take away any of those "ingredients", and you probably won't get rivers ... so without the heat, or at a higher lye concentration (less water), or without the colouring ... any of those and you would never have seen the rivers.

Do you know how hard I've been trying to make crackle that good? And you go and make those beauties on batch 7!
 
Last edited:
Thanks everybody for those precious informations!! So I'll probably try my next batch by cooling down the temperature of my oils and lye solution to room temperature as well as the fragrance. I personally like the way my soaps look after the gel phase so I don't wanna give up on it. I'll as well put less water in my lye solution, hopefully everything will go well. Should I still insulate my mold with plastic film? I'm then scared to go through a partial gel phase if I don't do it..
 

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