Gelling

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dubnica

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SoI made 3 batches of soap yesterday and I put 2 of them into the fridge and I left out, not covered with blankets, only with a lid(wood log). All 3 gelled. What gives? I hate this. Is this because of the ingredients? I used recipe from Millers website - 50% Crisco, 24% canola, 21% OO ans 5% castor. I never made this recipe before and I think its because of the high % of Crisco?? All of these logs looked sooo good before I cut them...grrrrrrr
 
I feel for you. I think the whole, to gel or not to gel, issue has been my biggest problem. I haven't used crisco before so can't say, just wanted to sympathize with you. I had one gel on me last week after it went directly into the fridge, almost right before my eyes. It had honey in it though, so if you used any honey or sugar or milk that could have been it. Oh, also I read that the wood molds aren't the best for not gelling in the fridge because they hold heat more. So, maybe it was your molds.
 
Do you mean gel or partial gel?
count your blessings? at least it wasn't partial gel?

I've given up on trying to keep soap from gelling. I always get at least partial gel, which is more irritating to me than ... almost anything.

Don't know what temp you soaped at but try room temp and then refrigerate, that's my best suggestion.
 
Dubnica,

What were your starting temps and how thickly did you trace? Your oils are mostly 'soft' oils, with the exception of the Crisco because it is part Palm oil - even then it is not what I would personally call a 'hard' oil. Usually it is the 'hard' oils that get a little bonkers in the temperature department.

My advice:

1. Soap cool - Make your lye water ahead of time and let it cool to room temp. Then melt your crisco over low heat until it just goes from cloudy to clear. Add that to the other oils (which are at room temp and have NOT been heated).

2. Thin trace - the thicker you trace, the faster you get the reaction happening, the hotter it is going to get. Just be careful you don't get a false trace or tooo thin of a trace or you may get a separating, oily, caustic mess.

3. Pre-freeze your molds if they are wood. PrairieCraft hit the nail on the head - wood is an extremely good insulator, so it will keep the heat in that is generated during saponification. Line your molds and put them in the freezer for a full 2 hours before you soap.

4. Freeze first, then fridge. Cover your soap *only* with plastic wrap or freezer paper - NO lids. Put them in the freezer for an hour (or two!!), then move to the fridge overnight.

5. Let the soapsicles thaw completely on the counter before unmolding - you don't want to have condensation on your new soap! Note this will take about half a day.

6. Be aware that your ungelled soaps are going to be much softer at first.

Better luck on the next batch!
-Chris
 
Sometimes it can be pretty hard to not gel. Slab molds or individual cavity molds tend to help with not gelling. Log molds are hard because they insulate well usually resulting in a partial gel.

Like Tasha said, room temp, soap cooler.

I personally only gel my soaps. I don't like ungelled soap at all.
 
Yes this was partial gell - in the middle. I mostly want to avoid gelling because I want to preserve nice colors and gelling ruins colors sometimes. I combined the oils and lye at room tempreture and left it in the fridge overnight, covered with saran wrap only. Next I will try freezer or I will go the oposite and stick it in the oven at 170 for 2 hours. My first batch was 70% OO and I put it in the oven for 2 hours at 170 and turned out perfect! I did not use any coloring or FO though....
 
Using less water, as low as a 40% to 50% solution will help avoid gel.

Low water soaping can be tricky, but it is effective.
You'll need to have a good understanding of your oils, previously tested FO/EO that you know will not accelerate. Of course, have your area prepped, all ingredients at room temp or cooler and your mold ready.

As added insurance be prepared for the tea cup solution. Boil a pot of water, set aside the amount of water you would have used if you were using full water. If your batch starts to seize, add in the boiling water. Your soap will likely gel, but at least it will be saved.

If your low water batch is successful and you didn't need to add the hot water, then make yourself a nice cup of tea and relax a bit.
 
I posted this question on another subject then I saw this one...

What is not gelling?? I thought that CP soap had to gel in order to saponify?
And where would I find the directions to do this??

I know I am very curious :)) but soaping is so cool!!!
 
I have been playing a lot with gelling and not gelling portions of the same batch and have posted pics in the photo gallery of the difference it makes in the appearance of the soap.

Not gelling is soaping at room temp. and then putting the mold into the freezer or fridge long enough to prevent gel. I try to do freezer for a couple hours then fridge overnight. I guess it does not have to gel to saponify but in my limited experience it does stay softer longer and you usually can't unmold as soon. I have had a couple ungelled soaps that unmolded fine in less than 24 hrs though, so who knows with this soap stuff. Every different formula is like starting all over again, as far as what you think you know.

So all you have to do to not gel is soap with room temp. lye and oils then stick it in the freezer. I have heard that wood molds are too insulating to get good results with this method.

HTH
 
SoaperBee said:
What is not gelling??...

Yeah I just replied to your other post with some answers but I should have mentioned that there may be other obstacles other than what I mentioned.

I frankly prefer to NOT gel my soap and I seem to have very good luck with that. But I mostly use PVC pipe as my soap molds and I pre-chill it in the fridge. So heavier wood molds may be more insulating than my PVC.

When I DO want to gel (like when working with floral FO's or I just want a dark color) then I usually avoid the hassle and HP. That way I know I won't get partial gel and won't have to worry about accelerated trace and rushing to pour it into the mold etc.
 
My partially gelled soaps are actually getting better. I will post pictures later tonight. Next time is FREEZER time for my soap! I also think that I should stick with one recipe and stick with it. At least for now.
 
here are the pictures of partially gelled soap



this is lemon verbena, it is not too bad and its getting better every day.




This is Aqua mica, Eucalyptus Fo.



I did not have chance to make any good swirls, because it got thick veeery fast.
 
dubnica said:
here are the pictures of partially gelled soap

This is Aqua mica, Eucalyptus Fo.

I had one last week that looked like your aqua one. It was Pink Peony liquid color from Oregon Trails. Within 24 hours of cutting the color was competely uniform. Now I'm not sure it was even partial gel; maybe it was an oxidation effect of the color instead. Wish I'd have taken photos. BTW, I really like the last one you said you had trouble swirling. It looks like Italian marble. Beautiful!
 
dubnica said:
This is Aqua mica, Eucalyptus Fo.


I really like this green soap - you used mica as your colorant? I did not know you could use micas in CP soap - still learning here! I thought that they bleed.?
 
LisaNY said:
I really like this green soap - you used mica as your colorant? I did not know you could use micas in CP soap - still learning here! I thought that they bleed.?

Lisa,

Micas belong to a family of colorants called Pigments. Other members of that family are Lakes, Oxides, and Ultramarines. As a general rule, pigment colorants are non-bleeding. You do need to check, however, that your colorant is stable in a high pH environment, otherwise you could get morphing or fading. Good manufacturers will supply this information. A example would be the POP! Micas from TKB Trading. To my knowledge, the only one that isn't stable is Strawberry (which morphs to a shade of orange in CP).
 
LisaNY said:
dubnica said:
This is Aqua mica, Eucalyptus Fo.


I really like this green soap - you used mica as your colorant? I did not know you could use micas in CP soap - still learning here! I thought that they bleed.?

For the GREEN SOAP I used Aqua mica from TKB, for the yellow/purple I used grape POP and True yellow POP from TKB also.
 
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