soap not setting up

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jbedaded

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I'm on my fourth batch of soap (so I'm still very much a novice). I tried swirling two colors together. I was so afraid of them getting too thick to swirl that I think I didn't stir them enough. Anyway, 48 hours later they are still not firm enough to remove from mold.

Do I just need more patience?
 
6 oz water
2.25 oz lye
10 oz olive oil
6 oz coconut oil
1 tbsp castor oil
scent and colorant
 
That's a very small batch. Did you mix the colors with water or oil? Possibly you added enough extra oil or water to slow down the firming-up process.

Where did you get your scent?
 
I quickly ran your recipe through Soapee to double-check.

PS - tablespoons and measuring cups should never be used for measuring your oils - grams and ounces are much more accurate.

Here's what I got:

61% OO (10oz)
36% CO (6oz)
3% Castor (.48oz)

5% Superfat (approx)
28% Lye Concentration

What kind of scent and colourant did you use and how much of it? That's also important information to have.

Here are my thoughts:

- You used a lot of olive oil, so that can keep your soap soft for much longer than a more balanced recipe with more hard oils (lard, palm, tallow, shea).

- You used a lot of water, so that can also contribute to slow hardening.
 
dixiedragon said:
That's a very small batch. Did you mix the colors with water or oil? Possibly you added enough extra oil or water to slow down the firming-up process.

Where did you get your scent?
Click to expand...
I only used on color, and I mixed it with oil, and deducted that oil from the total
 
toxikon said:
I quickly ran your recipe through Soapee to double-check.

PS - tablespoons and measuring cups should never be used for measuring your oils - grams and ounces are much more accurate.

Here's what I got:

61% OO (10oz)
36% CO (6oz)
3% Castor (.48oz)

5% Superfat (approx)
28% Lye Concentration

What kind of scent and colourant did you use and how much of it? That's also important information to have.

Here are my thoughts:

- You used a lot of olive oil, so that can keep your soap soft for much longer than a more balanced recipe with more hard oils (lard, palm, tallow, shea).

- You used a lot of water, so that can also contribute to slow hardening.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reply. The recipe was not mine--it was given in a handout from a soapmaking class which I took in April
fragrence was from brambleberry and I used about and ounce
purlple powdered colorant
 
The high % of olive oil combined with the full water amount looks to be the culprit to me, especially if it did not go through the gel stage. In my experience with making high OO soaps, it's best to use a water discount and to encourage full gel if you want to be able to unmold it any time soon. lol My first ever high OO soap took about a week to unmold- it was made with full water and did not go through gel.

Re: the colorant. Did I read you correctly that you used an ounce? If so, that may be a contributing factor, too. One ounce of colorant is an awful lot for only a 1lb. batch. For me, 1 teaspoon of colorant ppo is usually plenty enough, sometimes less.

Like Britannic and Dixie said- I would give it a few more days.


IrishLass :)
 
I would expect that to set up much faster with that much CO (36%) if you have mixed it to emulsion. I've made high OO soaps with less CO and still had it set up within a few hours in the summer sitting out on the counter not even insulated. So I'm thinking perhaps you are right that you may not have mixed it enough to reach trace.

If you reached emulsion, which is the least you want to reach before separating for colorants or putting it into the mold, you would no longer see any unmixed oils sitting on the top. Here is a video newbie made about how to see emulsion:

https://youtu.be/39pLHKMtN6o

If there is no separation in the mold, I think you just need more patience for it to set up and become ready for unmolding. What type of mold are you using and how is it stored? Did you cover, insulate, heat? How does it look? Can you post a picture?

Also I agree that one ounce of powdered colorant is rather a lot for such a small batch. What is it (oxide, mica, natural botanical powder)? Where did you get your colorant?
 
With such small amounts, the margin for error and the impact it can have is great. Over measure the oils and under measure the lye by a gram or two in a 500g batch isn't too bad, but in a tiny batch that is a massive difference. It could also be an issue here
 
It's also possible that this batch was on the cool side when you poured. Not sure what type of mold it is in, but you could warm your oven to between 100 and 120 F or so and put your soap in the oven. The heat will help move things along. Assuming the mold is oven safe.
 
so it's ok to leave it in the molds? There's no way I can remove the bars--they are mushy
 
So you used individual molds. If they are light plastic like Milky Way molds or the kind you can buy at JoAnn's in the soap section, they are not oven safe and you won't be able to put them in the oven (CPOP). Silicone molds can go into a low temp oven to help facilitate gel, which in turn allows you to un-mold sooner. Silicone molds are usually oven safe at low to moderate temperatures.

By mushy, do you mean it looks like mush (cereal - corn meal mush, etc.)? Or do you mean it feels soft to the touch, but looks more cohesive (custard like look would be cohesive, yet feel mushy if you you squeeze it.)
 
Thanks you to everyone who has replied--you have all been so helpful!
Most are in individual silicon molds. Two are in yogurt cups (an experiment)

Mushy in this context means very soft the the touch and surface appears cracked.

I will wait it out---it's all part of the learning curve i guess!

Thanks again for all your input--what a nice bunch of people on this forum!
 
IrishLass said:
Re: the colorant. Did I read you correctly that you used an ounce? If so, that may be a contributing factor, too. One ounce of colorant is an awful lot for only a 1lb. batch. For me, 1 teaspoon of colorant ppo is usually plenty enough, sometimes less.

Like Britannic and Dixie said- I would give it a few more days.
IrishLass :)
Click to expand...

Hi IL,
I think the OP used one ounce of FO and an unspecified amount of colourant mixed with oil from the batch. See post #7 and #8.
 
jbedaded said:
Thanks you to everyone who has replied--you have all been so helpful!
Most are in individual silicon molds. Two are in yogurt cups (an experiment)
Mushy in this context means very soft the the touch and surface appears cracked.
I will wait it out---it's all part of the learning curve i guess!
Click to expand...

Your soap will be fine, eventually. The cracks might just be the excess water escaping. Maybe next time up the lye concentration to 30 or higher using soap calc (easy to do, ask if you are not sure how) and you won't have to wait so long or get cracks.

As you can see soap is a bit temperamental and a problem mught be caused by a number of things.
 

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