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Cactuslily

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I have just re formulated my recipe to allow time to work the soap. Last night I made my first batch of it, and the good news was it soaped beautifully. It's not quite 24 hours, and I'm going to wait and check again in the morning, as it feels a bit soft yet. I made another batch today, and also soaped beautifully. My question, is in my previous soaps ( all 5 of them ) have heated during first several hours. These last two, while really workable haven't really heated as my previous soaps did. Is something wrong? Should I place a heating pad on low on the one I just made? I want it to gel. So. Did I do something wrong? I'm assuming it's normal to need more than 24 hours before unmolding since my OO is at 40% then again...I could definately be wrong. Advice? Wisdom?
 
I'm really glad your new recipe worked well for you! Still need a bit more info though. What type of mold is it in? Did you use any fragrance or other additives? What's in your recipe other than 40% OO?

My new favorite recipe has 50% soft oils (35% of that is OO) and 50% hard oils, poured into silicone log molds and 1.5% SL added to cooled lye water. I can usually unmold in about 16 hours. Depending on my FO, I may need to wrap in towels to gel or leave loosely covered to prevent over-heating. Lots of variables.
 
Last night I ised a 2.5lb silicone log mold.
Recipe is 40% OO
20% CO
8% castor
15% mango butter
5% grapeseed
12% sunflower
5% SF, full water. I used lavendar and cedar FO
Tonight I used same recipe just bigger. Sized for a 12" log mold and used NG's CK one FO
Is everything ok? Or if the fact that it's not heating ok. These are only my 6th and 7th soaps I've made. Thanks for taking time to help me Krista!
 
It doesn't have to get hot in order to saponify but there is a good chance it won't gel on its own. Have you tried CPOP yet? If your molds are safe at high temps, heat your over to 170* F turn it off then put your soap in the oven. Check it ever 30 minutes or so, once its fully gelled you can remove it.
 
Haven't needed to because my soaps always do that on their own, but these didn't heat so I was worried something went wrong. Isn't it supposed to get hot initially? Since these last two haven't I worried something was wrong.
 
I want to try CPOP though. How long does it take? Can I turn oven to 170, turn off and leave overnight?
 
Until you have done this a few times with the same recipe, I would probably babysit it to see what it does. Waking up to an explosion of soap in your oven would not be a good start to the day. My experience - CPOP time will vary 3-4 hrs average. Yes, heat the oven to 170 and turn it off when you put your soap in the oven. I love this method - I'm still tweaking almost every batch by 1-2% and I still check on it every 30 minutes. If you see cracks starting to form on the top, take it out of the oven immediately - sign of overheating. Put in the fridge or outside if it is cold enough. The only blessing of a cold winter in Indiana - I have a huge freezer - my garage.
 
Gelling can involve a number of factors. Soap temp, water percentage, additives, oils, FO's - basically everything. Kevin Dunn's Book Scientific Soapmaking is an excellent resource. I am still working my way through it, but he gives excellent info regarding gelling. HP or CPOP are the best ways I've found to ensure gel.
 
Cactuslily said:
Why isn't my soap heating though?
Click to expand...


Saponification creates heat and it also works faster with heat, so it builds on itself. If you are using a recipe that takes longer to react, I would think that the heat generated from the reaction is able to cool off more so the reaction can't build up like it did with the other recipes.
 
Cindy's advice is excellent - CPOP is probably the only way you'll ensure gel, you've got a lot of soft oils plus full water. When I use my 10" silicone log molds I have a hard time getting a full gel but in my 5 & 6 lb wood log molds it's no problem. I remember seeing a You Tube video at some point where she used the CPOP method. She put it into the preheated oven, turned off the heat then watched it (and filmed it) go through gel. As soon as the gel reached the edges, she took it out of the oven. It was pretty interesting to watch.

Ah! I found it. Here's the link to the video. Skip the first part of her measuring and mixing, and skip to about the 8 minute mark. She does a good job of filming the gel as it progresses. Good luck, Cactuslilly!
Edit: I just watched the end of the video. Ignore that. She uses pH test strips and says it's a good bar of soap in just a few days cure.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tmep-nTKx0[/ame]
 
Last edited:
It can also be affected by the temperature at which you are soaping. I for one will usually soap at room temp. So I insulate my soaps well to get the gel process started. However, if you are using just silicone it may need to be helped along a bit. Either with a heating pad or as others have suggested by doing CPOP though I've not had good luck with that process at all. Probably my oven.
 
If I soap low temps and the room is cold, it sometimes heats the next day...an entire 24 hours later! Different factors cause a delay of things. Saponification can start out slow and you don't feel the heat at first, and then speed up much later. If it does this, you most likely will need external heat like an oven or heating pad to help it gel. It's just different factors slowing the process I've found, and this exact thing has happened to me a couple times.
 
Lionprincess00, my soap did in fact heat up just much later. Since then I've made more soap. Haven't had the nerve to try CPOP, but I will. If my silicone molds are supported by a wooden box, can that go into the oven? I'd worry over time the wood would crack. The article on water discounts affecting gel and contributing to rivers etc was very interesting! I'm afraid to water discount quite yet as I'm new and don't want quick trace. Although, using high amounts of liquid oils may combat that? Not sure. Thanks for everyone's help. As always, what would I do withouth everyone? Hopefully, I can help others soon.
 
Thank you so much for the information :p
My oven only heats at 150 degrees F & then jumps to 175 degrees F. It's a convection oven. Will this work & at what temperature?
 

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