I tried making soap for the first time today with a start kit.

Hello people and sorry about the lengthy post in advance,

I am based in the UK and I got a starter kit online which supposedly include:
500g sunflower oil
100g shea butter
400 coconute oil
145g lye
some lemongrass oil and dried lavender buds
Plus a plastic mold and a pair of gloves.

I looked up other equipment and tools I needed to get and I got everything else apart from a stick blender as I wasn't sure if it could be used for food just in case I decide soap making isn't for me after making the first few batches.

Anyway so I had everything ready and when the kit arrived I started right away.

It was really odd, the instructions were very simple - chuck everything (all the oils) into a bowl and melt, then chuck all the lye in another container and add 250ml water. then mix using wooden spoon for 10 minutes and rest for 5 then repeat process til trace.

At the end, I measured all the ingredients as I put them in the bowl for melting, it turned out I only got:
117g shea butter
344g coconut oil (this was nasty to squirt out from a slippery hard plastic bottle)
493g sunflower oil

so I ran through a lye calculator and got about 135g of lye and 315g of water.

So everything went well til I started mixing. It took me over an hour using a wooden spoon to mix and then I gave up and used a two whisked hand blender (now they are soaking to clean.....) and still that took about 20 minutes til I saw the slightest 'trace'. I then popped mixture into the mold provided (which was too small) and another lined plastic container. It's been a few hours and they look like they are setting. One of them is going through gel phase (the bigger one) and the other isn't. It's quite interesting.

Is it normal or have I done something wrong during the process? When should I try popping it out of the mold and start the proper curing process?

Thanks.

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. Leave it settle overnight and see if you can unmold it in the morning.

Thank you. I couldn't resist the temptation so I went ahead and got a cheap stick blender. As I have lots of olive oil and would like to try to make castille soap. I read that this soap takes months to cure and it is very slow to trace, do you have any estimation of how long do I need to mix with a stick blender for the olive oil mixture to trace?

Thank you

Keep in mind when pouring oils out of one container to another you will lose some of the oil and would account for the weight difference. You would be surprised how many grams will stay in the original container, and why some kits come with extra oils

Olive oil takes a long time to trace, but not hours, with a stick blender (hand mixing is hours). I can't remember, I only made one batch of castile way back when I first got started, I think it was about 15 minutes - don't run your blender that long, do it in bursts or you'll burn the motor out!

Every time I've made castile, its only taken 5 minutes or so with the stick blender to reach trace. I don't let my lye mix cool at all though, as soon as its dissolved and goes clear, I add it to my room temp OO.

One thing in your first post stands out to me. You wrote "chuck the lye into a container then add the water", you should never, ever dump water onto lye, it can cause a severe eruption. Always add your lye into the water.

Yes yes indeed. I put lye into the water sorry!!!! I did take all safety precautions.


So why some people recommend we should wait til the oils and the lye mix to cool down below 130 and within 10 degrees difference of each other before we mix them together? What difference does it make?

The hotter your oils and lye, the quicker your soap will trace. Great for when making castile but not so great when you need a slow tracing soap for fancy designs. If too hot though, it can cause issues like burned additives, separation, over heating in the mold or even volcanoing. I prefere to get my temps under 130 unless I want it to trace slow, then I let them cool to room temp.
There really is no reason for your oils and lye to be within 10 degrees of each other. I'm not quite sure where that idea came from but its been proven not to be necessary. Some people even use hot lye solution to melt their solid oils.

Hey and welcome!

Wow, if every new soaper were as smart and on top of things as you were, we would no longer need much of a beginner section!

You did so much right! You weighed those oils, you ran it through a lye calculator when you had different results than what you knew to be the correct amounts! You stayed cool and worked through the process! Good job!

Temperatures don't matter much, I am one of those rebels that melt the solid oils with the hot lye water.

Thank you so much for all your advice, they do look like soap this morning I'll cut it later today or maybe tomorrow.

By the way, while they are curing, how vulnerable are they? I am flying long distance to visit family but the soap won't be done curing then, I am just wondering if I could still pack them up in a suitcase and take them with me while they are still not quite ready yet.

Thanks.

They should be okay - they should be soft enough that they don't break, but they might be soft enough to squidge. I sent some 2 week old soaps by post to the UK from here in Austria recently, so I think it'll be fine. Just remember to unwrap them at the other end so they can carry on curing.

The Efficacious Gentleman said:

They should be okay - they should be soft enough that they don't break, but they might be soft enough to squidge. I sent some 2 week old soaps by post to the UK from here in Austria recently, so I think it'll be fine. Just remember to unwrap them at the other end so they can carry on curing.

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Thanks, so I should wrap them up individually then pack them tightly(ish) in a hard box during the flight. I can do that yes.

I really ought to rename this thread to 'new to soap making, I have ten thousand questions'.

I have shipped uncured soap also. I wrapped each bar in a paper towel, then put the lot into a Ziploc bag. They arrived fine, and did not even have wrinkles from the paper towels. Even in summer with temperatures in the upper 90s.

Just keep asking your questions, because not only do you get your answers, others who won't ask get theirs.

Susie said:

I have shipped uncured soap also. I wrapped each bar in a paper towel, then put the lot into a Ziploc bag. They arrived fine, and did not even have wrinkles from the paper towels. Even in summer with temperatures in the upper 90s.

Just keep asking your questions, because not only do you get your answers, others who won't ask get theirs.

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Thank you ma'am. Well, if you put it this way...... Any tips re cutting and curing soap please??????

You can cut them with a knife or pasty scraper. I stunk at getting even bars even with a mitre box. But it served it's purpose when I first started. As for curing, I cure my soaps on metal shelving units lined with something to protect them from the metal unless it's stainless. After 4 weeks I move them into baseball card storage boxes or other boxes until I'm ready to wrap and label.

Congratulations on your first soap!!!!

I cut mine with a dough scraper or knife using a mitre box. But I suck at getting a straight cut otherwise. I cure my soap in those plastic rectangle baskets you can buy at the dollar stores for $1 for 3. They stack if you criss-cross them, and they get good air flow through them. I store in plastic shoes boxes or totes with holes drilled in the sides.

Thanks so much for all your help. They did turn out okay, well I will need a dough cutter but hey it looks like soap to me so meh.

Next up - Castille soap and shea butter moisturising soap.

You really can use a chef's knife to cut soap. It won't hurt the blade. I am just not the most coordinated person, and can't cut straight to save my life.

True Castile soap(100% OO) takes 6-12 months minimum to cure. Are you sure you want that kind of wait when you are a new soaper and will need to test your soap often to learn it's properties? I would not.

Shea butter can be lather limiting and cause drag in a soap. Be sure to research how much to use before making a batch.

Congrats on your soap!! I can't wait to hear how your castile soap turns out!