I made my first batch of soap yesterday morning and I've encountered a few issues already. My recipe was:
20 oz lard
5 oz olive oil
3 oz coconut oil
3.99 oz lye (run through SoapCalc at 5% SF)
1.0 oz atlas cedar essential oil
I used a stick blender to blend the oils and the lye water, and honestly given the static electricity, I'm sure less than 3.99 oz of lye ended up in the actual soap.
It smells AWESOME but when I unmolded and cut it this morning after 24 hours, it was crumbly. I used a putty knife to cut it. It wasn't "hard and crumbly," more like "soft and crumbly." The best analogy I can think of is cheesecake consistency, but a little more firm than that.
I know that crumbly soaps can be a sign of lye heaviness. Even though it's only been 24 hours, I zap tested it. I didn't get a strong zap, but there was a little tingle. I suppose this could be alkalinity, or could it be the cedarwood oil? (Full disclosure: I burned my tongue while making soup last night, so maybe I'm not a great zap tester right now!)
Is it too early to tell if there's a problem? Did I just cut it too soon?
20 oz lard
5 oz olive oil
3 oz coconut oil
3.99 oz lye (run through SoapCalc at 5% SF)
1.0 oz atlas cedar essential oil
I used a stick blender to blend the oils and the lye water, and honestly given the static electricity, I'm sure less than 3.99 oz of lye ended up in the actual soap.
It smells AWESOME but when I unmolded and cut it this morning after 24 hours, it was crumbly. I used a putty knife to cut it. It wasn't "hard and crumbly," more like "soft and crumbly." The best analogy I can think of is cheesecake consistency, but a little more firm than that.
I know that crumbly soaps can be a sign of lye heaviness. Even though it's only been 24 hours, I zap tested it. I didn't get a strong zap, but there was a little tingle. I suppose this could be alkalinity, or could it be the cedarwood oil? (Full disclosure: I burned my tongue while making soup last night, so maybe I'm not a great zap tester right now!)
Is it too early to tell if there's a problem? Did I just cut it too soon?
