Can someone tell me what just happened?

[elenmirie]

Hi all! I just made my first batch of soap, and while I'm happy (so far) with the result, I'm not quite sure what I did.

A summary:

I did a recipe based on one in a book and using soapcalc (having tried several online calculators this one seemed most useful to me.) Weighed all the ingredients twice (obsessively!) I melted the oils in a stainless steel pot (including a small amount of beeswax that I included because I read that it would make it easier to achieve trace) and then added the lye solution. I was mixing by hand (using a stainless steel spoon and a balloon whisk).

Everything was going well and I decided (having never done this before) that it was at trace; at this point I added the essential oils for fragrance. Still everything was ok, and then it went strange and started behaving a bit like oatmeal in a pool of oil.

I poured into the molds anyway (remember I don't know what the heck I'm doing) and then spent the next 90 minutes staring at it and trying to convince myself that it looked kind of like one of the pictures in a book (still think it does...)

But at that point it was still looking like oily oatmeal, and I panicked and dumped it all back into the pan. At the point when I dumped it back, the outer edges were more or less solid, and the middles were starting to set (I think) but still a bit liquidy.

I melted everything down again, whisked it soundly and at that point, it started looking like a nice sourdough bread dough when it's just about ready (if that means anything to anyone!) I repoured into the molds and it looked for all the world like potato mash. Definitely not the oatmeal mush in oil anymore.

Then it went into gel phase (textbook style) and two days later when I cut it, it was gorgeous. It's curing now but I've tried some and although it's slightly harsh, it is already usable.

So what did I do? Did I panic too soon or was that the right thing to do?

Any advice would be appreciated... :shock: :wink:

~ elenmirie ~

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing!

 

[Hazel]

I want to emphasize I'm not an expert but it sounds like the batch started to rice on you and then separate a bit - maybe a false trace. It doesn't sound like it achieved a true trace.

melted everything down again, whisked it soundly and at that point, it started looking like a nice sourdough bread dough when it's just about ready (if that means anything to anyone!) I repoured into the molds and it looked for all the world like potato mash. Definitely not the oatmeal mush in oil anymore.

Basically what you saw occurring was cooking (hot processing) your soap. It's fine. Whenever I do hot process, the soap always looks like lumpy mashed potatoes. Generally, I cook it long enough so it goes through a gel phase in the crockpot.

I think you did the right thing. I'm glad you were able to save the batch.

 

[cmzaha]

What EO's were you using. If you know what temp you were soaping at you should take notes and what eo or fragrances you were using, I have personally that to hot soaping can cause rice problems. I personally have not had EO rice although some such as clove will accelerate trace. In a case like the seperation if you have a stick blender it is your best friend. Fragrance oils can certainly cause ricing, but if that happens just keep beating it into submission. We poured in a mold in that state if will never set. You certainly did right by hot processing it at that point. Good Save! Wait till you get soap on a stick that is less fun than ricing!!
Carolyn Z
czwickandsuds.com

 

[elenmirie]

Thanks all. "ricing" sounds a very descriptive word to describe what I got.

I said damp oatmeal in oil, it could have been damp rice in oil as well!

The EO's were lavender, ylang ylang and sandalwood, and I also added some tincture of benzoin. (proportions were tinc of benz/sandalwood 2: lavender/ylang ylang 3)

Your comments have illuminated things a bit... I think I may have kept the temp too high after adding lye solution to the oils (I wasn't measuring the temperature, slap on wrist for me then.) Maybe that's what made it go into that strange state. Also, Carolyn Z's comment indicated that what I did to rescue was actually hot processing; I thought it might be but wasn't sure!!! Was thinking later that the behaviour was a lot like taffy, which is what they say in books about hot processing.

The soap is doing well and looks great - I hope in a few weeks time it will become milder on the skin and I can start inflicting it on my test group... I mean friends and family. :twisted:

Blessed be!

~ elenmirie ~

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing!

 

[dieSpinne]

it definitely sounds like ricing. On a separate note, tinctures are usually alcohol based and alcohol can do some very strange things when added to raw soap... often called "seizing", it essentially accelerates trace to the point where the soap all sets at once, while still in the bowl... sometimes with the whisk or stick-blender still in it; this is the "soap on a stick" mentioned earlier.

You did things correctly by returning the whole batch to the pot and cooking it until it was smooth again.

One thing to do, though, that I didn't see you mention, is to do a pH test of some sort to make sure that the lye is completely used up, either with pH test paper (expensive , but gives more accurate results) or primitively with the "zap test", by touching just the edge of a bar to just the tip of your tongue... if the lye is still active you will get a zing like you would if you licked a battery. If you get no zing, then the soap is said to be "tongue neutral" and is safe to use.

Though your soap may be tongue neutral, it would still benefit from a good 4 weeks of cure time. During the cure, the soap chemistry stabilizes and a lot of excess water is shed and the bars harden. The lather gets better and the soap gets milder. A number of different studies suggest that, unless your soap is primarily Olive Oil, 4 weeks is a good minimum cure and 4 months is about the time where improvements to the bar start to taper off over time. Your bars at this point are likely to be as good as they are going to get. With olive oil, multiply these numbers by ~4 (ie, a good minimum cure for pure castile is about 4 months and it reaches its best at a little over a year.)