Need some help troubleshooting

[pleiades]

I'm relatively new to making soap but I've successfully made 5 batches of soap and after curing for 6 weeks they have a ph of 8.5.

I've just made a new batch and it seems to have gone wrong but I'm not sure what is wrong and how to correct. Can anyone assist?

Recipe:
800g Olive Oil, 100g Coconut Oil, 100g Palm Oil, 135g lye mixed with 330g of previously boiled flat and cold beer.

I also added some cosmetic glitter and also some grapefruit essential oil (though I believe this isn't great for CP)

Problem:
24 hours later my soap is giving a ph of 11 and it is rather like butter at room temperature. I can squash it if I poke it.

I'm surprised at how soft it is as I've made a batch of 100% olive oil and it was much harder.

What has gone wrong? Is it my fluid content? And more importantly how to I rectify it. Will it harden with age or do I need to do something?

 

[judymoody]

Did your soap gel? Ungelled soap will take much longer to firm up.

Another possibility is that you mismeasured your water or used more proportionately than in your other soaps.

 

[pleiades]

Good Question. Possibly not, I remember thinking how strange that I couldn't feel any heat through the wooden mould. About 2 hours after pouring into the mould there was some warmth but nothing on the scale of my previous batches.

So should I just let it sit for a week before trying to cut? Would putting in my laundry room where I have a dehumidifier help or hinder the process?

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

My beer soaps gel without insulation, but I'm in Florida, so I never really have to worry about soaping "cold". Your measurements look right, unless it was a simple mistake while actually weighing it out. I'm with JudyMoody and the gel factor...leave them for a while, they will harden up. A dehumidifier is a good idea. No big deal, just a few more days of (anxiously) waiting :wink:

 

[pleiades]

Thanks, I'm in the UK and it's cold and humid at the moment.

I'm quite fussy about my measurements, I usually double check everything.

I read the beer was to be chilled to reduce risk of a 'volcano' but maybe under my atmospheric conditions, room temperature would have been sufficient.

The soap is too soft to cut, I'll wait it out and cut when I know it's not going to squash. I'm in no rush to use the soap.

Many thanks for the help. I now feel I can progress to trying other recipes.