Why was my soap so soft?!

[Meldoesasoapy]

I've made this recipe many times. I soaped at about 100°F and poured at an early medium trace. The batch acted pretty fast but I just stirred all by hand so it was manageable.

I usually use this recipe in my bigger mold (about 45oz) and always hardens in the mold after gelling and I'm always impatient so sometimes I cut after only 16 hours and it's easy to get out and cut no problem.

This time, though, in the smaller mold, after 5 days I took it out and it was so sticky and gooey on the edges and bottom (but hard on top) and it pretty much ruined my loaf. It did gel and everything so I don't get why it was so soft? Can anyone help me??
Recipe photo attached. Yes I discounted my water to the 4.6oz. Didn't get a pic of the stickiness.

Oh and I also poured some into tiny succulent molds and they never really hardened. I had to destroy them all to get them out of the molds. Why didn't any of it harden until it was out of the molds:/

 

[lsg]

How old is the lye you used?

 

[Meldoesasoapy]

How old is the lye you used?

Only a could months old

 

[Nona'sFarm]

I put your recipe in a lye calculator to see it in terms that I am familiar with. It has 58% hard oils, about 3.5% SF, and 35.5% lye concentration. This looks fine.
Sometimes it's hard to diagnose what went wrong, especially if you've used this recipe before. The possibilities off the top of my head:
1) lye had absorbed water prior to use
2) accidentally mis-measured some ingredients
3) palm oil wasn't thoroughly melted and integrated before measuring

I would try it again, using new lye, etc.

 

[AliOop]

My condolences for the ruined soap; that is always a sad day.

For future, and especially with small intricate molds, put the soap in the freezer after it has gelled (or before, if you want to prevent gel).

After it has frozen, remove it and let it sit at room temp for about five minutes. It will then pop out of the mold very cleanly. It will soften again as it defrosts, but before it does, put it on your curing rack. It may take awhile but usually will harden eventually.

 

[Meldoesasoapy]

I put your recipe in a lye calculator to see it in terms that I am familiar with. It has 58% hard oils, about 3.5% SF, and 35.5% lye concentration. This looks fine.
Sometimes it's hard to diagnose what went wrong, especially if you've used this recipe before. The possibilities off the top of my head:
1) lye had absorbed water prior to use
2) accidentally mis-measured some ingredients
3) palm oil wasn't thoroughly melted and integrated before measuring

I would try it again, using new lye, etc.

Thanks! So frustrating when everything s e e m s right but went totally wrong!

 

[Meldoesasoapy]

My condolences for the ruined soap; that is always a sad day.

For future, and especially with small intricate molds, put the soap in the freezer after it has gelled (or before, if you want to prevent gel).

After it has frozen, remove it and let it sit at room temp for about five minutes. It will then pop out of the mold very cleanly. It will soften again as it defrosts, but before it does, put it on your curing rack. It may take awhile but usually will harden eventually.

That's a great idea for small molds because they always fail for me! I will definitely try freezing them after gel next time, thank you!