2nd post on crumbling soap...where am I going wrong?!

[SchenckOrchard]

Okay, so this is the third batch I have made that has crumbled upon cutting in to it.

I used the lye calculator from brambleberry with a 5% super fat
10 oz canola oil
12 oz coconut oil
16 oz palm oil

5.4 oz lye
12.54 oz water
.5 oz FO

Does anyone see where I am going wrong? I'm starting to think its the lye calculator since I used the same one on all three crumbled batches. This is getting to be really costly and frustrating!

 

[carebear]

did it gel? is it zapping?

 

[SchenckOrchard]

Yes, it gelled, it smells and looks great, its just when I go to cut in to it - it literally crumbles before my eyes.

 

[judymoody]

Could it have overheated? What kind of mold do you use? Do you insulate? CPOP? What fragrance? Any additives?

 

[SchenckOrchard]

Could it have overheated? What kind of mold do you use? Do you insulate? CPOP? What fragrance? Any additives?

I use a wooden box for my mold, which I insulate with two towels (but last night was pretty cold so I doubt overheating was the issue), I added a tbl of poppy seeds and some liquid colorants as well as french lavender FO. Any thoughts? The soap colorant is from a craft store FOR soaping.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

Colourants can change the texture of the soap.

i have heard of people using too much oxide and getting a crumbly batch.

I have found titanium dioxide does the same thing and ultra marines also change the feel.

How much are you using? Is it for CP soap or M&P?

 

[SchenckOrchard]

I just checked, the colorant is for M&P soap. I bet thats the reason. Aye ye ye.

Its a good thing I left the colorant out of the batch I just made...I had a sneaking suspicion thats what was making it crumble.

 

[carebear]

I don't think the colorant would cause it to crumble - usually MP colorants simply morph to a weird or non-color in CP if it's not stable but that's about it in MY experience.

But who knows?!? Looking forward to your results!

 

[southernvtsoap]

The only time I've had crumbly soap is when it has been lye heavy (salt soaps excluded). Are you sure your scale is calibrated? I once left out one of my oils and ended up with crumbly, lye heavy soap. Does it zap at all?

 

[ToniD]

I am sorry your soap is crumbly. I can't mention anything that others have not already done to help you prevent it, but since you mentioned the cost as well as the frustration, I will mention that there are things to do with crumbly soap if you determine it is safe. (lye heavy soap would be one reason to crumble)

You can sometimes rebatch it, Stir it into a new batch, use it as part of a scrub....are a few ways to redeem the cost.

Anyway, hope your next batch comes out!

 

[Moonblossom]

Using soapcalc with 5% superfat and your ingredients I get water should be 14.4 ounces but lye is the same. Might try soapcalc and see if that helps with crumbly soap I don't use BB site only soapcalc.

 

[SchenckOrchard]

Okay, just checked the batch I made yesterday using the MMS lye calculator and no colorant (other than comfrey leaf). Whaddaya know?! No crumbles!!! I'm sticking to that calculator in case the issue was heavy lye. Thanks for the input on the colorant issue, I'll make a tiny batch with colorant to see what happens, but I think for a little while I'm gonna stick with natural herbs as colors rather than the liquid colors. Thank you everyone for your input!