Added a forgotten oil after pouring, not setting up

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

crafterlaughter

New Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hello!

I had success with my first 2 batches of CP soap and rushed a bit too much on this one and forgot one of the oils (yikes!) Here was the recipe:

Avocado Oil 180 gr. 6.35 oz. 20%
Coconut Oil 270 gr. 9.524 oz. 30%
Shea Butter 135 gr. 4.76 oz. 15%
Olive Oil 270 gr. 9.524 oz. 30%
Castor Oil 45 gr. 1.59 oz. 5%
Distilled Water 326.07 gr. 11.502 oz.
Lye 126.28 gr. 4.5 oz.

I had a nice thick trace and it looked like it was setting up nicely but I left out the avocado oil, and realized about half an hour after I poured, (AHHH!) so I dumped it back into the pot on the stove (it was a very thick pudding consistency at that point), slowly melted it just a bit, stirred in the correct amount of avocado oil, and stirred vigorously for a couple minutes (not with the stick blender) and poured it back in the mold. Seemed like the right consistency. It's been about 24 hours and it has not set up. It is still very thick pudding. Did I make a mistake by not blending the added avocado oil with the stick blender? It seemed nice and thick after mixing when I added it. Should I have heated up the avocado oil more before adding it to the mixture? Should I now melt it back down and blend some more? Or just wait it out.

Thanks for any advice!!
 
I would just dump it all in the crock pot and rebatch. Should not take long to melt if it hasn't set up.

Next time, clean off the whole counter where you will be soaping. Then pre-measure all your oils, Checking each one off as you measure, then highlight as you add to the pot of oils.(Or underline/circle/whatever will tell you it is in the pot.) Double check your surroundings and the list before adding the NaOH/water solution. And yes, you should have stick blended the oil in, or just made it an HP soap right then.

But we have all had this happen to us with one ingredient or another. This is why we develop habits like cleaning off the counter first, and checking and highlighting. So don't feel bad.
 
I came home today and it actually looks as if it has set up finally. It's a bit sticky to the mold around the sides, but the top is nice and hard and when I press into it with a finger it does not leave an indent, it's kind of like modeling clay now. Since it's so drastically different from the pudding it was yesterday and there seems to be hope, I will wait one more day to un mold it!

And yes! I will absolutely be crossing off from a list as I add my ingredients next time!

Thanks for the reply! :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top