am i ever going to get this right?

[Brandica2013]

Frustrated my CP soap I Made looks so pretty and smells so great but is really soft & has been in mold a little less then 3 days. My husband & I un-molded really carefully and have not cut it,we are seeing if maybe we can get some air flow around it....every thing in the soap-making process went so well. This is so frustrating. Don't get it??

 

[three_little_fishes]

Could you post your recipe? I'm sure some of the long time soap makers here could help you out! Keep at it though. You'll figure it all out!

 

[soapguy]

It might be due to the oils you used, the quantity of lye or the amount of water used. Post your formula.

 

[VanessaP]

It could be a lot of soft oils, it could be ungelled, it could be a full water amount. There's lots of factors involved

 

[misskat22]

Just leaving it out it should harden, that's part of what happens during cure which is why it's so important to give your soap a proper cure.

 

[Brandica2013]

Could you post your recipe? I'm sure some of the long time soap makers here could help you out! Keep at it though. You'll figure it all out!

~OK so I posted a recipe from my e-book from BB one day and was trying to figure out something with weighing on a scale and i did run this through a couple Lye calc and it was the same and a lady said from this forum named DeeAnna said it was 2 much Lye and re-did it for me so I used hers....
My recipe:
Your recipe with my comments:
16 oz Coconut (with this much CO, this may be drying to the skin -- but it will work)
16 oz Palm
16 oz Olive Oil
2 oz Castor Oil
13 - 19 oz Water (measured by volume)
7.4 oz Lye (measured by weight)

Her recipe:
Coconut 16 ounces weight = 454 grams
Palm 16 ounces weight = 454 grams
Olive 16 ounces weight = 454 grams
Castor 2 ounces weight = 57 grams
Lye 5.4 ounces weight = 155 grams
Water 14 ounces weight = 398 grams

of course she said run through a soap calc but did not come out right the 1st one did...i figured since she was more advanced that she knew more..so i made it thinking maybe she superfated......
here is my post if you want to see. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f34/help-please-34387/

my soap is getting a little harder today but still afraid i did not use enough lye

 

[soapguy]

Don't know your amounts are correct or near correct. though water should have been at 17 oz.

 

[Ann Marie]

The lye should been around 7 and the water between 13 and 19 depending on how much you wanted to superfat. It looks like a great recipe but I think the lye/water is off. Don't give up on the recipe, try the first one you posted and it should work out as a great soap.

 

[Brandica2013]

Don't know your amounts are correct or near correct. though water should have been at 17 oz.

on the second recipe?Thanks

 

[new12soap]

I am afraid you did not use enough lye. I went up to a 10% SF which is pretty high and I still only got it down to 6.8oz of lye. So this batch is really really superfatted. I have never superfatted that high on anything other than a 100% coconut oil soap, so I don't know how much that would contribute to your still-soft issue.

Your water amount is fine, based on a 33% solution that is correct.

 

[Brandica2013]

The lye should been around 7 and the water between 13 and 19 depending on how much you wanted to superfat. It looks like a great recipe but I think the lye/water is off. Don't give up on the recipe, try the first one you posted and it should work out as a great soap.

Thanks Ann Marie i used the 1st one before (on my 1st cp ever)cause i love BB & ordered the kit & my Ph was high so it seems their was something wrong with our scale so that's why i questioned myself in the 1st place and switched up. It was all so confusing to me but im starting to get what im doing right and wrong. In your opinion should i just toss this batch since my lye/water is off?Thanks again.

 

[soapguy]

on the following;
16 oz Coconut (with this much CO, this may be drying to the skin -- but it will work)
16 oz Palm
16 oz Olive Oil
2 oz Castor Oil
13 - 19 oz Water (measured by volume)
7.17 oz Lye (measured by weight)


I use soapmaker3 and with a 5% lye discount it would have been 7.17 lye and about 17.6 oz of H20

 

[Brandica2013]

I am afraid you did not use enough lye. I went up to a 10% SF which is pretty high and I still only got it down to 6.8oz of lye. So this batch is really really superfatted. I have never superfatted that high on anything other than a 100% coconut oil soap, so I don't know how much that would contribute to your still-soft issue.

Your water amount is fine, based on a 33% solution that is correct.

Yeah 10% is way 2 high id normally would want to only do 5% SF right?..UGH another wasted batch of really expensive stuff..

 

[pamielynn]

My recipe:
Your recipe with my comments:
16 oz Coconut (with this much CO, this may be drying to the skin -- but it will work)
16 oz Palm
16 oz Olive Oil
2 oz Castor Oil
13 - 19 oz Water (measured by volume) Full water would be 19 oz
7.4 oz Lye (measured by weight) For a 5% lye discount, it should be 7.2 oz of sodium hydroxide. (7.4 will give you a 2-3% discount; too low IMO)

This recipe makes a batch of 50 oz of oils - yes? The amount of water used will not affect superfatting (your lye discount)
Another thought - did you reach trace? Sometimes a batch may not come together correctly if it wasn't stirred completely. You've got nothing to lose by letting it hang out and see what happens. If it turns out not to be lye-heavy, you can use it.

 

[VanessaP]

Yeah 10% is way 2 high id normally would want to only do 5% SF right?..UGH another wasted batch of really expensive stuff..

Not necessarily. 100% coconut oil bars are routinely superfatted at 15-20% to help counteract the stripping effect of all that coconut oil. When I use 50% coconut, I superfat at 10%, regardless of any other oils I use in the formula.

My usual superfat is 7% to 9%. Everyone's skin is different. I know several soapers who live in the Southwest deserts and since its so dry there, they have to use a higher superfat. I live in a more humid climate so I don't HAVE to but it feels nicer to me. You just need to find a good balance for a good recipe AND the superfat level that works for you. new12soap used to stick to 2% and 3% superfat for her bar soap and she liked it.

ETA: But yes, 5.4oz of lye is a 30% superfat. Left alone, it will not harden enough to be usable with that much of a superfat. Best you could do is take the difference in lye, dissolve it in the same amount of water for a 50% strength lye solution, melt down this soap in a pot in the oven or in a crock pot and add the rest of the lye and let it cook. Rebatching isn't hard, per se, its just a hassle of fixing a batch.

 

[Brandica2013]

My recipe:
Your recipe with my comments:
16 oz Coconut (with this much CO, this may be drying to the skin -- but it will work)
16 oz Palm
16 oz Olive Oil
2 oz Castor Oil
13 - 19 oz Water (measured by volume) Full water would be 19 oz
7.4 oz Lye (measured by weight) For a 5% lye discount, it should be 7.2 oz of sodium hydroxide. (7.4 will give you a 2-3% discount; too low IMO)

This recipe makes a batch of 50 oz of oils - yes? The amount of water used will not affect superfatting (your lye discount)

yes,but i ended up using the second recipe not this one..im pretty sure not enough lye its harden alittle but still soft...

 

[Brandica2013]

Not necessarily. 100% coconut oil bars are routinely superfatted at 15-20% to help counteract the stripping effect of all that coconut oil. When I use 50% coconut, I superfat at 10%, regardless of any other oils I use in the formula.

My usual superfat is 7% to 9%. Everyone's skin is different. I know several soapers who live in the Southwest deserts and since its so dry there, they have to use a higher superfat. I live in a more humid climate so I don't HAVE to but it feels nicer to me. You just need to find a good balance for a good recipe AND the superfat level that works for you. new12soap used to stick to 2% and 3% superfat for her bar soap and she liked it.

~so in your opinion did i use not enough Lye. Its still soft but def has hardened up a bit?? Do you think i should just toss it?Thanks.....Her recipe:
Coconut 16 ounces weight = 454 grams
Palm 16 ounces weight = 454 grams
Olive 16 ounces weight = 454 grams
Castor 2 ounces weight = 57 grams
Lye 5.4 ounces weight = 155 grams
Water 14 ounces weight = 398 grams

 

[VanessaP]

You don't have to toss it. If you have a crock pot or a stainless steel stock pot that you can bum, you can chunk up this soap into the pot, turn on the heat and let this soap melt back down. While its melting, take the difference in the lye amounts and mix it with at least an equal amount of water to make sure its dissolved and then add it to the soap and mix it in and let it cook. Its like doing hot process soap except you're starting with semi-soap to begin with

So the original formula called for 7.4oz and the secondary formula said 5.4 oz. I would do 1.9oz lye and dissolve in at least 1.9 if not 2oz of water then add that to the melted down soap. Yes, it will have just about the full water amount in it so it might just take a few extra days to start to feel dry and start to really harden, but its way better than tossing the whole batch

 

[mel z]

Found this info, but it is the same as everyone here, except you can wait up to 2 weeks:

My Cold Process Soap is remaining slimy, spongy and soft several days after pouring!

The recipe you used has too much water or unsaturated oils, or too little lye. Wait for a couple of weeks and check the soap at this time. If your cold process soap has become harder (even if it is still not hard enough) and the surface is dry, you should be able to use it after a longer curing time.

If however, the soap is still spongy and slimy after 2 weeks, chances are there was too little lye, and you might want to reclaim it with hand-milling and rebatching.

http://www.soap-body-and-spa.com/Cold-Process-Soap-Troubleshooting.html

 

[soapguy]

it has just been one day. You should do nothing and if it does not harden in 3 days then consider rebatching.