beginner advice

[Ralph]

Hi.
I've been dabbling in CP soap making for a few months now. I've made a few batches. All seem ok. However, made a batch recently and although it has cured to a hard bar, when I get it wet it seems to melt very quickly. A slime seems to cover it. I did put rather a lot of coloured oxide mixed with oil in. And a lot of essential orange oil. It also has coffee grounds in it. It's been curing for about 4 weeks. Any ideas why it's so soft?

Thanks.

 

[rparrny]

What other oils are in it and in what percentages?

 

[Ralph]

Hi. Olive, shea, palm, coconut. At 5%.

 

[KristaMarie]

Hi Ralph! It would help if you could post your entire recipe, including amounts of each oil, water, lye, and additives

 

[Sonya-m]

What % of each oil to make the full 100%

 

[Ralph]

Ok. It was a recipe from the Internet.
135g shea
180g coconut
360g olive
135g palm
267g water
111.6g lye

I just add essential oil willy nilly....well, as much as I think will be enough to make it smell nice. Maybe my lack of accuracy in this area is the problem. Hasn't been before though.

 

[KristaMarie]

I would think the only "problem" is the high amount of olive oil. The lye and water amounts look fine. Nearly half of your recipe is olive and that can contribute to some slime. Nothing that can't be fixed by a longer cure!

I do recommend you start measuring your EOs though!

 

[Ralph]

Ok. Thanks Krista. Looking at the other cured bars, there's a 'film' over them. And your finger leaves a mark on them. Kind of like when you rub a steamed up mirror. I guess I'll leave them a bit longer to dry out.

 

[Stacy]

I would think the only "problem" is the high amount of olive oil. The lye and water amounts look fine. Nearly half of your recipe is olive and that can contribute to some slime. Nothing that can't be fixed by a longer cure!

I do recommend you start measuring your EOs though!

Hi Ralph, and I completely second this. When you nail a recipe and want to remake it, you'll be thankful you did!

On the other side, some EOs can be downright nasty if you use too much.

 

[lenarenee]

So it sounds like you have two issues....one is the fast melting and slime feel to the soap when you use it, the second is that you have some cured, unused soap that has a film on it - is that right?

The dry, cured soap....is the film white, powdery or moldy looking? That could be ash, which is only a cosmetic problem and not an indicator of bad quality or process. Or is the film more like liquid? Do you life in an area with high humidity?

By the way, a high olive oil soap benefits from a much longer cure time. I stopped using olive oil because of that. Let the bars cure for at least a couple more months (longer if you have the patience) and you'll see a difference.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Also, make sure that the soap can dry nicely tween uses - don't leave it wallowing in a puddle of water or it will be used up so much faster

 

[IrishLass]

I'm going to be the odd one out and say that I think your recipe looks pretty nice (especially when I look at the fatty acid profile), and kinda luxurious with all that lovely shea in there.

With only 44% OO, that soap shouldn't be putting out too much slime, but then again, such things are very subjective- i.e., one person's perception of 'slime', or even 'lots of slime' can be very different from another's. For what it's worth, one of my main formulas uses 50% OO and I don't find it slimy at all. But then again, that's just me.

Now, my 100% OO soap....well that is a whole different story (think Cujo, if you are familiar with that movie from '83 about the rabid dog dripping slimy saliva everywhere). The slime on my 100% OO soap is pretty much like that. lol

In any case, it looks like you used quite a bit more water to make your soap than I would have used. This is just me, but if it had been me making the soap, I would have only used 225 grams of water (a 33% lye concentration) instead of 267g (a 29.35 lye concentration). The amount you used is considered in the realm of a 'full water' amount, which can make for a softer soap at un-molding time (but it will cure out hard).

If your soap has cured for a minimum of 4 weeks but it is still soft and seems to be melting faster than your other batches, I'm going to point the finger at the most obvious problematic things that stick out to me: the amount of extra oil you used for mixing your oxides (what kind of oil was it, and how much did you use?), and the large, but unknown amount of orange EO you added.

The generally accepted maximum rate for EOs in soap is 3% (in weight) of the weight of your oil amount (for FOs it's generally a 6% maximum). I understand the desire to end up with a soap that has a wonderful scent-throw, but it's really best to stick to the recommended amounts if you want to avoid problems in the soap. And as then others have said- it's always best to weigh them.

I agree with Lenarenee that the white film is most likely harmless ash. Ash happens to all of us at one time or another. You can just wash it off under water.


ETA: Welcome to the forum! :wave:


IrishLass

 

[Susie]

Hey Ralph! Welcome to the forum!

Here is a nice lye calculator that is really user friendly: http://soapee.com/calculator

You need to run every recipe through a good, reliable lye calculator, no matter where you got it from. Typos happen, and people make mistakes. You need to not waste good resources or endanger your skin by making soap without double checking it first.

 

[Ralph]

Many thanks for all the helpful replies and suggestions. I think as we had quite a wet summer here it was particularly humid. Especially as the soap is curing near the kitchen. I did mix in rather too much oxide in olive oil because I couldn't get the shade of orange I was after. Probably more than the recommended 3% EO and finally I think I'll leave it a bit longer. Great forum though. Well done everyone! Lots of bedtime reading to do now though. :think:

 

[Ralph]

(think Cujo, if you are familiar with that movie from '83 about the rabid dog dripping slimy saliva everywhere).
IrishLass

I had nightmares about that film when I watched it as a child! Now I'm going to have to sleep with the lights on again!