Castile surprise

[Guspuppy]

So last night I made a 100% OO soap, 5% SF, 40% lye. Based on the bastile I had made over a month ago and which I had to freeze to even unmold after a week and could not cut for several more days, I fully expected this to take awhile to set up. This morning I looked at it in passing as I was inspecting my curing soaps. MUCH to my surprise it is already harder than the currently curing bastile! So I trepidaciously cut it, not knowing what to expect in the center, and it was hard all the way through!

Why??!!

Is it due to the 40% lye? (The bastile was made before I knew to change soapcalc's preset 38% water.)

Also, it broke along the bottom edges when I cut it - another thing that surprised me. I think that was because I had to use a butcher knife to get it into logs for my wire cutter, I had poured it into a 8"x8" box lined with freezer paper since I do not have a 2lb loaf mold yet.

I wanted a mild castile soap to give to my elderly aunts for Christmas so I sure hope it turns out well after the cure.

 

[Arthur Dent]

Interesting, but still pretty. What kind (brand) of OO did you use?

 

[KristaY]

Ya, the wedging action of the knife is the cuprit. Bummer too because that's beautiful soap! When that's happened to me I just bevel all the edges so they're uniform all the way around the bar then it looks like I did it on purpose, lol. I'm sure your aunts will love their Christmas gifts!

 

[madison]

I make my 100%OO soap with 50% lye solution. The last time I cut it after 26 hours and it was really hard, I couldn't stamp it.

 

[penelopejane]

So was it ok to cut with the wire cutter?

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Why??!!

Is it due to the 40% lye? (The bastile was made before I knew to change soapcalc's preset 38% water.)

Yes. The difference between 28% and 40% water represents weeks of drying time. Here's some more info.

http://cavemanchemistry.com/WaterDiscount-Dunn.pdf

 

[Guspuppy]

Interesting, but still pretty. What kind (brand) of OO did you use?

Just Walmart's 'Great Value' Classic OO

Ya, the wedging action of the knife is the cuprit. Bummer too because that's beautiful soap! When that's happened to me I just bevel all the edges so they're uniform all the way around the bar then it looks like I did it on purpose, lol. I'm sure your aunts will love their Christmas gifts!

Thanks!
I decided to cut the damaged parts off in thin slices. The bars were hefty enough (since there's no real good way to divide 8" evenly) that they could spare it and still be nice sized bars. Plus it gave me a small pile of perfectly sized test pieces !

Yes. The difference between 28% and 40% water represents weeks of drying time. Here's some more info.

http://cavemanchemistry.com/WaterDiscount-Dunn.pdf

That's fascinating. Makes me want to do everything at high lye! haha.

So was it ok to cut with the wire cutter?

It was but I still got a little of the 'not perfectly smooth' look on the wire cut sides.

 

[TeresaT]

Invest in a planer. When I first started soaping I couldn't figure out why everyone was so worried that their soaps weren't "perfect" because (1) it's hand made and not "supposed" to be perfect (2) it's just SOAP people, it's gonna get wet and melt.

I have learned. Yes. I am converted to the "pretty" soaps and my planer is my best friend. (As an aside, it also works when your pine tar soap is completely coated with soda ash and washing won't get it off. I thought my pine tar soap was just an odd color, then I really looked at it. Nope. Not an odd color at all. It's quite lovely after I took several layers off with the planer.)

I invested in the acrylic one from Soap Making Resource (it has built in bevelers as a bonus!) and am quite pleased with it. I believe IrishLass posted that she had one and really liked it, so based on that recommendation I bought one. It's a great tool.