Hi, I'm hoping that someone with more experience knows what went wrong with my cold process soap. I'm not extremely experienced, but I have made cold process soap a few times.
I've used this recipe before with success. It has 2 lb rice bran oil, 12.16 ounces (by weight) of water, 4.16 ounces lye, and 1.20 ounces (by weight) orange essential oil. Yes, I do measure that carefully; 4.16 ounces means 4.16 ounces.
While I was making the soap, it took a long time to reach light trace. I'm used to it getting there in maybe two minutes. This must have taken more than five. Then, it was the wrong color and had some bubbles.
I didn't turn the soap out of the molds on time. I usually try to turn it out after two or three days, and it was a week before I got it done. I don't think that that's the problem because it's usually solid when I turn it out.
At one week, I removed soap from molds to find a gooey mess. The tops are solid but brittle. Are these salvageable? Would they be saponified, or might they burn my fingers? What might have been my mistake?
I've used this recipe before with success. It has 2 lb rice bran oil, 12.16 ounces (by weight) of water, 4.16 ounces lye, and 1.20 ounces (by weight) orange essential oil. Yes, I do measure that carefully; 4.16 ounces means 4.16 ounces.
While I was making the soap, it took a long time to reach light trace. I'm used to it getting there in maybe two minutes. This must have taken more than five. Then, it was the wrong color and had some bubbles.
I didn't turn the soap out of the molds on time. I usually try to turn it out after two or three days, and it was a week before I got it done. I don't think that that's the problem because it's usually solid when I turn it out.
At one week, I removed soap from molds to find a gooey mess. The tops are solid but brittle. Are these salvageable? Would they be saponified, or might they burn my fingers? What might have been my mistake?