Cold process turns to mess - what might have happened?

[Raeyin]

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?

 

[AliOop]

The one thing I would say right off the bat is that this is way too much water for that batch.

I'm guessing that if you used a soap calculator, you had it set to "Water as a Percent of Oils." The default is 38%, which was originally intended for hot process soap, and would come out to approximately 12 oz of water - very close to what you used.

For cold process soap, normally one doesn't use more than 2x the weight of the lye in water; that would have been around 8 oz in your recipe.

In the future, try using the Water:Lye Ratio or Lye Concentration setting instead of Water as a Percent of OIls. The first two are pretty much the same thing expressed in two different way: a 2:1 water:lye ratio is going to be approximately a 33% lye concentration. Whichever of those two you choose to use, your results will be much more consistent, especially as you scale your batches up or down.

You might also try mixing some other oils with the RBO. If you have access to coconut oil or palm kernel oil, that will give you some more bubbles and cleansing, and will cut back on the slimey feel of 100% RBO soap.

As for this soap that you have now, if it isn't zappy, I personally would shred it up, throw it in a crock pot or oven dish, and rebatch it by melting it down and remolding it. That should help you get rid of some of the excess water, and homogenize the brittle parts with the gooey parts. The end soap won't be super pretty, but it will be usable, safe soap.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Was your lye freshly opened? If not, was it stored in a tightly closed container? Lye degrades when exposed to air. If the lye was clumpy in the container, it may have degraded. If that happened, the soap would have excess fat that did not saponify in addition to the high water content.

 

[Raeyin]

Yeah, that's how the soap calculator was set. I'll try the ratio.

I've considered lard, but I react to most of the recommended oils. My cousin, who shares the soaps, is quite allergic to coconut. She says I should try adding with felted wool to the finished product. She did a few, and I guess it worked, but neither of us have followed up.

Thanks for the advice on rebatching, too. I think I'll pick up some pH strips before trying to touch it, but then it sounds worth a shot.

Was your lye freshly opened? If not, was it stored in a tightly closed container? Lye degrades when exposed to air. If the lye was clumpy in the container, it may have degraded. If that happened, the soap would have excess fat that did not saponify in addition to the high water content.

It was at least a year old, but it was closed well and wasn't clumpy. Is there a way to check if it's still good?

 

[AliOop]

Don't waste your money with pH strips; they aren't reliable enough. Use the zap test instead. You can search this forum and read about how to do that safely, and get an immediate (and free) reading on whether your soap is lye-heavy.

I'm sorry to hear about the allergies. Can you use palm, palm kernel oil, cocoa butter, or shea butter? All of those could bring some nice qualities to your soap.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

If it isn’t clumpy, it’s probably fine. There are ways to test the purity of the lye, but imho it’s easier to buy more and use the old stuff as drain cleaner.

 

[Raeyin]

Of those, cocoa butter. It's nice and moisturizing, but my current recipe is just barely cleansing enough.

 

[AliOop]

Of those, cocoa butter. It's nice and moisturizing, but my current recipe is just barely cleansing enough.

Babassu or palm kernel would add some extra cleansing power, if either is available and your cousin doesn't cross-react to them.

But I'm curious: do you truly want a more cleansing feel to the soap, or are you just looking at the cleansing number in the soap calculator? Despite the calculator's recommendation, most soapers don't agree that 12-22 is a nice range for body soap; I'd say 8-15 is more reasonable. And even soap with a 0 cleansing number will actually get you clean, although perhaps not the squeaky clean feeling that you may be seeking. Everyone has different preferences so I don't want to assume.

 

[Raeyin]

She likes it like this. I'd keep it this strength for her.

I have oily, sensitive skin that can become dry in a heartbeat. I'd like a recipe that's more cleansing. I suspect that if I could reduce my skin oil, I'd like to have some cocoa butter in there.

 

[AliOop]

That's a tough skin combination you have going on. More cleansing will strip more oil from your skin - possibly leaving it dry.

Adding some form of sugar, such as table sugar, powdered sugar or milk, will boost up the bubbly factor and may help with getting the soap across your skin so you feel more clean. I know for me, high oleic soaps never make me feel clean because the lather is slimey. Bubbles help offset that feeling for me.

 

[Raeyin]

This recipe (previous batch) almost doesn't lather, but it cleans non-oily dirt off just fine. It takes a few extra seconds to rinse.

 

[rdc1978]

She likes it like this. I'd keep it this strength for her.

I have oily, sensitive skin that can become dry in a heartbeat. I'd like a recipe that's more cleansing. I suspect that if I could reduce my skin oil, I'd like to have some cocoa butter in there.

Have you ever thought about using your cocoa butter for a lotion bar? I have dry body skin and an oily face. My soaps don't dry me out, but other more mainstream soap can (my parents like Irish Spring). In that case I use the lotion bar as soon as I'm towel dried, but before I'm fully dried and it does the trick. I also use lotion bars because I handwash so often. As soon as I lightly dry my hands, I'll use the lotion bar and my skin feels good and no longer dry.

 

[Quanta]

Have you ever thought about using your cocoa butter for a lotion bar? I have dry body skin and an oily face. My soaps don't dry me out, but other more mainstream soap can (my parents like Irish Spring). In that case I use the lotion bar as soon as I'm towel dried, but before I'm fully dried and it does the trick. I also use lotion bars because I handwash so often. As soon as I lightly dry my hands, I'll use the lotion bar and my skin feels good and no longer dry.

I second that recommendation. I love cocoa butter in lotion bars. I like that it doesn't feel greasy. Mango butter is another nice one.