I am a bit baffled. I can obtain a emulsion without stick blending. Just add the lye water to the oils and stir with a silicone spatula for a minute. As a matter of fact, if I stick blend, I obtain a trace with only a couple of seconds of blending. By the time I can stir in colorants and FO.. it's often too thick to do much then slop it into my molds. (And heaven help me if it's an accelerating FO)
Recipe:
Coconut Oil 32%
Olive Oil 32%
Rice Bran Oil 20%
Shea Butter 13%
Castor Oil 3%
Lye: 33% Concentration (2.03 ratio)
I use distilled water
5% Superfat
Additives: Sodium Lactate at 1tsp PPO
Temp: 70°F-100°F*
Experience: CPing for about four years. Took a break during the pandemic, been having this problem ever since I started back up again.
Other details: I master batch the lye water and oils. I make enough lye water for 4,800g of oil. That's four of my 1,200 batches of oil that I dole out into plastic deli containers and store in my garage. Everything has been sitting at room temp for a day or more by the time I end up soaping with it. Sometimes I make 600g batches. This problem exists in both.
I haven't changed my recipe since I started soaping. I will note that the rice bran oil is expired, but it doesn't smell off and I don't get DOS. The remaining RBO I have is already batched, so if this is the source of my problems - it'll go away soon enough I suppose. I have had to change the manufacturer of the castor oil, but I am back to my original brand now. I also had to change the supplier of my shea butter, as my original supplier went out of business. The coconut oil and olive oil are the same I've been using since before my hiatus.
*Since my return from my hiatus, I have been trying to soap a little warmer: just until my oils are clear, essentially. This has only exacerbated the problem. Just before I took a break, I had a beautiful soap that was ruined because of stearic acid spots that I deduced was because I was soaping too cold. Last night I tried to go back to soaping 75-80 to see if this problem went away, and I saw no difference in the speed it took me to get emulsion or trace.
I would like to up my lye concentration to 40%.. but everything I've read tells me that will increase how fast I come to emulsion/trace. I CPOP, so I tend to get glycerin rivers and my goal by upping the concentration is to reduce those.
I watch over a dozen youtubers and instagramers for inspiration. Some of them are making many pounds more of soap then I am, and some make less. They seem to be able to stick blend for days at 100°F degrees with clear oils and more expensive stick blenders then my hamilton beach.
At this point I can only assume I need to change my recipe. My market is vegan and doesn't tolerate expensive bars well. I want to stay away from palm oil.
Please, any advice you can give me would be appreciated.
ps. Does CPOPing get rid of the steric acid spots problem? The particular ruined batch wasn't CPOPed because it had titanium dioxide in it and I wanted to avoid glycerin rivers.
Recipe:
Coconut Oil 32%
Olive Oil 32%
Rice Bran Oil 20%
Shea Butter 13%
Castor Oil 3%
Lye: 33% Concentration (2.03 ratio)
I use distilled water
5% Superfat
Additives: Sodium Lactate at 1tsp PPO
Temp: 70°F-100°F*
Experience: CPing for about four years. Took a break during the pandemic, been having this problem ever since I started back up again.
Other details: I master batch the lye water and oils. I make enough lye water for 4,800g of oil. That's four of my 1,200 batches of oil that I dole out into plastic deli containers and store in my garage. Everything has been sitting at room temp for a day or more by the time I end up soaping with it. Sometimes I make 600g batches. This problem exists in both.
I haven't changed my recipe since I started soaping. I will note that the rice bran oil is expired, but it doesn't smell off and I don't get DOS. The remaining RBO I have is already batched, so if this is the source of my problems - it'll go away soon enough I suppose. I have had to change the manufacturer of the castor oil, but I am back to my original brand now. I also had to change the supplier of my shea butter, as my original supplier went out of business. The coconut oil and olive oil are the same I've been using since before my hiatus.
*Since my return from my hiatus, I have been trying to soap a little warmer: just until my oils are clear, essentially. This has only exacerbated the problem. Just before I took a break, I had a beautiful soap that was ruined because of stearic acid spots that I deduced was because I was soaping too cold. Last night I tried to go back to soaping 75-80 to see if this problem went away, and I saw no difference in the speed it took me to get emulsion or trace.
I would like to up my lye concentration to 40%.. but everything I've read tells me that will increase how fast I come to emulsion/trace. I CPOP, so I tend to get glycerin rivers and my goal by upping the concentration is to reduce those.
I watch over a dozen youtubers and instagramers for inspiration. Some of them are making many pounds more of soap then I am, and some make less. They seem to be able to stick blend for days at 100°F degrees with clear oils and more expensive stick blenders then my hamilton beach.
At this point I can only assume I need to change my recipe. My market is vegan and doesn't tolerate expensive bars well. I want to stay away from palm oil.
Please, any advice you can give me would be appreciated.
ps. Does CPOPing get rid of the steric acid spots problem? The particular ruined batch wasn't CPOPed because it had titanium dioxide in it and I wanted to avoid glycerin rivers.
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