Cp tea tree oil soap problem

[Cttx2ne]

I made a CP tea tree oil soap that began crumbling when I took it out of the mold. I'd like to know what I did wrong to cause it (am thinking I mixed it at too high a temp) and is there anyway to save/redo? It's an olive oil and coconut oil soap.

Thx!
Connie

 

[commoncenz]

You've come to the right place for advice. However, the first thing the more experienced soapers will ask you for is the recipe that you were using. This will give them some clues as to what the problem may be and how they can help you.

They'll want to know:

1) All your ingredients Including any additives and/or fragrance/essential oils other than the tea tree
2) percentages of oils used
3) Lye:water ratio
4) The steps you used in preparing your soap.

Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Susie]

^What commoncenz said!

Only, if you would put all those ingredients in actual weights(rather than percentages), it would help a great deal.

 

[Cttx2ne]

Coconut oil - 489.88 g
Olive oil - 979.76g
Shea butter - 163.29g

Water 620.51g
Lye 226.31g
Oils 1632.93g
Fragrance 2 oz

Super fat discount 7%

I melted the oils while I waited for Lye to cool. I made sure they were within 10 degrees of each other and think the temp was around 120 degrees when I mixed them.

I also made the mistake of blending the fragrance in with the stick blender at trace.

 

[commoncenz]

I hope someone is able to come along and help you. I'd be interested in knowing what could cause your soap to crumble.

 

[Dorymae]

Well, that is a lot of tea tree oil for 3.5 lbs oils. I use 3 oz for 5 lbs and mine comes out pretty strong. I don't know if it causes any problems in higher dosages - it is just the first thing that jumped out at me.

Normally with any other scents it would be fine but with tea tree, clove, peppermint, menthol and other really strong scents I usually use quite a bit less.

Edit: wait on second look it's not so bad. I don't know why I thought you said 3oz. Now I see it is 2. Sorry.

 

[DeeAnna]

Hey, have you checked the soap for zap? If you don't know what zap testing is, see: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=30690

The reason why I ask is that a hard crumbly soap may be lye heavy. Your recipe looks okay, but measuring mistakes sometimes happen. Not saying it IS the problem, but it could be and it's certainly an easy thing to check....

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Also, how long was it in the mould before you took it out? Did you insulate it or cool it or anything like that?

 

[seven]

What DeeAnna said.. The only times my soaps came out crumbly it was wrong measurements.

 

[Cttx2ne]

I zap tested and no zap. It also soaps up nicely. It has a bit of ash on it so ill wrap it a little better next time. I left it in the mold for 2 days and it was wrapped up in two huge towels.

Is there a way to fix this,...redo it.... ?




Here's what it looks like. They look like they are going to crumble at any moment

 

[Seawolfe]

Wow they look like salt bars - no salt in the recipe at all? Did you get a lot of air blended in while stick blending?

 

[Cttx2ne]

No salt. I wasn't mindful of air while blending. They are INCREDIBLY dry as if they are 50 years old.