Dodged a Bullet

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BrewerGeorge

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Last night I made my first soap with pre-made lye solution. It was to have been the first soap with the new Jade scent from BB (very nice, BTW) and a matching jade mica. I'd planned a hangar swirl with black and white tones.

I put the the scent and jade mica in with the oils beforehand, added the lye and got going. But this thing just would NOT trace. At first I thought it was just too cool because since the lye was room temp and the oil was about 100F, the whole thing was only 95F. So I carefully heated the whole thing (only 700g) in the microwave to 130F. Still nothing; it just won't come to trace.

Then I start to wonder if I put enough of the lye solution in the mix. I'm using a 50% solution and doing the typical "flip the lye and water measurements." Did I do that or am I trying to make this soap with half the lye it needs? I'm using a brand-new plastic measuring bowl that I neglected to weigh empty so I had to pour the whole batter into another measuring cup to weigh it. Nope, I didn't double the lye. Habit burned me. But it was easy enough to add another 98g of ready-made solution and stir it in.

The only problem was that now it was pretty warm and had been going a long time, so it went from no trace at all to heavy-medium immediately. I was able to get it layered, still, but the hangar screwed up on me so I punted to a spoon swirl because it was getting pretty thick at that point. Pics when I cut.

Lesson learned: Actually cross out water and lye and write the corrections on the sheet.
 
Good save! I've been masterbatching for a few months now. Once you get the calculations down... it's so easy, I haven't created a lye solution for a single batch since. Thankfully, I don't have to break out the calculator any longer because SM3 does the calculations for me. I was really hesitant about forking over the money for the software, but it's paid for itself over and over again (in time savings). It has it's limitations, but for how I'm using it, it's changed the whole way I think about keeping track of inventory and product as well as knowing exactly what I paid for each bar of soap I make down to the penny. It's really eye opening when you can simply compare the costs of additives, oils, packaging, etc. from batch to batch. I wasted so much time fooling around with spreadsheets and such, it almost became too much and was so frustrating keeping everything up to date. I highly recommend SM3 to anyone who is a serious soap maker. BTW - I have no affiliation with the SM3 developer, I just find the software that useful.
 
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This is why I'm so glad I have my SM3. I do not have to do ANY of the math. It does all the calculations for me. I tell it how big my batch is and it tells me how much masterbatch lye to use and how much extra liquid to add for the concentration and SF I want.
All I had to do was tell it when creating the recipe that I'm using a 50/50 lye concentration and that I want a xx% water solution with x% SF, and it does the rest.
 
On my soapcalc sheets I always add a note as to the amount I lye solution I use especially since I add vinegar & edta, and I also weight out my empty soaping bucket in case I think I have an error I can easily weight out my bucket of oils or soap batter. Then I just have to deduct our the buckets tare weight.
Glad you thought to weight out your batter and not toss the batch. I also use the same buckets so I can usually know when the bucket looks short on batter, yes, I have not what you have done but usually for me it is a question if I added in an oil, since I pour all my oils in the same bucket while measuring.
 
Good save! I've been master-batching my lye 50/50 for so long that the calculations have become second nature to me (I do them manually). I also have the weights written down of all the mixing bowls I use for soaping. I can't tell you how many times that has saved me. lol

For those afraid of the calculations.... for what it's worth, math is not my first or second or even third 'language', but I find them to be super easy to do and they take just a few seconds of my time.

I just type my recipe into SoapCalc as I normally do, making sure to type in the lye concentration I'd like to use (usually, but not always 33%), and once I hit 'calculate' and have my print-out sheet, I just do this simple 2-part calculation:

1) (Lye amount that SoapCalc gave me on my print-out sheet) X (2) = how much 50% lye solution to weigh out for my batch.
2) (Water amount that SoapCalc gave me on my print-out sheet) - (the lye amount that SoapCalc gave me on the print-out sheet) = how much extra water to add to my batch.

That's all there is to it..... just as long as you are working from a 50% master-batch, that is. If your master-batch is something other than a 50/50.... let's say a 33% master-batch.... and you want to use it for a batch with a lye concentration of let's say 28%- that's the kind of math I'd be afraid of. :lol:


IrishLass :)
 
Before I got my SM3 I did it exactly the way IrishLass describes. And after I got my SM3 I would let the program figure it out, but for about a year, I would calculate the figures as well just to make sure there wasn't a glitch in the software. Also, any time there is a new update with the SM3 I will make sure everything works as it should as well. So far I have had no problems with the calculation of lye solution with my software. So I trust it.
 
Curiouser and curiouser

Take a look at this stuff.

Here's the top. This was smooth when it went into the mold.
SSvSc9r.jpg


Here's the side before the cut. Silicone rash where the black and white peek through.
hWGkoTh.jpg


These two are the cuts.
66t8Dwx.jpg

DUrECDH.jpg



So what happened?

I put black mica and TiO2 into a couple tablespoons of glycerin and mixed 20% of the batter into each. Looks like the black and white both overheated. In retrospect, I guess that makes sense that glycerin acted like sugar. The white has basically turned into one giant glycerin river.

What do you think?

ETA: As usual the light above my stove is washing out my colors. It's actually a beautiful, saturated Jade. So that's good.
 
The top looks like Alien Brains to me!

Yea... that's the craziest alien brain I've ever seen. I just assume the lye concentration super-heated the soap. It's purely cosmetic and I think not only does the top look really cool, but the soap doesn't look too bad at all. I kinda like it. I still say good save! Wish I could offer more of a specific reason...
 
On my soapcalc sheets I always add a note as to the amount I lye solution I use especially since I add vinegar & edta, and I also weight out my empty soaping bucket in case I think I have an error I can easily weight out my bucket of oils or soap batter. Then I just have to deduct our the buckets tare weight.
Glad you thought to weight out your batter and not toss the batch. I also use the same buckets so I can usually know when the bucket looks short on batter, yes, I have not what you have done but usually for me it is a question if I added in an oil, since I pour all my oils in the same bucket while measuring.

I also do all my calculations on the paper before I start. I also have the weight of all containers I make soap in written on the outside and covered with packing tape. Saves me from "did I add that (DIAT)" syndrome.
 
I LOVE that alien brain!!! Very organic, vivid looking. ;) Now you have to do that on purpose. :p
 
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