First batch ever.... help?

[Tagged]

So I made my first batch of soap ever! It has been just about 24 hours and I wanted to know what to expect, or really see if what I have so far is right.

Currently the soap seems hard. Smells like lye and lard still, and has some liquid on the top (I laid saran wrap over the containers and let it sit on the mixture).

Here is the recipe that I used and the steps I took:

Oatmeal & Honey Goat Milk Soap #3

6 cups goat milk
4 cups lard (2 pounds)
2/3 can Red Devil brand lye
2 cups dry oatmeal (run through the blender)
1/2 cup honey

Carefully mix the milk and lye in a stainless container. Allow to cool to 850F. Stir in the refined oatmeal and honey. Mix well. Warm lard to 85 degrees and slowly add to milk mixture. Mix for 15 minutes, let stand 5 minutes. Mix again for 5 minutes. Watch closely as soap takes shape suddenly. When thick like honey pour into prepared molds. Let set 24-48 hours until set. Cut into bars and air cure for 3 to 4 weeks.

I made the above one over the weekend. I used my regular recipe (doubled) and added about 3/4 cup of honey. I did it the way I normally do. I left it to set and checked on it about every 15 minutes. The last time I checked it it had almost hardened in the bowl. It did do okay though and I managed to pour it into a large pan.


What I did was combine the fresh goats milk and lye very slowly. I kept the mixtue between 65 and 5 degrees thru the whole process of combining them. (should i have kept it cool, there is a video on about.com that shows him doing this).

I then added the honey and ground oatmeal into the milk/lye mixture. Heated the lard to 85% and pored it in. Stirred it for about forever with stir sticks and by hand, seems for about 45 minutes. Then I decided that I was actually at a light trace and wasnt getting any heavier (after 20 minutes or so).

I poured it into loafs, covered with saran wrap, placed them in the garage. I read that you should not insulate milk and honey mixtures so I did not. Today there is about two table spoons worth of dark orange liguid under the saran wrap and one top of the soap. It was there this morning before I went to work and is still there.

Quesitons, what might i have done wrong in my steps? (oh, a lye calc said to use 4.22 grams of lye, i used that and not 8 oz as i think the original recipe was based on Red Devil and I guessed it was measured in fluid oz, not weight.)

Is my soap normal for this stage? Do i wipe off the liquid and cut it or give it another 24 hours to settle?


Thank you all so much! I have been so excited to start this process and cannot wait to start using / making soap more!!

 

[Imblebee]

Tagged,

Your new best friend is a scale. $20 at Walmart, or Target if you prefer. There is WAY too much left to chance and error by measuring oils/lye by volume. You must always measure by weight. Even when you'd like to double a recipe, run it through a lye calc.

HTH

 

[Vinca Leaf]

What she said, and additionally....how can you have a "regular recipe" if this is your first batch?

Get a scale. Pronto. There is absolutely no way to be accurate enough to make soap with cup measures.

 

[Lindy]

I agree with everyone else you really need to get yourself a scale since that is how you accurately measure ingredients for soap.

Having said that - have you done a zap test? This is where you stick your tongue on the soap - if it feels like a 9 volt battery then the soap is "lye heavy" and will burn you....... Check it and let us know...

Cheers
Lindy

 

[Guest]

This site can help you out too , lots of fun to play with the numbers and soap qualities.

soapcalc.com

Good luck with your soaping.

Kitn

 

[IrishLass]

Yep- investing in a scale cannot be emphasized enough. It's that important.

Where did you get the recipe from that you posted? I ask because the proprtions seem way off to me from what they should be in relation to each other, and I don't mean to scare you, but as I'm looking at it (the recipe), I am holding my head and just cringing right now. Eeeek! :shock:

From what I understand, the recipe is a 2 lb batch of 100% lard soap with goatmilk as the total liquid amount, along with powdered oatmeal and liquid honey as additives.

Okay, so far, so good.

For this 2 lb batch of 100% lard soap, the recipe then says to add 2/3 of a can of Red Devil Lye. Not so good. :shock:

Seeing as how the lye is not being measured by weight, things can get pretty screwy pretty fast. Weighing everything with a scale, especially lye, is the best, most consistent, and most accurate way to go if you want to ensure your soap will not be lye heavy or overly superfatted.

From what I understand, if I am reading correctly, you used 4.22 grams of lye for this 2 lb batch of lard soap. I'm really hoping that you meant to say 4.22 ounces instead of grams because if you used grams instead of ounces, things aren't going to turn out so good. Please tell me you meant to say ounces, for 4.22 ounces sounds just right for a 2 lb batch of lard soap superfatted at around 7%. 4.22 grams of lye is way too little for a 2 lb batch.

The liquid amount of 6 cups for a 2 lb. batch is way too much if you ask me. At the very most, I would only use 12 ounces (1.5 cups) of liquid for this size batch. Six cups is 48 ounces worth- an enormous amount for a 2 lb batch. Mucho overkill.

Also- that's a lot of honey and oatmeal to be using in a 2 lb batch of soap. The most I use of honey or oatmeal in soap is 1 tablespoon per pound of oils for each. That's a pretty well-accepted, general or average amount across the board with most soapers. Some may use less and some may use slightly more, but I'm fairly confident that the majority of soapers would say that 1/2 cup of honey and 2 cups of dry oatmeal is pretty excessive for a 2 lb batch.

The orange liquid you have on top of your soap is honey that has leaked out. If the honey is not incorporated well enough into your soap batter, or if you added too much, it will do that. Most of the time it will re-absorb as it cures, especially if a reasonable amount was added, but if after a few days or so you still have puddles of honey, I would just wipe it off.

Have you tried to unmold it and cut yet?

IrishLass

 

[Tagged]

Hey all! Ok, i do have a scale and I accurately measured my lye, but i did use the wrong amound based on messing up the soap calc i used I did use 4.22 grams and i think i should have used about double that.

Next let me make clear what part of this post was copy/past:

"Oatmeal & Honey Goat Milk Soap #3

6 cups goat milk
4 cups lard (2 pounds)
2/3 can Red Devil brand lye
2 cups dry oatmeal (run through the blender)
1/2 cup honey

Carefully mix the milk and lye in a stainless container. Allow to cool to 850F. Stir in the refined oatmeal and honey. Mix well. Warm lard to 85 degrees and slowly add to milk mixture. Mix for 15 minutes, let stand 5 minutes. Mix again for 5 minutes. Watch closely as soap takes shape suddenly. When thick like honey pour into prepared molds. Let set 24-48 hours until set. Cut into bars and air cure for 3 to 4 weeks.

I made the above one over the weekend. I used my regular recipe (doubled) and added about 3/4 cup of honey. I did it the way I normally do. I left it to set and checked on it about every 15 minutes. The last time I checked it it had almost hardened in the bowl. It did do okay though and I managed to pour it into a large pan. "

So this is not my "regular" recipe becuase this this my FIRST recipe

I this i did mess up on the lye amount, i changed the calc to grams and i did not convert my lard amount to grams to match.... I have not cut this batch because I read somewhere that some soaps you should let rest up to 48 hours, so i was going to see if the liquid on top reabsorbed back into the batch.


The recipe i used I found on this site: http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_File ... hor-GOAT'S i used #3.


So, thank you all for helping come to my rescue! At this point, see that I did not use enough lye, and as it seems to you that I have way to much honey and oatmeal should I toss this batch or is there a way to save it?

I have Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, more honey and oatmeal. Just need to pick up some more goats milk and maybe more lard. I kind of wanted to try an oatmeal honey lard batch and an oatmeal honey veg batch to see how different they feel when used (and start getting familiar with soap makin in genereal).

Can you point me to a couple better recipes for these? Thanks for all your help!!

 

[scrapgabbie]

Hey Tagged,
congrats on getting into soapmaking!

Can l make one recommendation...that maybe you switch to something much plainer for your first recipe? My first recipe had no goats milk, oatmeal or honey in it. Oatmeal is okay, but goats milk needs special care to be soaped, (so as not to burn if you are using it as the liquid portion) and honey can be a headache for someone new to soaping (overheats, can cause crumbly soap if overused, l just stuffed two batches the other day by adding too much honey, and l should have known better LOL).

l would really recommend a very plain recipe just till you get the hang of it, and then start going to town with the additives etc once you have a few successful batches under your belt. My very first recipe was this one here, which l followed religiously - l didn't have any colours so didn't add any, and only had candle fragrance which luckily was soap safe too:
(all aussie links)

http://www.australiansoapmaker.info/howto/cpsoap.htm

l also found some good recipes here when l got more adventurous:

http://www.heirloombodycare.com.au/reci ... t-133.html
(the 'Green is Gold' one turns out lovely - it is still one of my favourites!)

Good luck and let us know how you go!

 

[scrapgabbie]

ps. l will also add here a recipe for oatmeal and honey soap which l've run through my soap calculator, this is for 950 grams of oils which fits into my wooden log mould and makes approx 10 bars. (sorry, l'm in metric being an aussie)

450 grams olive oil
250 grams coconut oil
250 grams palm oil
133.7 grams sodium hydroxide crystals
334mls water
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup ground oatmeal

If you wanted to substitute some of the water for goats milk then l would suggest maybe 200mls, but mix it with the water beforehand and put it in the freezer for a bit till it is semi frozen and nice and slushy. Then slowly add your lye crystals a little at a time, stirring gently, and never dump them all in at once otherwise you can overheat the goats milk and it may burn (ask me how l know LOL.) Sometimes l add half the lye, and put the jug back in the freezer for 10 minutes, then take it out & add the rest.
I would add the honey to your liquids last, then add the liquids to the oils and stickblend/stir till trace.

l hope this helps a little, l can try and convert it into ounces if needed!

 

[honor435]

a scale and i would start out with a simple recipe! no you shouldnt have oily stuff on top.

 

[MikeInPdx]

Hey Tagged!

For your first couple of batches, I would suggest getting some Crisco. Make some smaller batches with just lye, water and the Crisco. This will give you a feel for trace, how thick you like it to be when you pour, and won't cost you a lot of money. It's also decent soap.....not great, but better than anything you'll buy at the supermarket.

Congratulations on your first batch. It gets a lot easier from here.

 

[LJA]

Hiya Tagged!
Yeah that recipe is scary...lol. It's okay though, that's how we learn. Irish Lass had it right on the money. Great advice. I don't have anything to add to the great advice already posted, I just wanted to say welcome to soaping and count your mistakes as learning experiences and have fun. Hold off on the goats milk until you get a few easier batches under your belt. It's a little tricky. Honey too, for that matter. (It heats up a batch like crazy!)

Pop in whenever you have questions, and post pictures of your creations. we love to see them! Good luck!

 

[IrishLass]

Hey all! Ok, i do have a scale and I accurately measured my lye, but i did use the wrong amound based on messing up the soap calc i used I did use 4.22 grams and i think i should have used about double that.

I'm so glad that you have a scale! Good deal! Re: the 4.22 grams of lye- instead of double the amount, you actually would have needed about 30 times the amount of lye in grams if your lard amount was 2 lbs.- the calculation I got on SoapCalc was that you needed 121 grams (or 4.29 ounces) to saponify 2 lbs. of lard at a typical 5% superfat level.

should I toss this batch or is there a way to save it?

My initial, based-on-experience thoughts are to toss it out pronto and start afresh, but the cockeyed optimistic part of me says to at least wait until you unmold it, cut it, and try it out first (if it can even be unmolded and cut). :wink:

I have Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, more honey and oatmeal. Just need to pick up some more goats milk and maybe more lard. I kind of wanted to try an oatmeal honey lard batch and an oatmeal honey veg batch to see how different they feel when used (and start getting familiar with soap makin in genereal).

Can you point me to a couple better recipes for these? Thanks for all your help!!

I'm with those who say to start out simple first with just oils/fats and lye and water to get the feel of the whole soaping process. Here are 2 good basic formulas to get you started with the oils/fats that you have. Run them through a good calculator like SoapCalc to get the proper measurments of everything for the amount of soap you want to make (I would keep your batches small at this point- at least 1 lb, but not more than 2 lbs.) : Here is the link to SoapCalc- http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/soapcalc.asp

All veggie recipe:

50% Olive Oil
30% Coconut Oil
20% Palm Oil

Lard recipe:

50% Olive Oil
30% Coconut Oil
20% Lard



I would wait until you have a few good batches under your belt before progressing to adding honey, goatmilk and oatmeal, but if the temptation is just too strong (hey- I've been there :wink: ), here's how I do it with success. Please be cautious, though, and also try to read as much as you can on the forums about the other successful ways in which a variety of soapers add such things before you proceed (I can't stress enough how good it is to get as much info as you can from a variety of sources to see what method will work best for you). Anyway, here's how I do it:

Honey: Add no more than 1 tablespoon per pound of oils. Reserve or set aside a little of your water amount in a small cup and thoroughly dissolve the honey in it. Add the honey/water to your soap pot right after mixing your lye/water in with your oils. Stickblend well to fully incorporate. Soap as usual and do not insulate when it is molded. Stick your molded batch under a fan or in a fridge if it looks like it is overheating.

Oatmeal: Grind it up well and add no more than 1 tablespoon per pound of oils. Stir or whisk it well into your soap pot at trace.

Goat Milk: Here are some threads that explain how I and others add goat milk to soap:


http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... =goat+milk


http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... =goat+milk


http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... =goat+milk

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. There are no such thing as dumb questions, and there are many wonderful people here who are glad to help newbies along the way to success.

IrishLass