First Batch Issues

[jsolack]

Hello all!

I made my first batch of soap today using this recipe:

http://www.essortment.com/make-castile-soap-home-grocery-store-ingredients-45343.html

I ran into some issue and I'd like to get your feedback! Everything seemed to be going well up until the point when I put the pot of soap into the oven to rest for a few hours. When i checked on it it had a noticeable white layer on top (like a cheese rind) and the soap had separated like thick cottage cheese.

When i took it out and started heating it on the stove to get it to trace it never really smoothed out, and now while it sits in a mold it's oozing a bit and had a crack in the middle.

I think my issue, from reading through the site, may be that I stick blended with the blender almost continuously, much to my blender's dismay. So I may not have really achieved trace.

So my question is, how do I fix this? Should I remelt and try again?

Thank you much for your advice.

Jason

 

[judymoody]

Hi Jason,

I looked at that site and there is so much misinformation there that it's not funny. Additionally, the recipe has twice as much lye as you need! I ran it through a lye calculator (www.soapcalc.net) and that amount of olive oil needs only 6.2 ounces of lye to make safe soap. The water amount is also excessive. For 48 ounces of olive oil, 12 ounces of water would be plenty.

Go to www.millersoap.com and you will find much better information about how to make soap safely.

It's no wonder your soap separated out. It is dangerously lye heavy and should probably be discarded.

Any recipe you get on the internet should be run through a lye calculator. There is a lot of misinformation out there. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Try not to get discouraged and I hope you try again.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome Jason!

Yikes! :shock: I just read the recipe and directions, and I agree wholeheartedly with what judymoody said! There's so much misinformation on that site that it's not even funny. It's like somebody's twisted idea of a bad joke. Seriously. My hubby jokingly asked if the recipe was not a recipe for trying to make C-4.

I agree with judymoody that the soap should be discarded, because it's ridiculously heavy in lye and water and will not be safe to use. Although you could save it by rebatching and adding more oil until the lye is all reacted and it doesn't zap anymore, I hesitate to have you try it until you a better (and truer) idea of what a good recipe is and how it should behave.

The internet can be a scary (and dangerous) place for new soapmakers because there's so much bad and just plain wrong info out there. You've made a right step, though, by coming here. Hopefully we can get you up and soaping again, but in the right direction this time.

The MillerSoap site that judy gave a link to is excellent, as is this David Fisher's site:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapm ... e-Soap.htm

I would start with those 2. And feel free read all you can in our CP Soap section.

Don't let your unfortunate beginning discourage you. Many of us seasoned soapers have had rusty starts, too. I had to toss my first batch as well.


IrishLass

 

[jsolack]

would it be possible to melt and add more oil?

 

[IrishLass]

Yes, but please see my post above.

IrishLass

 

[jsolack]

I think I will dump this batch and try again. Thank you for the input and advice!