First Soap - what's wrong with this?

[Ocean]

this is the very first soap i've made 3 weeks ago. It's completely wrong - too soft and has flaky oily crust on it.
is there any way to save this?

I've havent tried cold process soap since and just playing around with melt and pour. i'm ready to try again but before I do can you you help me sort out what happened to this?

Triple Butter Recipe

• Olive Oil 35%
• Almond Oil 5.00
• Safflower Oil 10.00
• Shea Butter 15.00
• Mango Seed Butter 10.00
• Cocoa Butter 10.00
• Coconut Oil 15.00

Total oil weight 1000 g
Water as percent of oil weight 25.08 %
Super Fat/Discount 5 %
Lye Concentration 35.0000 %

pictures day 1 and day 23

 

[Misschief]

Could you share your recipe with us, please? That will help us pinpoint what may be going on.

 

[TheGecko]

I would hazard to guess that something separated and then dried out. As an aside, folks usually unmold their soap within a couple of days. I’ve gone four days in the mold because of the weather, but 23 days in the mold is a little long.

 

[cmzaha]

this is the very first soap i've made 3 weeks ago. It's completely wrong - too soft and has flaky oily crust on it.
is there any way to save this?

I've havent tried cold press soap since and just playing around with melt and pour. i'm ready to try again but before I do can you you help me sort out what happened to this?

pictures day 1 and day 23

Just a little correction about terminology it is cold process not cold press. Sorry, one of those little things that bug me, and I always wonder how that therm ever came about relating to soap. Cold press is a term for oil. The Acronym and Abbreviation Definition Thread...
As mentioned it would help to post your recipe, but I will mention 23 days is usually way too long to wait to cut your soap. It will usually be too hard and crumbly to cut in that amount of time unless there was separation inside and it is still soft. It is possible there was some overheating causing seepage hence the oily crust which you may have seen if you cut the soap in a normal time frame.

No one can help you sort it out without your recipe and soaping method of temps etc.

 

[earlene]

If the soap is so soft it's pulling away from the mold & it's too soft to unmold and a waxy substance formed on top of it, yes, something is wrong.

Recipe, please, including all ingredients and detail about how you made the soap. Without more detail we can't really be of much help.

 

[Ocean]

the original post now includes the following recipe. Thank you for the responses!!!

Triple Butter Recipe

• Olive Oil 35%
• Almond Oil 5.00
• Safflower Oil 10.00
• Shea Butter 15.00
• Mango Seed Butter 10.00
• Cocoa Butter 10.00
• Coconut Oil 15.00

Total oil weight 1000 g
Water as percent of oil weight 25.08 %
Super Fat/Discount 5 %
Lye Concentration 35.0000 %

 

[GemstonePony]

Did you have any additives?
And did you try to force gel? If so, how?

 

[Ocean]

Did you have any additives?
And did you try to force gel? If so, how?

Hi Gemstone Pony,

not sure what is force gel? Everything in that soap is what's posted in the recipe - oils and butter.

 

[KimW]

And, what was your method? In other words, what was the temperature of your oils and lye solution? Did you stickblend or just stir, and for how long? Etc.

 

[TheGecko]

I didn't catch that it was still too soft...at 23 days. I would guess at this point that you messed up in your measurements somewhere...too much water, too much oil, not enough lye.

If it was me, I'd toss it and start again. I would also look at getting a 4" Square Silicone Mold so you don't waste ingredients (I have two).

 

[Ocean]

And, what was your method? In other words, what was the temperature of your oils and lye solution? Did you stickblend or just stir, and for how long? Etc.

stickblend for i dont know.. 7 to 10mins until it got thick . yikes, i'm just going to start all over

thank you for the response

 

[Ocean]

I didn't catch that it was still too soft...at 23 days. I would guess at this point that you messed up in your measurements somewhere...too much water, too much oil, not enough lye.

If it was me, I'd toss it and start again. I would also look at getting a 4" Square Silicone Mold so you don't waste ingredients (I have two).

totally messed up.. i'm going to try not to be repeat this again.

Thanks for the tip. will practice with smaller molds. I have silicone and plastic molds too

 

[TheGecko]

Thanks for the tip. will practice with smaller molds. I have silicone and plastic molds too

After a few screw ups myself (33 oz oils), I finally bought small molds to test new recipes, colorants and scents. Of course, I don't always follow my own advice...bought a couple of large bottles of FO prior to testing...massive acceleration on one and a dark chocolate soap on the other.