Grainy-feeling texture

[luluzapcat]

I made a soap using master-batched lye at 50/50--and forgot to add the necessary water to get to my desired 33% lye concentration. So I accidentally made a soap with a 50% lye concentration. I'm trying it out now at just a hair under 6 weeks out.

It's every so slightly grainy on the surface, instead of slick and smooth like my other soaps. Just like a super fine-grit finishing sandpaper. Which might be interesting if one wanted a VERY slightly abrasive surface for exfoliation, or extra cleaning power. I'm presuming this is due to the low water, but don't really know. Thought I'd share in case of interest to others, or someone might correct me as to why this happened.

The recipe was OO at 40%, RBOat 20%, soy wax at 20%, and coconut at 20%. I used Soapee for my calculations.

 

[earlene]

A couple of possibilities come to mind. Soy wax requires warmer temps for soaping in order to prevent it re-solidifying, so it's possible that either the soy wax cooled too much before adding the lye, thus starting to form little waxy granules OR that the it began doing that when you added the cool lye solution.

 

[RacerSpuffy]

If you forgot to add the necessary water to dilute it down to 33%, did you add the same amount of weight of water+lye as if you did dilute it? If so you have too much lye and either reduced your expected superfat or have some unreacted lye in there.

 

[shunt2011]

@RacerSpuffy if they mixed enough masterbatched lye and just forgot the extra water it's not lye heavy. For 33% lye concentration you need to add more water.

@luluzapcat I recently had something similar appear on the top of my soap and wasn't using masterbatch for a change. I've not had it happen before. It's like crystallized or something scrubby. I know it's not lye heavy I zap tested it. It kind of brushes off on mine but not completely.

 

[luluzapcat]

Thanks all for thoughts.

@RacerSpuffy: I did use the correct amount of lye from my masterbatch; just short on water so I don't think I have to worry about lye-heavy.

The texture seems to be continuing through as I use the soap, so I'm not sure it's the same as what you have seen, @shunt2011.

@earlene--sounds like a possibility and makes sense. I haven't seen it with the 3-4 other soy wax soaps I've made, but I didn't record temperatures throughout making the can't rule that out.

It doesn't sound like anyone's thinking low water could do it. I'll probably make this same mistake again so maybe I'll get to re-test ti...

 

[RacerSpuffy]

@shunt2011 - Yeah, maybe I'm not fully understanding this 'masterbatch'. I make a 1000g at a time of 30% lye and just always soap with that, I don't do 50% and then add more water later because that seems like a step I'm trying to avoid at soap making time by making the 30% solution beforehand. The way I make my soap is I run it through soapcalc with 30% lye concentration, and then when the calculator spits out water + lye I add those 2 together and add that much of my lye solution. So I was thinking that if @luluzapcat added the weight of water + lye like I do, but used 50% concentration it would have been more lye than expected. But luluzapacat said that the correct amount of lye was added so its not a concern anymore. Just wanted to explain my thought process behind my reply.

 

[earlene]

If you are making the 30% lye solution ahead of time in an amount to handle multiple batches of soap, you are masterbatching.

To master batch simply means to make ahead of time enough of the (whatever, be it oil mixtures or lye or anything else) so that you can take what you need from that when needed. And it's not only used in the soaping realm that masterbatching occurs. Other industries do it as well. I use the same method with some things that I cook on a regular basis to save time later.

If you always use 30% lye solution in all of your soaps, doing it that way is pretty efficient and if it works best for you, I say continue.

For some of us, who don't have a set percentage of lye solution that we use for every batch of soap we make, the 50% lye solution masterbatch might work better for us. Each of us has to choose based on our situations.

 

[penelopejane]

I made a soap using master-batched lye at 50/50--and forgot to add the necessary water to get to my desired 33% lye concentration. So I accidentally made a soap with a 50% lye concentration. I'm trying it out now at just a hair under 6 weeks out.

It's every so slightly grainy on the surface, instead of slick and smooth like my other soaps. Just like a super fine-grit finishing sandpaper. Which might be interesting if one wanted a VERY slightly abrasive surface for exfoliation, or extra cleaning power. I'm presuming this is due to the low water, but don't really know. Thought I'd share in case of interest to others, or someone might correct me as to why this happened.

The recipe was OO at 40%, RBOat 20%, soy wax at 20%, and coconut at 20%. I used Soapee for my calculations.

I had this happen to a raft of soaps when I tried to change from CPOP in small silicone molds to forcing gel in timber molds lined with silicone molds. I call them stearic swirls - even though I was getting them in pure castile soap. I tried a lot of different lye concentrations and a lot of different methods but think it came down to a temperature thing in the end rather than a lye concentration problem. Not particularly helpful but I do know how to cure it!
It depends on your process but both require you getting gel. I get gel by soaping warm and creating a micro environment around my mold so it holds my soaping temp for enough time for it to gel.
I soap at 110*F and I pour at light-medium trace. (not too thin and not too thick )
1) If you CPOP turn the oven on to 110*F if your oven doesn't have an accurate low temp you will need a thermometer. Turn the oven OFF. Put your soap mold into a small cardboard box, wrap it in a blanket and put it in the turned off oven. Leave it for 12 - 18 hours undisturbed.
2) My molds won't fit in the oven so I put them in a polystyrene box and cover then with a down doona. I do this winter and summer. I leave them undisturbed for 12-18 hours.

This all sounds complicated (and micro managing) when I write it down but it is really easy once you've tried it. It means I get consistent, reliable results and once I've finished my soap I never have to check them regardless of whether I use milk or honey etc.