Help! I think something went wrong

[Soapy_Bear]

I haven't. I've only used a crock pot

Oh okay thanks. I was just curious if it might have been a better method.

 

[Soapy_Bear]

Are you sure you didn't use too much water or not enough lye? It looks like it's not very hard but if it cures ok and foams then it's clearly soap. Wait a few days and zap test again.

So I think I might have used too much water. Even though the recipe I used said 15oz of water, I put it through two soap calculators and both came out with 13oz of water. But I'm still unsure since I'm so new to soap making. One of the soap cal I used was brambleberry I don't know if that was a good one. Was this a big mistake I made using too much water?

 

[KristaY]

So I think I might have used too much water. Even though the recipe I used said 15oz of water, I put it through two soap calculators and both came out with 13oz of water. But I'm still unsure since I'm so new to soap making. One of the soap cal I used was brambleberry I don't know if that was a good one. Was this a big mistake I made using too much water?

No, you didn't use too much water. SoapCalc says 38% water to oils (the default) is 15.2 oz. But using 5.6 oz lye puts your superfat at 1%. Did you want to superfat that low? I haven't made shampoo bars so I don't know what the norm is for it. Do the zap test again in a few days or week to determine if it's lye heavy. If so, you have a few choices. Definitely don't throw it away, all is not lost! :grin:

 

[Soapy_Bear]

No, you didn't use too much water. SoapCalc says 38% water to oils (the default) is 15.2 oz. But using 5.6 oz lye puts your superfat at 1%. Did you want to superfat that low? I haven't made shampoo bars so I don't know what the norm is for it. Do the zap test again in a few days or week to determine if it's lye heavy. If so, you have a few choices. Definitely don't throw it away, all is not lost! :grin:

I think the superfat just depends on people's hair type and what they like but what I've read is people prefer it low like 3% or 2%... oh okay I will test again. If it is lye heavy, what are my choices?

 

[Susie]

Haha I don't know maybe it's because its a shampoo bar?? ..... oh okay, thank you for the information.

High castor shampoo bars take a while to set up. Give it a day or so and re-test.

 

[vuladams]

It looks like it will just need a bit more time to cure. That's a bit more water than I use; but I prefer 1:2 lye ratios. 1:3 seems to take too long to cure for me. I agree it's a lot of Castor Oil, but I'm sure there's a reason for that recipe. Maybe check it later today or tomorrow and do another zap test. Otherwise, rebatch it and it should be fine. Good Luck!

 

[Soapy_Bear]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I think the shampoo bar was fine just one didn't gel and one did. I still rebatched it just to be safe and it came out just fine.

 

[Dahila]

I do not know why people think that oily skin and oily hair need a lot of streeping. It is going to make worse. Oily skin need very gentle cleaneser and so do the hair. It took some time to convince my hubby that he does not need harsh soaps to wash his oily face. I made a gentle soap acutally is the one for hair and face, and convince him to use the moisturizer I made. His face is not shiny, skin is healthy and very good looking