Help my soap didn't work and I don't know why!

[AnnaMarie]

It's not in video form, just a tutorial. Let me know if the link doesn't work.

 

[Lindy]

Just a couple of quick notes on my own experience. Because I master batch everything is literally room temp when I make my soap. It does not cause any problems with soft soap. Soft soap is usually caused by too much liquid or an oil like hemp which will keep it soft for quite a while depending on the percentage used. You don't need to heat your oils back up, I promise you. There is no way you should have had to stick blend for 10 minutes so it also makes me think that your lye measurement was off and you didn't use enough. This would also make for a soap that won't set up.

Layering - there really is an excess of coffee in there and it could have caused the separation. You can wait up to another day before pouring the second layer without separation because of the heat generated by the soap for saponification melts the top layer of the first layer of the soap beneath it to help it adhere. Think about those beautiful soap cakes we all admire so much. They are unmoulded before the piping is done so the soap is at least a day old.

I just wanted to clarify those 2 misconceptions.

You could rebatch by chunking it up in small pieces and either using a crockpot or the oven, whichever suits you best. A bain marie will also work if you can put one together that is big enough to hold your soap.

 

[AnnaMarie]

Thank you for clearing that up Lindy!
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[Lin]

Where was it mentioned/discussed that soft soap could be from temperature? I didn't see that, was it in the video?

 

[Lindy]

Lin you're right - not enough coffee. I thought I had read it but what I was actually reading was the length to stick blend, I had soft soap on the brain so I mistook what I read. I'm sorry and thank you for calling me on it. I need to read more carefully and engage brain rather than letting my thoughts distract me.

 

[Lin]

Lol, I thought I was the one that missed something.

 

[Lindy]

LOL - nope that was tired brain thinking about soft soap and well you know the rest.

 

[Lin]

Don't worry I read your reply while too tired and the "not enough coffee" totally threw me off and made me so confused since the thread is about coffee soap and they used too much coffee... lmao. I had to sit here staring at the post for a while before I understood it.

 

[reahez]

Hey guys I'm not sure I used too much coffee because it was the recipe from soaping 101's coffee soap, I'm pretty sure I used the right amount of lye because I used soapcalc to determine my recipe. Thanks for your thought I'm sure I did something wrong just not sure what! Anyway I will probably either re-batch or cut it up for embeds in another soap.

Happy soaping

 

[Saponista]

I have used the plastic bag re batching when I used rose fragrance oil which left me with a similar oily mess. It worked a dream and the soap was fine in the end. Could your fragrance oil have caused a problem?

 

[reahez]

I have used the plastic bag re batching when I used rose fragrance oil which left me with a similar oily mess. It worked a dream and the soap was fine in the end. Could your fragrance oil have caused a problem?

To be honest I really don't know, maybe I used too much I know that its CP safe as I looked before I bought it. I will have to try the soap again but with a different fragrance too see if it was that! Thanks for the reply