HELP - RTCP troubleshooting!

[yayitskristin]

Hi all! TIA for your help...

...long time lurker, probably first time posting. I just tried my first batch of RTCP a few days ago. I took it out of the mold and its extremely moist.

I ran it through the soap calc, and got this: (4 lb batch)

8.9 oz lye
24.3 oz water

I measured 17.9 oz of the water/lye mixture, and measured 15.3 oz of water. I was using a hand blender, but blended until trace, added EOs at trace... mixed, poured.. insulated..

I peeled the milk carton off to cut it. HORROR (sorry for being overdramatic)! It's so moist, that I could take the soap scraps and mush them together very easily, consistency of play doh maybe? I'm making this soap for June 5, and I'm hoping hoping it will be ready... I have to make more and really don't want to go back to regular ol' slow CP...

any ideas??

 

[ikindred]

What oils are you using?

 

[krissy]

RTCP is soft for quite a while. it takes (for me) a good few days before i can unmold it and then a few more before i cut it. you may just be trying to do everything too fast.

 

[soapbuddy]

A hand blender like you use for cakes or a stick blender? How much did you superfat? Did it gel?

 

[yayitskristin]

yes - it gelled.

oils (which I've used over and over for regular CP - always comes out fine):
olive oil 50%
coconut oil 25%
cocoa butter 15%
avocado oil 10%

5% super fat (default on soap calc)

and it had already been a few days... I made it saturday.

sorry, stick blender! I was a bit frazzled when writing this earlier...

thanks!!

ETA: 50% olive oil, not 25%

 

[soapbuddy]

Is it possible that your olive oil is adultarated? That happened to me once with bad olive oil.

 

[yayitskristin]

I guess its possible. I mixed the oils in the fall, so here's no way for me to know. The olive oil was fresh though when I mixed it. What causes it to get adulterated? If I make regular cold process, will it have the same effect?

 

[carebear]

I'm lost. You used a 27% lye solution (about) PLUS extra water? If I have that right, then you use a LOT of water.

I have to make more and really don't want to go back to regular ol' slow CP...

RTCP isn't really much slower than regular CP - it's just using piping hot lye solution to save you the trouble of melting the oils. Are you sure you mean RTCP?

And for what do you need this soap so urgently?

 

[yayitskristin]

The recipe generated was

8.9 oz lye
24.3 oz water

I measured 17.9 oz of the water/lye mixture (that was HALF water, HALF lye, previously mixed), and measured 15.3 oz of water (24.3 - 8.9 = 15.3 oz of water to add. Was I wrong in this? If so, that makes sense, but I believe my math is correct. Please, someone tell me if it's not.

Soap is so urgently needed for wedding favors.

 

[yayitskristin]

Lye & oils were room temperature

 

[agriffin]

The recipe generated was

8.9 oz lye
24.3 oz water

I measured 17.9 oz of the water/lye mixture (that was HALF water, HALF lye, previously mixed), and measured 15.3 oz of water (24.3 - 8.9 = 15.3 oz of water to add. Was I wrong in this? If so, that makes sense, but I believe my math is correct. Please, someone tell me if it's not.

Soap is so urgently needed for wedding favors.

Well, that's alot of water for a recipe so high in Olive oil. I wonder if you didn't mis-measure though.

If I were doing that recipe I wouldn't use anymore than 18 oz of water (and would probably use less). I know that's what soapcalc gave you (24.3) but I never go by soapcalc's numbers. I determine my numbers based on the oils I'm using and the design I have in mind.

When's the wedding?

 

[yayitskristin]

The wedding itself is June 12 but we are decorating/assembling the favors on June 4.

I haven't made soap in a few months (since the fall), but I'm picking the hobby back up. that being said, I don't have a sixth sense feel yet for how much water should be in a recipe, etc. Is there a tweek I can make on the soap calc for the water so I'm not using so much? What's a good percentage for the lye solution? Soap calc's water calculations have always worked out well in the past... but not this time

I have to finish, and remake the soap tonight, maybe that 18 oz of water will work better.