Help? Used the wrong 😑 shortening, can soap be saved?

[LynetteO]

I made a few small batches of soap using what I thought was shortening with tallow/palm. However, read a comment somewhere “make sure there is a chicken on the can”. Anyhow turns out I plugged GV shortening tallow/palm into soapcalc when ACTUALLY used palm/soy to make the !
My question:
1. Can I rebatch the soap? Adjusting for inaccurate SAP?
2. Can a preservative be added to rebatch to prevent DOS that I hear tends to happen at 18month mark with made using all vegetable shortening vs one with tallow?
My % shortening used varied from 25-50%.

 

[Misschief]

Post your entire recipe, lye and water included. Someone will chime in, I'm sure.

 

[cmzaha]

I would let them cure out and I am sure they will be fine. Not knowing what superfat you used and what shortening you used I am guessing the worst you did was lower your superfat a few points, which will be fine and actually lessen your chance of dos. Many of us in this forum superfat less than 5%, my normal superfat is 2%. As Misschief mentioned it is best if you post your entire recipe.

 

[LynetteO]

Here’s #1

 

[LynetteO]

Here’s #2

 

[amd]

I don't think you'll have an issue - if my memory is correct the tallow based shortening and vegetable shortening are very close SAP value (within .005).

Looking at soapcalc:

These three shortenings are very close in SAP. I don't think you'll need to rebatch as your SF is 5% and will likely only change the lye amount by a few grams - hardly noticeable. Keep in mind that NaOH is rarely 100% so you have that added variance as well.

Personally I've never noticed the difference between vegetable and tallow shortenings - they both develop DOS after 14 months for me (at 25% usage rate). I would plan to either use chelators and ROE to help extend the shelf life for future batches, or make smaller batches and plan to use them in a timely manner.

 

[LynetteO]

The shortening was Walmart Great Value shortening but not with animal fat, like I mistakenly assumed.

 

[LynetteO]

I don't think you'll have an issue - if my memory is correct the tallow based shortening and vegetable shortening are very close SAP value (within .005).

Looking at soapcalc:
View attachment 59873 View attachment 59875 View attachment 59876

These three shortenings are very close in SAP. I don't think you'll need to rebatch as your SF is 5% and will likely only change the lye amount by a few grams - hardly noticeable. Keep in mind that NaOH is rarely 100% so you have that added variance as well.

Personally I've never noticed the difference between vegetable and tallow shortenings - they both develop DOS after 14 months for me (at 25% usage rate). I would plan to either use chelators and ROE to help extend the shelf life for future batches, or make smaller batches and plan to use them in a timely manner.

Thank You . Just so happens that I read about antioxidants & chelators last night until my eyes crossed. NOT a night& clock struck ! After all that I think I’m not ready for that as I only gift soap & local shop only sells citric acid. SAP math I can do, but citric acid lye adjustment made my hurt, so think I’ll either change recipe or stick with ZNSC FOREVER & EVER.

 

[linne1gi]

Thank You . Just so happens that I read about antioxidants & chelators last night until my eyes crossed. NOT a night& clock struck ! After all that I think I’m not ready for that as I only gift soap & local shop only sells citric acid. SAP math I can do, but citric acid lye adjustment made my hurt, so think I’ll either change recipe or stick with ZNSC FOREVER & EVER.

If you go with the soap calculator, soapmakingfriend.com. You can enter citric acid and the calculator does all the math for you.

 

[AliOop]

Chiming in late here... I agree that your soap should be fine. What @linne1gi said is true - the soapmaking friend calculator will figure the extra lye for you when using citric acid. Just be sure to select YES where it asks "Liquid Discount?" which will be under the citric acid box.

One thing I noticed is that you are using the "water as percent of oils" setting for your lye calculation. This resulted in a "lye concentration" setting of just under 30%. That's pretty high water for CP soap.

I'd recommend selecting "lye concentration" instead, and setting it at 32-33%. Your soaps will harden faster, and pop out of the mold more easily, and have less ash. Your batches will also be more consistent as you scale up or down.

 

[LynetteO]

Chiming in late here... I agree that your soap should be fine. What @linne1gi said is true - the soapmaking friend calculator will figure the extra lye for you when using citric acid. Just be sure to select YES where it asks "Liquid Discount?" which will be under the citric acid box.

One thing I noticed is that you are using the "water as percent of oils" setting for your lye calculation. This resulted in a "lye concentration" setting of just under 30%. That's pretty high water for CP soap.

I'd recommend selecting "lye concentration" instead, and setting it at 32-33%. Your soaps will harden faster, and pop out of the mold more easily, and have less ash. Your batches will also be more consistent as you scale up or down.

Thank You!

 

[LynetteO]

@AliOop Sooooo what will it mean for my tiny batch of made using CA but did NOT select water discount? I used SMF for calculating but left “LD button” @ no for water discount. I did subtract 12g of distilled H2O from distilled water called for & used it to dissolve the 6g of CA.
It was a bad batch all around. Smells horrible, quite chalky & end loaf sliver broke easily @ day 6. But thought that might have been to new rose clay I had used for color

 

[AliOop]

@LynetteO the CA will have eaten up some of your lye, resulting in a slightly higher super-fat. You can figure out how much extra SF by running it back through the SMFriend calculator and clicking the Liquid Discount button under the citric acid (which is in the Additives section, IIRC).

I don't even know why that button is called "Liquid Discount." It would make a lot more sense to call it "Lye Adjustment" wouldn't it? Because that's what it is really doing - adjusting the LYE, not the LIQUID.