High stearic soap mishap

[SomethingGoodAustin]

Hey there;

Just a few days ago, I reworked my shaving soap formula to up the stearic acid content. I'm using a high percentage of shea and cocoa butters, along with added stearic, and the number value on Soapcalc is 24 for the entire recipe.

With that high a value, I expected a fast trace... and that's what I got. Within minutes (seconds, maybe?) of adding my lyewater, the oils turned grainy and then very, very thick. I had to add my glycerin and EO's in a hurry (I'd already stickblended my clay into the oils prior to adding the lyewater). I used the blender mostly to stir, since the batter was already thick and I didn't want to burn out the motor. Meanwhile, the batter took on a translucent appearance, almost as though it was going through gel phase in the pot.

Anyhoo, I put the soap into my round PVC mold and let it sit for 24 hours. I took a bit out and attempted to work up a lather with it--nada. Slippery, oily, and made my hands feel tight and dry. I tongue-tested it and got zapped, HARD.

So... how do I troubleshoot this? I don't think I left an oil out. Could I have gotten a false trace? If I did leave out an oil, how do I figure out which one so I can rebatch?

 

[judymoody]

For me "grainy" is the tell-tale word. To me, false trace always looks grainy instead of smooth.

For high stearic recipes, I put in everything up front - fragrance, additives, etc - before adding lye.

One tip I got elsewhere is to mix half of your lye solution into your oils with a SB until it's emulsified. Then mix the remainder with a whisk or slotted spoon.

If it starts gelling in the pot, let it do its thing, then beat it into submission and glop it into the mold.

The other possibility is that it overheated in the PVC pipe which also could have led to separation.

Sorry about your mishap. You can rebatch in a crockpot and save it.

 

[lsg]

I agree, you can rebatch using the crockpot. You can try the zap test after the soap has gone through the cook.

 

[SomethingGoodAustin]

I've rebatched soap scraps before using the boil-in-a-bag method suggested at about.com--is it pretty much the same process, but using a crockpot?