I am a little sad - PICTURES ADDED!

[Pug Mom]

I made my first batch of soap ever last night and I don't think it is going to come out. It took over 2 hours to reach trace, and then it was a light trace and I had to use my mixer to get that. I poured it into the molds last night at around 9, and this morning it was the consistancy of crisco. Is that the consistancy it should be? Doesn't look right to me. So I am bummed. And the color came out perfect and it smelled so good too....

 

[SimplyE]

Oh, don't be sad!!! What was the recipe you used?

My first batch took FOREVER to reach trace. I was hand mixing and after an hour, I finally pulled out the stick blender. Voila! It reached trace in about 1 minute.

Sounds a little soft, but give it time! Stranger things have happened. Either way chalk it up to learning. You can always try a rebatch later, if it truely did not work out. I would definitely wait, though. Post your recipe, so we can see what is going on.

Hang in there! Talk to us! It is only your first batch! :wink:

 

[reallyrita]

I am a little sad

SMILE! You absolutely made soap! I have several batches right now still sitting in their molds because they are a little too soft to unmold. They will harden up by and by. It happens. If your lye proportions were correct, your soap will begin to dry out and get harder. Could take a while, though. I have had batches that never got past very thin trace even with the SB and I never knew why. Eventually, they were just fine. You can, of course, rebatch but I think it is way too early to think about doing that. Lard can make a too soft soap, also, a little too much water can make trace take forever and produce a soft soap at first. Make sure your scale is accurate before trying out another batch and post your recipe with amounts so we can see if something is a little off.

 

[Pug Mom]

It is a recipe that my girlfriend's mom uses all the time, and I have some of the soap and love it!!

8 cups lard
3 cups coconut oil
2 cups olive oil
4 1/2 cups water
1 cup + 3 Tablespoons lye....
1 oz peppermins EO

The instructions were to reach 80-90 degrees and I mixed at 110 degrees, could that be it?

How would I rebatch it if I have to....?

I love you guys, you know everything!

 

[Deda]

Pug Mom, don't stress You took the biggest step! It's all fun and games from here on out!

I have a teeny suggestion, if at all possible get a scale. Even a cheap one is a thousand times better than using volume to measure when you make soap. It will make your life so much easier.

 

[cdwinsby]

Definately get a scale. SAP values (how much lye needed for each oil) are based on weight measures of those specific oils. Since 1 cup of each oil will be a different weight, it is important to measure your recipes that way.

Sounds like you've got the bug though so keep at it.

 

[Pug Mom]

I have a digital scale, but because she uses this recipe, and I love her soap, I figured I would do it like she does...

 

[cdwinsby]

Some recipes can be quite soft for awhile. Just leave it to cure and see what happens for now.

 

[carebear]

lard is REALLY slow to trace. and if you don't SB I swear it could take all night.

and if it didn't gel then it can take several days to harden

so don't give up hope. yet.

Btu honestly, I can't begin to comment on whether or not it will be ok though without the weight of your lye (and technically your water - but if your measuring cup is miraculously accurate I can do the math).

 

[Pug Mom]

So, even though it feels like Crisco this morning, it still might work out? I hope so..... It looks so pretty and smells so good....

 

[zee]

Definitely cross your fingers, it may just work out, but rework your recipe into weight if you can for next time.

 

[Pug Mom]

OK, so say it doesn't work, how do I "re batch" it, and when should I make that decision?

 

[Pug Mom]

So I got home last night and it is starting to harden! I think I will leave it in the molds until Sunday. I used PVC for Molds, so I will have to throw them in the freezer for a few hours to get them out probably...I hope this works! Lesson learned...next time weigh everything and throw it into the lye calculator for the H2O and lye! Thanks guys!

 

[SimplyE]

YEAH!!!! See! You did make soap! Congratulations on a successful batch. We DEFINITELY want pics after hearing about it!

Soaping is all about learning and trial and error. That is what makes it so dang addicting 8)

 

[Deda]

We DEFINITELY want pics after hearing about it!

Please!

 

[Pug Mom]

Well, you all might not be impressed with my pictures, but I certainly will be!

 

[SimplyE]

You are teasing us now! Waiting...like a kid at halloween 8)

 

[heartsong]

sad

welcome to the sisterhood of the traveling soap pot! congrats! there has been many a batch i've chewed my nails off worrying over! each batch is an adventure..you'll find yourself always tinkering with it.

 

[digit]

We DEFINITELY want pics after hearing about it!

Please!

Digit

 

[Pug Mom]

PICTURES!

Here are the pictures. I actually ended up with 33 bars! (I hope it is good ) The color is a deeper pink/purple than the pictures show too.... Now I have to wait a month to try it!