I just made my first soap since moving...DISASTER!

pittielove · Sep 25, 2013

Hi there,

I don't want to be known as the person who only makes threads when she has a problem, but I feel like that's all I can contribute to this forum at the moment being a fairly new soap maker.

I have about 7 or 8 batches of soap under my belt already, from basic grocery soap to salt soap to a newbie shaving soap. I've since moved to Vancouver for school, and my new place is much more humid and warmer than my family house. I also was soaping in the basement, since that was the only place I was allowed to make it..

I brought all my soaping stuff over (which may have been against my better judgement) and decided to make an easy soap yesterday just to get back into the swing of things (read: procrastinate for school!). I did a 100% coconut oil soap with 20% supefat. I have done this before, but with different amounts. My boyfriend made me two soap molds for my birthday that fits 2.3 lbs of oils.

So my recipe breakdown was:

37 oz Coconut oil, from a 5kg tub I have used before
5.4 oz lye
13.3 oz water (36% water)

The things I did differently than at home...so it's difficult to pinpoint where I went wrong:

1. Used tap water instead of distilled, because I left that at home and I wasn't going to walk around at 10 pm for it

2. Melted CO over stove instead of in pyrex glass like I usually do

3. I added goats milk powder and kaolin clay to the oil before mixing with lye solution and then I added lemon grass essential oil, annatto seed and poppy seeds at trace.

4. I did not insulate with towels, just put a cardboard piece over it. Normally it is quite cool in my basement and even upstairs it does not get very warm, and my mom doesn't turn the heat back on until November. About 15 minutes in, I dumbly took the cardboard off to have a peak...first glance at disaster! Some soap had dried onto the cardboard and pulled away from the soap, leaving this valley filled with dripping oil. Yikes!

I let it sit for 22 hours and I looked at it around dinner time. The left 1/4 looked fine but the middle was oily looking. I pulled it out about an hour ago and it has an oily sheen all over; on the freezer paper it was oily. I cut them into bars, I guess it's only partially gelled because there are two different coloured rings. Also, some pockets of oils oozed out. None salvageable and unaffected.

I did a zap test (disgusting!) and it definitely tastes like soap.

I'm wondering what your best guess is that I did wrong, and how can I correct this in the future? I'm scared to try a new batch here, and I'm not sure if this can be rebatched (can't pinpoint exact error).

Was this because it's too hot in my place and it retained too much heat? This is only my second time using this wooden mold, though the first time the soap came out perfectly and it was a much more complicated recipe.

Did I potentially reach a false trace from the coconut oil resolidifying? Should I be adjusting my methods based on my living situation...ie: I have heard of room temperature soaping...

I don't know if this matters, but when I opened the tub of CO the oils were flat, because it had melted probably from a few weeks ago when it was hotter. I noticed this with my cooking grade CO that it was liquidy, so now I have to put that in the fridge.

Any feedback would be very much appreciated.

cerelife · Sep 25, 2013

Not sure if this will help or not... but here are my first thoughts.
I often make 100% CO soap at a 20% superfat when I'm trying out 'delicate' FO's as they tend to retain their scent better in this simple recipe, JMHO. I live in the Deep South of the US, so it's pretty much hot and humid most of the year! My CO changes form all the time...literally! When I get my shipments, it's usually liquid but hardens up a bit in the AC. And in (our FEW) months of cooler weather, it's hard as a rock. I've never had any issues with it changing forms, so I don't think that's your problem. Nor do I think that heating on the stove as opposed to in the microwave should make any difference. And I wouldn't really expect CO to resolidify (due to the fairly low 76 degree melting point) when soaping in an average temp range...that's more of a problem for me when I want to use a large percentage of butters in a recipe.
I soap in everything from 100 degree weather with ridiculous humidity to what we consider cold spells (anything under 50 degrees) with much drier air. Again, I've never noticed any differences in how my soap behaves.
I tend to make small batches so I generally use 2lb wooden molds...but I do insulate my 100% CO soap as I would any other as I prefer to fully gel.
However, I've never used tap water (in ANY recipe...too many impurities), or kaolin (these bars get rock-hard and have good slip without it) in this recipe. I have used GM, but not powdered. Not sure if that would make a difference or not. And I've used Lemongrass EO in other recipes with no problem, so I wouldn't think that was the culprit either.
And BTW, I didn't run your recipe through a soap calc, since you say you've used it before with no problems..maybe just a visit from the soap gremlins?
Sorry I can't be of more help...hopefully better minds than mine will chime in

pittielove · Sep 25, 2013

Thanks for the response!

I of course always run my recipe through Soap Calc, just to be sure.

I think that I probably shouldn't have covered it, given that it was so warm anyway in the condo for this time of night and year (no thermostat so can't say for sure). I've never put my soap in the fridge because the fridge is usually too full anyway so I guess I always gel my soap?

I figure my skin is pretty dry from having eczema my whole life plus I'm constantly washing my hands in my new program (more than average...handling cadavers and what not), so I thought more is better in the case of these additives? I'm not so sure it was the additives that caused this as I've previously put sugar, clay, colours, exfoliants and EOs before.

I have used lemon grass twice in the past and I don't often use the 0.5-0.7 oz ppo because I don't like them that potent/I find they retain their smell quite well with less/plethora of allergies in my family.

I find that West Coast tap water is generally good. I have drank from the tap and unfiltered my whole life and it tastes better than well water. That being said, there could definitely be some extra ions in there that wouldn't be with distilled.

I'm wondering if I can rebatch at all? And if so do I use the same wooden mold or would it be easier in silicone?

Obsidian · Sep 25, 2013

Sounds like it might have over heated, I would rebatch.

shunt2011 · Sep 25, 2013

Sounds like it overheated to me as well and may have separated a bit at least the EO/FO. I too would rebatch or throw it away (I would do this as I hate rebatching). Sorry this happened to you.

judymoody · Sep 25, 2013

I think you got overheating, probably for the following reasons:

100% CO soaps tend to heat up and gel more than a mix of oils, IME.

Using the stove, your oils might have reached a higher temperature than your normal method. So your starting temps might have been hotter.

Wooden loaf molds retain heat.

Goat milk powder will cause your soap to heat.

Room temperature is hotter than usual.

Next time, I'd do the following: Keep an eye on your soap (it's OK to peek!) If it shows signs of overheating, elevate the mold, put in near a window or a fan with air circulation or stick it in the refrigerator or freezer.

Any time my soap has oozy pockets I rebatch. Even if the zap test comes out OK. There might be other pockets in the soap that you can't see. I may be overly cautious but that's what I do.