I might have just made my own disaster.

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JanO

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
I posted yesterday that someone gave me some soap supplies. In the bottom of the box I found a recipe called "Basic White" and decided to give it a try. (I have my own recipe but I'm always willing to try something new.) Here it is.

12 oz. PKO
12 oz. Shea Butter (I used mine, not the rancid stuff.)
16 oz. Lard
5.44-5.5 oz. Lye (I used 5.5)
10-15 oz. Water (I used 15 oz.)

The Shea was measurement was more then I would usually use, but I stuck to the recipe anyway. When I added the lye/water mixture it started to trace almost immediately. I've never had a soap do that before. After only a couple minutes of mixing (if that long) it was ready to go in the mold.

Now the fun part... waiting to unmold it and see what I have.
 
What temp did you use to soap with? If you didn't soap warm enough with all that shea and PKO, then they more than likely resolidified on you when the lye water hit them. I don't like to go below 115 to 120 degreesF when I'm soaping with butters or PKO because when I do I get instant trace or ricing even before any fragrance is added.

IrishLass :)
 
My oils were about 130, and lye water was around 120. I don't think that's cool at all, but when they combined it might have been with all that Shea and PKO.
 
I use alot of Shea butter and Ive never had a problem with that... But anything over 5% PKO gives me troubles! Super fast trace and I usually over heat in the mold and get a crack along the top.
 
I just checked it, couldn't help myself, and it's not looking good. Lane I think you nailed it. It did trace awfully fast, and it has a huge crack up the center. UGH!

I wonder if I rebatch it now, before it has time to really cool, add more lard and refigure the lye solution, maybe can I save it? I have never had this happen before, so I'm not real sure what to do.
 
I might have just made my own disaster...Update!

I decided to let it go and just wait and see what happens. Today I unmolded it and cut it. It cut really easy and has been drying for about 4 hours now. So far it seems to be alright and it looks like it's going to turn out to be a hard white bar. I didn't use any scents or EO's on this batch so it doesn't smell like anything. Hubby will like that.

I'll let you know how it works in a few weeks when we try it out. Maybe it's not such a disaster after all.
 
I haven't tried that much shea yet, but I read (on another forum) about someone soaping 50-some % shea, and some soaping higher. Apparently not a problem. PKO, I have never used, but have certainly seen recipes with it in the 20-30% range, so I don't know if that would be a problem either...

Perhaps others can comment on the likelihood of faster trace with the OP's relatively warm temps vs. cooler?
 
Back
Top