Is this soap going to be useable?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

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

jessieh

Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Messages
17
Reaction score
8
Location
Vancouver, BC
Still a newbie. Sigh, I misread the amounts of oils to put in and I used the following:
4.8 oz. coconut oil
4.8 oz. palm oil
9 oz. olive oil (should have been 14.4)

3.32 oz. lye
6 oz. water.

It came to trace very quickly, and I couldn't figure out why there wasn't as much soap as usual when I poured into the mold. I'm wondering if there is way too much lye and if I should just toss it when it hardens.
 
To be on the safe side I would smoosh or grate it up and rebatch with the additional 5.4 oz oils. It really is an easy fix.
Yours gives you an approximate -15 superfat which could push it even curing out, after a long cure of 6 months or more, to be non-zappy. If you had used full water it may have cured out okay.
 
Edit: I ran it through Soapee with 0% superfat and came up with 2.78 oz of lye, which would make what you listed lye-heavy. But I am a relative newbie myself yet, so I would still like to see someone with more experience help you with this. Good luck!

Hmmm, could you run the amounts you used through a soap calculator and see how much lye you need for no superfat, then if that amount is more than you used, it's okay? Someone with more experience will have to chime in on this one.

Still a newbie. Sigh, I misread the amounts of oils to put in and I used the following:
4.8 oz. coconut oil
4.8 oz. palm oil
9 oz. olive oil (should have been 14.4)

3.32 oz. lye
6 oz. water.

It came to trace very quickly, and I couldn't figure out why there wasn't as much soap as usual when I poured into the mold. I'm wondering if there is way too much lye and if I should just toss it when it hardens.
 
Last edited:
Edit: I ran it through Soapee with 0% superfat and came up with 2.78 oz of lye, which would make what you listed lye-heavy. But I am a relative newbie myself yet, so I would still like to see someone with more experience help you with this. Good luck!

Hmmm, could you run the amounts you used through a soap calculator and see how much lye you need for no superfat, then if that amount is more than you used, it's okay? Someone with more experience will have to chime in on this one.

I ran it through soapcalc and got the same result. So, too much lye. I guess I should think about rebatching it :sad:
 
I ran it through soapcalc and got the same result. So, too much lye. I guess I should think about rebatching it :sad:
Yep, at least you will not waste it and re-batched really does make a nice soap. If you colored your soap with multi colors and have some activated charcoal add it into your rebatch. Make a slurry of the charcoal in some water, milk etc.
Unfortunately re-batching can create funky colored soap.
 
It actually came out of the mold beautifully. It's firm and smells and looks great. :sad: It's apple cinnamon scented and I swirled it with white (well, off white lol) and pink australian clay -so sort of a reddish brown.
How much is too much lye?
 
With a (minus) -15 superfat it is just to much lye. Did you zap test it, I am sure it will zap if you are sure you left out that much oil. Yes it would be very firm and un-mold easily with that much additional lye. Wet your finger, swipe it across the soap and touch your tongue, betting you will get zapped. If you were to try using the soap at this point you would most likely get a very slick feeling, no lather and risk burning your hands. Sorry to say with your color combination you will most likely get a Spam color. I would wait to rebatch until I acquired some Activated Charcoal and at the least turn it into a gray
 
Rebatching happens to us all. I would rebatch rather than waste that whole batch. And I agree with getting some AC and making grey soap. Or add cocoa for brown soap.
 
Rebatching happens to us all. I would rebatch rather than waste that whole batch. And I agree with getting some AC and making grey soap. Or add cocoa for brown soap.
I was going to mention adding cocoa but all I get with it is :-D a darker Spam color :grin:
Rebatching can also been done at any point of time. If you ever do that again, hopefully you will not, do not let it set up, it is easier to smoosh for rebatch versus grating. You will have to Grate your soap to rebatch it
 
I was going to mention adding cocoa but all I get with it is :-D a darker Spam color :grin:
Rebatching can also been done at any point of time. If you ever do that again, hopefully you will not, do not let it set up, it is easier to smoosh for rebatch versus grating. You will have to Grate your soap to rebatch it

Thanks for the info.
I know what I'm doing tonight :thumbup:
 
I was going to mention adding cocoa but all I get with it is :-D a darker Spam color :grin:
Rebatching can also been done at any point of time. If you ever do that again, hopefully you will not, do not let it set up, it is easier to smoosh for rebatch versus grating. You will have to Grate your soap to rebatch it

Oh dear, I added some brown oxide. I'm sure you can imagine how it turned out :thumbdown:
 
Back
Top