Issue with cutting

[LadySarah370]

So I made a batch of cp coconut milk Bastille soap. 50/50 water solution with carrot puree....went to cut it and it was so hard it chucked off this was a little over 24 hrs after it had sat in the mold...why did it do that any suggestions on how to get that not to happen?

 

[Obsidian]

Next time cut sooner, you want it to be about as firm as a block of cheddar cheese.

 

[LadySarah370]

Next time cut sooner, you want it to be about as firm as a block of cheddar cheese.[/QUO

Right, I have done a couple other loafs b4. This one was the first one I have done with a 50/50 lye water solution. I am wonder how come it got so hard so quickly, is this why, or is there another reason. Juat trying to figure things out

 

[Steve85569]

Each recipe will "set up" differently than the others.
It's part of what makes this an art.

I was baby sitting a loaf of salt soap yesterday that just did NOT want to set hard enough to cut. Most of the time that recipe goes very quickly ( 2 hours or so). This one had a different scent and just sat there.....

 

[LadySarah370]

So I should keep checking the soap to see if its ready to cut?

 

[Dawni]

I have a theory that heat hardens soap somewhat quicker. When I tried to CP a recipe I normally HP I had to wait longer to unmold and cut. I just noticed it but can't explain why, and can't really say heat is the definite cause.

I also think ambient temps play a role. It's rarely cold where I am and even when I CP I've never waited 24 hrs to unmold and cut. I have yet to try a pure Castile so that's still up for debate.

 

[shunt2011]

If you post your recipe we can try to give more advice. If your recipe has a lot of hard oils and if it gels will affect when to cut. But it sounds like you just waited too long to cut.

 

[amd]

cp coconut milk Bastille soap. 50/50 water solution with carrot puree

Here's my theory: while coconut milk and carrot puree are used as liquid substitutes, there's quite of bit of things that don't act as liquid, so the soap behaved as if you had done a lower lye concentration. So while you may have done [made up lye concentration here for example only] a 2.5:1 lye concentration by calculation, the real liquid in it was probably less than 2.5. Less "water" will result in a faster setup time. I don't have hard data to support this (such as "carrot puree is only 25% water") but I have noticed that my coconut milk soaps will setup faster than an aloe vera soap, or straight water soap. Add in that with natural sugars in milks and carrot, the soap probably saponified a bit warmer (whether you encouraged heat or not) which further encouraged the soap to setup faster as it cooled.

So if my theory holds merit, for future batches, I would not adjust any liquid amounts, I would just watch and cut sooner. (Although if I were to adjust liquid amounts to avoid this, I would add water to the 50/50 lye solution and reduce the same amount in the milk and puree, keeping the total liquid amount the same.)

 

[LadySarah370]

Ok so the recipe was this:

4.35 water
4.35 sodiun hydroxide
27 oz of Olive oil
5 oz of coconut oil
8 oz of coconut milk
2.5 oz of carrots baby food

I am pretty sure now that it was the 50/50 lye water solution. I made the another batch with just olive oil and coconut with regular water solution of 2:1 ratio and they were still soft after 20ish hours of being in the mold.

 

[shunt2011]

You have a lot of liquid between the water and the milk then adding puree on top of that. Too much if what you listed is right. Also high olive. It shouldn’t have been that hard. Something seems off to me. Should have been pretty soft. But sometimes strange things happen. You’ll just need to watch it next time and cut sooner.

 

[amd]

It looks like 3.4:1 lye concentration (counting milk and puree as part of total liquid), so my theory regarding low lye concentration is blown out of the water.

I don't think it's the 50/50 lye solution, unless you think it was a mismeasurement during the process, because the milk and puree will act as additional liquid. The 2:1 concentrated batch is still quite a bit less water, but if it was only water and no milk or puree, it's not going to heat up the same way due to lack of sugars [compared to the first batch]. I suspect that even though it's a higher liquid amount, what was used for liquid contributed more to the setup time of the first batch.

 

[penelopejane]

As shunt and amd say you used the equivalent of 22.7% lye concentration.
That is a really high water amount.
The amount of water in the lye solution (if you used a 50/50 solution) is added to the coconut milk and the carrot juice = 14.85 oz.

It should have taken ages to set up.
Are you sure you added the 8oz of coconut milk?

 

[LadySarah370]

As shunt and amd say you used the equivalent of 22.7% lye concentration.
That is a really high water amount.
The amount of water in the lye solution (if you used a 50/50 solution) is added to the coconut milk and the carrot juice = 14.85 oz.

It should have taken ages to set up.
Are you sure you added the 8oz of coconut milk?

Hey Penelopejane,

Yes, I am sure I used 8 oz of coconut milk. It was organic coconut milk. It did have guar gum in it tho..do you think that could have made a difference?0

 

[penelopejane]

Hey Penelopejane,

Yes, I am sure I used 8 oz of coconut milk. It was organic coconut milk. It did have guar gum in it tho..do you think that could have made a difference?0

I use coconut milk with no additives so I'm not sure but I don't think it would have accelerated it as quickly as it did. Weird. Sorry I couldn't help more.