Missing oil - Lower SF or lye-heavy?

cerelife · Mar 30, 2016

I was making soap tonight and two of my full molds (with the same 2lb recipe - different FO's) were sitting side by side. I noticed that one of them didn't seem to be quite as full as the other, but it was such a small difference that I wasn't sure. Plus that batch hit heavy trace as I was blending my colors, so it was kind of glopped into the mold (leaving a small amount behind as I was trying to hurry!) and the other was poured at thin trace so I got every last drop.
I put them away to gel, but it kept bothering me so I got them back out and weighed them molds and all. The batch I was concerned about weighed 44g less than the other - BUT these are homemade molds, so I'll have to weigh the soap again tomorrow after I unmold them to get a true weight.
I honestly don't think I left any of the oils out of my recipe, but it's not like I've never had a brain-fart before, ya know? It's totally possible...
I know I'm jumping the gun with my questions as I don't have an accurate weight yet, but I can't help wondering if this will just lower my SF or if I'll need to rebatch this one. I was trying to figure out how to calculate the SF with the possible missing oils and just ended up confusing myself

Here are the particulars if anyone can help:
2 lb batch with 8% SF
I'm pretty sure it would have been one of my soft oils if I left anything out:
Rice Bran - 5% - 45g
Castor - 10% - 90g
Thanks in advance!

KristaY · Mar 30, 2016

Oh, don't you just hate brain farts? Miserable.... Anyway, here's what I would do if I were you. You might have left out 44 gms of oils and your RBO is 45 gms so that MIGHT be what happened. Go to your lye calculator (Soap Calc or which ever you use) and enter your recipe omitting the RBO. Then play with the SF until you get to the amount of lye you used so you know what the SF is (if indeed you missed an oil). Honestly I think you're going to be okay because you started with an 8% SF so even if it brings it down a % or 2, you're plenty safe.

The difference in weight could just be what was left over in your mixing bowl since that one moved and the 2nd one didn't. Let's hope that's the case! But time and zap will tell.

ETA: I was going to check Soap Calc but without the rest of the oils and weights, I can't. The possible missing oil is about 4.4% of your total if you started with 1000gms. I still think you're going to be fine though just not as superfatted as you wanted.

topofmurrayhill · Mar 30, 2016

cerelife said:
I was making soap tonight and two of my full molds (with the same 2lb recipe - different FO's) were sitting side by side. I noticed that one of them didn't seem to be quite as full as the other, but it was such a small difference that I wasn't sure. Plus that batch hit heavy trace as I was blending my colors, so it was kind of glopped into the mold (leaving a small amount behind as I was trying to hurry!) and the other was poured at thin trace so I got every last drop.
I put them away to gel, but it kept bothering me so I got them back out and weighed them molds and all. The batch I was concerned about weighed 44g less than the other - BUT these are homemade molds, so I'll have to weigh the soap again tomorrow after I unmold them to get a true weight.
I honestly don't think I left any of the oils out of my recipe, but it's not like I've never had a brain-fart before, ya know? It's totally possible...
I know I'm jumping the gun with my questions as I don't have an accurate weight yet, but I can't help wondering if this will just lower my SF or if I'll need to rebatch this one. I was trying to figure out how to calculate the SF with the possible missing oils and just ended up confusing myself
Here are the particulars if anyone can help:
2 lb batch with 8% SF
I'm pretty sure it would have been one of my soft oils if I left anything out:
Rice Bran - 5% - 45g
Castor - 10% - 90g
Thanks in advance!

Try not to worry too much. I can't say for sure that you didn't leave anything out, but 44 g is 1 1/2 oz and that much more could easily have been left behind between your container and utensils. Even if you left it out, you'll still get decent soap. Consider it an experiment in superfatting.

Saponomancer · Mar 30, 2016

I say wait and zap test it and if it doesnt pass after a couple of days rebatch with the added oil

cmzaha · Mar 30, 2016

I would highly recommend giving it a longer cure if it zaps, which I really doubt it will. Long cures can correct a zappy soap many times. A few months ago I left out 3 oz of oil in my 62 oz batch of oils, they did zap for a couple of weeks but 3 months later stopped zapping and I love them. Right now they are one of my favorite soaps. These were superfatted at 4% and they are still fine. Soap will easily zap for 72 hrs especially un-gelled soaps