my first soapy failure

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rain_darned_owl

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Hi my name is Lori and I had a major soapy failure. I feel more like a real soaper now!! I am not sure if I should try to hot process it, grate it for laundry soap, or toss it.

I made a double batch and split it in 2 once I had reached (I thought) a medium trace. By the time I had added my colours to the first half and got it into my mold my remaining soap was already gelling in my plastic measuring cup!! I didn't know what to do (perhaps I should have just left it?) so I kinda spooned it into the nearest empty mold (individual silicone squares) and tried to mash it down so it would kinda form lumpy bars. I didn't miss any ingredients so it should be safe.

The recipe: aloe vera gel juice (instead of water) and lye, oils: 90% coconut and 10% shea butter. Can this be used for laundry soap? I am not sure what oils to avoid for laundry. I would rather not hot process as that would mean going out and buying a crock pot (I feel like I am already spending way too much money on soaping as it is).
 
Hi Lori,

I read your post twice, but can't find why you think your soap is a failure. You said you didn't leave out any ingredients. I'm not sure what time you made this but its probably too early to do a zap test.

You think because the 2nd portion started to gel and that is the failure? Do I understand that correctly?
 
Is the only issue that your soap got really hot and gelled before you got it in the mold? It may not be pretty, but it'll be soap
 
You did the right thing by getting it into a mold. I've had soap gel in the pot before, just give it a good stir and get it molded while its still hot.

Thats not a failure in my book either, just a change of plans.
 
I dunno about others, but if a batch starts gelling on me even though I don't want it to, I give in and wrap it and let it go. I do all I can to prevent gel, but once I see it has started, I wrap it up tight and let it do its thing. I don't like partial gel, so I would rather help it along and get complete gel than partial, if that's where it's going, if I can't prevent it. One way or the other, it's gonna be soap, so the rest is aesthetics.
 
Your soap should be fine. I wouldn't use it for laundry soap though due to the shea in it. What SF did you use? That would certainly make a difference for laundry as well. I've had soap do the same thing and it's perfectly fine. The worst was when I was piping cupcakes and it decided to gel in the piping bag....darn did it get hot. Dang near burned my hands off.
 
Thanks everyone. It was a fail b/c it didn't get into the old before it started gelling. I usually try to gel my soaps unless I use goats milk. The problem is it is a bit of a crumbly mess as I tried to mush it together when putting it in the mold but it didn't really work. I couldn't really stir it in the measuring cup as it was full to the brim. But I do have one of those mesh soap bag things for the shower so I guess if I put it in that it will still be usable and won't fall apart on me!!

It was a 20% superfat due to all the coconut oil.
 
If you are concerned with crumbling I would try felting your bars...it would be pretty, simple, and hold in all of the crumble bits.
 
Crumbling is a whole different issue than gelling in the cup. It could mean lye heavy. Could you possibly post your entire recipe in weights so we can help you double check it/
 
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