My soap becoming lump. Like cold butter help

[anidna.arim]

Hello everyone,

Im new to cp but been months doing m&p. I following soap queen tv rexipe of bastile baby soap for beginning and already try 3 times. The 1st one is lumpy and when hardened is crumbly. I look it up on brumblebary pages it because the fragrance oil that i blend when i should just stir it. And probably also because i didnt wait my lye till room temp (i sit it in for 30min only) 2nd time it went okay but i mistakenly put the weight wrong on soapcalc so i only make it 23g (so little i know) but it didnt lumpy.

The 3rd one i make. I already wait my lye 3hrs, didnt blend my essential oil, but i put my oil into one pot when weighing in so i got a lil bit much coconut oil then the recipe told (abt 15gr too much) but i decreased the castor oil and sweet almond oil and i forgot the palm oil (silly me. Yes i know) question is. Eventhough i miss palm oil and already change my essential oil why its still lumpy??? Please help.

My recipe is 40% olive oil, 30% coconut oil, 5% castor 5% sweet almond oil , 20% palm oil . Lye conc 35% super fat 5%

 

[DeeAnna]

How are you making your soap? Can you provide a picture of what you mean by the soap being "lumpy"?

Do you use a stick blender? If you do, how many seconds or minutes do you use the stick blender when making a batch of soap?

 

[anidna.arim]

Ive already trued 5 times to upload but it said my file too big.. I blend it until trance coz i make small batch like 150 gr it less than 10 min blendes and it already trace.. And then i add my eo which is lavemder and try to mix it with frangipani.. And not long after that it thicker and thicker.. Is this seizing because of the eo or because o forgot add palm oil?

 

[Arimara]

150g is extremely small for a batch. I'm more concerned about if you are able to measure the amount of lye needed for such a small batch. Your soap could actually be very lye-heavy because of the need to micromanage the little amount of NaOH that you need.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with Arimara, that's way to small of a batch to be accurate. I recommend making at least 500g. What are you using to mix it? If it's a stick blender it shouldn't take more than a couple bursts with it.

 

[anidna.arim]

150g is extremely small for a batch. I'm more concerned about if you are able to measure the amount of lye needed for such a small batch. Your soap could actually be very lye-heavy because of the need to micromanage the little amount of NaOH that you need.

I use saponicalc apps.. Water 39.5gr, naoh 21.5, pomace 60g, coconut oil 40g, palm 20g (which i forgot to add ),castor and sweet almd 7.5gr each.. Do u think its lye heavy? I havent buy ph test pack yet . I use hand blender. Yes only couple of minute already thick trace..

 

[Arimara]

If you forgot to use an oil than yes, that soap is lye heavy. Add the remaining 30g and you might be ok. pH testing a soap is pretty useless. All soaps made via CP or HP are alkaline in nature with varying pH levels after cure. If you used synthetic surfactants, that would be a different story

 

[DeeAnna]

If you are mixing that soap for 10 minutes, you are mixing it too much, especially if you are using a stick blender.

 

[anidna.arim]

So

If you forgot to use an oil than yes, that soap is lye heavy. Add the remaining 30g and you might be ok. pH testing a soap is pretty useless. All soaps made via CP or HP are alkaline in nature with varying pH levels after cure. If you used synthetic surfactants, that would be a different story

So this soap is waste then. Coz i read heavy lye soap cant be rebatch right?

If you are mixing that soap for 10 minutes, you are mixing it too much, especially if you are using a stick blender.

Oh okay if i want to try cp again then i cant mix it too long only until it trace,and dont forget my oils, and try to do it 500 gr?

If you are mixing that soap for 10 minutes, you are mixing it too much, especially if you are using a stick blender.

Oh okay if i want to try cp again then i cant mix it too long only until it trace,and dont forget my oils, and try to do it 500 gr?

Thank you @DeeAnna @shunt2011 @Arimara for your answer.. I kinda worry doing cp again. Coz hate see it waste..

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh okay if i want to try cp again then i cant mix it too long only until it trace,and dont forget my oils, and try to do it 500 gr?

Yes, that is right. I think you are making some beginner mistakes and getting discouraged. You have been given good advice in this thread. Try the advice first and see if you have better luck. To summarize --

You are making batches that are too small. Try making a batch with about 500 grams of fat.

Write your recipe on paper and check off each ingredient as you add it. Add ALL of the fat to your soap pot at the beginning. Double check your work before you add the lye to the fats.

Leave out the fragrance while you are learning. Floral fragrances (frangipani) often cause the soap batter to "accelerate" meaning it gets hard too fast.

Use the stick blender a LOT less. Hand stir 30 seconds, stick blend 2-3 seconds, hand stir 30 sec, SB 2-3 sec. Here are two good videos. Watch them so you know what to look for -- and Also see: https://classicbells.com/soap/stickBlender.asp

 

[Arimara]

when I first started, I used 16oz of oils for my first batch. That's around 454g of oils. That's enough soap to fill one of these molds here.

 

[anidna.arim]

Hello..

Im making cp again.. Bastile buttermilk soap recioe frm soapqueen tv. And its happening again.. I do all the step. All the measure. Oh well my oo is short out i subtitute with co abt 7oz.. And i really use stick blend soooo little after trace like avocado juice i olny stir... Idk why. Is it because i subtitute? I didnt measure the eo put it until it smell then i didnt add more. I want to cryy

 

[penelopejane]

Hello..

Im making cp again.. Bastile buttermilk soap recioe frm soapqueen tv. And its happening again.. I do all the step. All the measure. Oh well my oo is short out i subtitute with co abt 7oz.. And i really use stick blend soooo little after trace like avocado juice i olny stir... Idk why. Is it because i subtitute? I didnt measure the eo put it until it smell then i didnt add more. I want to cryy

You will have to put you new recipe (with the substituted oils) through a soapcalc to find out how much lye and how much water the new recipe requires.
The avocado juice you added should be part of the water required in the recipe. EG: if you need 100g of water in your recipe add 20g of avocado juice and 80g of water.

You should also measure your EO. Try about 5% of the weight of oils in EO or look in the soapcalc and go by that recommended amount.

what temperature did you soap at? Did you follow the instructions given above about reaching trace?

 

[atiz]

Hello..

Im making cp again.. Bastile buttermilk soap recioe frm soapqueen tv. And its happening again.. I do all the step. All the measure. Oh well my oo is short out i subtitute with co abt 7oz.. And i really use stick blend soooo little after trace like avocado juice i olny stir... Idk why. Is it because i subtitute? I didnt measure the eo put it until it smell then i didnt add more. I want to cryy

Treat the recipe as you would for baking a fancy cake. You want to have all the ingredients and want to be quite precise how much to use of what; otherwise your cake (and soap) won't turn out very well.
Substituting is fine as long as you run it through a soap calculator. It should not make your batter lumpy. Some oils trace faster than others; you said you are using pomace grade OO, in my experience (I only used it once) that traces very fast, so that may be part of your problem.