my soap is thicker than pumpkin puree

[Seawolfe]

Yes for acceleration like that, its almost always the fragrance oil, or sometimes floral EO's. Unless of course you are soaping with stearic acid, then its the stearic acid.

I've used tap water for my soaps, it works, but distilled is better. Anything closer to distilled is better.

 

[rparrny]

Excuse me for putting in my 2 cents as I am not a seasoned soap maker but did have a similar experience that might have some bearing here. I had one of my first batches of soap seize up on me and I followed everything to the letter via soap calc...only to find out what I thought was a bargain OO from costco was a mixture of OO and some other oil (don't remember anymore which one). It was the mixture that caused the seize.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It would have to be mixed with something rather odd to cause a seize - if it was mixed with some other oil it wouldn't necessarily seize.

 

[DeeAnna]

Actually any oil that is close to becoming rancid or definitely rancid will have a lot of free fatty acids (FFA). These fatty acids can cause ricing and seizing in what should be a mild-mannered soap recipe. The effect is much like when you add a few percent of stearic acid to a bath bar recipe -- in effect you are deliberately adding FFAs to the batter. The amount of FFA in a not-fresh oil will vary depending on circumstances and you can't always smell or see any difference to alert you that the oil has a high % of FFAs. This means you can't predict the effect, but it does happen.

 

[Jstar]

Although I like the way the BM soap feels, I don't like the way it smelled when I made it or used it. It's put me off milk soaps. I'm glad I saw

I almost gave up on milk soaps as well because of the smell..not because the milk scorched {which is what happened to yours btw} but because of the baby spit up smell after the bars were cured..however I have discovered coconut milk {goya brand} and it is WONDERFUL with no yuck smells..still freeze it tho so you dont scorch it}

i went to walmart to get distilled water and they didnt have any - go figure
can i just use bottled dasani water? it has 025 tds

I use all kinds of water...Dasani water is fine imo. Also if you can't find the distilled, go to the babyfood section in the grocery store..

 

[not_ally]

J, I had that cheesy smell in a full cream bar I made. I almost threw them out, and then tried one, it is really, really nice. Plus the smell went away in use, and I don't smell it at all, which is weird, I don't know why wetting them would fix the problem. I still smell the cheesiness in the unused bars, so I don't give them to anyone but my mom (she doesn't care), but I sure do like them.

 

[Obsidian]

I can smell the sour milk scent in any bars with any type of cow products, even in cured bars it smells rancid to me. I don't notice it with goats milk though. I do prefer coconut milk myself, no weird smell and it makes the lather really nice.

 

[not_ally]

King, Nature's Garden is a good place to order from if you are starting out w/FO's, they have pretty cheap testing sizes and discount if you buy 10 or more, I think. Plus they ship really fast. Their FO's can be hit or miss, but if you post the ones you are interested in here, lots of people have experience with them. Or if you have a certain scent type that you like, folks could make suggestions. There are other places that do testers/samplers w/no minimum order as well.

 

[not_ally]

I can smell the sour milk scent in any bars with any type of cow products, even in cured bars it smells rancid to me. I don't notice it with goats milk though. I do prefer coconut milk myself, no weird smell and it makes the lather really nice.

That is the thing, Obsidian, I still get the smell in the cured unused bars, just not once I actually wet/use them. I only got the funky smell from the full cream bars (not from eg, yogurt, buttermilk, gm), I figured it was from the amount of butterfat. I do like CM the best though, I agree w/you on the lather.

 

[rparrny]

Its been a few years but I think it was canola oil. My next batch with the same recipe using the non-mixture was perfect as my teacher assured me it would be.

 

[TeresaT]

Thanks for the tips on the milks. One of the big problems, and hindsight is always glaringly obvious, is that I didn't do the ice water bath at all. I read that I should. I knew that I should. But I don't use ice because I have sensitive teeth. I would have had to get dressed and go buy ice. I'm lazy. My milk scorched and smelled nasty. So the second time, I tossed it in with the oils. My milk burned and smelled nasty. Lesson learned. I will go buy a bag of ice before I make any kind of milk soap again. And I will do the takes-forever-to-combine-them method from the video, too. I will also look for Goya brand coconut milk.

 

[not_ally]

Teresa, have you tried the split method? I find it so much easier. Just involves splitting your lye liquid, putting the lye into one half of it and adding to the oils, and then adding the rest w/the milks/other stuff blended in later (I do at emulsification, others do to the oils or at trace. But I have never had stinkiness or acceleration doing it this way, and you don't have to mess w/ice or temperature differences.)

 

[Jstar]

J, I had that cheesy smell in a full cream bar I made. I almost threw them out, and then tried one, it is really, really nice. Plus the smell went away in use, and I don't smell it at all, which is weird, I don't know why wetting them would fix the problem. I still smell the cheesiness in the unused bars, so I don't give them to anyone but my mom (she doesn't care), but I sure do like them.

My cows milk soap was the weirdest..the bars themselves were fine when cured...the only time I had an issue was when I touched the dry bars..the smell was on my hands 'only', but I could lean over and sniff the bar and I got nothing but clean smell..no smell when the bar was wet either, either on me or the bar...

When I switched to coconut milk however, I was hooked.. so never even attempted to try GM since I figured it was from an animal.

 

[Jstar]

Thanks for the tips on the milks. One of the big problems, and hindsight is always glaringly obvious, is that I didn't do the ice water bath at all. I read that I should. I knew that I should. But I don't use ice because I have sensitive teeth. I would have had to get dressed and go buy ice. I'm lazy. My milk scorched and smelled nasty. So the second time, I tossed it in with the oils. My milk burned and smelled nasty. Lesson learned. I will go buy a bag of ice before I make any kind of milk soap again. And I will do the takes-forever-to-combine-them method from the video, too. I will also look for Goya brand coconut milk.

I freeze my coconut milk, and use at 100%. I sit my container in an ice bath while I add my lye so it stays pretty cold throughout the process..it will get kinda thick, and I stir a bit more than I would for say water, just to make sure it all gets dissolved..but once it hits the oils, it works for me pretty much as normal..I dont SB too much..I do more stirring with the SB than I do actually pulsing. I also dont do much in the way of superfatting.

Once you try it you will love coconut milk..such creamy lather and a nice clean milky type smell..its yummy

My next batch is probably going to be made using coconut milk and strawberry puree...may not even use a FO since I love the way the coconut milk smells.

ETA:

And I will do the takes-forever-to-combine-them method from the video, too

I kept wondering about why you said 'forever' to combine..so I went and watched that video..and omg..she takes an HOUR??:shock: ..holy moly..it doesn't take that long AT ALL..not for me it don't anyway..maybe 15 mins TOPS because I stir a bit longer than the water.

 

[Mommy]

You oils/lye don't have to be the same temp but the warmer they are, the faster it will trace.
[/QUOTE]

i've been soaping for 2 years and never had that explained so simply before. Thank you!

 

[Obsidian]

My very first soap was made with 100% goat milk. Chilled, not frozen. I took about 15 minutes to add in all the lye and it never overheated. I may have used a ice water bath too, I can't remember now.

 

[IrishLass]

I do my milk soap via the split method that not_ally mentioned. I used to make them via the freezing method when I first started soaping, but I really, really suck at doing it that way. lol

The split method is the bees knees for me. No extra work or drama involved. I just mix my lye 50/50 with water (which is easy for me because I work from a 50% master-batched solution anyway), then I add my refrigerated or room temp goat milk to my oils either before or after adding my lye solution into them. My soap does not get that stinky ammonia smell and they turn out a lovely, creamy off-white color. I don't get any overheating or separation issues with the split method either. And if I want to do a 100% milk soap with the split method, all I have to do is fortify my fresh milk with enough powdered milk to bring it to the proper concentration for my batch, and then soap as normal.


IrishLass

 

[not_ally]

One of IL's posts turned me on to the joys of the split method, and I pretty much use it all the time now, since I put CM in almost every batch. For me it is so, so much simpler. I do pretty much as she does, except add most/all of my additives (EDTA, sugar solution, milks, any purees) into the remaining liquid portion, stick blend well, then add the whole thing at emulsification. I also do the full 100% milk thing, with either liquid milk as the "second half" and powdered added, or just adding a full powder amount to the second half if I am using aloe (usually do instead of water if I do not use liquid milk.) It really helps me not to forget stuff, as well.

ETA: I do use a slow tracing blend though (majority lovely, lovey lard) and rarely have problems w/acceleration, so maybe your results would vary if you use a quick-tracing one. But I do discount water a bit, I usually use a 33% lye solution. IL, I might be turning into your soaping mini-me, that is another recommendation from you that I took to heart. Unless you are actually 5 ft tall, then I will just be your soaping accolyte. But Susie might still come first in the pantheon b/c of you know, the lard

 

[IrishLass]

IL, I might be turning into your soaping mini-me, that is another recommendation from you that I took to heart. Unless you are actually 5 ft tall, then I will just be your soaping accolyte.

I am five-foot 1 and 3/16ths inches (gotta squeeze every last one of those micro-inches in there, lol). Having my own mini-me would be awesome because there is no one smaller than me amongst my family and friends. I am a hobbit in the world of men, as Tolkien might have put it (but thankfully my feet are a lot prettier). lol

But Susie might still come first in the pantheon b/c of you know, the lard

Aaaargh- I knew it! Lard always wins in the end!


IrishLass

 

[not_ally]

Hah, you are a shrimp, I knew it! You should console yourself w/the fact that you have pretty feet, mine are not.

Also, you know, lard. I was going to try and be insightful. But Just Lard