New soaper--question on CP

[longeliner31]

I poured my soap about 5 hours ago-it is clear (like glycerine) looking and it is still moveable in my box slightly although the top seems to be solid. Any idea if this soap is going to work or if something went wrong? My sil and I did exact same recipe one after the other. Her soap is white and was solid after 30 minutes. Not sure what the difference is. Ingredients were the same except I added .2 oz more fragrance oil (recipe called for 1.2 I used 0.9 and she used 0.7 because the fragrance seemed very strong). How long do you give the soap to solidify before calling it a bust?

 

[Genny]

You guys are doing Cold Process (CP)?

I have never had soap get hard after 1/2 hour with CP. MP, yes, but not CP.
Yours sounds like it's right on track and in the gel phase.

I always wait 24 hours before even thinking about unmoulding my soap. Then if it's still soft to the touch, which happens sometimes if I'm doing a soap heavy in olive oil.

 

[debbism]

I have unmolded as early as 36 hours but I usually wait 48 hours. For castile, I might wait even longer.

 

[longeliner31]

Thank you guys so much! Glad mine is on track in the gel phase! Yes, it was cold process. This is my first batch and hoping it turns out well. My husband made me a wooden soap box which I wrapped in freezer paper and then covered the finished soap with saran wrap. Feels like it is finally cooling down a little. So new at this but very excited--the soap had shea butter, olive oil, and coconut oil.

 

[longeliner31]

almost 24 hours out now and it is still very very soft-it still moves slightly in the container. will give it another day-fingers crossed!

 

[Genny]

If you give us the exact recipe, we may be able to help a little bit more.

 

[longeliner31]

10.5 oz coconut oil
10.5 oz olive oil
9 oz shea butter
8 oz water
4.2 oz lye
.9 oz scent

sister-in-law and I did batches together right after the other and hers is fine. I'm assuming i made some sort of measuring error. Her's is white and solid and mine is clear yellow and texture of jelly.

 

[Genny]

Yeah, that recipe would make a pretty hard bar of soap.
Also, you said that your SIL's was hard after 1/2 hour. I'm betting that it seized up. When you use a lot of shea butter, the soap can seize.

It's strange that yours would still be soft with that recipe. Does it zap?

 

[longeliner31]

No, it doesn't zap-in fact it tested around a 5-6. So I'm guessing that I made an error with the lye measurement. I'm going to try again this weekend.
I made some lotion this morning with her as well and it turned out wonderfully. I'm pretty excited and I'm not going to let this deter me from soaping! I'll get it eventually!

 

[Mom2LilMan]

I'm the SIL. We figured out that she was using potassium hydroxide that neither of us noticed! Whoops!

We're gearing up for another soaping next week and she now has sodium hydroxide with which to soap. This one WILL be successful!

 

[Genny]

I'm the SIL. We figured out that she was using potassium hydroxide that neither of us noticed! Whoops!

We're gearing up for another soaping next week and she now has sodium hydroxide with which to soap. This one WILL be successful!

LOL That explains a lot
Good luck with the next batches.

 

[Mom2LilMan]

Frankly, we're very happy that it was a discrepancy in supplies. We spent an entire day trying to figure out where we could've messed up while making each individual batch. It was crazy-making!