Newbie - Crumbly ammonia smelling Milk soap

[Karina Heartart]

Hi everyone

I have just joined the forum and happy to have found it!
I live of grid so sometimes have problems getting online though

I am very new at soap making on my 4th batch, im loving it!
I recently made a goats milk soap i was so excited i used the goats milk from my first hand milking , the ice cube way and put it in the fridge overnight. It came out a darker colour than I wanted although I like the colour. I cut it after 24 hrs it came out nice.
On tuesday 11th I made cows milk soap with honey in the bottom layer. I made it the same way except i put it in the freezer for 24 hrs then in the fridge for 17 hrs. The colour is what I want, but I just cut it and it smells like ammonia. I cut the loaf in half, one side looked smooth the other all weird and crumbly with small bubbly kind of texture. When I cut a bar from the one that was smooth looking its half smooth and half weird. I have attached photos. Please help, did I cut to soon? did the lye work? I am always afraid it does not saponify!

Would appreciate your thoughts
Thank Karina

 

[steffamarie]

Have you zap tested? My first reaction to a crumbly soap is that it could be lye heavy.

 

[shunt2011]

It totally normal when using milk to get the ammonia smell. It will cure out with time. I'm also thinking it may be lye heavy. Zap test it to be sure. Zap testing will tell you if there is excess lye.

 

[Karina Heartart]

I just took a knife and it smooths out those bubbly parts that where there when the soap crumbled off. I will do a Zap test does it zap you like when you get a static electricity shock. I'm a bit nervous hahaha

 

[steffamarie]

Yes. Like if you licked a battery. It doesn’t taste good for obvious reasons lol but if it’s not lye heavy you won’t feel an unmistakeable zap

 

[Karina Heartart]

Yes it does have a tingle and a funny taste. I used a different calculator this time it had about 4 grams more lye than the other. Not sure if this would make a difference. Its strange considering raw cows milk has additional fat in it not taken into account with the oil weights. Thanks for the help

 

[SaltedFig]

I just took a knife and it smooths out those bubbly parts...

If it's still soft enough that you can smooth it out with a knife, then the soap may not have finished saponifying.

Test the softness using gloved hands, and try and form the crumbs into a ball. If they come together easily (and you can manipulate the soap like firm clay), then it might have crumbled from being cut too early, and might be just fine in a few days.

The full recipe details would make it even easier to help, but the hardness of the soap gives a lot of clues - if it's like a rock then I would agree that it's possibly lye heavy (but I would still wait a few days and check again).

Could you let us know whether the soap is soft or hard?

 

[Karina Heartart]

Hi yes it does roll in a ball

coconut oil 380 grams
Olive oil 665 grams
Beef Tallow 855 grams
raw cows milk 627 grams
NaOH 267 grams

I added two tsp of raw honey at trace in half of batch (did not included it in liquid amount)
In other half of batch half tsp rosemary essential oil and 1.5 tsp lavender oil in
The milk was nice and smooth and creamy when i added it to the oils at about 80-90 F

I think i will wait a few days the one half of the loaf is still intact

Thanks very much

 

[Karina Heartart]

Hi
Its soft not hard

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with SaltedFig -- I think you cut too soon. You kept this soap awfully cool, and it needs more time to firm up.

Also, you will have overall better results if you cut your soap with a flat blade or a wire, not with a knife. Even the thinnest knife is triangular, so it wedges the soap open. If your soap has the right consistency, a knife will certainly work. But if your soap doesn't have the right consistency, you will only find that out after you've cut into it and watched the soap crumble or shatter. A flat bladed "bench scraper" (used in the kitchen for things like scraping dough off a work surface) or a wire cheese cutter are better choices for cutting soap.

 

[Karina Heartart]

Thank you, I will have to get a different cutting tool

 

[cmzaha]

I third the cutting to soon

 

[Karina Heartart]

Thank you for all your help it is really appreciated. xx