No Zap?

[MorpheusPA]

Daringly, I damped my finger and ran it over the remains of the soap in the soap pot (which is already pretty darned hard). I wanted to see what full zap feels like.

Zap...none. I got a faint and not unpleasant flavor of soap (nor did I go blind like Ralphie). That's it. I put the mold to bed about an hour ago.

Is that normal? Did I do something wrong?

I measured to the gram on everything extremely carefully, making sure not to miss anything. But I need reassurance.

Also, the soap in the mold is already pretty darned hard. Perhaps the 40% coconut is doing that...I used 2.6 times as much water as lye, and water as a percent of oil weight was 38%.

 

[carebear]

if you have soap then all is well

did you CP or HP?

 

[carebear]

and trust me - you don't want to learn about zap with raw soap. wait at least a couple of hours if you are CPing.

 

[mandolyn]

All is well with your soap. Congrats!!

 

[MorpheusPA]

if you have soap then all is well

did you CP or HP?

I have soap. It was a basic CP (see the posting "First Ugly Soap").

This stuff was getting solid so I decanted it from the silicone mold. I've got a bit of excess oil on it, but we'll see what 24 hours brings.

I'll probably try another test tomorrow, same size, but more OO to see if I can increase trace time. And I won't use that awful snot green color, either.

 

[carebear]

oh yea, batches like that can be wonky.

 

[marchroses]

I'm still a newbie with about 20 batches under my belt but I am also very curious about zap. I have tried the raw soap several times just on the end of my tounge and ..... nothing! I don't know why?? but I do have soap, the first 5 or 6 batches already finished curing a couple months and are acting wonderfully and bubbly in the shower.... But no zap even when raw lol.

 

[MorpheusPA]

I'm still a newbie with about 20 batches under my belt but I am also very curious about zap. I have tried the raw soap several times just on the end of my tounge and ..... nothing! I don't know why?? but I do have soap, the first 5 or 6 batches already finished curing a couple months and are acting wonderfully and bubbly in the shower.... But no zap even when raw lol.

Personally, I'd like to think we're just amazingly talented and somehow intuitively manage to completely avoid zap.



In reality, I think I superfatted enough and overstirred a bit in my case (I ended up pouring somewhere between heavy trace and seize because I Just Wasn't Sure, I know better now). The lye just bound up and wasn't available for zapping.

Tomorrow's batch will be with more OO and less CO to play a bit more with tracing...everything went so fast today that I'm not completely sure I've got it, and I'm doing tiny test batches anyway.

 

[honor435]

morph,
all trace is, is when the oils are mixed with the lye, it doesnt have to be thick or trail on top with a spoon, just mixed. When or if you start swirling you will need your mixture to be thin. good luck.

 

[MorpheusPA]

morph,
all trace is, is when the oils are mixed with the lye, it doesnt have to be thick or trail on top with a spoon, just mixed. When or if you start swirling you will need your mixture to be thin. good luck.

Mixed I got today--I managed light trace! The pour looks much better without the canyons and riverbeds I got yesterday, so I'm happy about that.

Odd 24 hour update...NOW I'm getting zap off the soap I made yesterday. Sigh. I'm sure I wasn't lye heavy, so I don't get it.

Well, I'll let it cure for a week and then re-test.

 

[theBrewMeister]

morph,
all trace is, is when the oils are mixed with the lye, it doesnt have to be thick or trail on top with a spoon, just mixed. When or if you start swirling you will need your mixture to be thin. good luck.

Mixed I got today--I managed light trace! The pour looks much better without the canyons and riverbeds I got yesterday, so I'm happy about that.

Odd 24 hour update...NOW I'm getting zap off the soap I made yesterday. Sigh. I'm sure I wasn't lye heavy, so I don't get it.

Well, I'll let it cure for a week and then re-test.

sorry, bumping an old thread, Im Curious to know how this soap turned out.