Oh just gel already!

[Hazel]

Tienne,

Your soap turned out fantastic! Thanks for sharing about the oven info.

The honeycomb is cute, huh. TVivian introduced them to us a couple months ago at:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=42115

I didn't realize it was that mold. I thought it was just the honeycomb and more of a 4 oz size. I've seen this mold on Amazon and Etsy but all are coming from China. I haven't seen one locally or online from a US supplier.

 

[MzMolly65]

Well mine isn't turning out quite so well ... I tried it at 200F for several hours and while the centres were soft to the touch, the rest of the bars weren't gelling yet.

I turned up the heat thinking that's what it needed.

Smoke pouring out the oven door was the flashing, red, emergency alarm indicating that wasn't such a good idea. LOL!!!!!!!!

I should have left well enough alone, at least partially gelled soaps are still soaps .. these muffins are definitely something else.

 

[MzMolly65]

My other attempt to process a soap that didn't saponify properly also seems to be failing.

Some bars that didn't harden and stayed like grainy pudding. Popped them into the oven with the others (before the heat went up) and they separated. Boooo!

They're in the crock now and I'm trying to salvage them but it's been a struggle getting them to come together. I'm not sure they will. Been stirring on a high heat for some time now and not really seeing good head way. More pics will follow.

 

[Hazel]

I'm sorry this all happened to you. I hope you can save the second batch. Can you rebatch the first one?

 

[MzMolly65]

Hazel, I think I might be able to rebatch the muffins. They're still very soapish, just mushroomed and dang .. they were gelling nicely on the inside, LOL!

Unless someone else knows what I can do with the yellow batch in the crock I think it's trash because it's beyond my limited soap knowledge. I've stirred and stirred on high/low .. doesn't matter. Every time I leave it, it forms a hard surface with oil underneath (like fat on the stock pot).

I've left it in the crock hoping someone will have a suggestion but if I don't have something by morning it's going in the bin.

 

[Hazel]

It looks almost like the batch curdled. Did you use milk in it? I don't know what to suggest but don't give up. Someone else might have a solution.

 

[MzMolly65]

It looks almost like the batch curdled. Did you use milk in it? I don't know what to suggest but don't give up. Someone else might have a solution.

I thought it looked curdled too .. no dairy milk in it but I did use OAT milk???? Can that curdle?

 

[Tienne]

Thanks for the nice comment, Hazel! I'm okay with how they turned out, especially considering how hideous the Soap from Hell looked and then how unattractive the partial gel looked. There are a few streaks in them from all the heating, but I can live with that.

MzMolly, those muffins look awesome, in a bizarre, freakish sort of way. LOL! Wow, the water must have turned to steam inside them, causing them to poof up like that. I hope they can be saved. As for the other soap, I suppose you've already done this, but you write you have stirred the soap, so I have to ask; have you tried SB'ing the bajeezes out of it to get it to come back together?

You also write the batter was a grainy pudding like consistency. That made me remember a soap I once made that also had that consistency. I was experimenting with some FO's that cause seizing and was trying to come up with ways I could use them anyway and so I made just a teensy batch (300g of oil) and after some juggling, I got the soap made without it seizing but it just wouldn't come together properly. It was just enough batter to fill two of those Crafter's Choice oval cavities, but when I poured it, it had a very grainy look to it, it looked slick and oily and I just wasn't satisfied with it. What I did was, I mixed another batch of soap the same size (without the FO in) and SB'ed it to trace and then I scraped out the cavities and threw both batches into the crockpot together. Then I SB'ed it all together and HP'ed it and added some more of the FO when it was cool enough. I ended up with four soaps, that looked like normal HP soap. So, what I was thinking is, if you're willling to try throwing good batter after bad, what if you tried adding some more normal batter to the one you have in the crockpot now and see if that can pull the whole thing together? I don't know if that would work or if you would be willing to risk losing some more oils if it doesn't, but I think there's a chance it might work. I don't think it would have to be an equal sized batch new batter, but maybe just a 1/4 of the size?

 

[Tienne]

Okay, I found a few pics. The first pic is how the soap looked just when it was poured. It was grainy and oily and just plain ol' yucky. The second pic is how it looked after mixing it with some new batter and the third pic is the finished outcome. (I lightly mixed in some TD oil when it was done to give it some marbling, because I lost the blue and green swirl when I HP'ed it, so that was just to break up the monotony.) Given, my soap wasn't as separated as yours looks to be, but I hope it can be saved anyway!

 

[CaraBou]

Oh MzMolly, sorry for your troubles! But you're a real trooper for trying to fix Soaps Gone Mad! I hope you pull a salvage! I don't know anything about oat milk, but could it be your FO causing the problem?

Tienne, all of your saves are inspiring - can you rub some luck on MzMolly please?

 

[seven]

i loveee the marbled look, Tienne! and the embed one is gorgeous as well! what's that one scented with?

 

[Tienne]

I'm trying hard to, Carabou! I haven't had to ditch a batch yet (I'm just too cheap to chuck out anything) and when I get a soap that isn't up to par, I use it to experiment on. I'll tinker and test, thinking that if whatever weird ideas I come up with fail, well then there's nothing lost since the soap was icky to begin with and if it works, then hallelujah I've learnt something new I can use and saved a batch to boot.

I've even been eyeing my microwave oven to use in some of my next experiments for the next time I have an iffy batch. I hate rebatching and I'm wondering if I can find a way to micro my way out of it instead of crockpotting. We'll see!

 

[Tienne]

i loveee the marbled look, Tienne! and the embed one is gorgeous as well! what's that one scented with?

Thank you so much, Seven!

It's "Caramel Cream" FO from Gracefruit. It's an FO I hadn't used before (got it on sale), so I didn't know (and still don't, LOL) if the browning was the greyish kind or the reddish kind, so I chucked in a dash of Ruby Red mica from the Conservatorie just to make sure it pulled towards the red side, so it wouldn't clash with the embeds.

http://www.gracefruit.com/bespoke-fragrance-service/fragrance-archive/caramel-cream.html

 

[Tienne]

MzMolly, I reread your posts and I can't help wondering if you have too much heat on. Too much heating can cause separation, so maybe as a first step just try turning your crockpot off and as the soap is cooling, then SB it. Do that several times while the soap is cooling and see if that doesn't help it come together. Also, OP'ing at 200F is something I wouldn't dare do, nor having the crockpot on high. That's far too much heat by my way of thinking, but I reckon the muffins have already had their say about that. LOL! I wouldn't go over 170 max, preferably 160F.

 

[MzMolly65]

I love you guys .. rubbing some luck on me is just too funny!

Fwiw and to save retyping info .. read this thread and look at the pics .. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=419651#post419651

I'll try anything to fix a batch. I don't think it's a matter of me being too cheap to throw out stuff .. it's just that I'm too much of a closet sadist and ... MUST .. MAKE .. MISBEHAVING .. SOAP .. BEND .. TO .. MY .. WILL ... hahahahha

I sat whipping that stuff for hours yesterday with SB, HS .. whisking .. you name it, it wouldn't give in. ETA: I only turned the heat on high because someone in another thread suggested it when it wasn't coming together on low heat. I left it go cold in the crock last night and will attack it again if someone has a good suggestion for what to do with it.

I also thought about the "throw another batch into it" idea and might just do that.

It's scented with Lemongrass and Litsea so I don't "think" it's the EO's but could very well be the oatmilk. Since this is being discussed in my other thread I'll just leave it at that and let you all wander over there with your ideas on how to beat this thing into submission ..... *cracks whip*

 

[Hazel]

I but I did use OAT milk???? Can that curdle?

I wouldn't think oat milk would curdle because there isn't any fat in it. But I don't know. I like Tienne's idea about adding some more batter.

 

[Obsidian]

The worse case of separation I had was with a oatmilk and carrot soap. I blamed the carrots but maybe the oatmilk had something to do with it. I made my oatmilk and was pretty thick, maybe there was just too much starch.

 

[MzMolly65]

The coffee scrub exploding muffins have been saved .. well, at least for home consumption, not for gifts LOL! They actually look not bad for a rebatch but they have white chunks where the muffin exploded and cooked too much.

 

[Hazel]

I''m glad you were able to save them. :grin:

 

[CaraBou]

Agreed - good job!