Pine Tar Soap

[CcSmith]

Hello, Questions about the pine tar soap I attempted to make, I think it worked, but we will see.

Here is the recipe i used,

Olive Oil 17 oz
Palm oil 16 oz
Fractionated coconut oil 8 oz
Lard 2 oz
Sweet Almond Oil 4 oz
Beeswax 4 oz
Cocoa Butter 7 oz
Pine Tar 4.5 oz

My water and lye was

Water 23.75 oz
Lye 8.26 0z
5% Superfat
My questions are, when I added all the oils together, I had to melt them down. When i got them all melted down, it all started to harden up again. Mostly on the sides and the bottom. I wanted to oils at more of a room temp, because I know pine tar soap tends to set up very quickly. But i could not get it to more of a room temp, i added the pine tar around 100F because the oils were staring to harden. Is there anyway to prevent the Oils from hardening back up?? So anyways my story continues, I added the lye mixture and stared to whisk, and boy did it set up fast, within a few min I would say. There way some leftover water on top after pouring in the molds so i just poured the water on top down the sink. But a mess and a lye burn later it looks like the soap is setting up.

Im looking for tips and advice to help me along with soap making.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I wanted to oils at more of a room temp, because I know pine tar soap tends to set up very quickly...."

Yes pine tar soap does set up fast, but frankly that's going to happen whether you soap at room temp or at a more reasonable and useful temperature -- say around 100 F. At 100 F, your problems with the solid fats hardening up won't be an issue and you'll get the same (short) amount of time to make the soap.

"...Is there anyway to prevent the Oils from hardening back up??..."

Not really unless you can acquire the magical ability to get around the natural laws of chemistry. Lard and palm oil solidify around 100F, give or take a bit. If you want to use this particular recipe and you don't want the fat to solidify, you have to keep the fat above its freezing point. Or change your recipe to more liquid fats if you feel you absolutely must keep the temps lower.

"...There way some leftover water on top after pouring in the molds so i just poured the water on top down the sink...."

The liquid wasn't water, it was lye solution. It was a sign of inadequate mixing -- your soap was not fully emulsified. By discarding that "water" you reduced the amount of lye and thus increased your superfat.

I would have left the liquid in the mold with the hope that it would be absorbed. Maybe that wouldn't have happened, but you'll never know since it sounds like you discarded the liquid early on in the saponification process.

I have more suggestions here: https://classicbells.com/soap/pineTarSoap.asp