Please, be prepared for the stupidest question you ever heard

[Sapwn]

A couple of weeks ago I made a soap batch and I had some complications. The electronic scale was almost out of battery and measurements were wrong. I figured it out and I corrected the proportions the best I could, but the final result is a lye heavy soap. I planned to make this batch at 7% superfat but in the end it came out 0 to 1% superfat.

My stupid idea is this one: Could I immerse the 2 week matured soap into oil for some weeks in order to let it absorb some oil and increase the superfat ratio????? :shock::shock::shock:

 

[Susie]

You know the response: There are no stupid questions.

The answer is no. You need to rebatch the soap. If you know the amount of oil you are short, then just grate up the soap and add that amount of oil to the crockpot to cook it. But, you must be SURE of how much you are short. Not just guessing.

My suggestion is to wait a week and see if the soap zaps. If no zap, then it is skin safe. It will not be the richly conditioning soap you intended, but it can be used for household cleaning.

If it zaps, then you will be much safer getting some phenolpthalien(sp?) to test it with as you add a little oil at the time, cook, test...add a little oil, cook, test(repeat as needed). When you stop seeing pink, it will be safe.

 

[Miha Engblom]

I am in no way any soap expert but I think that if you will cure it for some months it will be fine to use... 0-1% is ok to use for example as laundry soap. The extra lye will disappear with time... if you let it cure long enough. I think there was somebody here making castille soap with 40% extra lye and with time it cured.
This summer I have been using sometimes my 100% Coconut oil 0 %SF (laundry bar) for hand washing ...
Personally I would not SF more than 5% , instead let it cure longer time. If you want to make soap and use it soon , make liquid castille SF 3%, let it sit one week and there you have soap to use!

 

[maya]

I'm gonna say no, then ask which soap calculator you used? They are all set for a different percent superfat so even a zero percent SF is superfatted. But still no. Rebatch time!

 

[CanaDawn]

oh, I wouldn't rebatch. If it doesn't zap, it's not lye-heavy at 0% or 1%. It's just not super-fatted. A long cure, and you're good to go. It's very likely just fine for skin too (because by now we know, right, that soap preferences depend more on the user than the numbers). Cure it and try it. You can always rebatch it if you don't like it in a month.

To answer your specific question: no, immersing a bar of soap in oil won't make it superfatted. You'll have the same bar of soap, but it will be oily on the outside.

 

[Sapwn]

Many thanks for the answers.

Rebatching is not an option.

 

[Susie]

oh, I wouldn't rebatch. If it doesn't zap, it's not lye-heavy at 0% or 1%. It's just not super-fatted. A long cure, and you're good to go. It's very likely just fine for skin too (because by now we know, right, that soap preferences depend more on the user than the numbers). Cure it and try it. You can always rebatch it if you don't like it in a month.

To answer your specific question: no, immersing a bar of soap in oil won't make it superfatted. You'll have the same bar of soap, but it will be oily on the outside.

The problem is that they don't KNOW what the SF is. They are guessing at best. My concern is safety. If the zap test is negative, then it is safe. If it is positive, it is not.

If rebatching is not an option, and zap test is positive, then you toss it out.

 

[CanaDawn]

The problem is that they don't KNOW what the SF is. They are guessing at best. My concern is safety. If the zap test is negative, then it is safe. If it is positive, it is not.

If rebatching is not an option, and zap test is positive, then you toss it out.

I did say zap test. You can also leave it to cure for longer and keep zap testing. Depends how anxious you are to chuck out an entire batch that is likely just fine.

There's a thread on here about oil discount (negative SF values) and the longer cure time to useful soap, so it's not necessarily the death of a batch to be a little low on the SF as long as it isn't used until it doesn't zap.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I think there was somebody here making castille soap with 40% extra lye and with time it cured...."

Yes, although this recipe had a lot of extra water in it too, which might make a big difference on how fast this particular soap soap becomes zap free. That said, Kevin Dunn (of "Scientific Soapmaking" fame) has made "normal" soap with the only exception of having a -5% superfat (5 percent more lye than required for saponification). His soaps tested free of excess alkali (no excess lye) after some weeks of cure.

"...If rebatching is not an option, and zap test is positive, then you toss it out...."

I certainly would say for a beginner that rebatching or tossing a lye heavy soap is always the safest advice. For those of us on SMF, it's hard to tell sometimes if there are other issues going on with the soap, so best to be on the conservative side with advice to beginners.

"...it's not necessarily the death of a batch to be a little low on the SF as long as it isn't used until it doesn't zap...."

Yep. For a soaper with some experience, like Sapwn, giving the soap a little extra time could very well solve the problem of excess lye in an otherwise properly made soap. I do agree that the extra cure time will only neutralize the excess lye, however; it won't add superfat.

 

[CanaDawn]

Yep. For a soaper with some experience, like Sapwn, giving the soap a little extra time could very well solve the problem of excess lye in an otherwise properly made soap. I do agree that the extra cure time will only neutralize the excess lye, however; it won't add superfat.

No, of course not. But if there's no pressure to have this batch state its intentions, I'd put it away for a long cure with notes about making it and the problem, gain experience with other batches, and come back to it in the fall to reassess.

 

[dixiedragon]

Soooo not the stupidest soap question I've ever heard! (Maybe that deserves it's own thread.)

 

[Susie]

Sorry y'all. This being the Beginner's Forum, I am giving advice with (probably) an overabundance of caution. In this case, I am going with, "If in doubt, throw it out." advice.