Please help

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

likeablelady

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
69
Reaction score
26
I am in the process of making a batch of HP soap right now and experiencing some trouble. Maybe someone can help me SAVE this soap. Here is the recipe I used...
24 oz Olive oil
12 oz Coconut oil
4.50 oz Sunflower oil
4.50 oz Cocoa butter
3 oz Castor oil

18.24 oz Distilled water
7.06 Lye

It was going along fine, then I added some fragrance oil, and it went to cottage cheese. When I stir it, you can see little separations all through it. I have pictures of both if Ican find out how to post them. I still have it in the crock pot trying to save it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

cottage cheese HP.jpg


cell looking HP.jpg
 
So that is 0% superfat.

I do not see anything wrong with the recipe. What was the fragrance oil?

and the pictures really don't look like there is anything wrong.

I would just keep stirring and see if it comes back together.
 
The fragrance oil is Crafty Bubbles "Love Spell" It came from Hobby Lobby (maybe not the best place to get them, but limited on funds)
 
Hello Likeablelady, and welcome to the forum! :)

Have you made HP before? I ask because from where I'm sitting, it looks just like normal HP batter to me......at least it looks just like what I'm used to with my HP, anyway. ;).

When mine looks all mashed-potaoey like that, that's my sign that's it might be done saponifying, so I'll check for zap, and if it doesn't zap, I give it a really good stirring and smoosh it into my molds and call it done.

Hopefully more will chime in soon, but truly, it personally looks fine to me.

Edited to add: looks like more chimed in while I was typing! lol


IrishLass :)
 
This isn't a rebatch... but am taking given advice with some caution, and pouring one bar to see how it looks when cooled, and if will come out of the mold. I will certainly update with a picture. Thanks .

Yes, made one batch, and I liked it, but it didn't look like this with the little pockets all over.

First batch of Hot Process soap.jpg
 
Okay I am confused, but that is not unusual for me :). Not sure why you mentioned it is not rebatch. Your batch in the crockpot looks just a normal hp batch. You cannot pour just one bar into a mold and leave the rest in the crock pot until the bar sets. It I followed your post with the blue spotted soaps. HP left to long in a crock pot will dry out and not look not look as nice as a batch you pour as soon as it is zap free. Were the blue and yellow soaps you made?
 
So that is 0% superfat.

I do not see anything wrong with the recipe. What was the fragrance oil?

and the pictures really don't look like there is anything wrong.

I would just keep stirring and see if it comes back together.
One thing I forgotis that I mixed my colors in a small amount of glycerin... would that be another problem causing those separations?

This isn't a rebatch... but am taking given advice with some caution, and pouring one bar to see how it looks when cooled, and if will come out of the mold. I will certainly update with a picture. Thanks .
I said it wasn't rebatch, cause that is what it reminds me of... the soap is still in the crock pot but not changing at all... still all the small little seperations. I posted the yellow and blue soap pic before you posted, I hope you can find it.

Okay I am confused, but that is not unusual for me :). Not sure why you mentioned it is not rebatch. Your batch in the crockpot looks just a normal hp batch. You cannot pour just one bar into a mold and leave the rest in the crock pot until the bar sets. It I followed your post with the blue spotted soaps. HP left to long in a crock pot will dry out and not look not look as nice as a batch you pour as soon as it is zap free. Were the blue and yellow soaps you made?
yes I made them if that is what you are asking
 
That looks exactly the point in my HP where move to a bowl to cool down (leave the dry bits behind), add the superfat and EOs and blop it into the mold.
 
The fragrance oil is Crafty Bubbles "Love Spell" It came from Hobby Lobby (maybe not the best place to get them, but limited on funds)

Ok. The fragrance oils from craft stores are formulated for melt and pour soap, not HP or CP. The same with the colorants.

The blobs of color in your other soap are probably from your colors just not being mixed really well into the batter before molding. I am kind of surprised they didn't morph. The craft store purples and blues are famous for that from what I have read.

I still really don't see any separation in your pictures. I would zap test. if it is zap free, get it all in a mold. Once it cools, if there is a little standing FO let it sit for a day or so before cutting to see if it absorbs.
 
For what it's worth my HP batter looks and behaves in the exact same as my rebatch batter. If I were a betting lass, I would wager that everyone else here would say the same thing as well.

I'm not sure if you were expecting your HP batter to look like CP batter, but just in case if you were expecting that, it won't. It will look just like rebatch batter.......which is why I like doing CP much more than I like doing HP. lol


IrishLass :)
 
The second picture of your soap is exactly how it should look. Once your soap no longer zaps it is ready to pour or spoon in the mold. I know nothing about Hobby Lobby or Michaels fo, but I do believe they are made for m&p. Best to do is mold it and see what happens. All you are doing now if drying out the soap by leaving it in the crock pot. Also do not scrape the sides of your pot. Hp soap batter is not going to look like a cp processed soap, it is going to be much less fluid.
 
Last edited:
Thank you to all that posted replies to my earlier post. I appreciate all the help you gave me, and thanks for sharing your experience with me!!
May have to go back to cold process...LOL:)
I felt the same way when I made my first batch of Liquid soap!! It was nerve wracking. :)
 
The difference between the first batch and the second could be caused by many things. Different recipe with different fats and other additives. More or less liquid. The fragrance doing odd things, which it sounds like it was. Different temperatures. Who knows. But I'm glad you're back on track with this last batch and have your confidence back. FWIW, it looks perfectly normal to me too.
 
Supplies from Hobby Lobby are for Melt and Pour soap. That's what they sell is M&P so they sell supplies for M&P. The FO riced when you put it in because of the alcohol content - once the alcohol flashed off it went back to being soap .
The colors in the glycerin stayed in the glycerin. That's why there is "streaks" ( gly rivers) in the other soap.

Just my 2 cents worth.
Steve
 
Here's a couple of hot process videos that can help you get a good visual of what hot process looks like:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scokYOkLcQo[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f87XTLlV_dY[/ame]

Let us know how your recent batch turned out.
 
Back
Top