Saving cpls. Oily paste. Help

[isha]

So i followed irish lass cpls tutorial n made a batch.
Castor 10%
Coconut 25%
Olive 65%
Superfatted at 3%
Lye concentration 25.

1 part gly to 2 parts water. Used 50/50 master batched koh solution.

Its been more than 10 days n the paste is still very soft n oily. It doesnt zap.
Tats when i decided to dilute it.
Used 3% sodium lacatate n .65% water.

It turned creamy n never got clear. But the biggest issue is. It doesnt later.
Im thinking i might have weight something wrong.. Or something mightve slipped my mind.

Im wondering if i can save this batch by adding a little koh solution n cook it on slow double boiler.??
If so how much. I have 250 gms of past left

 

[isha]

Wud anyine care to reply plz

 

[DeeAnna]

I can't read your recipe in the photo -- it's too dark and fuzzy. I assume you used soapcalc? If so, did you check the box to set the KOH purity to 90%?

 

[IrishLass]

Hi Isha!

In looking at the photocopy of your recipe, it's hard to make out how much KOH you used. It looks like it says 132 or 13.2 for the total KOH weight. Is that correct? If so, there resides a big part of the problem you are facing. For the size batch you made using a 3% superfat, your KOH amount- taking into account the purity of your KOH- should be 63.11 grams KOH (as per Summerbee Meadows liquid soap calculator), or 66.11g (as per SoapCalc's calculator). If you truly used only 13.2g KOH, that would explain perfectly the softness and oiliness you are experiencing with your paste, the lack of clarity in your diluted soap, and also the lack of lather. There's simply not anywhere near enough KOH in your batch.

Your water amount looks off, too. If I'm reading it right, your photocopy says 198.3g total water for your batch. According to both SummerbeeMeadows Liquid soap calculator and SoapCalc, you should have used 189.2g total water (or water/glycerin mix) for a 25% lye concentration.

Also- although I don't believe it plays a crucial factor in the problem you are experiencing, I just thought I'd mention for whatever its worth that you used much less glycerin than I normally use when making my paste. Instead of using 1 part glycerin to 2 parts water, I always use the opposite amount, i.e., 2 parts glycerin to 1 part water.

You could try to fix it by adding more KOH solution to your paste, but I'm not sure how much, though. With all the different weight discrepancies going on, not to mention the evaporation that has surely already occurred in the meantime, plus the amount of paste you've already diluted, the math for that is going to be very tricky to figure out. Hopefully someone with more math prowess in their brain banks than myself right now will chime in on how much might be a good amount, because I confess mine is running too low for the challenge.


As much as I hate tossing a batch, since it's such a small amount of paste leftover, if it were me I would just scrap it and start over with a new batch.


IrishLass

 

[isha]

Hi Isha!

In looking at the photocopy of your recipe, it's hard to make out how much KOH you used. It looks like it says 132 or 13.2 for the total KOH weight. Is that correct? If so, there resides a big part of the problem you are facing. For the size batch you made using a 3% superfat, your KOH amount- taking into account the purity of your KOH- should be 63.11 grams KOH (as per Summerbee Meadows liquid soap calculator), or 66.11g (as per SoapCalc's calculator). If you truly used only 13.2g KOH, that would explain perfectly the softness and oiliness you are experiencing with your paste, the lack of clarity in your diluted soap, and also the lack of lather. There's simply not anywhere near enough KOH in your batch.

Your water amount looks off, too. If I'm reading it right, your photocopy says 198.3g total water for your batch. According to both SummerbeeMeadows Liquid soap calculator and SoapCalc, you should have used 189.2g total water (or water/glycerin mix) for a 25% lye concentration.

Also- although I don't believe it plays a crucial factor in the problem you are experiencing, I just thought I'd mention for whatever its worth that you used much less glycerin than I normally use when making my paste. Instead of using 1 part glycerin to 2 parts water, I always use the opposite amount, i.e., 2 parts glycerin to 1 part water.

You could try to fix it by adding more KOH solution to your paste, but I'm not sure how much, though. With all the different weight discrepancies going on, not to mention the evaporation that has surely already occurred in the meantime, plus the amount of paste you've already diluted, the math for that is going to be very tricky to figure out. Hopefully someone with more math prowess in their brain banks than myself right now will chime in on how much might be a good amount, because I confess mine is running too low for the challenge.


As much as I hate tossing a batch, since it's such a small amount of paste leftover, if it were me I would just scrap it and start over with a new batch.


IrishLass

Thanks for ur reply . sorry for. The confusion i tried to take a poc of the printout i worked with.. It was hazzy. I used soapee. And calculations r correct.

Ill just type it out
Total water 198.3
Koh 66.11 ( doubled it as i master batch lye) so used 132 gms

Used glycerine 66
Water 66 ( as i planned to make it at 1:2)
This is how my math work worked..
Total water 198.3
- Water used for lye 66.1
Balance water =132.2
This to be divided into 2 parts.. 1 part for gly and 1 part for water. As 1 part of water is already taken into account with the lye.

So 132.2/2=66.1
So i used 66.1 glycerine n 66.1 water..

Are the calculatiobs wrong?? Please correct me.
Also. I wud like to fix it and see if im able to..
There is no fun in throwing the batch without learning /trying ro trouble shoot.

[emoji3]


Also ive used only 50 gms of paste. I have 250 gms left. Would really appreciate if someone cud help me troubleshoot this. My math brain is blank..

 

[DeeAnna]

I can't see where you went wrong with this batch. The only thing I can think of is that the recipe might be correct, but you measured incorrectly. Hard to say.

If you want to experiment, then get the 50 grams of paste you've already diluted. This is your test sample. Make a mixture of 10 grams of KOH diluted in 10 grams of water.

Add 1 gram of this KOH solution to the diluted paste. Let the test sample set for about 2 days at room temperature.

CAREFULLY zap test the soap -- wipe a very thin film of soap paste onto the tip of your finger and touch your fingertip very lightly to your tongue.

Repeat the KOH addition and zap test until the test sample gives you a mild zap. Rinse your mouth with cool water until any lingering zap feeling is completely gone. Then rinse again for the same amount of time. Spit, don't swallow.

I can't stress this enough -- BE CAREFUL with this zap test because you are intentionally setting yourself up to be zapped eventually. If you are not careful, you could burn your tongue.

Keep track of the amount of KOH solution you add to the test sample. Evaluate the clarity of the solution. If the problem is excess fat, then the soap should become clearer as you add sufficient KOH. Once you know the total KOH needed, then you can size the dose up to fix the main portion of the paste.

If the lack of clarity is not due to excess fat, then I'm afraid I cannot advise you further -- I'm out of ideas.

 

[isha]

I can't see where you went wrong with this batch. The only thing I can think of is that the recipe might be correct, but you measured incorrectly. Hard to say.

If you want to experiment, then get the 50 grams of paste you've already diluted. This is your test sample. Make a mixture of 10 grams of KOH diluted in 10 grams of water.

Add 1 gram of this KOH solution to the diluted paste. Let the test sample set for about 2 days at room temperature.

CAREFULLY zap test the soap -- wipe a very thin film of soap paste onto the tip of your finger and touch your fingertip very lightly to your tongue.

Repeat the KOH addition and zap test until the test sample gives you a mild zap. Rinse your mouth with cool water until any lingering zap feeling is completely gone. Then rinse again for the same amount of time. Spit, don't swallow.

I can't stress this enough -- BE CAREFUL with this zap test because you are intentionally setting yourself up to be zapped eventually. If you are not careful, you could burn your tongue.

Keep track of the amount of KOH solution you add to the test sample. Evaluate the clarity of the solution. If the problem is excess fat, then the soap should become clearer as you add sufficient KOH. Once you know the total KOH needed, then you can size the dose up to fix the main portion of the paste.

If the lack of clarity is not due to excess fat, then I'm afraid I cannot advise you further -- I'm out of ideas.

Thanks for your input I was thinking on the same lines and did the same two days back. N checking on it to in cap.

Original paste has a strong castor smell. Im thinking may be i might have weighed it wrong.