I feel like I’m going to have to start all over to find a soap dough recipe. Maybe I can look up one of the good ones online and see if I can compare it to mine.
I’ve got such a huge useless mess to clean up.
Soap Dough Techniques
- Thread starter TashaBird
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I’ve got such a huge useless mess to clean up.
I don’t see how mine could be so drastically different than this one. I don’t work with a lot of lard. I use tallow in everything. I just don’t understand why it made such good soap dough before and got so hard and crumbly overnight this time!
Back to the drawing board I guess.
Maybe going from lye at %33 to %30.
Then maybe also reducing tallow from %50 to %40? Increasing my avocado, castor, and RBOs?
Here is Bee’s free recipe, BTW. She also sells dough on the website.
Sorcery Soap
Back to the drawing board I guess.
Maybe going from lye at %33 to %30.
Then maybe also reducing tallow from %50 to %40? Increasing my avocado, castor, and RBOs?
Here is Bee’s free recipe, BTW. She also sells dough on the website.
Sorcery Soap
GemstonePony
Supporting Member
My unscientific theory: your soap was hard because the liquid content (FO and sugar) was lower, and crumbly because the sodium lactate wasn't helping it hold together. If the recipe makes a good dough without those things, you wouldn't want to add them, but if it makes a good dough with those things, I wouldn't remove them.
Ok. I’ll back up and do a small batch with sugar and SL, and increased water to equal EO removed. Do you think I should also change the ratios of hard and liquid fats?
GemstonePony
Supporting Member
I would just sub water for FO for now. If that doesn't work, then maybe try Bee's recipe, rather than reinvent the wheel.
Shoot. I should just make a big batch of pull throughs (which at least I can do!) and use the left overs for dough. That’s been working. This was my loaf recipe though, which is %50 tallow, and my pull through is %30. Hmmm
GemstonePony
Supporting Member
Wait, if the pull-through recipe gives good dough, why wouldn't you make a batch of that for dough?
Ugh, so sorry for the stressful day. Having to toss our precious ingredients is heart-breaking!
I think you and GP probably just nailed it: you changed the additives, AND you added a lot more of a hard oil that makes very hard soap. And I agree with GP that it's probably worth making a small batch of your pull-through recipe just for soap dough, since you know it works.
It makes little bits at a time. I’ve got a huge extruder, large discs, and a bigger loaf mold. And I’ve got big dreams! Big dreams.
Oooooh! Make a whole batch of pull through recipe for soap dough. Yeah. That’s what I should probably do. I’ve got a loaf recipe (%50 hard) and a pull through recipe (%30 hard). I might split the difference with a higher water content, like from %33 down to %30.
I have made good SD from my loaf recipe too. But it did have higher water and %5 EOs PPO.
Thanks for empathizing my frustration and loss from today. It was a learning moment. Painful, because as I often do, I got ahead of myself. I really did think it was gonna be right on!
Thanks for empathizing my frustration and loss from today. It was a learning moment. Painful, because as I often do, I got ahead of myself. I really did think it was gonna be right on!
GemstonePony
Supporting Member
Yes! Exactly! I'd still start with a small batch just to be sure, but let us know how it goes.
Jersey Girl
Supporting Member
Have you tried Sorcery Soap free recipe. It’s very simple and she says it makes a great dough. It’s the one that’s 50% Lard, 30% CO, and 20% Soybean although she says you can use Olive or Castor which I would do personally.I have made good SD from my loaf recipe too. But it did have higher water and %5 EOs PPO.
Thanks for empathizing my frustration and loss from today. It was a learning moment. Painful, because as I often do, I got ahead of myself. I really did think it was gonna be right on!
She uses 33% lye concentration
I posted that recipe above. But, I Have used my regular soap recipe before, and I’m hoping to just stick with it.
Do you think embeds made with that SS recipe will weld into my soap ok? I kind of worry about that.
KimW
Supporting Member
Ugh - frustrating indeed. I'm sorry, Tasha!
I've been thinking about and following this post all day. I've been wondering: Is there a reason you want to use a different recipe from your pull-through recipe for soap dough? If you know that recipe works, why change anything - even the water amount? I'm guessing I've missed something and there's something about the soap dough from that recipe that isn't quite right...(?)
Follow those big dreams, lady!!
I've been thinking about and following this post all day. I've been wondering: Is there a reason you want to use a different recipe from your pull-through recipe for soap dough? If you know that recipe works, why change anything - even the water amount? I'm guessing I've missed something and there's something about the soap dough from that recipe that isn't quite right...(?)
Follow those big dreams, lady!!
Jersey Girl
Supporting Member
Yes. I think it will work with your soap. I would give it a try.
I've used the Sorcery Soap recipe, and it makes very nice soap dough. I think it would work as an embed in your soap. I would make sure it gels and only test a small batch to be sure though.
A I agree with @GemstonePony. Colorants with TD and clays, can do that. I lost a soap dough mini batch to activated charcoal as well. Hopefully you can still use it, it does seem like moisture was lost in either lack of EO vs before, or by being absorbed by any of the other ingredients (like Ac)
I’d like to have some unscented, and it can take awhile for my pull rough left over batter to firm up enough. So, I’m going to try to meet in the middle given all these factors.
I don’t have any lard, so I’m going to give it another go with a variation on my regular recipes, given what I learned in this fiasco. Also, this will be a smaller batch!
I watched a tutorial recently that said to specifically prevent gelling. Like keep everything under 90F, pour into a plastic airtight bag, lay flat on a cool counter. Can you explain a bit about why you say to make sure that it does gel?
