JackofallShaves
Well-Known Member
Hey experts,
Relative newbie here, been making soap for a little over a year now and had my first soap making "issue". For some context, my shave soap recipe has 4 major ingredients and I use the HP method for my shaving soaps due to the high stearic acid content.
Here is what happened - I started the crock pot to melt all the "hard" oils and was supposed to add the final oil (Avocado Oil) before adding the lye, but forgot to do so. So I added the lye mixture to melted butters(3 out of 4 total oil in my recipe), did the usual mixing with spatula + hand blender and then realized that I had forgotten to add the Avocado Oil. 15 minutes had passed since I added the lye.
I decided to chance it and went ahead and added the avocado oil and mixed everything again and from this point onwards, I followed my usual soap making routine (1 hour 15 min cook + adding super fat/fragrance post cook).
I was kinda paranoid about the soap turning out to be lye heavy and must have zap tested this batch almost 6-7 times. I thought my soap was slightly "sour" tasting as compared to other cooks. Usually, I don't feel anything when doing a zap test, but this time around I did feel a very minor tingling sensation. Anyways, I let the soap cure for about a week and used it today to shave (patch tested before putting on my face). I did not feel any burning or irritation etc and the shave was quite luxurious I must say
Long story short - how does one know if the soap is lye heavy? Is it ok that I added the avocado oil 15 mins after having added the full lye mixture to only 3 base oils/butters?
Hope this makes sense and thanks in advance for your help!
Relative newbie here, been making soap for a little over a year now and had my first soap making "issue". For some context, my shave soap recipe has 4 major ingredients and I use the HP method for my shaving soaps due to the high stearic acid content.
Here is what happened - I started the crock pot to melt all the "hard" oils and was supposed to add the final oil (Avocado Oil) before adding the lye, but forgot to do so. So I added the lye mixture to melted butters(3 out of 4 total oil in my recipe), did the usual mixing with spatula + hand blender and then realized that I had forgotten to add the Avocado Oil. 15 minutes had passed since I added the lye.
I decided to chance it and went ahead and added the avocado oil and mixed everything again and from this point onwards, I followed my usual soap making routine (1 hour 15 min cook + adding super fat/fragrance post cook).
I was kinda paranoid about the soap turning out to be lye heavy and must have zap tested this batch almost 6-7 times. I thought my soap was slightly "sour" tasting as compared to other cooks. Usually, I don't feel anything when doing a zap test, but this time around I did feel a very minor tingling sensation. Anyways, I let the soap cure for about a week and used it today to shave (patch tested before putting on my face). I did not feel any burning or irritation etc and the shave was quite luxurious I must say
Long story short - how does one know if the soap is lye heavy? Is it ok that I added the avocado oil 15 mins after having added the full lye mixture to only 3 base oils/butters?
Hope this makes sense and thanks in advance for your help!
