Twice As Much Water!

[Bubblesgalore]

Hello soap makers, I hope you can advise me. I have made my first big mistake on a recipe I have been using for a long time. It is a green tea and patchouli recipe, so I used the water to make the green tea first. Then the next day I forgot I had used the water 1026g already for the tea and put the same amount in again. Obviously I noticed my container was too full but too late then after I had also put the lye in there. So, I mixed it anyway and poured it into moulds. But what to do now. Should I hot process it to evaporate the water until the soap is the right consistency?

I couldn't just double the other ingredient quantities as I could not deal with a batch that size, I haven't got a big enough bucket and the blender wouldn't cope with it either. Just looking not to waste this lovely pile of ingredients..... Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.

 

[lsg]

Yes, you can hot process the soap to try and cook out the excess moisture.

 

[Bubblesgalore]

Yes, you can hot process the soap to try and cook out the excess moisture.

Thank you, I will give it a go.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Lesson learned I guess. But i probably wouldn't have proceeded to make the soap if I knew I had too much water. Far better to waste a bit of lye and some water/tea than to potentially ruin an entire batch of oils.
I recently did a similar thing - I had infused some OO with Kawakawa ( a native plant) to use in my soap. I then went ahead and measured out my usual amount of OO (400g) and added my usual amount of castor oil (100g) to the jug. Luckily I realised my mistake at this point, and since I had not yet mixed these two oils in with the rest of the batch oils, I just kept it aside ( I had an OO bottle I had just finished, so poured it into there and clearly labelled it with the measurements and oils). I went ahead with the present batch using my intended infused oil, and saved the 'extra oils' until next week's batch so they got used up.
Equally - you could have 'masterbatched' your green tea, water and lye by doubling the lye amount. Then splitting the water/lye solution exactly in half and saving that half (tightly sealed) for another batch.

 

[linne1gi]

I agree with @KiwiMoose, I don't think it's possible to cook out double the water amount and have a normal soap. In the future - dump it out and start over.

 

[Ephemerella]

Far better to waste a bit of lye and some water/tea than to potentially ruin an entire batch of oils.

So I have a question... if you feel you may have goofed up your lye and you need to dump it.... where do you dump it? Just run it down the drain with plenty of water to dillute it? 'Spose I should ask Mr. E, the Nordic God Plumber.... then again, he'd probably think I'd made a goof up, covered it up, and was fishing around while trying to quell my fears

 

[linne1gi]

So I have a question... if you feel you may have goofed up your lye and you need to dump it.... where do you dump it? Just run it down the drain with plenty of water to dillute it? 'Spose I should ask Mr. E, the Nordic God Plumber.... then again, he'd probably think I'd made a goof up, covered it up, and was fishing around while trying to quell my fears

Yes, dump it down the drain with lots of water. Lye is drain cleaner after all.

 

[KiwiMoose]

@Ephemerella ^^what she said

 

[Joy Wolff]

Don’t dump it down the drain if you are on a septic system.

 

[Ephemerella]

THANK YOU!

 

[Savage Daughter]

EDIT: never mind..... LOL The pine tar has melted something upstairs

 

[BodyWasher]

Don’t dump it down the drain if you are on a septic system.

Why not? Surely a little bit of lye is fine if you dilute it enough.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Why not? Surely a little bit of lye is fine if you dilute it enough.

good point