Weird Batch

[scotsman]

So today I de-molded part 1 of a 3 part batch I am putting together for a new commercial client's first order. They wanted 3 bars each of 12 different scents as they want to see which ones sell the best in their salons and narrow it down to the 4 or 5 best sellers for their next order. So I basically need 12 different one pound batches of soap all in different scents. I don't own any 1 pound molds. In fact, the smallest mold I own is a 3 pound loaf mold I use for test batches. All my other molds are 7 pounds or more. So to lessen my workload I made some wooden dividers and retrofitted them into one of my 7 pound wooden loaf molds, effectively splitting the mold into 4 separate bays that will hold roughly 1.5 pounds of soap batter each...just enough to give me 3 finished bars after trimming with enough left over to test during and after the curing process before packaging and delivery. So I made a single 7 pound batch of unscented and uncolored soap batter, divided it into 4 equal parts, and scented each one separately. For this particular order they wanted white or off-white bars so I was able to skip the whole coloring step. I got the soap into the mold, insulated it well, and placed a couple ratchet clamps on the sides of the mold to make sure the dividers couldn't move around at all and to hold the sides tightly in place so that if it got too hot during gel it wouldn't bow out the sides of the mold and crack the top of the soap. A strange thing happened with this batch though. I added a bit of sodium lactate to this batch the help it firm up quicker and aid in de-molding since I've never used this mold with any kind of divider system before and didn't know exactly what to expect. After 12 hours the soap in the first two bays had went completely through a nice, hot gel and were more than firm enough to remove from the mold. Conversely, the soap in the other two bays didn't appear to hit gel at all and were actually cool to the touch and still quite soft. After 24 hours those last two were still a little soft but not so much that I couldn't de-mold them. The first two were already just about the same hardness that I get after a six week cure. The first two popped right out without even trying. The second two, however were a bit of a bugger. They stuck a bit to the piece of lexan I have lining the bottom cavity of the mold so I had to cut them loose with a long blade razor knife. The soap from the second bay also cracked a little on the top, even with the ratchet clamps holding the walls tight so I know it went through a pretty hot gel. I've used divided molds a couple times in the past and have never experienced one half of the mold going through a complete gel while the other half didn't gel at all. I've been through my fair share of partial gels, but that is obviously gel in the center with no gel on the outside. I've never heard of a lengthwise partial gel before. Have any of you heard of or experienced this before? Maybe my mold is cursed, lol!
All-in-all I'm happy with the result. The scents in each individual brick all come through nice and strong. The two un-gelled bricks are a beautiful creamy white color while the two gelled ones are just off-white. I'm going to cut them tomorrow so after I've seen the insides perhaps I'll have a better idea of what went on with this whole weird gel thing. Here's some pics from when I was de-molding this afternoon. I'll post cut pics in the next day or so.






Hmmm. Strange that it plopped my pics right in the middle of a sentence. I guess it's just been a weird day all around, lol! fixed it - edited

 

[jules92207]

You are just cursed all around!

Seriously though, I am inclined to think your fragrances might be partially to blame. Is that the only difference between them?

 

[scotsman]

Yes, the only difference between them was the fragrance. I made one master batch of unscented soap and then divided it into four parts and fragranced each one separately. I've had fragrances that promoted gel before, but never came across one that inhibited it. I'm really now very curious to see how they look on the inside and after the cure to test and document the differences between the gelled soaps and the un-gelled ones. Luckily I'll have some extra bars that I can chop up and test during different stages of the curing process. Regardless, they should be really nice soaps. The base recipe I used for them is my favorite out of my whole repertoire and one I use all the time because it is also a favorite with my customers. It's very simple and only incorporates four oils. Lard, coconut oil, olive oil, and castor oil. It used to be just the first three oils when I was first developing it but I eventually added a small percentage of castor oil to boost the lather up a bit. I'm a big fan of simple, uncluttered recipes. They often produce the nicest soap.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

My guess would also be just the difference with FOs. Some are super heaters, some are OK, some you have to insulate like crazy to ensure gel. If you soap with certain FOs often, you will notice the difference. I have some that will reach gel within 15 min, some maybe after two hours. Same mold, same recipe, same water %, everything same, just different FO, but soaps gel at different rate. As for the second soap, it probably got a bit hotter and cracked because it was in between two soaps.

 

[scotsman]

Good point about it being in-between two other soaps. I hadn't even considered that. I really do need to get around to making some 1 pound loaf molds for small or test batches.

 

[cmzaha]

My guess would also be just the difference with FOs. Some are super heaters, some are OK, some you have to insulate like crazy to ensure gel. If you soap with certain FOs often, you will notice the difference. I have some that will reach gel within 15 min, some maybe after two hours. Same mold, same recipe, same water %, everything same, just different FO, but soaps gel at different rate. As for the second soap, it probably got a bit hotter and cracked because it was in between two soaps.

I have a couple of florals that gel to complete liquid within minutes of pouring. Cannot even get them to the freezer in time to stop them. Fragrances can make a big difference. I have one that will actually go into complete liquid gel 12 hrs after being removed from overnight in the freezer