What happened here???

[Zing]

Editing for accuracy, sorry!
Good luck to you. A couple of comments:
- your castor oil is 12.5% which can make for a soggier bar. I use it at 4-6%.
- your sweet almond oil is at 2.5%. Except for castor oil, I use at least 10% of an oil -- it's not worth dirtying more dishes. That's just me, a hobbyist, but I do know some professionals add things for label appeal.
- Your hard:soft oil ratio is 45:55. I aim for 60:40.
- I use sodium lactate to increase hardness and speed up unmolding time. I use 3% of total oil weight, likely I'm on the high end.
- for my non-silicone molds, I spread a thin layer of vaseline to aid in unmolding.
Okay, so that was 5 comments. Keep us posted!

 

[Sandiebrown65]

Looks like your lye amount was correct, and your lye concentration was about 31%. That would have helped it gel pretty quickly, even at lower temps. You might want to increase to 33% lye concentration (not water as percent of oils), and make sure your oils and lye solution are at 100F or below.

Hey AliOop,
I'm a bit confused by this. If the lye concentration was 31% and you increase the lye concentration to 33%, isn't that removing water? Does more water cause seizing and by reducing the water amount it helps prevent it from seizing? I always thought it was the other way around? I always thought that more water/lower concentration reduces the tendency to seize up. Would it be because more water creates more heat, thus causing it to seize up faster?

 

[AliOop]

@Sandiebrown65 thanks for asking; I probably could have been clearer by first saying to reduce the soaping temperature, to slow down the trace (and hopefully stop the soap from seizing so she can get it properly mixed).

However, high water/low lye concentration will cause the soap to gel at lower temperatures, and can cause glycerin rivers, too. That's why I recommended increasing the lye percentage (lowering water) if she is going to soap at a lower temperature.

Of course, this is all assuming that it was the high oil and lye temps that caused the seizing. That can also be caused by using older oils, pomace OO, a naughty FO, something with alcohol in it, lots of clay/TD/AC, etc.

 

[AliOop]

Good luck to you. A couple of comments:
- your castor oil is 12.5% which can make for a soggier bar. I use it at 4-6%.
- your sweet almond oil is at 2.5%. Except for castor oil, I use at least 10% of an oil -- it's not worth dirtying more dishes. That's just me, a hobbyist, but I do know some professionals add things for label appeal.
- Your hard:soft oil ratio is 45:55. I aim for 60:40.
- I use sodium lactate to increase hardness and speed up unmolding time. I use 3% of total oil weight, likely I'm on the high end.
- for my non-silicone molds, I spread a thin layer of vaseline to aid in unmolding.
Okay, so that was 5 comments. Keep us posted!

@Zing I came up with different numbers and am wondering if you missed a decimal point on the castor oil?

 

[Zing]

@Zing I came up with different numbers and am wondering if you missed a decimal point on the castor oil?

View attachment 68878

Oh yes, I am so embarrassed, I missed a crucial decimal point! Hey, @NewbieAnn , please disregard my post because I was doing math in the afternoon!

 

[AliOop]

As the one who typically makes all the math mistakes, I'm pretty sure @Zing just tossed me a low-hanging pitch to boost my self-esteem. He's pretty kind that way.

 

[Sandiebrown65]

@Sandiebrown65 thanks for asking; I probably could have been clearer by first saying to reduce the soaping temperature, to slow down the trace (and hopefully stop the soap from seizing so she can get it properly mixed).

However, high water/low lye concentration will cause the soap to gel at lower temperatures, and can cause glycerin rivers, too. That's why I recommended increasing the lye percentage (lowering water) if she is going to soap at a lower temperature.

Of course, this is all assuming that it was the high oil and lye temps that caused the seizing. That can also be caused by using older oils, pomace OO, a naughty FO, something with alcohol in it, lots of clay/TD/AC, etc.

Ok, that helps me a lot. I always soap quite cool (room temp) and I tend to use a 2:1 ratio which is around a 33% concentration. Do you think that this method is ok?
I might add that until recently I thought all FOs were naughty until I learned what emulsion is.

 

[AliOop]

Ok, that helps me a lot. I always soap quite cool (room temp) and I tend to use a 2:1 ratio which is around a 33% concentration. Do you think that this method is ok?
I might add that until recently I thought all FOs were naughty until I learned what emulsion is.

Sure, 33% lye concentration and room temp soaping go together like hats and gloves, pb and j, etc. But truly, whatever temp and lye concentration works for you is just fine.

Too funny about emulsion. It still evades me at times. To quote that famous Soap Philosophist, @KiwiMoose: Soap do what soap do.

 

[NewbieAnn]

Oh yes, I am so embarrassed, I missed a crucial decimal point! Hey, @NewbieAnn , please disregard my post because I was doing math in the afternoon!

I don't think I will have the nerve to repeat that recipe anyway, so I would never have noticed! ;-)