Wonder if the kaolin clay or the EO failed my batch

[Spice]

I made a small batch of soap to use for samples. I had to calculate how much oils I would need (13 oz). I made two little trays. One come out great the other.....not sure.
The one that I had an issue with I mixed kaolin clay into the oils before the lye water. I felt that was a no-no because I could see that the lye wasnt mixing right. And, when I mixed the kaolin clay with oils, and it clump. I was also wondering if it was the Patch eo, I used .50 oz for 13 oz of oil. This is the first time that I have used these trays, I did not cover my soap either. So one is perfect the other just isnt doing anything. The soap at the top is the bad boy.:cry: I made these last nite.

 

[CaraBou]

What was the usage rate of your clay? Are you saying the oils had clay clumps when you added lye, and that it looked even worse after adding lye? Sounds more like the clay was the culprit to me. But you didn't say what you did differently with the batch that turned out so I'm not sure. Those details would be helpful too.

 

[penelopejane]

I mix my clay with a little water or oil (accounted for by subtracting from the mix) before adding it to the oils and mix it. Then I add the lye.

 

[lsg]

you can mix your clay with the lye water before adding to the oils.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I always mix clays with oils whitout any problems.
It might be the amount you've used?
I usually use about teaspoon or so per 1kg of oils.

 

[Spice]

What was the usage rate of your clay? Are you saying the oils had clay clumps when you added lye, and that it looked even worse after adding lye? Sounds more like the clay was the culprit to me. But you didn't say what you did differently with the batch that turned out so I'm not sure. Those details would be helpful too.

I used .50 tsp for 13 oz of oils.Yes the oils had clay lumps and when I added the lye I could tell that it was separating, the lye and oils. What I did different was that I used the .50 clay and in the first tray I used .25 (tsp in both). And, on the first I had mixed the clay, got the lumps out and didnt add it till I have mixed the lye. The second batch, I added the clay to the oils before the lye, and I used .50 tsp of clay.

The next day it was just lye heavy, the tray was all very soft.

The second day, I pull out a couple of cubes, in pieces, but when I washed my hands I noticed bubbles, a few.

The third day, today, I just dug out the cubes (mushy at the bottom of all cubes) and just formed the soaps. But It is soap today because the it actually foamed and my hands felt better. Still needs to cure for 6 weeks.

Here are the pictures of my "Little Tray that Could":neutral:.

 

[Spice]

you can mix your clay with the lye water before adding to the oils.

What about the lumps? I have been using kaolin clay for a while and I dont remember it clumping. I will be doing this again, and I will do it differently.

 

[Spice]

I always mix clays with oils whitout any problems.
It might be the amount you've used?
I usually use about teaspoon or so per 1kg of oils.

I used .50 tsp for 13 oz of oil; and the first one I use .25 tsp.

 

[JuneP]

I use kaolin 1T per lb of oil in my recipe and I mix my kaolin and colloidal oats well in my oils before adding lye and don't have the problem you're showing.

My oils are at rm. temp, and I sprinkle the oats and kaolin rather than just dumping the bowl of them into the oils. I mix very, very well before adding the lye solution.

Hope this helps.

 

[lsg]

Mix it the clay with a little water first before adding to the lye water. I would keep a little of the water for the lye mixture back and mix the clay with that until it was not lumpy, then add to the lye water.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I'm not really sure what went wrong?
It doesn't sound like heaps of clay per amount of oil. Pretty much close to what I use.
Are you sure your scale is correct?
All that clay does in my soaps is to give them a really nice shine, bit of colour and nice slip under water. They are never crumbly or really funny looking.
I mix clay in a bit of oil first, then add with TD to melted oils and stick blend briefly. To eliminate lumps.
It does speed up trace a bit, but it's workable, I rarely make elaborate swirls.