Hello everyone! I am new to soap making and have made 3 batches so far. I am working on getting my technique down and have a few questions for you all!
First off, the last 3 bars I've made have had a crack down the center. I am not unhappy with the way the soap looks, smells, etc- I just want to know if there is something I am doing wrong that's causing these cracks! The first batch I made with the crack I let sit in the silicone mold for about 4 days (I was away and forgot to take it out beforehand). The two most recent batches I let sit for 24 hours before taking them out of the silicone mold. These had the awful crack down the center too.
This also leads me to my second question....the two bars I just mentioned (that I let sit out for 24 hrs) were very crumbly. I did not change my recipe whatsoever so I am confused on what I did differently to cause the crumbling. I also stamp my soaps, and some of them that I stamped cracked too!
So far the rest of the process has gone quite well. I realized after the first 2 batches that I was getting the mixture to trace, but pouring it into the mold a little on the late side. Instead of having it easily pour into the molds, it was more of me scraping the mixture into the molds. That is something I have improved on...not sure if that affects any of this either??
Here is the recipe I am currently using...
1/2 cup lye (4 oz)
1 1/2 cup distilled water (12 oz)
1 1/3 cup olive oil (10.6667 oz)
1 1/3 cup hemp seed oil (10.6667 oz)
1 1/3 cup coconut oil (10.6667 oz)
6 tsp essential oil (1 oz)
=49.0001 oz total
Note- I get my oils and lye/water mixture to 110 degrees Fahrenheit before combining.
I appreciate all of your help/suggestions!!
First off, the last 3 bars I've made have had a crack down the center. I am not unhappy with the way the soap looks, smells, etc- I just want to know if there is something I am doing wrong that's causing these cracks! The first batch I made with the crack I let sit in the silicone mold for about 4 days (I was away and forgot to take it out beforehand). The two most recent batches I let sit for 24 hours before taking them out of the silicone mold. These had the awful crack down the center too.
This also leads me to my second question....the two bars I just mentioned (that I let sit out for 24 hrs) were very crumbly. I did not change my recipe whatsoever so I am confused on what I did differently to cause the crumbling. I also stamp my soaps, and some of them that I stamped cracked too!
So far the rest of the process has gone quite well. I realized after the first 2 batches that I was getting the mixture to trace, but pouring it into the mold a little on the late side. Instead of having it easily pour into the molds, it was more of me scraping the mixture into the molds. That is something I have improved on...not sure if that affects any of this either??
Here is the recipe I am currently using...
1/2 cup lye (4 oz)
1 1/2 cup distilled water (12 oz)
1 1/3 cup olive oil (10.6667 oz)
1 1/3 cup hemp seed oil (10.6667 oz)
1 1/3 cup coconut oil (10.6667 oz)
6 tsp essential oil (1 oz)
=49.0001 oz total
Note- I get my oils and lye/water mixture to 110 degrees Fahrenheit before combining.
I appreciate all of your help/suggestions!!