OK, soapers, 2nd batch worked!!

[okiegirl1]

What about precautions in clean up? (like rinsing out the container with the lye mixture) In all my research, I haven't come across anything about this.

I always keep a jug of vinegar at the sink. It will neutrolize (sp?) the lye if you get it on you and I also put some in my pots when I'm getting ready to wash the pots. I've got raw soap on me before and it's not like it will peel your skin off. just pour some vinegar on and wash it off.

-Angela

 

[punkin]

I think I may have done something wrong. This is how my soap looks. The whiter part is harder and brittle than the tannish part. Maybe I didn't let it come to actual trace? When I was stirring and dribbled it on top, it did leave designs.

Do ya'll have any ideas?

 

[Blackbird]

It looks like some wicked cheese.

What recipe did you follow?

It looks like there possibly wasn't the right amount of something..

How long did you stir to trace?

 

[punkin]

This is the recipe:

olive oil 12.7
coconut oil 12.7
crisco 20.17
lye 6.8
water 15.8 (all in oz)

I'm thinking that maybe I let both mixtures get too cool. I added them at 90. Now I see that they should both have been 100-125 degrees. I think I stirred for about 10-12 minutes.

The tannish part is also very oily feeling. I just don't think the oils and lye combined well.

I'm going to try it again, but use the calculator to resize it for a smaller mold.

 

[Blackbird]

I don't know what to tell you; maybe Monique would know..

I've never had a trace that fast though, but then again I do mine by hand. Mine take 1 hour to 2 hours.

I usually have both mixtures at 110 degrees when I mix them. Sometimes the lye and milk is only at 90 degrees, like last time I did it. The finished product was good though.

 

[punkin]

Merle, I think that I was just too impatient waiting for trace. The recipe said 10-40 minutes, so I was just using the most optimistic time. :/

I just finished another (different recipe) batch. It's only about 1 lb. in weight, so if it fails I won't be wasting as much of the ingredients.

This recipe said trace at approx. 25 minutes at 110. I think I got trace at 30 minutes. We'll see in 48 hours

But, I sure hope it works out. It's Raspberry Oatmeal Goats Milk and smells good enough to eat.

 

[Farmfresh]

Punkin

Weigh all of your ingredients (even the water) on the same scale. If you are using the Summer Beemeadow soap calculator choose the percent super fat at 5% or 6%.

When I punch in your numbers I come up with 6.45 oz of lye and 15.04 oz of water to the exact same amount of oil.

By superfatting your recipe it helps to ensure that all of the lye is used up. This makes the bar safer to make and leaves a nice moisturizing bar as well.

It is very important that both the oil and the lye/water mixture are the EXACT same temp before combining them. Then I really recommend a power hand mixer (motor boat drink mixer to help combine things very thoroughly).

Looking at your first bar I would say you probably had different temps with the lye and oil and possibly not the right amount of water.

Still you have jumped on in. It will get easier and better!

My favorite beginner recipe is for :

Olive Oil Castile

3 pounds 4 oz of Olive Oil (the lowest grades work BEST for soap! I usually use Grade A)
7 oz lye
1 pound 4 oz of water

This soap is very mild, lathers well, sets up quick, dries quick and mills and molds very well.

Feel free to PM me if you ever need to.

 

[Blackbird]

I haven't been to that site, but what do you mean by super-fatting? Can you explain this a bit more?

 

[Farmfresh]

Soap is a salt ... but NOT the kind you sprinkle on your eggs!

A salt is the chemically neutral result when an acid and a base are combined. In the instance of soap the oils are the acid and the lye is base.

When you combine the base with the acid in making soap and stir you can actually see the chemical changes occur as the salt is forming. When the base (lye) is completely chemically bound to the acid (fat) and there is no more un-bound chemical you can see the trailings of the soap stay on the surface for a time when you drip a stream of it along the top. In soap making this is called trace.

When you superfat a soap you are adding extra fat to the mixture. This ensures that ALL of the lye is bound up in the soap, since there are plenty of fat molecules around to get bound up with! Any extra fat molecules act as moisturizer for the skin.

If you are making a laundry soap or other bar that needs to be as cleansing as possible you want the soap to have all of the lye bound and have as little extra oil as possible.

Soap actually works CHEMICALLY. It binds with and lifts dirt away from the skin. That is why your hands get cleaner with soap than without.

A little complicated. Hope that helps.

 

[Blackbird]

Thanks FF!!!

Your a good teacher!

So on the calculator if you choose the superfat percent at 5%, your basically calculating an extra 5% oils into the soap to ensure 'binding'?

I just want to make sure I understand this correctly.