# My first batch of soap (by myself)



## jnl (Jan 28, 2015)

I made soap once before with an expert friend showing me.  It was super easy. 

This was my first time doing it alone, and my own recipe creation.  

I dont know why but it was so much more messy this time.


Its a goats milk with oatmeal and honey CP.  Base oils of coconut, olive, cocoa butter and avocado.  Camellina oil added at trace (with the goats milk, oatmeal and honey).

about 20 minutes after i finished pouring it and messing with the top i noticed there was a spot that looked dark just under the top.  a little while later it was way bigger and i realized it was gelling....like crazy....super crazy fast.  so i decided to put it in the fridge cause i think its wayyy too soon for it to be totally gelled.  and its already cracked a bunch.  and i just poured it like an hour ago!!

is that normal?  should i keep it in the fridge?  or stick it in the freezer?
its not covered, just in a wooden box lined with freezer paper.

it totally smells like peanut butter.  thats from the camelina oil (smells like fresh peas/asparagus) plus the cocoa butter and goats milk.  the color looks like peanut butter too.


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## jnl (Jan 28, 2015)

argh!  the power went out. 

i put the soap in the deep freeze because the fridge would lose its cool very quickly.

should i be doing that or should i just leave it on the counter and let it gel as much as it wants to?  i dont want crazy cracking tho.


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## Sonya-m (Jan 28, 2015)

Milk and honey can both cause overheating 

Just my opinion but I would have started out without any additives that are gonna cause issues 

The best advice I got from here was start simple with a basic recipe, no additives etc until you're comfortable - I've made 9 batches in 2 months, still haven't used milk/honey/sugar etc

Regarding the gel, if the power is out your freezer will still retain its temp for a while so I'd leave in there


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## lionprincess00 (Jan 28, 2015)

Camellina oil at trace? Why at trace? The crack is from overheating... good call on the freezer! Freeze honey and or milk soaps (if experienced I'd say allow full gel if desired, but freeze immediately for 24 hours, which is better than refrgerating...in the fridge and it can still gel partially).


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## Dorymae (Jan 28, 2015)

Any soap with sugar in it, that includes honey, will super heat.  Also coconut oil will heat up very hot and quick if you use a lot of it (thinking of laundry soap here).  

Milk also contains sugar and you really don't want it to overheat, it can change the color.

Your soap will probably be fine, you got it to the freezer so you will probably see a partial gel, or perhaps it will fully gel since it was so far along in the process.  Either way that is just aesthetics.

One thing that will help for next time is to freeze your mold.  Take it out when your ready to pour then fix your top and back in the freezer.  When I use the freezer to prevent gel I also leave the soap in the mold a bit longer than usual.  Since the temperature, I believe impedes the saponification process I leave the soap for 36-48 hours instead of the normal 24.


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## snappyllama (Jan 28, 2015)

I second what other have said and wanted to add my congratulations on a quick save for your first solo batch!


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## jnl (Jan 28, 2015)

it was already in full gel by the time i got it to the fridge. the only part that wasnt was like 1/8" at the very top. the whole inside looked like liquid honey.

i pulled it out of the freezer and put it back into the fridge after a couple hours because it seemed much cooler and less dark by then. does freezing soap prevent it from setting fully?

this morning (after 12 hours from pour) i pulled it out of the fridge. gel phase looks over. top still looks very light in color. no major cracking! yet....im sure its still possible

how do you know when its hard enough to cut? i know i still have at least 10 more hours before i would even attempt to take it out of the mold. but at this point even I cant tell that its still probably super soft inside. 

the small molds i tried out did not seem to go into gel phase...at least i could never see any darkness beneath the surface. and they never got very hot. that is probably because they are so small.

because a number of people say that it reduces the saponification a little because its been in the lye less. camelina oil is full of omega 3 and other good nutrients. its equivalent to flax but has a very long shelf life. whether that is true or not, it doesnt hurt. i mixed it with the milk (evaporated 2x strength goats milk), ground oats and honey, and then just dumped all that in right before I poured.




lionprincess00 said:


> Camellina oil at trace? Why at trace? The crack is from overheating... good call on the freezer! Freeze honey and or milk soaps (if experienced I'd say allow full gel if desired, but freeze immediately for 24 hours, which is better than refrgerating...in the fridge and it can still gel partially).


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## lionprincess00 (Jan 28, 2015)

I see. I asked because a lot of old school soapers taught us new soapers that adding an oil at trace superfats, it allows more to remain and such. These lovely veterans here taught me that if it zaps, it's active lye. Lye is so active you wouldn't dare licking it for a zap test at trace. thus whatever you add will saponify just as much as all the other oils (per your superfat amount). You can't choose nor guarantee anything you pick and choose remains.

Also, I find those special oils that are really good for the skin and health do much better as a leave on like lotions and body butters than wash off products like soaps. the chemical process turns the oils into salts and alters them, so making an awesome lotion that absorbs into the skin would benefit a little more from the expensive nice oils and butters more than something you wash off and is saponified. It's just something I've read here multiple times from many soapers that have been doing this way longer than me (only been soaping since last August so I'm really new too), so I thought I'd share the information with you.

It was a great save btw. I was terrified of overheating when I started, but you handled it like a pro and fixed it before a serious crack or worse occurred....congrats!


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## snappyllama (Jan 28, 2015)

You can add an oil at trace to try to preserve it if it makes you happy, but the percentage you've saved was minuscule. Soaponification in CP takes a long time. You just spared your oil from maybe three minutes with the lye. CP isn't a sprint; it's a marathon. Three minutes head start isn't going to guarantee who crosses the finish line most intact.

 I personally wouldn't do it for a bunch of reasons... primarily, I'd forget about it and end up with a lye heavy soap or have an FO speed things up and not be able to get it properly blended in. In CP, we call it "superfatting", but in reality it is just "lye discounting". The lye will eat everything it wants to. If you want to truly superfat with a particular oil, you'll need to hot process it and add it after zap test is cleared. That's the only way to say for certain what was preserved.

Nice first batch though.


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## jnl (Jan 28, 2015)

Yes, in the future i will probably do mostly HP.  But I wanted to get at least one solo CP in before I attempt HP.

I measure out all my ingredients before I start, and had all my "At trace" ingredients in one container, so i could not have forgotten it.  I was going to just add it at the start, but then figured since I was already adding stuff at trace I might as well try that.

having to wait weeks to try my soap really sucks!!!

how long should I wait minimum before I try one of my small triangle sample sizes?  do i have to wait a week or can i try it sooner?  i am curious to test in the shower to see how it changes over time.





snappyllama said:


> You can add an oil at trace to try to preserve it if it makes you happy, but the percentage you've saved was minuscule. Soaponification in CP takes a long time. You just spared your oil from maybe three minutes with the lye. CP isn't a sprint; it's a marathon. Three minutes head start isn't going to guarantee who crosses the finish line most intact.
> 
> I personally wouldn't do it for a bunch of reasons... primarily, I'd forget about it and end up with a lye heavy soap or have an FO speed things up and not be able to get it properly blended in. In CP, we call it "superfatting", but in reality it is just "lye discounting". The lye will eat everything it wants to. If you want to truly superfat with a particular oil, you'll need to hot process it and add it after zap test is cleared. That's the only way to say for certain what was preserved.
> 
> Nice first batch though.


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## snappyllama (Jan 28, 2015)

I start testing bits of mine a few days after its made. Then I test a small piece once a week. The waiting is the hardest part.


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## IrishLass (Jan 28, 2015)

I would test any soap for zap before using, especially any soaps that did not gel (such as your small soaps), because un-gelled soap takes longer to reach tongue-neutrality than their gelled counterparts.

If it doesn't zap, begin testing it out as soon as you'd like. Just remember to take notes of the changes as the day/weeks go by!


IrishLass


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jan 29, 2015)

Just another way of looking at 'at trace' oils -

Saponification takes between 24 to 48 hours (we're talking cp here). Trace can take a while, but 30 minutes is a good example number. 

So at trace oils are out of the mix for 30 minutes of a 24 hour process - 1/48th of the time. That's no time at all. Adding oils at trace does not mean more of it is left over after saponification.


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## jnl (Jan 30, 2015)

So i took all my soaps out of their mold
have not cut the loaf yet because i want to use my friends wire slicer to make perfect slices.

the triangles were in a silicone mold, and they came out fairly easy but left a little residue on the bottom and are not totally smooth.  freezing made it much harder to get out and still left a residue.  the flower one was a hard ice cube tray i found at a thrift shop for a buck.  figured it try it and see if i could get the soaps out.  froze that and tapped it a bunch of times on the counter and eventually it fell out.

the log looks fairly nice, tho almost all of it gelled except the top centimeter and the corners.  no big deal.

but the flower has this white spot on it that worries me.  what is that?!  is it lye?!?!  its not oatmeal because the oatmeal was not white and not powder.  is it soda ash?  isn't that just on the surface where the soap reacts with air?  this was in the bottom of the mold.


i did lick the side of the flower (not the white part) and no zap
but now my tongue feels weird......

i really don't want to lick the white part.  if that's lye, i will get a major zap!!

i don't know how it could be lye....the lye was dissolved in water then blended with a stick blender for awhile....and then blended more after my additives were added.


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## Dorymae (Jan 30, 2015)

Don't worry, that is just a bit of soda ash not lye. Your soap came out lovely!  Now is the hard part- the waiting!

If you want you can wash the white off the top but it will come off when you try it anyway.


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## jnl (Jan 30, 2015)

So I FINALLY cut my soap (used my friends wire cutter), and it STINKS LIKE A FART!!!

Does that mean the milk went bad?  
Is it because I let it sit in the mold for so long before cutting it?
Is it ruined, or will it be fine once it dries?

Also, the middle is still quite wet.  Oozing a little almost.  Is that bad?  Normal?
My friend said it might be lye heavy
tho its 5% superfat, so it shouldnt be
she has never made milk soap before so shes not sure.
I touched the wet part then touched my finger to my tongue and no zap, tho that might not be accurate at all.  I dont want to lick the slimy soap.

There is a faint white halo around the bigger specs of oatmeal, even on the outside of the block that was not so wet.  Is that normal?

If the fart smell goes away, I would say it was quite a success for a first try, especially for a milk/sugar loaf.


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## jnl (Jan 30, 2015)

the pieces are quite large....
4" wide by 3.25" tall and 1" thick.

should i cut them in half to 2" x 3.25" x 1"?  that seems a little small, tho these are a bit big for my hands, and i have large man-lengthed hands.


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## Dorymae (Jan 30, 2015)

The smell will eventually go away, yes it is the milk, no it didn't go bad, it is normal.  After cure there shouldn't be that smell. 

I don't think it is lye heavy, just soft. Again curing will solve that. 

The halo is caused by gel. The soap got hotter than the oatmeal so it makes a halo ring. Normal and nothing to worry about. 

Patience will solve all the problems, congratulations, I'm sure it will be wonderful in 2 months time.

Oh and cut them however you want!  It's your soap!


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## jnl (Jan 30, 2015)

the fart smell seems to be gone
now they smell of camelina oil

most of the camelina oil must have survived the saponification (added 5% at medium trace, in a 5% superfatted recipe) because the smell is so strong
smells half way between fresh peas and peanut butter


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jan 31, 2015)

Dr Kevin Dunn did experiments on the subject and proved that superfatting at trace in cp does not work. 

I made a batch of soap with lard and it smelled a little piggy, even though it was a mixed oil superfat. Some oil scents may will linger, especially if the middle is still soft


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## IrishLass (Jan 31, 2015)

Ditto what the good Gent said. The smell of the camelina coming through doesn't mean it escaped saponification. That's just one of the many idiosyncrasies of soap, depending on how strong certain scent components are of the different oils/fats and/or other additives used in the formulation.   


IrishLass


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## hmlove1218 (Jan 31, 2015)

The leaking oil may be from overheating. Give it some time and see if it reabsorbs


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## jnl (Jan 31, 2015)

I think it was actually water, not oil
all moisture and ooziness was gone within in a couple hours




hmlove1218 said:


> The leaking oil may be from overheating. Give it some time and see if it reabsorbs


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## jnl (Feb 2, 2015)

here is a final pic of the soap after it dried a bit after cutting.  looks pretty good.  i will try one of the small soaps in a couple days.

i will chop all the big slices in half, but i want to do it over time to see how long it takes the insides to dry out.  i cut one today, and the "dryness" went in about 3/16" around all the sides.  I will cut the next in a few days to see how much farther the drying went in.

i got up the nerve to lick the white spot on the flower and no zap, so its soda ash, not lye



i did make a batch of yogurt soap yesterday
and after 12 hours i rubbed a wet finger on the top and licked it and i wouldn't call it a zap at all, but it tasted a bit salty and a bit sour.  unlike the other soap that didn't taste of either salt or sour...

and then after 24 hours i took out out of the mold and the bottom seemed a tad wet on the surface so i licked my finger and i still wouldn't necessarily call it a "zap", but it was like a "sharp" sour....almost a zap
so does that mean its a little lye heavy?  and still needs to sit more?  or will it stay lye heavy?
the liquid is not oozing out at all, the surface just felt a little damp like with water (not oil).
it was superfatted 8%, so there should be more than enough fat for the lye to eat.

that one i had put into the freezer immediately (and had pre-frozen the mold) because the first soap i made gelled so much so fast
and it was in there for a few hours (i had gone out) before i put it into the fridge.  does freezing it solid stop the saponification and wreck it?

the color of the block stayed very light tho unfortunately there is a small faint ring in the middle of the side and bottom that is darker, so it did start to gel a bit.  i guess if its going to gel at all, might as well let the whole thing turn to gel then chill it to prevent a big crack, that way the color will be uniform.


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## jnl (Feb 5, 2015)

i tested out one of the small soaps.

i dont think i have ever used a "real" soap before.

this was the first shower i have ever had where i was not dry and itchy after.  it was like i had totally slathered up in lotion, except not greasy at all.

i even washed my face with it, and my face felt great and super hydrated all day but not at all greasy.  and no lotion!!

it didnt lather a huge amount (its only a week old), but it did enough.
but it did make me "Squeeky".  which scared me because any time I have ever been squeeky before in the shower i ended up being SUPER DRY and crazy itchy.  is squeeky normal for real soap?

are all home made soaps this awesome?  or is my recipe just amazing?
im thinking maybe the 5% camelina oil added at trace might be doing it.  its as good for you as flax oil.  and it soaks into the skin super fast and is not greasy.

the only thing i didnt really like was the oatmeal was a bit scratchy.
i dont think my bars will be nearly as scratchy because they gelled and the oatmeal "cooked".  the oatmeal did not cook in the small bars that did not gel and are small hard looking pieces.  but even if the big bars are as scratchy, its still not too bad.  im just not used to any exfoliating at all.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 5, 2015)

Adding oils at trace does nothing. I can't count how often that has been said - what is it about it that you don't believe?

Cook some muffins in the oven - but leave one of them out of the oven for 1/48th of the cooking time and see how different it is at the end of the cooking time............

That said, a lot of home made soap IS that awesome - it's why people can get so addicted


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## jnl (Feb 5, 2015)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> Adding oils at trace does nothing. I can't count how often that has been said - what is it about it that you don't believe?
> 
> Cook some muffins in the oven - but leave one of them out of the oven for 1/48th of the cooking time and see how different it is at the end of the cooking time............
> 
> That said, a lot of home made soap IS that awesome - it's why people can get so addicted



im not saying it was not saponified at all. im saying that oil is probably the one making my skin so nice because its way nicer on the skin directly than any of the other oils (i tried all my oils on my skin alone to see how they would work and they were all greasy as f--- except the camelina oil).


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## Susie (Feb 5, 2015)

How much oatmeal did you add to how much weight of oils?


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## Susie (Feb 5, 2015)

jnl said:


> im not saying it was not saponified at all. im saying that oil is probably the one making my skin so nice because its way nicer on the skin directly than any of the other oils (i tried all my oils on my skin alone to see how they would work and they were all greasy as f--- except the camelina oil).



The qualities of an oil rubbed directly on the skin are vastly different than the qualities of an oil that has gone through saponification.  It is much more likely your superfat amount making your skin feel nice, or the simple lack of the synthetic detergents you were using for "soap".  Handmade "true" soap is truly just that awesome.


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## jnl (Feb 5, 2015)

Susie said:


> The qualities of an oil rubbed directly on the skin are vastly different than the qualities of an oil that has gone through saponification.  It is much more likely your superfat amount making your skin feel nice, or the simple lack of the synthetic detergents you were using for "soap".  Handmade "true" soap is truly just that awesome.



i will find out in a few days when i try my yogurt soap that has only CO and OO and yogurt.


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## jnl (Feb 5, 2015)

Susie said:


> How much oatmeal did you add to how much weight of oils?



20g of oats in approx 2lb batch.


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## Susie (Feb 5, 2015)

Looked like a lot more.  Glad to hear it wasn't.

You do know that your soap truly does need 4-6 weeks cure time to be at its best, right?


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## jnl (Feb 5, 2015)

Susie said:


> Looked like a lot more.  Glad to hear it wasn't.
> 
> You do know that your soap truly does need 4-6 weeks cure time to be at its best, right?



i know.  if its this good at 1 week, imagine how good it would be at 4 weeks!
i have the most crazy sensitive skin
even just water makes me super dry and itchy
im even very allergic to aloe!


i think 20g was about 2 tablespoons (approx) of ground oats.
in the non-gelled soaps it looks like not a lot
but in the bars where it was "cooked" it looks like an excessive amount of oats lol

i cant wait to try the bars.  they are still wet in the middle tho.  i cut the blocks in half yesterday because they were too big, and its only dried about half way through.


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## jnl (Feb 10, 2015)

i tried the yogurt soap which is 8% superfat (oatmeal is 5%)
way more drying than my oatmeal soap
my face is a little tight and dry
and my legs actually had a fine powder of dead skin on them
the rest of me feels fine
and even the dry parts feel less dry than with store bought "soap".

so my oatmeal soap does have a really nice oil combo
tho when in the shower it does feel slightly slimy....just the tiniest bit when all lathered up, but it totally washes away easy with no residue feeling
and it doesnt lather a huge amount, but that will hopefully increase over time
i may swap out some of the olive or avocado for sunflower next time i make it to help with lather


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