# 1st time cp storing issue



## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 15, 2015)

Sunday i took a 4 hour CP Soap Making class. I made 4 different soaps. I was told to keep them sealed in their container mold in a dark covered place for 48 hours, i did. I took them out and uncovered, as taught in the class, and put them high up in my linen closet. Im to leave them there 6 weeks. Is this okay?


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## IrishLass (Sep 15, 2015)

Just as long as they have some air circulation and they are not sitting on un-lined metal shelving, they should be fine. 


IrishLass


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## cmzaha (Sep 15, 2015)

If you are going to cut your soaps you will want to cut them when they feel firm. When curing for a min of 4 weeks it is best if they are somewhere where they will get airflow. Cookie cooling racks work well when you just have a few, but it is best to line the racks with even wax paper, some use needlepoint plastic, etc. I used to just put mine in shallow cardboard boxes when I first started and they would cure fine. Most important they need air and do not put on unlined metal racks. Some dollar stores have handy stacking shelves made from plastic


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 15, 2015)

Ok. So i should take them out of the plastic container? I just removed the plastic wrap covering them. What about dust and cat hair?


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## snappyllama (Sep 15, 2015)

You can put some cheesecloth over them to help with the dust/hair but still let them breathe.


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## Seawolfe (Sep 15, 2015)

You can cover them loosely with mesh, paper or cloth, but they can't cure if they do not have air circulation. 

Just to be clear, this is for cold or hot processed soap, melt and pour needs to be sealed from the air.


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## Misschief (Sep 15, 2015)

You have taken the soap out of the molds, right? Just to be clear.


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 15, 2015)

I haven't, i wanted to wait and see what advice i got from experienced before i made a choice. Im taking them out, one is soft still but the rest are hard. Im putting them on card board and a cheesecloth tent. Little campers  Thank you!


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## Susie (Sep 15, 2015)

If this is indeed CP soap, it is almost too late to unmold and cut.  Are they loaves or bars


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 15, 2015)

Oops


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 15, 2015)

oat and honey aka gloopy red booboo


the gentle face soap. Looks ok


 the beeswax soap aka The Blob


 vegetable soap aka Purple Monster


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 15, 2015)

I was told to leave them in exactly in their molds wrapped up in the dark for 48 hours.


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## not_ally (Sep 15, 2015)

What was your recipe?  Except for the face soap, these all look pretty soft after 48 hrs, although that is not unheard of.  I would have waited for longer to unmold to see if they firmed up.  In addition, the vegetable soap and the beeswax soap seem to have little dots/blobs of unincorporated stuff in them, was that on purpose? Also, I don't get the keeping them in the dark thing.  You don't want them to be exposed to direct sunlight when curing, but the focus on the dark seemed odd. 

Where did you find this class?  I am surprised to see a beeswax soap included in a beginner class, that is something that takes a bit of experience and not something I would think would be necessarily good.  

ETA: above was rushed b/c I was late to get take-out before the restaurant closed.  Changed a bit.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Sep 16, 2015)

I was more amazed at four soaps in four hours! But still......

So are these individual size soaps, or should you cut them at some point? If the "teacher" was using such soft recipes then the suggested waiting times would make sense. 

It's such a shame that a lot of what I see from soaping classes seems to do more harm than good


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 16, 2015)

Here are the recipes we were given. 






I want to learn and get awesome at this. Seeing so many posts with beautiful soaps, some of these are artistic and mastered- it is inspiring. I like seeing the mistakes and debates, all good things. I don't see them as mistakes just part of the learning process. Peace!


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 16, 2015)

Some of them have additives like herbs the instructor brought in. He wanted us to try so we could learn from doing. I had fun and met a few nice people.


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## lenarenee (Sep 16, 2015)

Well I'm glad you met some great people and enjoyed the class.  With some research and more practice you soon be making great soap. 

I suggest you start with the idea that soap recipes need to be in grams, and using a soap calculator is a must. I use soapcalc.net. 

Another must is to learn more about soaping from qualified sources - Youtube has Soaping101 videos which are very well done, and this forum has lots of information - and even more talented soapers who are eager to help you learn.

I know that soon - one of those talented and more experienced soapers will be along soon and give you more detailed info than I have. Sorry, but I've been up at 4:30 the past several mornings and my brain has stopped cooperating with me!

Don't give up - research, ask questions and soon you'll have soap you're proud of!


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## Susie (Sep 16, 2015)

First off, soaping does not have to be in grams.  It is much more precise than ounces for fine measurements, that is true, but ounces are fine as long as one uses a good digital scale.

The second issue is this:  you absolutely can NOT make substitutions on oils without running the recipe back through a lye calculator.  I recommend you use Soapee.com.  Gives all the info SoapCalc does with a more user friendly set up and flow.  Run those recipes through it and see how much lye and water you should have used for them.  That recipe with 4 oz castor will take a VERY long time to firm up.  I would not consider that anything resembling a beginner recipe.

Thirdly, the beginner forum here is chock full of great info.  I, too, would suggest you watch some Soaping 101 videos.  Good Earth Spa is also a good one to watch.  Stay away from any videos that tell you that Hot Process soap is ready to be sold in less than a week.  It is not, and her other practices are not safe.


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 16, 2015)

Should i throw it all away? Or just the one's I substituted ingredients with? Thanks for the advice and links.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Sep 16, 2015)

With that much water, any excess lye is likely to go away over time so you aren't likely to have to throw them away (although you might not like using them). 

Will echo the above - start off with

60% lard or palm
20% olive oil (or 25% if you don't use castor)
15% coconut oil
5% castor (if available)

run that through a lye calc and then have at it! From this base you can learn HOW to make soap while still having usable soaps. Then look at how to formulate recipes and the world is your soapy oyster


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## IrishLass (Sep 16, 2015)

Wow, that's some soft soap after 48 hours!

I ran the recipes (except for the one that made the substitutions) through SoapCalc and it's showing me that there's lots of excess water in them- much more than what I consider to be a full water amount. It's no wonder the soaps are so soft still.

The lye amounts look to be within safe range and the soap should be fine after a good cure, although I'm not sure about that one with the substitutions. That one concerns me because I don't know if the lye was adjusted properly to compensate for the substitutions that were made. If you decide to keep it, definitely conduct a zap-test before trying it out, after it has cured for at least 2 to 4 weeks, of course. You should zap-test the others in like manner as well. 

Ditto what Susie said about never making substitutions without adjusting the lye to the different SAP #'s of the substitution oils. I'm not sure what went on in the class or whether any lye adjustments were made for it, but I just thought I'd mention that it's playing with fire to forge ahead and make soap without first making the proper adjustments when subbing oils. 

Goodness, I probably sound like a critical cranky-pants, and I don't mean to, but there sure was a lot of beeswax in that first recipe, I must say. Just a head's-up that you may not get much lather from it.

Like the good Gent said, with a good cure, it's likely that you won't need to toss them out, but whether you end up liking them or not is another story. Only time and cure will tell.

The recipe the good Gent posted is a good starter recipe to make and to learn from..... and also to tweak to your liking as you go forth. Just run it through a good lye calculator to get the proper lye and water amounts for it first. SoapCalc is the calculator I use and it a very good one, although there is a learning curve for those who are new or not familiar with it. I've never used the calculator that Susie mentioned, but if she says it's good and more user-friendly, then I trust her.  


IrishLass


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 16, 2015)

Thanks everyone 

Thanks! This was a non-credit class at a college near me. Im going to keep trying and make some soap! The videos and links are going to help me a lot. Im going to get a digital scale, I have one in oz. The soap calc and that other calc I'm going to use religiously now. Zap test, yes yes yes! Thanks again


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## dixiedragon (Sep 16, 2015)

When buying a scale - get a food scale, not a postal scale! A food scale is designed to weigh changing amounts - such as when you are pouring oil into a container. a postal scale is not. Also, get a scale that weighs in decimals, not fractions. I have found scales as cheap as $10 at Bargain Hunt. HomeGoods is also a good source.


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## not_ally (Sep 16, 2015)

I'm going to echo IL and others and recommend that you keep an especially close eye on the soap w/the substituted oils.  Did the instructor adjust the lye, do you know?

If I sub oils I try to stay with a replacement oil that has a very close SAP value to the one I am replacing, that was not the case here.  E.g., the SAP no. for jojoba is very different for the one for avocado, I would just have subbed OO for the whole avocado amount b/c they are close in SAP and other properties. The adjustments here are more complicated b/c the sub is a mix of joboba and vegetable oil but no proportions given (also not clear what kind of veg. oil so not even sure what the SAP is there), although I assume it was more vegetable oil than anything else given how expensive jojoba is.   

The same reasoning applies for the castor-palm sub.  And as Susie pointed out, that is a lot of castor for this amount of oils.  That is another reason the soap may be gooey.  The rule of thumb w/castor is not to exceed 5%.  Plenty of us do to some degree, but that amount is a whole lot.

Anyway, that is the one that would most worthy of watching for me.  The subs are so weird that I wonder what the instructor was thinking of.

ETA:  Also, jojoba is so expensive that is kind of a waste in CP, where you cannot ensure that its wonderful qualities will the ones that act as the superfat.  Better used in products w/o lye.


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 16, 2015)

I threw out the two with substitutes. What a learning lesson! Im happy with the gentle facial soap (pumpkin scented) and the vegetable soap is hardening nicely. I scented the vegetable soap with Lilac mostly. Now I wait 6 weeks and see what they are like.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Sep 16, 2015)

I really don't want to pick on things any more as I just wish it had all gone so differently for you - but I really dislike the names that he gave to them. "Vegetable" soap when in fact none of the recipes call for any animal fats and the only thing in there is some shortening. The "gentle facial" soap is a Castile with it being 100% olive oil. 

I think he needed some way to differentiate between them In a way that would stick quickly, but then if someone says that they made a facial bar, would people from the course be thinking of that recipe rather than any bar specifically designed for use on the face?


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 16, 2015)

I thought they were weird names as well. None were quite fitting to their ingredients. I am going to follow advice from here. I have very sensitive skin, which is actually how I got into DIY soap, body butters, oils, etc.


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## OferaliO (Sep 16, 2015)

I was just wondering what you used to color the soaps? Did I miss that?


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 16, 2015)

He gave us food coloring.


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 17, 2015)

Update on my glooby globs-a-rama- i regret throwing away my 2 abominations. Anyhoo, the three of the five I kept are firmer now. Im still baffled by the recipe names given by the instructor. The oat and homey bar doesn't even have honey. The Gentle face bar could be used all over. The Vegetable Soap is right out.


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 17, 2015)

I forgot to attach those to my update! Derp.


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## Spice (Sep 17, 2015)

the purple monster is food coloring? It seems that you have a natural knack for soap, because you take constructive criticism well and you are not afraid to try again, something that a soaper needs. Your next batch will be a great success.


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## kumudini (Sep 17, 2015)

All I know is that you are going to have some purple, dark pink and orange suds. Don't ask how I know, well you can. There's this big batch of soap I had to color with red food coloring. The soaps are red, I never used them in the past 9 months that they have been curing. I just tested one today, lathers like crazy, pink to red bubbles. And the red isn't even very saturated like yours.


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## not_ally (Sep 17, 2015)

WWB, I hope you didn't think I was criticizing *you*, that was the furthest thing from my mind.  I was a little frustrated at that class, though!  From now on just stick w/us


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 20, 2015)

I invite criticism. It helps me learn how to improve. Something I learned in life, there are no mistakes just learning. The class was not a great way to learn CP soap-making that is for sure! Im lucky to get good advice here. Thanks again! Oh, i have ph testing paper and it is from 1-14, when i tested my soaps they were all at 10. Im letting them cure until October 25th and will test again. Im going to buy lye off Amazon to practice a decent recipe at home. I have all the tools i need to keep on keepin on


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Sep 21, 2015)

Your soap can be a much higher pH than 10 and still be lovely. It can also be lower than that and utterly terrible! I look at two things - does it zap (is it safe)? How does it feel in use? When the answers are 'no' and 'lovely' then I have all I need to know.


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 21, 2015)

My roommate volunteered to zap test the soaps and they just taste bad. No zaps.


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## Spice (Sep 25, 2015)

Vkumudini said:


> All I know is that you are going to have some purple, dark pink and orange suds. Don't ask how I know, well you can. There's this big batch of soap I had to color with red food coloring. The soaps are red, I never used them in the past 9 months that they have been curing. I just tested one today, lathers like crazy, pink to red bubbles. And the red isn't even very saturated like yours.


did the food color stain?:?


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 25, 2015)

Havent tried yet. Is it ok to try yet? I thought it had to cure for a few weeks ???


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## Dahila (Sep 25, 2015)

I try my soap, a piece of that on first week then two weeks and three which usually tells me how good it is)
just hand washing


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## whitewitchbeauty (Sep 27, 2015)

Oh ok, i will try it on the hard soaps, a couple are still soft.


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