# Special Goat milks soap for my GF!



## jd_198818 (Oct 14, 2013)

I have been seeing my girlfriend for a while now, and i have seen how sad she gets every winter when the farmers market goes away.... (she is not able to buy her favorite Sandalwoood goats milk soap). I decided i would like to try and create a rich creamy Sandalwood soap similar to what she is used to having during the summer. i read the ingredient list and this is the closest recipe i have found for a CP batch. 

What i am really asking is.. with all of these oils and goat milk soap, what type of soap do you think the end product will be? do you think that the recipe looks good? Neither of us are a fan of greasy bars. Thank-you in advance to anyone that will give me some input! i am Jeff, and i am new to making soap. I hope to get to know you guys better in the future 

4lb loaf

superfat- 5%

coconut oil 76deg-363.2 grams

olive oil- 363.2 grams

rice bran oil- 181.6 grams

avocado oil- 90.4 grams

castor oil- 90.4 grams

sweet almond oil- 90.4 grams

shea butter- 90.4 grams

beeswax- 18.4 grams

cocoa butter- 90.4 grams

Palm oil- 181.6 grams

palm kernel oil flake- 217.6 grams

almond butter- 36 grams

goats milk- 512 grams

sodium hydroxide- 256 grams


combine lye with frozen goats milk and stir until at 85F. melt oils until around 90F melt beeswax in separate container to near 90F. Combine and finally add 3.5oz of "sensuous sandalwood" fragrance oil from brambleberry and 2/3 cup of ground oatmeal at thin trace. 

pour into mold 4-5lb wooden loaf mold and throw into the freezer for 2 days. unmold, cut, and cure for up to 4 weeks.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 14, 2013)

c'mon guys and gals!


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## jennikate (Oct 14, 2013)

Honestly Jeff this is awful complicated recipe for beginner. I would rec make couple simpler batches before trying this.  Such as 85 olive oil 10 coconut  and 5 castor oil . Numbers are precents  of oils. I dont use beeswax at all fyi.


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## jennikate (Oct 14, 2013)

Also I would wait on using milk till you have basics down .


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## jd_198818 (Oct 14, 2013)

jennikate said:


> Also I would wait on using milk till you have basics down .




i have done some cp before, but this would be by far the most complicated i have been a part of. i have a close friend who has been making his own soap for a couple of years. he will be overseeing me while i make the soap. i just was hoping for some of your input. i do appreciate it. 

the OATMEAL was an addition that i added to the recipe. do you think that adding that amount of oatmeal at trace would mess the recipe up any? will it stay suspended at thin trace?


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## jd_198818 (Oct 14, 2013)

jennikate said:


> Honestly Jeff this is awful complicated recipe for beginner. I would rec make couple simpler batches before trying this.  Such as 85 olive oil 10 coconut  and 5 castor oil . Numbers are precents  of oils. I dont use beeswax at all fyi.



thank-you for that info, may i ask why you do not like to use beeswax? my girl is a beekeeper and insisted that soap with beeswax is the bees knees


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## shunt2011 (Oct 14, 2013)

Way too much going on in that recipe.  Also, you don't need beeswax in CP soap.  You don't need a recipe with all that going on.   You can make a wonderful, non-drying soap with Olive, Coconut or Palm Kernel Flakes, Palm Oil and Castor Oil.   Beeswax will make the soap drag if you use too much.  Run some recipes through a soap calculator until you find what you are looking for in a bar of soap.   Rice Bran and Olive Oil are very similar, you could also adjust your Olive Oil with a little Avocado.


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## Obsidian (Oct 14, 2013)

Some people don't like the feel that beeswax gives a bar and it can be difficult to work with. If you soap cool, the bees wax can harden before the other oils leaving little wax bits in the soap.

I ran your recipe through soapcalc and its a fairly high cleansing and moderately conditioning bar. Personally, I don't think I would like it at all. It would dry me up something terrible especially with a SF of 5.
Can you give us more info on why your GF likes that particular bar she buys? It would also help if we knew what kind of skin she has and what she wants from her soap. 
I would also suggest to do away with some of the ingredients. There is no reason to use three different types of butters and some of the other oils are prone to rancidity. I would replace the rice bran and increase the olive oil, that will give you a more conditioning bar too.

Here is a simpler recipe that is a bit lower in cleansing and higher is condition. Its for a two pound batch though. I wouldn't recommend making a large batch until you know if you like a recipe or not.

Olive oil 225 gr
coconut oil 100 gr
palm oil 75 gr
avocado 25 gr
castor 25 gr
coco butter 25 gr
almond oil 20 gr
bees wax 5 gr

water/milk 190 gr
lye 68.918 gr

add your scent and ground oatmeal at trace.


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## judymoody (Oct 14, 2013)

I like the suggestions that obsidian made to simplify your recipe.  I'd have recommended something similar. If you want to simplify further, I'd ditch the sweet almond oil (20 grams is not going to significantly change the feel of your soap, and add the 20 grams to your avocado oil, recalculating the lye, of course).

Goat's milk is a bit more complicated than water but not insane.  Chill your goat's milk and add the lye very slowly, stirring all the while.  It will change color (yellow/orange) but the end result will be beige or tan.  The soap will have a tendency to heat in the mold because of the milk so don't insulate and keep an eye on it.  If it shows signs of overheating, put it in the frig or freezer.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 14, 2013)

Obsidian said:


> Some people don't like the feel that beeswax gives a bar and it can be difficult to work with. If you soap cool, the bees wax can harden before the other oils leaving little wax bits in the soap.
> 
> I ran your recipe through soapcalc and its a fairly high cleansing and moderately conditioning bar. Personally, I don't think I would like it at all. It would dry me up something terrible especially with a SF of 5.
> Can you give us more info on why your GF likes that particular bar she buys? It would also help if we knew what kind of skin she has and what she wants from her soap.
> ...



thank you so much for your input! i appreciate it very much. she does tend to have skin on the dryer side so my initial recipe is probably not what i should have been looking into making. i like your ingredient bill, and it will be far cheaper to find the goods that way. she loves her soap because it is a nice hard bar that lasts, but has great suds and leaves her feeling clean but not dry. 

thank you again!


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## Obsidian (Oct 14, 2013)

You can also replace the palm with lard if you aren't against using animal products. Lard make a very nice creamy bar of soap and is cheap/easy to find. Make sure to run any changes through http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp


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## jd_198818 (Oct 15, 2013)

so I have ended up buying everything that obsidian had recommended for my recipe minus the beeswax, how do you calculate superfat? anyone that could help with getting the numbers right again?

does the olive oil have to be extra virgin? is there a certain type that is best?


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## jd_198818 (Oct 15, 2013)

Olive oil 
coconut oil 
palm oil 
avocado oil
castor oil
coco butter 
almond oil 

lye

oats and scent at trace


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## Obsidian (Oct 15, 2013)

Are you skipping the beeswax for now? How big of a batch did you decide on? Soapcalc has a place where you can change the super fat, for my dry skin I usually do 8%. 
If you aren't ready to create your own recipe, I can help. do you prefer to measure in oz or gr?


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## jd_198818 (Oct 15, 2013)

Obsidian said:


> Are you skipping the beeswax for now? How big of a batch did you decide on? Soapcalc has a place where you can change the super fat, for my dry skin I usually do 8%.
> If you aren't ready to create your own recipe, I can help. do you prefer to measure in oz or gr?



yea, i have decided that ill try to tackle beeswax down the road. i would love if you helped! i still have to buy a scale, but i have until next tuesday to do so. that is when we plan on making the soap. grams probably would work best for accuracy right?


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## jd_198818 (Oct 15, 2013)

i really want to make 4lb as i dont have any other molds that i can use. only the 4-5lb wooden loaf i bought. i just want to be sure that i dont end up greasy, but moisturizing soap would be absolutely fine


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## Obsidian (Oct 15, 2013)

Yes, grams are the most accurate. I'll work on a recipe and get back to you in a bit.

Ok, here is what I came up with. I personally don't use palm oil so lets see what other members think before you actually make this. This will make a 4lb batch.

Olive Oil  907.184 gr

Coconut Oil 290.299 gr

Palm Oil  272.155 gr

Avocado Oil  90.718 gr

Castor Oil  72.575 gr

Cocoa Butter  90.718 gr

Almond Oil  90.718 gr

water/milk 689.46 gr
Lye 240.32 gr

ground oatmeal- 4 tsp
scent  56.699 gr

Does this look ok to anyone else? I couldn't figure out how to harden the bar without making the cleansing number go up too much.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 15, 2013)

Obsidian said:


> Yes, grams are the most accurate. I'll work on a recipe and get back to you in a bit.



THANK YOU! me and my girl appreciate it thoroughly.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 15, 2013)

if we could up the bubbles, hardness, and cleansing some i think we have a winner!


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## somedayHomefree (Oct 15, 2013)

jd_198818 said:


> if we could up the bubbles, hardness, and cleansing some i think we have a winner!



I would just like to add that all those expensive and exotic sounding oils & butters sound nice but one of my favorite recipes just has tallow, olive, and coconut with castor. Lard also makes a great bar.


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## DeeAnna (Oct 15, 2013)

"...if we could up the bubbles, hardness, and cleansing some i think we have a winner! ..."

I'm gonna rain on your parade ... gently I hope ... but rain nonetheless. 

If the Soapcalc "numbers" for hardness, etc. are driving your comment (above), please don't get too hung up on tweaking them to be "perfect" based on your current level of understanding. As others already know, I'm all for understanding and explaining the chemistry behind the "numbers", but I'm not an advocate for obsessing about them. And I really take issue with the names given to the "numbers" (hardness, bubbly, etc.). They are NOT helpful at all and mislead people greatly.

Honestly, Obsidian has done you a huge favor in coming up with this recipe. In particular, if you want a soap that will be especially nice for use in winter, leave the cleansing value alone. It's fine at 11%. Really it is. This recipe will make a gentle, pleasant soap with a good amount of bubble-age. It should also saponify easily for you, which is a good idea for a first recipe.


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## DeeAnna (Oct 15, 2013)

"...but one of my favorite recipes just has tallow, olive, and coconut with castor. Lard also makes a great bar. ..."

I agree with you. My soapmaking ingredients list is pretty simple too, with lard high on the list. But I remember the first couple of recipes I made where I just had to try several of the more exotic fats ... just cuz!That phase wore off really quick, thankfully. I made an "odds and ends" batch with the last of my fancy butters and oils and never bought more. I have truly enjoyed learning how to make quality soap with the more traditional soap-making fats. But I know many soap makers feel differently about this than I do .... so YMMV and all that.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 16, 2013)

DeeAnna said:


> "...but one of my favorite recipes just has tallow, olive, and coconut with castor. Lard also makes a great bar. ..."
> 
> I agree with you. My soapmaking ingredients list is pretty simple too, with lard high on the list. But I remember the first couple of recipes I made where I just had to try several of the more exotic fats ... just cuz!That phase wore off really quick, thankfully. I made an "odds and ends" batch with the last of my fancy butters and oils and never bought more. I have truly enjoyed learning how to make quality soap with the more traditional soap-making fats. But I know many soap makers feel differently about this than I do .... so YMMV and all that.



fair enough, i appreciate you telling me that those number do not necessarily mean what i think they do. will the bar at least harden some? it isnt going to be a bar i can only take 3 showers with right? lol

i will make this recipe on tuesday, and gladly tell everyone how i did! with pictures!


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## shunt2011 (Oct 16, 2013)

That bar once cured 4-6 weeks should be nice and hard.  It should be a lovely bar for your girlfriend.  Pictures are required ....good luck!


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## jd_198818 (Oct 16, 2013)

shunt2011 said:


> That bar once cured 4-6 weeks should be nice and hard.  It should be a lovely bar for your girlfriend.  Pictures are required ....good luck!




great! thank you!


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## squyars (Oct 16, 2013)

I have a suggestion for the goats milk.  Why don't you try powdered?  I incorporated 1 TBSP per pound of oils, mixing it (thoroughly) into the oils before adding the lye water.  I found it incredibly easy to work with, and didn't have to worry about freezing the milk first or anything like that.

Can't wait to hear how it all goes.  Post pics!


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## jd_198818 (Oct 16, 2013)

squyars said:


> I have a suggestion for the goats milk.  Why don't you try powdered?  I incorporated 1 TBSP per pound of oils, mixing it (thoroughly) into the oils before adding the lye water.  I found it incredibly easy to work with, and didn't have to worry about freezing the milk first or anything like that.
> 
> Can't wait to hear how it all goes.  Post pics!



that is a good idea for a first time but i bought some milk. it is nice having so many local farmers happy to help me with a fresh supply 

it is in the freezer in a ziplock ready for use.


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## Obsidian (Oct 16, 2013)

Learning to use the numbers as a guideline only was one of the harder thing for me to learn. The first 2 batches I did are hard as a rock, very bubble and will strip you clean and leave you crispy dry lol.
I personally have to keep the cleansing number around 10 or so, I have dry skin and anything more dries me out badly. As far as harness goes, I generally try to get at least 35 but my shampoo bars are 20 and they last me roughly 2 weeks and thats with daily hair washing.
The only other numbers I pay much attention to is conditioning, I like it at least 60. The other numbers I mostly ignore. I figure if it makes some bubbles and doesn't dry me out, I'm happy.


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## Obsidian (Oct 16, 2013)

I don't freeze my milk first, I just make sure its really cold and add the lye slow. My first batch ever was with milk and I spent 20 minutes adding the lye to keep the temps down and the milk from scorching.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 18, 2013)

i am not certain how i overlooked this, but i was looking at all of my oils again and realized that i had bought red palm oil.. i took it back as i was not looking for this, and did not want my soap red.. at all. I could have purchased it online but no longer have the time to do so seeing as we will be making this batch tuesday.. i have found something, just not certain that it will work. Spectrum all vegetable organic shortening, lists one ingredient....MECHANICALLY PRESSED ORGANIC PALM OIL. i bought it. will this work?


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## Obsidian (Oct 18, 2013)

Yep, that will work. Good find, I've not been able to locate pure palm shortening.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 18, 2013)

if you have a whole foods in the area $5.99. They also had it at Fred Meyer/Kroger for $6.99

thank you! i wasnt too sure.


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## squyars (Oct 18, 2013)

jd_198818 said:


> i am not certain how i overlooked this, but i was looking at all of my oils again and realized that i had bought red palm oil.. i took it back as i was not looking for this, and did not want my soap red.. at all. I could have purchased it online but no longer have the time to do so seeing as we will be making this batch tuesday.. i have found something, just not certain that it will work. Spectrum all vegetable organic shortening, lists one ingredient....MECHANICALLY PRESSED ORGANIC PALM OIL. i bought it. will this work?



I used this on a few of my soaps.  It melted differently than the palm I had from BB, but it seemed to work fine.  Appeared a little grainy, but don't think it affected anything.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 21, 2013)

while reading the recipe again, i realized that the fragrance oil is not factored in on soap calc. i tried to go to soap calc and add the 3.5oz of Brambleberry "sensuous sandalwood" fragrance oil but i cannot get it to work. will this change the soap any? do you think that it will cause the soap to seize if i add it at trace?


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## Obsidian (Oct 21, 2013)

You don't calculate scent in with the oils, thats why it wasn't on soapcalc. Generally people use 1/2oz of FO per found of oil, thats by weight not volume. Weigh the scent in a glass container, it can eat through some plastics. 
I've not used that particular scent so I don't know if it causes any issues.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 21, 2013)

Obsidian said:


> You don't calculate scent in with the oils, thats why it wasn't on soapcalc. Generally people use 1/2oz of FO per found of oil, thats by weight not volume. Weigh the scent in a glass container, it can eat through some plastics.
> I've not used that particular scent so I don't know if it causes any issues.



ok. thank you. tomorrow is not coming fast enough!


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## jd_198818 (Oct 22, 2013)

Alright guys! today was the day! i made my Sandalwood oatmeal goat milk soap. no complications that i could see 
tell me what you think!


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## jd_198818 (Oct 22, 2013)

here is some.. not all in order..


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## jd_198818 (Oct 22, 2013)

here is the rest i took today! going to slice them in a day or two and give you a look as to if the "in the pot swirl" i attempted took or not. i added a couple of teaspooons of cocoa powder to about a 3rd of the soap at trace and added it at 12, 3, 6, 9 o clock. gave the pot once clockwise stir and poured into the mold. it is now in the freezer with some oats atop


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## Obsidian (Oct 22, 2013)

Looks really good, can't wait to see cut pics.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 22, 2013)

Thank you so much from the beginning to the end of this process  do you think 24 hours in the freezer is long enough? 

If this soap turns out in any way I would love to send you a bar if you're interested 

Both to thank you, and get your critiques!


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## Obsidian (Oct 23, 2013)

You are very welcome 24 hours is enough but I would also suggest putting it in the fridge for another 24 hour to slowly thaw it. If you bring it to room temp too fast, it can cause condensation on the soap.
I would absolutely love to try a bar, I've always wondered if I would like sandalwood.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 23, 2013)

Great! Deal!


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## cmzaha (Oct 23, 2013)

Obsidian said:


> Yes, grams are the most accurate. I'll work on a recipe and get back to you in a bit.
> 
> Ok, here is what I came up with. I personally don't use palm oil so lets see what other members think before you actually make this. This will make a 4lb batch.
> 
> ...


 
Personally I would lower the superfat. Even a 4% superfat gives a very nice bar of soap and all the conditioning is in the soap not free oils. My plumbing just will not take all the free oil with high superfatting. I balance my soaps by using high conditioning oils not free oil left in it.


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## Saswede (Oct 23, 2013)

Looks really good!  And you have enough photos to develop your own tutorial!


Sent from my iPad using Soap Making


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## kazmi (Oct 23, 2013)

I think they will love this soap.  The recipe that Obsidian came up is very similar to my standard recipe and my family and friends love it.  JD what do you think of the sandalwood FO.  I have a sample of it that I haven't soaped with yet so I'm glad to see that it's easy to soap with.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 23, 2013)

Saswede said:


> Looks really good!  And you have enough photos to develop your own tutorial!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Soap Making



Thank you so much  now I am excited to look into what my next recipe will be 

Thinking somewhere along the lines of.... Beer, oats, and honey...with some almond scent oil maybe?


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## jd_198818 (Oct 23, 2013)

kazmi said:


> I think they will love this soap.  The recipe that Obsidian came up is very similar to my standard recipe and my family and friends love it.  JD what do you think of the sandalwood FO.  I have a sample of it that I haven't soaped with yet so I'm glad to see that it's easy to soap with.



I appreciate the positive words. I really enjoy the sensuous sandalwood from brambleberry. It does not smell exactly like sandalwood EO but smells scary close and very delicious. I added it at a very thin trace along with the colloidal oats and some whole oats before I separated some of the soap out to mix in the cocoa. I had absolutely no issues with it speeding up the trace. I ultimately had over 10 minutes working with it before I poured it into the mold and it still was at a pour-able trace. 

Bottom line- it smells of sandalwood first, then I pick up cedar and a small mount of patchouli. At the price sandalwood EO sells for, I have absolutely no issue using this similar fragrance, and it was very easy to work with. I will be using it in the future on its own like a did here, and in combination with with other fragrances to find my own scent.


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## Skatergirl46 (Oct 24, 2013)

Looking good!


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## jd_198818 (Oct 25, 2013)

ok guys, so my mold has spent one night in the freezer, and another day in the fridge.. after about 6 hours of sitting at room temperature i decided that i was going to cut the soap.. but when i opened the mold i realized that it has not completely hardened up. I did not cut it yet as it is just a bit harder than softened butter right now... did something wrong happen or am i just not being patient enough?


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## cmzaha (Oct 25, 2013)

Obsidian said:


> Yep, that will work. Good find, I've not been able to locate pure palm shortening.


 
I you happen to live where there is a Smart & Final their shortening is 100% palm. I do still add in Palm when I use the hydrogenated type of palm (shortening)


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## cmzaha (Oct 25, 2013)

If you can remove it from the mold without damaging it I would let it air dry for a day or two. It looks beautiful. I only leave my 5# soap batches in the freezer for 5-7 hours. I do not want to freeze them completely because it will slow down the setting up time. Like anything frozen when you thaw it out it has a lot of condensation. With a gm or beer soap just check the mold and see if it is cold.
Great job with your soap it will be fantastic.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 25, 2013)

cmzaha said:


> If you can remove it from the mold without damaging it I would let it air dry for a day or two. It looks beautiful. I only leave my 5# soap batches in the freezer for 5-7 hours. I do not want to freeze them completely because it will slow down the setting up time. Like anything frozen when you thaw it out it has a lot of condensation. With a gm or beer soap just check the mold and see if it is cold.
> Great job with your soap it will be fantastic.



thank you very much for reassuring me! i am hopeful!


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## Obsidian (Oct 25, 2013)

It looks great, can't wait to see it cut. With soap, patience is a virtue. When I first started soaping, I always cut too soon and had gooey streaks on the bars. I still get impatient at times and do something stupid like stick my finger into bars that are way too soft and shouldn't have been cut in the first place.:roll:


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## Skatergirl46 (Oct 25, 2013)

That soap looks great. The recipe is very similar to one that I make and really like. Give it a good cure, it's worth the wait.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 25, 2013)

thanks guys! will attempt cutting in a day or two.


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## jd_198818 (Oct 29, 2013)

i want to cut this soap but it still does not seem like it would be hard enough to cut without it dragging. it has been one week today since i made this batch. i have messed with the sample bars that were excess to the mold.. they soaped up when i tried to wash my hands... and passed the zap test lol, but they are not hardening up. feel something like fairly hard clay.

is this typical? because of high superfatting maybe? or because i have it in the garage?? it is getting down into the 30s at night and generally in the high 50s to low 60s during the day


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## cmzaha (Oct 29, 2013)

DeeAnna said:


> "...but one of my favorite recipes just has tallow, olive, and coconut with castor. Lard also makes a great bar. ..."
> 
> I agree with you. My soapmaking ingredients list is pretty simple too, with lard high on the list. But I remember the first couple of recipes I made where I just had to try several of the more exotic fats ... just cuz!That phase wore off really quick, thankfully. I made an "odds and ends" batch with the last of my fancy butters and oils and never bought more. I have truly enjoyed learning how to make quality soap with the more traditional soap-making fats. But I know many soap makers feel differently about this than I do .... so YMMV and all that.


 
I personally love lard, sunflower and palm soap. Super simple! Of course I also love pure lard soap


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## Obsidian (Oct 29, 2013)

Bring it in where its warmer. It could still be softish because the excess water isn't evaporating fast enough. Personally, I would try and cut one bar, see how it does. Make sure to turn the loaf on its side so the oatmeal doesn't make drag marks.


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## DeeAnna (Oct 30, 2013)

Yes, give it more time. It WILL harden up, just not as fast as you'd like.  

If you haven't yet taken the log completely out of the mold, do so and set it (carefully!) on end to let air circulate over as much of the surface as possible. When you can cut it into bars, that will be even better. The soap will firm up a bit faster because you've given it even more surface area for evaporation. But use your good judgement on when you do that.

One batch of my soap (an experimental recipe coupled with a comedy of minor errors) took about 4 months to go from "dentable with a finger" to decently hard stage. I was very doubtful about it for the first couple of months, but the solution was simple patience and time. I personally don't care for soaps that take that long to harden, but given the circumstances of this particular soap, it worked out fine in the long run.


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## jd_198818 (Nov 8, 2013)

here we are, a couple weeks later... and i could finally cut the soap! i actually like the swirl even though it is not perfect. i am confident that this soap will be fantastic given another month or so to cure.

thank you all in aiding me through this adventure!

PICS!!!!!!!


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## shunt2011 (Nov 8, 2013)

I think they turned out terrific.  Congratulations!


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## Obsidian (Nov 8, 2013)

Looks great. I quite like those types of swirls.


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