HLN80
Active Member
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Activated charcoal batch crumbled to pieces
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Dawni
Well-Known Member
Looks like you waited too long to cut maybe? It kinda looks like how my brine soap did when I cut it too late. Crumbles and shards is what I got.
Very pretty soaps though.. Lovely colors in all of them
HLN80
Active Member
Thank you so much, my daughter colored them and had a blast. Ohhhhh I had no idea there was a time limit to cut! Thank you, I am still practicing and learning so much here. Is there anything I can do with this crumbly soap?Looks like you waited too long to cut maybe? It kinda looks like how my brine soap did when I cut it too late. Crumbles and shards is what I got.
Very pretty soaps though.. Lovely colors in all of them
How long ago did you pour it? A week? And what was the recipe? Was it a brine soap?
HLN80
Active Member
I poured it last night around 9pm and cut it tonight around 9pm too. Not a brine soap, I use Goat’s milk , co, and oo
Oh and lard
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How much water and lye?
HLN80
Active Member
18oz fresh Goat’s milk and 7.8 oz lye
Right - well, I'm no expert and I would invite someone else to chip in who knows better, and is better with using goats milk BUT I would say that sound like quite heavy lye concentration? What was the total weight of the oils in the recipe?
Dawni
Well-Known Member
Christine Beale
Goat Milk Soap Lady
I make only goats milk soap and here are my thoughts.... without knowing your exact recipe.. I plugged in a recipe to come up with the lye and water that you said you used and used only those 3 oils
16oz olive oil
12oz coconut oil
26 oz lard
18oz goat milk
7.6oz lye
5% lye discount
INS value of 157
This is a 79.6oz recipe
The other two did not have the activated charcoal in it. I have added charcoal to my goats milk and it does get thicker but not hard. Did your oils total 54 oz for that concentration of gm and lye? If not, our soap is lye havy and with the charcoal, made is dryer and therefore crumbly.
Have you done a tongue zap test?
16oz olive oil
12oz coconut oil
26 oz lard
18oz goat milk
7.6oz lye
5% lye discount
INS value of 157
This is a 79.6oz recipe
The other two did not have the activated charcoal in it. I have added charcoal to my goats milk and it does get thicker but not hard. Did your oils total 54 oz for that concentration of gm and lye? If not, our soap is lye havy and with the charcoal, made is dryer and therefore crumbly.
Have you done a tongue zap test?
HLN80
Active Member
I make only goats milk soap and here are my thoughts.... without knowing your exact recipe.. I plugged in a recipe to come up with the lye and water that you said you used and used only those 3 oils
16oz olive oil
12oz coconut oil
26 oz lard
18oz goat milk
7.6oz lye
5% lye discount
INS value of 157
This is a 79.6oz recipe
The other two did not have the activated charcoal in it. I have added charcoal to my goats milk and it does get thicker but not hard. Did your oils total 54 oz for that concentration of gm and lye? If not, our soap is lye havy and with the charcoal, made is dryer and therefore crumbly.
Have you done a tongue zap test?
Oils are 53 oz and 1 oz of vitamin e oil and 18oz of goats milk and 7.8 oz of lye, rose clay and the charcoal. Now My daughter says she added some Xtra cuz it didn't look dark enough lol so maybe between the charcoal and too much lye?
The vitamin e oil is wheat germ oil
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Such a shame, it was a really gorgeous soap. Hope someone can help you figure out what happened.
HLN80
Active Member
Thank you! I will definitely try that one again if I can figure out what I did wrong, this is alot of fun especially spending this time with my daughter
HLN80
Active Member
She is turning 18 soon and it's actually been a long time since she has wanted to hang out with Mom lol so this is great
Christine Beale
Goat Milk Soap Lady
1 tbsp of charcoal to 1 kilogram of oils is my usage rate. You could grate it down and rebatch it, add some honey, some tea tree oil and have a rustic facial bar!! Awesome that she wants to join you making soap.. enjoy it!! My daughter did it for a while with me too.. and made some bath bombs.. and then said it was alot of work.. lol
And maybe too much clay?
It looks to me like you waited too long to cut. I cut most of mine within 18-24 hours. The kind of knife you use can also make a difference. Is it a wedge shaped blade or a fairly even blade from the business edge to the opposite side? The more of a wedge it is, the more your soaps will be prone to breaking during cutting. Do post your entire recipe; it's easier to troubleshoot.
I use about 1 Tbsp of charcoal per pound of oil and had no issue cutting at about the 24 hour mark. I tried cutting a bar into samples yesterday, after almost 3 weeks, and it was a LOT harder to cut. I was afraid I was going to snap the wire on my little cheese cutter.
I use about 1 Tbsp of charcoal per pound of oil and had no issue cutting at about the 24 hour mark. I tried cutting a bar into samples yesterday, after almost 3 weeks, and it was a LOT harder to cut. I was afraid I was going to snap the wire on my little cheese cutter.
HLN80
Active Member
Thank you, I used 20 oz olive oil, 20 oz coconut. 13 lard, 18 Goat’s milk, 7.8 lye, 1 oz wheat germ oil, ac is a guess now lol because my daughter put it in, and then the pink clay was 2 tsp for the color splash and then fragrance oil .5 ppo , I think I’ll try your recipe above, what would you suggest for charcoal in it? 4tbs?I make only goats milk soap and here are my thoughts.... without knowing your exact recipe.. I plugged in a recipe to come up with the lye and water that you said you used and used only those 3 oils
16oz olive oil
12oz coconut oil
26 oz lard
18oz goat milk
7.6oz lye
5% lye discount
INS value of 157
This is a 79.6oz recipe
The other two did not have the activated charcoal in it. I have added charcoal to my goats milk and it does get thicker but not hard. Did your oils total 54 oz for that concentration of gm and lye? If not, our soap is lye havy and with the charcoal, made is dryer and therefore crumbly.
Have you done a tongue zap test?
Christine Beale
Goat Milk Soap Lady
Usage rate for charcoal that I have is 1 tbsp/kg of soap. In a 15 lb recipe I use just over a 1/3 cup. Since the recipe I plugged in is under 5 lbs, I would suggest 2-3 tbsp. You could go for 4, and it will be really dark!
