Am I cutting too soon?

[Virgogoddess]

Here’s pics of my 5th batch of soap. This one has beef tallow, olive oil, safflower, rice bran, coconut and castor. I waited over 24 hours to cut probably 30 and it looks too soft to me. I’m wondering if it’s my recipe or cutting too soon. It’s like xmas morning, it’s so hard too wait! I did a batch that was similar to this, very soft looking. Is something wrong or is this what it’s like? Notice on my pick the knife when cutting? Thanks for all the info!

 

[msuver]

What are your measurements? If it's high in your softer oils or has a lot of water, it might take a couple days to harden up.

 

[Virgogoddess]

This is my recipe

Does it look too soft?

 

[msuver]

It does look very soft. My best guess is that 26% lye concentration - I believe many consider 28% to be "full water", and lots of folks use a 33% lye solution instead. However, a more experienced soaper might be able to identify other issues.

If you want to be able to unmold and cut your bars sooner than 3-4 days, I'd recommend at the very least consider using less water (maybe 30% lye solution), and possibly adding sodium lactate at no more than 1 tsp per pound of oils, and/or consider forcing gel phase.

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, it's too soft for my preference. The soap is smearing onto your cutter and I bet it's smearing the cut face of your bars too (can't really tell from the photos.) If I cut a bar or two and the soap is soft like this, I stop cutting and either wait a day or three or do a "rescue oven processing" method to heat the soap and cause it to gel. I want the soap to feel like mild cheddar cheese when I cut. Refrigerator cold cream cheese is too soft. Parmesan or aged cheddar is too hard.

One thing is I suspect your soap might not have gelled. Try soaping a little warmer or covering your soap to encourage it to gel. If it gels, I bet your soap will be much firmer and ready to cut sooner.

Another thing -- Get away from using "water as % of oils" and start using lye concentration or water:lye ratio. Your recipe is using 27% lye concentration, and that is too much water, IMO. The "water as % of oils" calculations are creating this problem. I'd set this recipe up at 33% lye concentration.

 

[cmzaha]

DeeAnna covered using too much water or low lye concentration. I will cover another issue and that is nixing the coarse grain Himalayan salt even if it is just decoration. If you give these away, hopefully, you are not selling them, the coarse salt can cause severe lacerations and many will not know to remove the salt before use or will forget to remove it.

 

[Virgogoddess]

Yes, it's too soft for my preference. The soap is smearing onto your cutter and I bet it's smearing the cut face of your bars too (can't really tell from the photos.) If I cut a bar or two and the soap is soft like this, I stop cutting and either wait a day or three or do a "rescue oven processing" method to heat the soap and cause it to gel. I want the soap to feel like mild cheddar cheese when I cut. Refrigerator cold cream cheese is too soft. Parmesan or aged cheddar is too hard.

One thing is I suspect your soap might not have gelled. Try soaping a little warmer or covering your soap to encourage it to gel. If it gels, I bet your soap will be much firmer and ready to cut sooner.

Another thing -- Get away from using "water as % of oils" and start using lye concentration or water:lye ratio. Your recipe is using 27% lye concentration, and that is too much water, IMO. The "water as % of oils" calculations are creating this problem. I'd set this recipe up at 33% lye concentration.

Thank you! I reset the calculations on soapcalc. I watched videos about how to use it and it never said to adjust the lye part.

 

[Arimara]

Thank you! I reset the calculations on soapcalc. I watched videos about how to use it and it never said to adjust the lye part.

Some people are fine with it but it is a variable setting has, more often than not, been quite a problematic setting to use. That doesn't mean it doesn't have it's uses.

 

[DeeAnna]

Many people have no clue about the differences between "water as % of oils" versus lye concentration or water:lye ratio. The default setting for many soap recipe calculators is "38% water as % of oils" and a LOT of soap makers stick with that setting, not knowing any better. That's probably why you didn't see any suggestions to do anything else.

I haven't found any good reason to use "water as % of oils". There are more downsides than benefits to using it, IMO. Here's a table that you might find helpful -- Soapy Stuff: Water in soap

 

[Virgogoddess]

Many people have no clue about the differences between "water as % of oils" versus lye concentration or water:lye ratio. The default setting for many soap recipe calculators is "38% water as % of oils" and a LOT of soap makers stick with that setting, not knowing any better. That's probably why you didn't see any suggestions to do anything else.

I haven't found any good reason to use "water as % of oils". There are more downsides than benefits to using it, IMO. Here's a table that you might find helpful -- Soapy Stuff: Water in soap

Thank you so much! I watched tutorials in how to do soap calc and one lady said to leave the default settings alone. My first batches actually look good and they are hardening but the cut looks muddy. Yay! Can’t wait to see what my newest batch looks like with 33% lye. I also went hotter!

 

[Todd Ziegler]

DeeAnna nailed it right on the head.

 

[Arimara]

Many people have no clue about the differences between "water as % of oils" versus lye concentration or water:lye ratio. The default setting for many soap recipe calculators is "38% water as % of oils" and a LOT of soap makers stick with that setting, not knowing any better. That's probably why you didn't see any suggestions to do anything else.

I haven't found any good reason to use "water as % of oils". There are more downsides than benefits to using it, IMO. Here's a table that you might find helpful -- Soapy Stuff: Water in soap

I used it recently for liquid soap making. It was interesting to say the least. I'll probably try it again when I run down on my paste.

 

[DeeAnna]

I use 25% lye concentration to make liquid soap. Works for me.

But, as always, your mileage will vary from mine. And that's okay!