Calling in the experts!

[Zing]

People, I just had a sucky soaping session. My post-soaping glass of wine is actually whiskey.

I wanted to make 2 loaves each with a different design. For the FIRST time (I will always be in awe of you masterbatchers) I made 1 oils mix and 1 lye/liquid mix.

For loaf #1, I measured the oils I needed. Then I poured in the lye and went 10 grams over. My superfat is 3%. Is this soap safe? Weight of oils 804 g, lye/liquid 377 g.

Loaf #2 is when it all went to h---. I weighed my oils and was short! So I poured more olive oil in to get what I needed. I weighed my lye/liquid and it was over (WTH?!) so then I had to add more olive oil. Weight of oils 730 g, lye/liquid 314 g.

In the middle of all the drama I'm working with a lye calculator and jerry-rigging it to get to the 314 g I need. My head hurts. Tomorrow I'll do an Excel sheet. Are there any online reverse-lye-calculators??!!

So now I wonder if loaf #1 was actually long on oil. This is from the man who is compulsive about measuring, and measures each oil individually. If I could, I would measure my essential oils individually too! I need expert advice (and I'll be vulnerable, I need hugs and support). Lesson learned, never ever again will I attempt masterbatching.

I need your expert advice. Is all lost? Should I toss it?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I don’t think I can help with the calculations, but I hope the soap is not lost. One tip I can share is that when I’m splitting up larger batches of mixed oils and lye for multiple soaps, I split first and then check all the weights so that I know I have what I need for each batch. It seems to require meticulous scraping of the sides of a bowl to get every last drop where it needs to be.

 

[dibbles]

Without visiting soap calc and plugging in the numbers (lazy tonight) I’m going to say I think all will be well. Zap test to be sure. And mostly I just want to send a *hug*.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Oh gosh darn it' hope it turns out.

 

[Zing]

I don’t think I can help with the calculations, but I hope the soap is not lost. One tip I can share is that when I’m splitting up larger batches of mixed oils and lye for multiple soaps, I split first and then check all the weights so that I know I have what I need for each batch. It seems to require meticulous scraping of the sides of a bowl to get every last drop where it needs to be.

I am always meticulously scraping but went into overdrive today. Please define "split first" -- do you mix oil and lye and then split?

 

[KimW]

UGH! I'm so sorry - that just stinks.

Loaf #1 - Just plugging in Olive Oil on soapmakingfriend, going 10g over with master-batched lye of 2:1 water:lye ratio, with 804g oil at 3%SF, would bring you to 0% SF (I just lowered the SF number until the amount of master-batched lye went up by 10g). I would call this safe. The end SF might be higher with different oils.

Loaf #2 Glad I was NOT a fly on the wall.

You have my sympathy!

 

[hlee]

Always upsetting to have a sucky soap session. Hoping it all worked out and your soaps are fine.

 

[AliOop]

Where is that hug emoji when we need it?? Sending them virtually, @Zing. Will not comment on the math because I would be of zero help.

FWIW, I often go over or under with stuff, and it has almost always worked out. Praying yours does, too!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I am always meticulously scraping but went into overdrive today. Please define "split first" -- do you mix oil and lye and then split?

I split before I mix the lye into the fats. I’m really only making a masterbatch of fats, because I usually have enough MB lye water for a few batches standing by in a jug. I split the fats into bowls after they’re melted and mixed, or sometimes I melt the hard fats together, split them into bowls and then add the liquid oils needed for each batch. I also weigh out the lye water, split water, fragrance, colorants and any other additives for each batch independently. I keep track of the containers for each batch by writing the batch number on each container with a sharpie marker and also by keeping the ingredients for the batches apart on the counter. For two batches, it might be easiest to weigh out and mix lye twice. There’s a possibility of weights being short due to evaporation, although that wouldn’t explain why you had an excess of lye water today.

 

[Sudds]

Zing, my heart is feeling all kinds of love and hugs for you...I am thinking a companion nod of Port just might help commiserate your angst.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Sorry about your sucky session Zing
I'm not good at working out such things, but I have high hopes that it will all be ok for you x

 

[glendam]

Yikes! Well, no expert here but I have been in a similar situation. Hard to tell if batches are safe without knowing the oils used (and their saponification value). I would suggest running the recipe in your lye calculator set to 0 super fat, and see if the lye amount you used matches that. If it does or is less than that, you should be ok. I wouldn’t toss either of them though, if concerned, after a couple of days do ph test or look for other signs of lye heavy soap, and even then there are other options.

 

[Zing]

Experts:
Today I was able to make real good estimates of weights of lye, water, oils. I want a lye calculator that goes backwards. Is the ratio of lye-liquid to total weight significant?
For me it's normally 31%.
Loaf 1 is 32%.
Loaf 2 is 30%.
Keep? Toss? Overthinking all of this?

 

[Misschief]

Keep

 

[cmzaha]

Let it cure out then zap test. I am too lazy to figure out the math but if necessary let it cure for a few months.

 

[KimW]

keep

 

[TheGecko]

I will always be in awe of you masterbatchers

Your awe is noted and appreciated.

Besides allowing me to make more soap with my time constraints, another reason I decided to MB was to not have to worry about whether I grabbed the right lye container out of the garage or poured my batter into my mold only to have it come up short. Having done both of the aforementioned a few times, I find it so much easier just to look at my spreadsheet...find my mold and two measurements later...I'm making soap.

A couple of solutions:

Loaf 1: Always pour your lye and liquid separately and then mix. Yeah...it's an extra container to wash, but it's a LOT easier to put the extra lye back into the bottle then sitting in front on SoapCalc, trying to adjust your recipe.

Loaf 2: Pretend you're a carpenter...measure twice, cut once. And check the battery in your scale.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Keep!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Your awe is noted and appreciated.

Besides allowing me to make more soap with my time constraints, another reason I decided to MB was to not have to worry about whether I grabbed the right lye container out of the garage or poured my batter into my mold only to have it come up short. Having done both of the aforementioned a few times, I find it so much easier just to look at my spreadsheet...find my mold and two measurements later...I'm making soap.

A couple of solutions:

Loaf 1: Always pour your lye and liquid separately and then mix. Yeah...it's an extra container to wash, but it's a LOT easier to put the extra lye back into the bottle then sitting in front on SoapCalc, trying to adjust your recipe.

Loaf 2: Pretend you're a carpenter...measure twice, cut once. And check the battery in your scale.

Here’s another potential option. It seems to me that you make enough soap to consider making a larger MB of lye water, for example, 500 g of lye and 500 g of water. It can be stored in a sealed container of whatever # plastic is the right one. I mix and store my MB in a recycled laundry detergent jug (HDPE?), but I’ve read that others mix theirs in a large pitcher and then transfer it to smaller container(s). I like the closed jug because I don’t have to smell any fumes and I can put the closed jug outside to cool, or in cold water in the sink to hasten cooling once the lye is dissolved. The closed jug is big enough that I can swirl the lye water around to help with the lye dissolving. I always vent the container a few times to equilibrate the pressure, especially at the beginning when it’s heating up and I hold the jug with a towel or potholders because the container gets hot. Based on your recipes above, a batch made with 500 g of lye will be enough for 4 soap batches plus almost enough for a 5th batch. It’s handy to have two or more containers for the MB. I make a new batch in a second container whenever one is getting low. That way I always have RT lye ready to go.

 

[dibbles]

I could have something wrong here, but entering the numbers into soap calc Loaf #1 isn't too far off and I think it will be just fine. Loaf #2, however, appears to have a -10% superfat. If you keep it, I would definitely wait to zap test. Again, I'm not positive I've done this right, but here is what it looked like:

Also, I've never made a soap with a negative superfat, so I don't have any experience with what will correct itself with time and what will never be good.

If I haven't figured this out correctly, someone please step in and help!