Can someone help asap!

[DanyulMac]

You could call the helpline and see if you can find out the purity of your caustic soda. A mixer will incorporate to much air in the batter and is not anywhere near a high enough shear for mixing soap. You can stir the batter let it rest stir rest...until you get trace. Stick Blenders with their high shear really cut down on stir time

Found it, says 100% sodium hydroxide

 

[Rune]

It can contain 100% sodium hydroxide, but still be not 100%.

It means that it is not added anything else, it is just sodium hydroxide in the bottle. But the purity can be very low. The one I found in Norway contained also 100% sodium hydroxide, but still had only 60-90% sodium hydroxide. The purity was low, but it was not anything else in the bottle than sodium hydroxide. So what you need to find out is the purity of the sodium hydroxide.

But, as the scotsman said, it seems to be reformulated and not good for soaping anymore. So it is best if you buy another brand. A brand that writes how pure their product is. Look for a number that is not exact, for example 98-100%, >98%, >99,5% or something like that.

It seems like it doesn't exist a sodium hydroxide with 100% purity. So it is always under 100%. That is the number you should look for. And make sure that it is nothing else added. So it should be 100% sodium hydroxide in the box with a purity of close to 100%

 

[wardbond]

I had a soap that began to rice... I just waited a few days key is set looked like solid block of cottage cheese, grated it with a cheese grater then chucked it is a slow cooker with a bit of water. Then on low I let it melt down into a paste then cooked it out for about 20mins, mixed it with a spoon then electric mixer. Waited another 20 mins and stirred again then molded it.. tested pH when it cooled. Was fine let it cure a bit longer than usual. So dry out the extra added water.

 

[earlene]

I am not at all shocked that your batter set up after you left it alone. I have had that happen when I walk away to answer the phone or some such when soaping, come back and my

Believe it or not the soap batch i made earlier i didnt throw away and has set ... im shocked View attachment 30447



Also i take it the bubbly stuff on top is lye?

I am not at all shocked that your batter set up after you left it alone. I have had that happen when I walk away to answer the phone or some such when soaping, come back and my batter is thick. The lye and oil will interact with each other if you just leave it and only stir occasionally.

As for the bubbly stuff, I am not positive, but it could just be air bubbles that rose to the top. I believe that excess lye would sink and not rise, but I could be wrong about that. Or it could be as you suggest. But there is an easy way to find out. Do the ZAP test. Here is a thread with clear instructions: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-properly-safely-conduct-the-zap-tongue-test.63199/

Try testing the surface area that your are concerned about, as well as inner surface areas after you have cut the soap into bars, which I assume you have already done. If the outer surface ZAPs, but the inner surface does not, then there is a concentration of lye. However, if neither ZAPs, then it's good to use. On the other hand, if both ZAP, you would have lye-heavy soap, but a long cure can decrease the ZAP if it's not excessively lye heavy given sufficient time. My guess is that you don't have lye heavy soap as long as you followed your posted recipe carefully.

How did the soap look after you cut it into bars? Was it smooth thoughout without any areas of softness or crumbly-ness? I'd love to see how it turned out after cut and what your ZAP test results are.

 

[DanyulMac]

I am not at all shocked that your batter set up after you left it alone. I have had that happen when I walk away to answer the phone or some such when soaping, come back and my



I am not at all shocked that your batter set up after you left it alone. I have had that happen when I walk away to answer the phone or some such when soaping, come back and my batter is thick. The lye and oil will interact with each other if you just leave it and only stir occasionally.

As for the bubbly stuff, I am not positive, but it could just be air bubbles that rose to the top. I believe that excess lye would sink and not rise, but I could be wrong about that. Or it could be as you suggest. But there is an easy way to find out. Do the ZAP test. Here is a thread with clear instructions: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-properly-safely-conduct-the-zap-tongue-test.63199/

Try testing the surface area that your are concerned about, as well as inner surface areas after you have cut the soap into bars, which I assume you have already done. If the outer surface ZAPs, but the inner surface does not, then there is a concentration of lye. However, if neither ZAPs, then it's good to use. On the other hand, if both ZAP, you would have lye-heavy soap, but a long cure can decrease the ZAP if it's not excessively lye heavy given sufficient time. My guess is that you don't have lye heavy soap as long as you followed your posted recipe carefully.

How did the soap look after you cut it into bars? Was it smooth thoughout without any areas of softness or crumbly-ness? I'd love to see how it turned out after cut and what your ZAP test results are.

Hey thanks for replying sorry ive been really busy and not even looked on here, the soap turned out fine i took the top layer off and cut it all up and shared it to family and friends to test it and everyone was amazed with the results saying its great very moisturising and lathers very well, i dont think i did too bad for my first batch! My second was so much quicker and set alot better!

As you can see in the picture they settled nicely just the centres needed longer to cure but apart from that im happy [emoji846]

 

[lindakschickens]

If your in the UK check out the soap kitchen uk site it has 100% pure caustic soda a 500g bottle of it £2.17 it's worth paying to get decent stuff.