Castile Soap, What Went Wrong?

[soapstr]

I made a 2lb batch of 100% olive oil castile soap and just finished unmolding it now. I'm very surprised how hard the soap is, smooth almost like plastic. I had difficulty cutting due to the hardness, and parts of the loaf toward the ends had a few cracks not more than half inch deep and nowhere else.

Some of the edges were crumbly as well, so the cuts were not clean. The soap looks like it gelled in the middle as it's darker than the edges; there is a darker shade from the centre of the loaf out that covers about 80% of the entire surface.

This was a 40% lye solution and heated my oil to 120F, mixed the Lye water at 130F. I poured into a silicone mold at a light trace, covered with plastic wrap, a blanket and let it sit for 48 hours.

The last batch I made cut like a firm cheese and looked beautiful, but could just have been beginners luck. I think the only thing I did differently was pour at light trace as opposed to medium. I can't figure out why there are some cracks and the texture is so hard - did I wait to long to unmold? maybe pouring at light trace meant it was too hot?

Any advice I can take for my next batch would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to make nice soap that I can give as gifts and be proud of.

 

[soapstr]

My recipe is:

32.0 oz Oil Weight
42.0 oz Final Weight
5% Superfat

32 oz Olive 100%

40% Lye Solution
4.05 oz Lye
6.05 oz Distilled Water

 

[Obsidian]

Castile is one of those odd soaps that behaves as it wants. Some batches stay soft for a extended amount of time, others get rock hard within a few hours. When I make castile, I check it every few hours to see how its setting up. Sounds like you let yours stay in the mold too long.

 

[IrishLass]

48 hours is a long time to wait before unmolding and cutting a gelled soap made with a 40% lye solution- even a 100% OO soap that's only 80% gelled. I usually use a 40% lye solution with my 100% Castile's (which I gel) and I unmold and cut them within 18 hours tops or else it's too hard and I get cracking around the edges as I slice.


IrishLass

 

[soapstr]

Thanks for the advice, I will keep a closer watch and unmold earlier for next time.

Would you know why the cracks formed? I could see the cracks before unmolding and I was careful to ensure there was no air pockets and at light trace it filled the mold fully. I like to soap at higher temps to speed trace and ensure there is enough heat for gel, do you think the heat might be an issue? or just the fact it was in the mold too long would do it?

 

[Obsidian]

It probably overheated a bit and cracked, that happened with y first castile.

 

[DeeAnna]

Cracking is caused when the soap puffs up due to air and steam expanding in the center of the loaf. The only way for the expanding soap to go is up. This causes the top to crack open, just like the top of an angel food cake does when it's baked. If you can control the rate of saponification so it's a wee bit slower, you can reduce the chance of too much expansion.

If I see the top of my soap starting to crack during saponificatoin, I pull it out in the open air to cool off. If I thought that wasn't enough cooling, I would put a fan on the molded soap as well.

 

[ClaraSuds]

Castile is one of those odd soaps that behaves as it wants. Some batches stay soft for a extended amount of time, others get rock hard within a few hours.

This. Although I will say after many, many batches of castille I've yet to have a hard batch. My last batch which cured for 12 months still isn't truly very hard, certainly nothing like you describe.

I soap at low temps though, and ensure the mixture is room temp only at trace to prevent gelling. It goes into the mold cold and takes more than 48hrs to set. I usually demold at 4 days. Still quite soft and in some cases even clings to the knife because it is not quite set up enough.

I generally use 25% water content, 50% lye solution cold process with no stick mixer. I add essential oils for scenting as well. Although my year old batch was unscented and it made no difference at all. I also only soap with EVOO, because I like the deeper natural colour it gets and also because this is usually the cheapest OO I can buy locally anyway. Pomace isn't available.

 

[cmzaha]

This. Although I will say after many, many batches of castille I've yet to have a hard batch. My last batch which cured for 12 months still isn't truly very hard, certainly nothing like you describe.

I soap at low temps though, and ensure the mixture is room temp only at trace to prevent gelling. It goes into the mold cold and takes more than 48hrs to set. I usually demold at 4 days. Still quite soft and in some cases even clings to the knife because it is not quite set up enough.

I generally use 25% water content, 50% lye solution cold process with no stick mixer. I add essential oils for scenting as well. Although my year old batch was unscented and it made no difference at all. I also only soap with EVOO, because I like the deeper natural colour it gets and also because this is usually the cheapest OO I can buy locally anyway. Pomace isn't available.

I can say my castile that I soap with either pomace or OO turns out rock hard with a 34% lye solution. I usually cut within 8 hrs. Even when I do not gel my castile I cut within 12 hrs and it always becomes very hard