Discouraged

[Savvyssoaps]

I have been doing M&P soap for about 2 years and just started CP soaps. After a few bad batches I am starting to lose hope.
Dear soap making community,
How long have you been making CP soap? (pics would be cool to look at).

 

[dixiedragon]

I've been making soap for 10+ years, off and on. What recipe are you using?

If it's any consolation, I've got a pitcher of wine lye downstairs that I'm probably going to pour down the drain.

 

[doriettefarm]

I've been making CP soap for about 5 yrs. It took the first 2 years just to get happy with my recipes so please don't give up hope. Post your recipe and maybe we can give feedback that will put you back on track. Check out the Photo Gallery if you want to see lots of soap pics . . . most of us aren't shy about posting pics of our soap babies.

 

[Susie]

You need to tell us your recipe and process before we can help in any fashion. I mean, we can pat you on the back and reassure you that we all got through it, and so will you. But real help making soap will come after we know what you have tried and how you are trying to make it.

 

[shunt2011]

I too have been making soap for about 5 years now. Took me a couple years as well to find my recipes that I was super happy with. Lots of time and experimentation, As Susie said if you share your recipe and process we will try to help you any way we can. Don't get discouraged. There is certainly a learning curve.

 

[RhondaJ]

Making soap for about 8 years now and yes, the first couple were all about finding what worked for me and what didn't! Heck that still happens now and then when tinkering with new ideas/recipes!

You can do this, don't give up yet

 

[coffeetime]

I've been making soap for my family since ~1996. But I only started selling in 2013. My first batches were awful but I thought they were amazing. I knew nothing about curing or what benefits my oils brought or appropriate additives and it showed. Keep reading and tweaking and be prepared to spend some time and money til you feel you have an awesome soap. It's not an easy or cheap process but it is fun!

 

[Relax]

I'm a newbie too! I made one CP soap last year and nine CP so far this year. I usually HP. The first time I tried CP, I didn't like the process . It turned out ok (as far as I could tell). I was pretty intimidated by the whole trace thing, making sure the temperatures were perfect, etc. It just seemed complicated. Since I wasn't comfortable with it, I stuck with HP until this year. I'm starting to like CP much better than HP even though I haven't mastered it yet. Each CP batch I made, I forgot something (color/EO) or moved way too slow (no time to split the batch) and had to scoop my mix into the mold. I think all of them are fine (I hope ) since I didn't mess up the recipes. I'm not giving up though. I have a lot to work on to get my CP soap the way I want it. The soapers on this forum are amazing and so very helpful. I recommend you keep reading a lot of discussions here, watch YouTube videos, buy books, and continue to practice. That's what I'm doing.

Not sure if you want to see my pictures BUT I will post them tomorrow :smile:

 

[Cactuslily]

Dear Savvy, as a newbie, I can understand how overwhelming doing something new is. I've made about 12 batches so far. What I've tried to do, is remind myself how I'd encourage my kids when they were little and learning a new task. Be patient. It will get better. Even seasoned pros have occasional issues. There's always new things to learn, and nobody's perfect on their first attempt at anything. Also, making soap is helping me to let go of my perfectionist ways. Sometimes a batch accelerates, and your design plan goes out the window as you furiously cram your soap into a mold! Just be gentle with yourself! You'll get there. And this...is the ONLY advice I can give you worth much now, since I'm in pretty much the same boat. Hang in there! You're in the right place to get help!

 

[KristaY]

Hi Savvy! Seriously, hang in there. When I first started making soap I was so intimidated by the smallest things (temps of lye/batter, mixing colors, gel or not gel, etc.) but it eventually clicked. I learned what's very important and what you can just fly with. Lots of that info came from the very generous veteran soapers here. I guess I was backwards in the soap game as I started with various lotions, then liquid soap and finally CP. Now when I have something go "not quite right" it's pretty easy for me to diagnose the problem. Then I can fix it, learn from it and hopefully avoid it in future.

For the next batch you plan, post it here and many helpful people will be happy to either reassure you it's good or suggest little tweaks to make it better. You can do this! :clap:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I saw that you mentioned selling soaps in another thread - this is why I like the "1 year" guideline, where you make soap for one year before selling it. Talking cp/hp here, not m&p. Until you are at the stage where you rarely have an issue making the soaps that you sell and when you so have an issue it is something that you know how to correct, I think it's unfair to sell.

As others have said, what is the recipe as it might well be that you are trying to do something too complicated to start off with. Making soap is itself a new thing for you, so a nice easy recipe with few bells and whistles might well help to get you used to the process itself and get a good base set on which you can build.

 

[Savvyssoaps]

I've been making soap for 10+ years, off and on. What recipe are you using?

If it's any consolation, I've got a pitcher of wine lye downstairs that I'm probably going to pour down the drain.

The recipes I use are random. I use different oils such as olive, coconut, sweet almond oil, aloe vera oil, lard, canola oil.
I use brambleberry lye calculator and use percentages such as 30 30 30 10 and 33 33 33. The problems I have are with fragernce oils and TiO2 so far. Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. I hope to learn from everyone.

 

[dixiedragon]

33/33/33 and 30/30/30/10 - that could be your problem right there. 30% or 33% coconut is more that most of us use - 20% is about the "standard". If you are using 33% coconut and 33% palm, I think that recipe would thicken up SUPER fast. Also, that much coconut might cause the recipe to get hotter, which might lead to what we call "glycerin rivers" - that crackled look.

Check out www.millersoap.com. She has a lot of well-test recipes.

 

[kchaystack]

Here is a site I really like. It has many different oils, talks about their properties, and gives you a recommended max %. Tho their coconut is listed at 30, I agree that is way too high.

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/soap-making-oils.html#.VQBEgvnF9HQ

 

[Susie]

The recipes I use are random. I use different oils such as olive, coconut, sweet almond oil, aloe vera oil, lard, canola oil.

This is the first problem and the second. You are at least using a lye calculator, which is wonderful!

Do go learn about what each oil brings to the soap. And get a good base recipe before you start using TiO2 and fragrance oils. Then you add ONE additional factor, e.g., either TiO2 OR FO, but not both in a batch. This is extremely important in developing your CP skills. You can always make confetti soap later with colors/scents out of this if you hate plain soap. But at least you will have a base to build from.

Try this good old faithful recipe to start, there is a reason it is considered the "holy trinity" of soapmaking:

Palm/tallow/lard 50%
CO 20%
OO 30%

 

[dixiedragon]

What's aloe vera oil? Do you mean aloe vera butter, which is vegetable shortening with some aloe something (juice? I have no idea) whipped into it.

 

[navigator9]

If you were learning to dive, your instructor would start you out on a simple dive, and have you repeat it until you got it perfectly, before they moved you on to something more complicated. People usually learn soapmaking on their own, and often jump into the deep end of the pool before they're ready. I hate the term "plain" soap, because to call it that is such an injustice. "Plain" handmade soap is so amazingly better than any commercial soap you will ever buy!!! My advice to newbies is always the same....use a recipe with few ingredients, the holy trinity is perfect, and make "plain" soap over and over until you can do it consistently. If you're having problems with FOs, read reviews to make sure they're not problematic before you try them. Add the FO to your oils and stick blend before adding the lye solution. By changing only one thing at a time in your working recipe, it's easier to figure out what's causing the problem. Forget the TiO2 and the aloe vera for now, keep it simple.

I'm sure there are many would be soapers who got discouraged and quit because they tried too much too soon. If you take things slowly, and ask advice here when you run into trouble, you will get it!!! Don't give up.

 

[Seawolfe]

Why titanium dioxide? That is a nice white recipe. My uncolored soaps are bright white and I have never used it - honestly start simpler and go from there. No more than 3 oils, no additives, no colors, a scent that is known to behave (like lavender EO), and a simple mold(s).

 

[cmzaha]

What's aloe vera oil? Do you mean aloe vera butter, which is vegetable shortening with some aloe something (juice? I have no idea) whipped into it.

The Sage carries a fixed oil called Aloe Extract. It is aloe extract infused in Canola oil, nothing impressive for soap, but it does let you get aloe into lip balms, lotion bars etc

 

[shunt2011]

WSP carries an Aloe Oil as well.