Eureka, maybe

[Catscankim]

I am sure that many of you have read my whining about my last few batches accelerating EVERY single time. I thought i narrowed it down to increasing my FO percentage. But i made a batch last night using Obsidians Lard soap recipe and minimal FO, which i have used before. Plop plop into the mold again.

I woke up today with a possible cause (guess sleeping on it makes sense now lol).

I have usually let soapcalc determine my lye/water. Lately i have been manually entering in my “lye concentration” to 33%. I don't know why this didn't occur to me before...

I am still learning all of this stuff, so forgive me for being stupid. I feel like the more advanced learning i try to do, the more likely my soaps are gonna fail.

Running it through soapcalc again today with the defaults, the recipe was almost 100 grams of water more than when manually entering 33% lye concentration.

This is my problem?

 

[gardengeek]

You mean you just leave it at the default of 38% Water as a Percent of Oils? That would be more water than a 33% lye concentration. I never use the Water as a %; I use the Lye Concentration just because it makes more sense to my brain.

 

[shunt2011]

I'm confused on your statement. Did you change it to 33% lye concentration or just left it at its default setting on the calculator? Even so, more water should't make it set up faster. I only use lye concentration as well.

 

[Catscankim]

I was just leaving it at that default when punching in my recipes.. Lately i have been changing to lye concentration and manually putting in 33% instead. I am quite sure it is something that is not clicking in my brain.

I guess i am saying the whole thing wrong lol.

Up until the past week or two, I never touched the lye/water settings on soap calc and used what they said i should use. I was soaping that way for my long 3 month career.

Then i started to change the default from water:lye ratio, to lye concentration to 33%.

 

[shunt2011]

Okay, now I understand. Even at 33% lye concentration with a high lard recipe should give you plenty of time to play. I use 40-45% lard with 10% Shea and have lots of time. I'm thinking you are still over blending. You only need to bring it to emulsion. If using FO that you know how it behaves, add it to your oils before the lye. Are you adding any other additives?

 

[Catscankim]

I have been soaping cooler and forcing myself to SB less than i used to. There has to be a variable that i am missing.

Same recipe. I only changed the lye concentration to 33%

hang on. I posted the wrong pictures lol

 

[Obsidian]

while most everyone recommends using a set amount of water, such as 33% solution. If using the default setting works for you, then keep doing it.

 

[Jersey Girl]

I agree with @shunt2011 that you are possibly over-blending. Especially if you are used to working with the higher amount in the past. I have found that it only takes a few seconds of SBing to get where I need to be to start separating/coloring etc.

 

[Catscankim]

I am confusing myself now.

while most everyone recommends using a set amount of water, such as 33% solution. If using the default setting works for you, then keep doing it.

Ok lol. I feel like i have ruined so many soaps lately lol

 

[Obsidian]

It would be worth making a small batch to test your theory. Its a easy fix if thats what it is.

 

[Jersey Girl]

I am confusing myself now.

Maybe do some experimenting and meet halfway with a 30% lye concentration and go from there. There are a lot of benefits to using less water imo.

 

[Catscankim]

I am getting ready to make another batch. I just have to use a different fo, but its one that i have use successfully befor, but everything else is going to be the same.

 

[dibbles]

Going from the default to 33% is a fairly big jump. When I want to be assured of a lot of working time I will use 30-31% lye concentration. If you want to decrease the amount of water you are using, try smaller increments and see if there is a sweet spot for you.
ETA: LOL Jersey Girl - great minds!

 

[Catscankim]

Going from the default to 33% is a fairly big jump. When I want to be assured of a lot of working time I will use 30-31% lye concentration. If you want to decrease the amount of water you are using, try smaller increments and see if there is a sweet spot for you.
ETA: LOL Jersey Girl - great minds!

I used your recipe and recommendation of 30% for salt bars and they behaved nicely.

After being totally perplexed all week about none of my previously used recipes working for me...I literally woke up today and compared both lye concentrations and eureka.

I will let you all know how my experiment goes today. One day it will all click

 

[TheGecko]

But i made a batch last night using Obsidians Lard soap recipe and minimal FO, which i have used before. Plop plop into the mold again.

Water alone isn't going to cause 'plop-plop', how much stick blending are you doing?

 

[linne1gi]

I am sure that many of you have read my whining about my last few batches accelerating EVERY single time. I thought i narrowed it down to increasing my FO percentage. But i made a batch last night using Obsidians Lard soap recipe and minimal FO, which i have used before. Plop plop into the mold again.

I woke up today with a possible cause (guess sleeping on it makes sense now lol).

I have usually let soapcalc determine my lye/water. Lately i have been manually entering in my “lye concentration” to 33%. I don't know why this didn't occur to me before...

I am still learning all of this stuff, so forgive me for being stupid. I feel like the more advanced learning i try to do, the more likely my soaps are gonna fail.

Running it through soapcalc again today with the defaults, the recipe was almost 100 grams of water more than when manually entering 33% lye concentration.

This is my problem?

The 38% "default" in SoapCalc was originally intended for HP soap making since when you are making HP soap a lot of moisture is lost during the cook. If you are using that much water, that is a big mistake. Yes the batter will be fluid longer, but this will bring on a whole host of new problems. With that much water, your soap will tend to overheat quicker. The soap will stay hot longer and you will probably get the crackling appearance we call glycerine rivers. The soap will also tend to have lots more soda ash. It is more important that you learn to control your stick blending. Most new soapers have this problem. I literally stick blend for less than 10 seconds total in most recipes. You need to look for emulsion, not trace. The 33% lye concentration you have been using is totally the best advice anyone has even given you.

 

[Kiya]

I am sure that many of you have read my whining about my last few batches accelerating EVERY single time. I thought i narrowed it down to increasing my FO percentage. But i made a batch last night using Obsidians Lard soap recipe and minimal FO, which i have used before. Plop plop into the mold again.

I woke up today with a possible cause (guess sleeping on it makes sense now lol).

I have usually let soapcalc determine my lye/water. Lately i have been manually entering in my “lye concentration” to 33%. I don't know why this didn't occur to me before...

I am still learning all of this stuff, so forgive me for being stupid. I feel like the more advanced learning i try to do, the more likely my soaps are gonna fail.

Running it through soapcalc again today with the defaults, the recipe was almost 100 grams of water more than when manually entering 33% lye concentration.

This is my problem?

I didn’t see your other post so maybe you’ve already been over this buuut I had similar issues with acceleration in my batches. I figured out eventually I was soaping too hot. (around 120F) I lowered my Temperatures to around 100F (Or lower) and I haven’t had that issue since.

Also stick blending the fragrance oil can make a batch accelerate like crazy if you’re not careful.

 

[Catscankim]

So last nights batch didnt come out as bad as i thought. Heres the cut. Got some air bubbles, but not the big holes i expected. The tops came out wonky from trying to smooth it out, so i cut them off. I was going for nice square bars to try out a string pull deco on the sides.

I didnt make the next batch yet, i have some lye cooling. But i am gonna give the lower lye concentration a go again. Also going to soap cooler. These were done at 104. And yes, i will mind my stickblending.

Blending to emulsion is what i have been aiming for, which i think is what i do. Its when i add the fo and mica and give it another couple of bursts is where i think i am finding trouble. I feel like i should video tape myself to see where it goes from nice to “oh crap” lol.

The smell on these is Juicy Couture by Elements and the color is Angry Rose by MM.

 

[lenarenee]

I've never soap at 104, but I suspect that is at least part of the acceleration problem. You recipe is very similar to my favorite recipe; I soap "cold" - aka room temp. Sometimes there's no discernable heat coming from lye or oils. Unless I have an accelerating fo, I have a good hour+ to work with (often a triple batch to make 3 different soaps). I stick blend to emulsion or almost trace.

 

[Catscankim]

You are all going to think im a dingbat lol. My stickblender has settings and it was all the way up. I have had this sb since before soaping and i never realized it had settings. There are 8 speeds. Apparently its on mach speed lol.

still waiting for everything to cool down on this next batch.