GreenAcreHomestead
Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2017
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 16
No shame in trying something new (standby recipe but with technique modifications), and in showing how we can't win them all.
Figure I'll post this to encourage others to not beat themselves up or be ashamed of a batch gone wrong.
The Change:
Held back a portion of the water from mixing with lye to then add after the soap had gelled/cooked in hopes of getting a more fluid mixture to put into molds.
The Suspected Problem:
Removed soap from heat to get temp down to around 160, but soap temp dropped faster than expected. In addition, I didn't have all my ducks in order and had to warm up the coloring pot (pyrex container used to mix colorant with a portion of the soap) which took a few minutes. This led to the soap mixture getting down into 110 degree territory and it started to set up... least that is my conclusion. The soap was hard and clumpy like homemade mashed potatoes with 2/3 potatoes mashed.
I attempted to re-heat the mixture, but lost confidence in that working so I went ahead and molded it.
Take Away Points:
Get my ducks in a row.
Don't let the soap cool.
(?) Heat the soap longer and re-liquify (?)
Happier Notes:
I tried a new spoon swirl technique and was happy with the results given what I was working with. That will be a re-do for sure.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Photos:
The Change:
Held back a portion of the water from mixing with lye to then add after the soap had gelled/cooked in hopes of getting a more fluid mixture to put into molds.
The Suspected Problem:
Removed soap from heat to get temp down to around 160, but soap temp dropped faster than expected. In addition, I didn't have all my ducks in order and had to warm up the coloring pot (pyrex container used to mix colorant with a portion of the soap) which took a few minutes. This led to the soap mixture getting down into 110 degree territory and it started to set up... least that is my conclusion. The soap was hard and clumpy like homemade mashed potatoes with 2/3 potatoes mashed.
Take Away Points:
Get my ducks in a row.
Don't let the soap cool.
(?) Heat the soap longer and re-liquify (?)
Happier Notes:
I tried a new spoon swirl technique and was happy with the results given what I was working with. That will be a re-do for sure.
Photos:
Last edited by a moderator: