Failed soap ... can it be saved?

[Quilty]

I really don't know what happened, except maybe that my scales failed on me. I have a very bad separation problem - it looks like there was WAY too much oil. I even checked it twice to be sure because it looked like a lot to me, but it measured to 4 lbs oil three different times on two different scales.

Maybe it wasn't enough lye to saponify? I used 9.75 oz lye and 1 lb 8 oz water. I divided it into three separate containers after it was all mixed. One of the three looks fine .. the other two are floating in oil.

Can it be saved ... what can I do here? Any suggestions? TIA!

 

[whisks]

my first batch of soap separated, but i persevered. when it had reached what i thought was trace, i thought if i kept mixing it would be better and that's when i separated. so i kept mixing,and when it cooled, i thought it was supposed to be warmer, so i stuck it in the microwave to warm it up...mixed it some more....wared it again, then mixed. what i ended up doing was trn a cold process soap into a hot process soap, which actually was a good thing because i could use it. i did let it cure properly, but being able to try it out and see that it was soap was wonderful....besides, i wasn't going to let all that nice olive oil go to waste.

 

[Quilty]

So maybe try HP? Hmmm ... I may not have a choice. This is an awful lot of oil!

Never done HP before, but I am willing to try anything at this point. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[carebear]

you can save it, but all 3 molds-worth must be recombined and then rebatched together.

want to share your measurements for the ole SMF double-check?

 

[Quilty]

you can save it, but all 3 molds-worth must be recombined and then rebatched together.

want to share your measurements for the ole SMF double-check?

Oh boy ... I don't have a double boiler set up that will accommodate this! Is there any way to rebatch without a double boiler?

Olive Oil 42 oz
Coconut Oil 21 oz
Lye 9.75 oz
Liquid 24 oz

 

[carebear]

crockpot?

You can mash the WHOLE thing up in any (non aluminum) bowl or pan and then scoop out some of it once it's well mixed.

BUT - unless my eyes deceive me, your batch is lye heavy. for 42 oz of olive oil and 21 oz of coconut you need no more than 9.5 oz of lye and that's with a ZERO superfat.

So when you rebatch you need to add 4 more ounces of coconut oil. evenly distributed if you split your batch.

 

[Quilty]

I have a stick blender ... that's not a problem. So are you suggesting that I put all this back in my stock pot and mix it? Can I just cook it in that, or do I really need a double boiler? I have a crock pot I can use but it's not big enough to handle the whole batch.

In future should I cut back on the olive oil? I am pretty sure I've used this recipe before and never had this problem. It was well traced before I molded it ... I think the first poster was right and I over mixed it, causing it to separate.

 

[carebear]

you can cook it in the stockpot if you are VERY careful not to scorch it. I dunno - I've not done that.

actually I hate rebatching anyway.

but see my note above about adding more oil.

 

[Quilty]

OK I recombined the batch ... and I'll put in an additional 4 oz coconut oil to accommodate the lye.

It's gonna be an interesting scent if it survives the rebatch - vanilla grapefruit. LOL

Thanks for the help!