first batch (what went wrong with me?)

[jonijoni]

hi there...

i've just finished my first batch last saturday. it's oatmeal and honey soap if you wonder. everything seemed to be so easy at the beginning but gone worse during the process.

below you can see the finished result, any comments and questions are highly appreciated.

i made that batch by viewing youtube tutorial, then experimented with soapcalc.

one by one, i'm going to explain how i did it.
go on, ask me anything about the pictures.

thanks in advance!

PS:
honestly, there are hundred of questions now inside my head but i can't just throw them right away here.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I'll go first!

What was your recipe, including lye amount?

What was the general process that you followed?

Can you post bigger pictures?

 

[dixiedragon]

Did you use beeswax? I am wondering if the beeswax hardened and didn't mix fully, and those golden spots are beeswax?

 

[Susie]

How long did you stick blend it before it came to trace?

 

[kikajess]

It kind of looks like a partial gel in the middle. But other than that, the pictures are too small to see any real detail.

What is it about the soap that makes you think something went wrong? What do YOU think went wrong?

 

[seven]

all of the above.

it seems fine from here, a perfectly usable soap.

 

[jonijoni]

Whoa... quite busy this recent weeks, and my thread is on page#4 already!

Sorry for my very very late reply guys..
OK then, this is how it looks in bigger size:

and the recipe in %:
22% evoo
24% coconut oil
54% palm oil
4 tblspoon honey (i don't know what kind of honey. it's written "bee":lolno
1 tblspoon quick/instant oatmeal
2 teaspoon apple essential oil
30% lye water


CASE #1:
i divided into 2 batch, for oatmeal and honey of course.
oatmeal first. it was getting thickened (hope that's correct word) VERY FAST. i added oatmeal when my trace was about to come. i've felt "oh no, this is not good" when i stick blended the oatmeal mixture, as it's too thick. then i left it aside to deal with my honey batch. just in one-two minutes, the oatmeal batch has already became HARD (not liquid anymore). i hope you can picture what i mean with HARD.

there's nothing i can do with it..

there is a post about the similiar case:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=45151&page=2

i'll be back with case #2

 

[AustinStraight]

Too much palm, perhaps? Could also be the fragrance oil.

 

[jonijoni]

i believe that i follow soapcalc measurement. it mentions certain "range" as guidance. as a newbie, i think better follow it first. and i'm pretty sure if you put my percentages on you'll be at its "golden range".

i have read some other recipe (with different oils), but if i load the amount of ingredient into soapcalc then the final result may not within the "golden range". what do you think about this? does this mean that soapcalc isn't credible enough to be used? or the recipe maker somehow is too genius than einstein?

i personally don't think the amount of palm oil is the culprit here. why? it's simply because i get the perfect trace with the honey batch. OK, a lil' bit heavy honestly, but now i know that medium trace will do better for me.
about the fragrance oil, i don't really know what kind of fragrance oil i used. i bought it from local chemical store and i just couldn't believe the seller eplanations because he didn't look convincing to me at all. you know it's hard to find local fragrance and essential oil here.
sometimes it makes me jealous when i read recipe with shea butter, 10 times orange essential oil, and bla bla bla... "yea yea you can find anything in US".

oh yeah, is there any thread here that explain problems that might be found during and after CP process? with proper picture hopefully.
some kinds like "what is gel phase, soda ash, cracking, etc".

 

[dixiedragon]

You can Google those and get pictures.

If you had showed me this picture without the explanation, I would guess that you had seperated the soap batter into two bowls, then mixed honey, colorant or a discoloring fragrance oil into one bowl and poured that first.

How big was the batch?

Was your fragrance just "apple" or was it something like "apple pie" or "apple cinnamon"? Fragrance oils with vanilla, cinnamon or clove notes tend to discolor.

I actually think your soap is really pretty!

 

[dixiedragon]

Regarding Soap Calc. It is credible, but also doesn't mean that soapmakers whose recipes don't fall in that "range" are wrong either. There are a lot of variables.

One major variable is that if you make an olive oil soap, it will score low on hardness in Soap Calc. But given a few months, olive oil soap will become rock hard.

Another number on soap calc is cleansing. A soap that scores low on cleansing is not going to make you dirtier! But if your hands are greasy, a bar with a high cleansing number is more helpful.

 

[cmzaha]

You soap really does look very nice. When splitting off batter it is very hard to mix in the batter if one batch has accelerated (thickened) and one is a much lighter trace. You honey side would have heated up more due to the honey, honey is a heater upper, which would have kept it more liquid.

 

[jonijoni]

what???
pretty???
thx God... i'll rub your back with it :razz:

the batch is just 1kg. the fragrance i added ONLY on the oatmeal mixture.
the white part is oatmeal part. i made this first.
then i moved to my second part (honey), and by the time i finished and about to pour them into the mold, i shocked because my oatmeal has accelerated very very fast (almost like 80% hard). only 1 minute or so! imagine that speed.

what did i do then?

i chunked the oatmeal from my bowl, place it in the mold (with cursing of course) and let the honey filled the hollow space.
i didn't cover it with plastic wrap or towel. i don't really know what is the effect of doing that.
then, about half an hour i could see (and touch) that my top surface was turning from "cloudy/milky" to "clear", and it felt soft too like rubber. i wonder is this the gel phase? you can see in my picture. the darker colour in the middle is what i mean with "clear".

the fragrance... i only know it's apple aroma. nothing more. the seller himself didn't exactly know about fragrance or essential oil. he said that he has the "water" (i assumed maybe this is waterbase) and "oil". without thinking any longer i bought the "oil". so the culprits are the fragrance and the seller then...

may i ask, how do you keep your soap after cutting while waiting 4 weeks curing time? if you just air dry it, wouldn't the aroma (fragrance or essence) be gone??

 

[judymoody]

First of all, I think your soap is really cool looking.

Second, your fragrance may not be suitable for use in CP soap. There is no such thing as apple essential oil, btw; it's a synthetic fragrance. If it is made with alcohol, that could contribute to the seize you experienced. Or it might be a fragrance oil that accelerates the saponification process. Either way, looks like you saved it.

 

[navigator9]

May I make a suggestion? When you are first learning how to make soap, there are so many things to remember and deal with, measuring everything, mixing the scary lye solution, bringing everything to trace. It's a lot! Do yourself a big favor, and make plain soap at first. No additives, no fragrance, no color, layers, swirls......plain soap. Believe me, "plain" handmade soap is amazing. And it will give you a chance to understand the basics first. Try just three ingredients, the "holy trinity" of soap making......olive, coconut and palm. Make this plain batch until you can do it successfully. THEN, try adding one thing at a time, either fragrance, or color or additives like oatmeal. Work with one difference at a time until you are able to do that one successfully.

We were all beginners once, wanting to try every technique and ingredient possible. But if you practice the basics first, until you are comfortable with them, all the rest will come easier. I promise.

 

[AustinStraight]

If you only added fragrance to the oatmeal part of the soap, and not the honey part, it is definitely the fragrance. I've used oatmeal in soap a few times and it never accelerated trace or did anything like that. I agree that you should make plain soap for your first batches. It's nice to make HP first, too, just to get used to handling lye. You can't really screw things up too badly in HP, either.

 

[Momonga]

there's nothing i can do with it..

Whaaaaat? Take it into the bathtub and lather up is what I would do with it!!! (six weeks later, of course). You can even put a bow on it and give it to your Mom next weekend - it's Mother's Day! It's a really lovely soap. Congratulations for pulling it off on your first try.

:clap::clap::clap:

 

[Susie]

May I make a suggestion? When you are first learning how to make soap, there are so many things to remember and deal with, measuring everything, mixing the scary lye solution, bringing everything to trace. It's a lot! Do yourself a big favor, and make plain soap at first. No additives, no fragrance, no color, layers, swirls......plain soap. Believe me, "plain" handmade soap is amazing. And it will give you a chance to understand the basics first. Try just three ingredients, the "holy trinity" of soap making......olive, coconut and palm. Make this plain batch until you can do it successfully. THEN, try adding one thing at a time, either fragrance, or color or additives like oatmeal. Work with one difference at a time until you are able to do that one successfully.

We were all beginners once, wanting to try every technique and ingredient possible. But if you practice the basics first, until you are comfortable with them, all the rest will come easier. I promise.

^This, exactly this.

You can even substitute lard or tallow for the palm if you are having trouble finding a local source. If you don't like plain soap, then you can learn re-batching when you can THEN add essential or fragrance oils. You must be sure that the fragrance and/or essential oil is skin safe. Some are intended for use in room fragrances and are NOT skin safe. If you are having trouble finding some locally, then order off the internet.

Cure time for CP soap varies, but it is much better soap after 6-8 weeks. I would strongly suggest you use 6 weeks as a minimum. Hot processing does not speed cure time, it just forces gel so you don't have to worry about partial gel.

 

[shunt2011]

I think your soap turned out fine. Just give it a cure and then give it a try. Cure it at least 4 weeks which is most soapers minimum. Longer is good too. I agree with just trying a basic recipe for a few times until you've got it down then move on to fragrances. Just make sure they fragrances are skin safe. If there is any doubt I woudn't use it. Good Luck on what is sure to become many batches. You'll get the feel of the whole process in no time.