first CP soap and not sure if it turned out alright - HELP??

[tincanac]

I thought I followed all the instructions correctly:

Here is the recipe I used:

170g Olive Oil
142g Coconut Oil
71g Canola Oil
71g Castor Oil
65g Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide)
170g Spring Water
15ml Fragrance Oil
2 pinches of ground honeybush tea

I let they lye-water cool to about 100 degrees Farenheit
and the oils to about the same

I added the lye to the oils - it seemed to cloud instantly.

Then I blended with a electric cake mixer - it seemed to take a long time - and still wouldnt fully get to the "trace" stage - it was thick like thin custard but not leaving soap trails behind

I sort of left it for a while and then when I came back to it, it seemed to have thickened and sort of became gloppy like.

I poured into the mould, insulated and let it sit for awhile (I did open up the lid and have a look every now and again and also took pics!)

The soap did heat up after a while.

In the morning, I checked again and it seemed to have teeny clear droplets on the top here and there.

By the afternoon, the droplets had disappeared.

When I released it from the mould, it came out quite easily, but it does seem slightly greasy and soft - is this normal - it kind of feels like soft cheese, like a soft feta cheese..... maybe just a tad bit softer than that, and not as crumbly. More like margarine that's been in the Fridge. There were no oil or water pockets, and the whole thing seemed like it held together, but it does seem rather soft (I'm a MP crafter so I kind of feel like it should be harder).

Is this normal?

Thanks

 

[mamaT]

sounds like you have soap, now comes the waiting for the water to dry out of it.

 

[tincanac]

sounds like you have soap, now comes the waiting for the water to dry out of it.

Yeay - I wish it would hurry up and get there already!

 

[Dixie]

Patients my dear....which many soapers lack

 

[booboo]

congrats on your first batch of cp. i am no expert,it seems your water is a bit high. i suggest you get a stick blender, you will notice the difference straight away. I did and i will never look back, it will trace much qiucker for you.
most importantly i would do a tongue test, being so soft it may just take a longer time to harden up and may need to sit in the mold a little longer.

 

[Guest]

I know my canola oil batch never hardened up good but I did a recipe free of coconut

 

[ChrissyB]

You've got a lot of water, and a lot of olive oil. Both of these factors will contribute to an initially soft soap. Let it cure, it will harden up. I know it's hard to be patient.
Did you use a lye calc or just follow a recipe?
Next time, can I recommend you use a lye calc and up your lye solution percentage. It will trace quicker, and harden up faster.

 

[tincanac]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and the advice -

This mornings report is:

- It definitely seems a bit harder harder today and less oily,the scent is holding quite strong. The colour also seems to have changed from a brownish red to a reddish brown (if that makes sense - it's more red than brown).

How do use a lye calculator? I tried running everything through one but I didnt know how to read it? Is there one in Metric units?

Also I measured everything on a standard digital veggie scale (like the one they have in supermarkets that they weigh your deli food on). I tared the containers and just measured by weight. I feel like the different densities should be accounted/compensated for
- for instance - wouldnt the measurement of Olive Oil be different to measuring lye since they have different densities - or is it okay?

I followed a recipe. But if anyone is willing to share a tried and tested foolproof recipe - I would be much obliged.

Here are the oils I have to work with

(LOTS OF) Sunflower Oil;
(LOTS OF) Canola Oil;
(LOTS OF) Vegetable Shortening (Holsum Palm Oil Shortening);
Olive Oil (Readily available but quite expensive right now);
Coconut Oil (More expensive than Olive Oil);
Castor Oil (about the same as Coconut Oil)
Grapeseed Oil (LOTS OF IT - but I hear that you have to stabilize this as it goes rancid pretty quick)

I also have Coconut Milk, and Goats Milk Powder, and evaporated Cow's Milk.

If anyone wants to share - I am a nelwy converted CP soap maker. I cant believe that I have waited this long to make the jump from MP to CP!

I bought a stick blender yesterday.

Thanks everyone for being so helpful.

 

[Guest]

Congratulations on your first batch of soap.



Kitn

 

[cleanwater]

- It definitely seems a bit harder harder today and less oily,the scent is holding quite strong. The colour also seems to have changed from a brownish red to a reddish brown (if that makes sense - it's more red than brown).

How do use a lye calculator? I tried running everything through one but I didnt know how to read it? Is there one in Metric units?

Also I measured everything on a standard digital veggie scale (like the one they have in supermarkets that they weigh your deli food on). I tared the containers and just measured by weight. I feel like the different densities should be accounted/compensated for
- for instance - wouldnt the measurement of Olive Oil be different to measuring lye since they have different densities - or is it okay?

OK, I can't answer it all, but here goes:
The color change is normal. A lot of colors are pH dependent, so as the lye is consumed and the pH neutralizes, the color may change. Not true with all colorants, but not at all unusual.

Lye calculators take some experimentation to learn. Plug your recipe in and see what it looks like, then just start changing things. Don't forget to hit the "Calculate" button like I have SoapCalc is a good one that will calc in grams:
http://www.soapcalc.net

Weight is the way to go. Density is already accounted for in the saponification factors. And as long as your scale measures down to 1 gram increments it should be fine.

Hope this helps And congrats on your soap!

 

[tincanac]

Thanks guys! You're all very cool!