First soap attempt!

[DeeAnna]

"...When you combined the lye solution with the oils, did you just stir a bit with a spoon or did you bring it to trace with a stickblender (immersion blender)? Typically we stir/stickblend the oil and lye solution together to get an emulsion and then a little further to a state that we call "trace"...."

I agree with your explanation, Amd, but this technique of stick blending to trace will have to wait until the OP gets his NaOH. With a carbonate lye solution, you can't use a cold process method at all -- it just won't work because there's not enough heat nor time. You can't even do a typical hot process method.

 

[amd]

"...When you combined the lye solution with the oils, did you just stir a bit with a spoon or did you bring it to trace with a stickblender (immersion blender)? Typically we stir/stickblend the oil and lye solution together to get an emulsion and then a little further to a state that we call "trace"...."

I agree with your explanation, Amd, but this technique of stick blending to trace will have to wait until the OP gets his NaOH. With a carbonate lye solution, you can't use a cold process method at all -- it just won't work because there's not enough heat nor time. You can't even do a typical hot process method.

Yes, I agree, it does have to wait until OP gets NaOH. I didn't mean to sound like the mixing was his sole problem, there really was a lot going on his batch. I should have clarified, that if he didn't mix it properly for the first batch, he may likely have problems with the second batch. My concern really is that the OP did not have a good understanding of the soapmaking process to understand about getting the oils and lye solution into a good state before cooking. Sorry if I gave the impression that he should switch to CP using his current method, in fact the only time in my post I mention CP was in regards to hand stirring (instead of stickblender) and how long it might take to reach trace, when I said this: "I'm not sure if the additional heat from the crockpot would speed that up, so I am speaking from cold process method (no crockpot) - I've not tried using a spoon for either method."

[insert some self doubt here:] This is where my understanding of HP gets fuzzy - I've only done it twice for 'regular' soap and that was two or three years ago, since then I have only used the crockpot for shave soap, liquid soap (which honestly I'm still not sure what I'm doing, but that's a different subject), and rebatching. My memory of my HP attempts were that I did bring it to trace before cooking. Is that correct for HP? Or a better question is: In HP, does batter need to be brought to trace (stickblender) or is a simple stirring in lye solution (hand stirring) enough? I've read Kevin Dunn's experiments with not bringing CP to emulsion or trace, so I know that there would still be some saponification, but not all of it would saponify. Would the same result happen with HP, or would the heat + movement result in a mixed batter without bringing it to trace?

 

[dixiedragon]

I recommend this kit:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Natural-Soap-Kit-for-Beginners-P6607.aspx

Ships free!

Basic Tools & Ingredients
10" Silicone Loaf Mold (flexible and reusable) Goggles (reusable)
2 lbs. Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) Gloves (disposable)
33 oz. Lots of Lather Quick Mix (pre-blended oils) Bramble Berry's Perfect Scale (reusable)
1 oz. Sodium Lactate (soap hardener) Rubbing Alcohol in Spray Bottle (soap finisher)

You just need to provide distilled water, a stick blender, bowls, a thermometer, and stirring utensils. Learn more in the Soapy Session and Preparation and Setup Guide.

Lavender Kit also includes:

1.75 oz. Lavender 40/42 essential oil (scent)
0.2 oz. Ultramarine Violet Oxide (colorant)
0.2 oz. Lavender Buds (soap topper)

Orange Kit also includes:

1.75 oz. Orange 10X Essential Oil (scent)
0.2 oz. Orange Peel Powder (colorant and exfoliant)
0.2 oz. Marigold Petals (soap topper)

Lemongrass Kit also includes:

1.75 oz. Lemongrass Essential Oil (scent)
0.2 oz. Chrome Green Oxide (colorant)
0.2 oz. Poppy Seeds (soap topper and exfoliant)

 

[DeeAnna]

"...In HP, does batter need to be brought to trace (stickblender) or is a simple stirring in lye solution (hand stirring) enough?..."

Whether you're using HP or CP, the batter needs to be mixed somehow until it becomes a chemically stable emulsion. A chemically stable emulsion means the soap batter will stay mixed on its own.

If the soap is not emulsified when you stop mixing, the batter will just separate into a fat layer and lye layer and won't do much more, no matter how long you cook it (HP) or let it sit in the mold (CP). When you reach a stable emulsion with CP, you put the soap in a mold and then let it saponify. When you reach that point with HP, you then allow the soap to saponify (the cook period) and then put it in the mold.

"Trace" is simply a clear visual sign that tells you the soap is at a stable emulsion. Soap batter gets to a reasonably stable emulsion, however, before it shows visible signs of trace. If you know what to look for before trace is visible, you can stop mixing at that point if you like. For new soapers without a teacher hovering nearby to help, it's probably a safer move to mix the batter to visible trace, at least for the first few batches.

It doesn't matter whether you use a stick blender or a spoon to mix the batter really. The point is to mix until the batter gets to a stable emulsion. A SB'er certainly shortens the time to get to this point, but soap has been made for centuries without SB'ers and other high-shear mixers, so a SB'er isn't absolutely necessary.

I hope I helped answer your question!

 

[amd]

I hope I helped answer your question!

Yes indeed! Pretty much what I "knew I knew", but let a few moments of self doubt creep in just because I don't use HP for "regular" soaps.

 

[James Handley]

James, if you have an Ace Hardware store near you, they carry the bottles of lye over in the plumbing department. I am not certain where in Oklahoma you are located, so I don't know what all is near you, but check out your local hardware stores. There are also several online soap suppliers that have very reasonable prices and will ship to you.

As for water, be sure and use distilled water. There are so many impurities in the water supply sources in Oklahoma (depending on what lake or river it is coming from) that using straight tap water can mess with the process of your soap. Take it from this ex-Okie whose MIL always tried to use straight tap water and then couldn't figure out why it didn't work right.

Good luck on your next batch.

I think the ingredient questions have been accurately addressed - clean the bacon grease or use lard, amount of coconut oil, and using the correct lye. However, I didn't see in your posts about your combining lye solution to oils process - if I missed it, I apologize!

When you combined the lye solution with the oils, did you just stir a bit with a spoon or did you bring it to trace with a stickblender (immersion blender)? Typically we stir/stickblend the oil and lye solution together to get an emulsion and then a little further to a state that we call "trace". This "trace" is when drippings from your stir method will rest on top of the surface of your batter rather than fall back into the batter unnoticeably. With a stickblender, this may take a few minutes of short burst blending and hand stirring with the blender between bursts (depending on your recipe, the power of your blender, etc. some of my recipes will go to trace in 2 minutes, some take 4 minutes - but that is personal to my recipes and equipment). If you are only hand stirring with a spoon, it will take longer, possibly 20 minutes to an hour of continuous hand stirring. I'm not sure if the additional heat from the crockpot would speed that up, so I am speaking from cold process method (no crockpot) - I've not tried using a spoon for either method.

Thank you for the reply. I did not use a stick blender but transferred from crock pot to blender for 1 minut or so. Then back to crock pot and stirred with rubber spatula for a long while. I think I need to invest in the stick blender.