First soap batch ever

[Toni Henderson]

Hi everyone! I’m new to soap making and whisked up my very first batch yesterday. I used 16 ounces of olive oil, 4 ounces of distilled water, 2 ounces of Lye, 1 tsp of sodium lactate and added some colorant. I didn’t measure that I just added it in until I got my desired color. Anyway, all of that made a one pound loaf. It sat covered overnight in its mold for 12 hours and it was solid when I woke up for the day. When I cut it (with a kitchen knife), what should’ve been single bars of soap, broke apart into pieces. What did I do wrong? Or not do?

 

[Kamahido]

Well the math is certainly sound. When you say ounces do you mean by volume or weight?

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Toni!

Your recipe amounts of everything look great- nothing wrong with the recipe. How hard was your soap when you cut it? Was it super hard like cutting into frozen butter, or was it more like refrigerated cream cheese (i.e. solid but soft/crumbly upon slicing). If it was super hard and broke into hard shards, I would say that you may have a lye-heavy soap on your hands due to a possible weighing discrepancy (your scale may be off). A quick zap test will confirm or deny that. If it was more of a soft/crumbly type of breakage, it's a good sign that your soap did not go through the gel stage and just needed another day before unmolding/cutting.


IrishLass

Edited to add- Kamahido brings up a good point...... did you weigh you ingredients or use volume measurements. If the latter was the case (volume), that's the most likely culprit for sure. Soap ingredients need to be weighed.

 

[Toni Henderson]

I don't have a scale so I measured by volume and the bar was like cutting into refrigerated cream cheese. I've since made another batch and used less fragrance oil thinking maybe that was the problem. But I will definitely wait an extra 24 hours before cutting this one.

 

[Sherry]

Hello Toni, I am new at soap making and one of the most important rules is to measure by using a scale. I think that would be the issue. The measurements need to be accurate. Chin up! get yourself a digital scale and it will make a difference! Happy Soaping!

 

[IrishLass]

Hello Toni, I am new at soap making and one of the most important rules is to measure by using a scale. I think that would be the issue. The measurements need to be accurate. Chin up! get yourself a digital scale and it will make a difference! Happy Soaping!

Ditto 100% what Sherry said above. A digital scale is a must for soap-making, because the amount of lye required to saponify ones oils into soap is based on the weight amount of whatever oils in ones recipe in relation to the specific saponification number of the oils (each oil has their own unique SAP #). While you might be able to get away with measuring water by volume (water is roughly 8 oz. give or take a dew decimal points, whether by weight on a scale or by volume amount poured into US liquid measuring cup), that's not the case for oils and/or lye because of their differing densities as compared to water........

For example, 16 oz. of olive oil by volume weighs less than 16 oz. on a scale (actually something more like 15 oz. by weight). In comparison, 16 volume oz. of coconut oil weighs even less than olive oil (about 14 oz. by weight), because of their differing densities. Since the lye required for a soap recipe is always based on a specific weight of an oil and it's unique SAP #, if you make a recipe that you see online that calls for 16 ounces of olive oil (which 99.9 times out of 100 will be most certainly be based on weight) and you measure it by volume in a cup instead of weigh it on a scale, you may not be adding enough lye to fully saponify it and will end up with a softer, more greasy-feeling soap than you expected.

To compound things, you then have the problem of volume measuring devices not being standardized (at least not here in the US anyway). I have 4 different sets of measuring cups that I bought from normal grocery stores or cooking supply companies, and they each measure differently from each other. For example, a half cup water in measuring cup set A measures out to 2/3 cup or even 3/4 cup in measuring cup set B. It's crazy! I've found that my most accurate liquid measuring cups are those made by Pampered Chef (when comparing volume and weight of water). And my most accurate dry measuring cups are my 35-year old Tupperware measuring cups (when comparing volume against known gram weights of either flour or sugar).

Thankfully, digital scales are not expensive these days. You can normally buy a good one for under $20.00.


IrishLass