First time it didn't gel, questions

[Zing]

Soap people, I'm having a new experience and could use your wisdom. On Saturday I made soap using my long-time tried and true recipe including sodium lactate. Here's the ONLY thing that was different than other times: I soaped at room temperature (my normal is 100+ degrees F) and my soap did not gel for the first time ever. After 48 hours, like my normal routine, I unmolded it and it popped out just fine -- but it's too squishy to cut even now after 72 hours (from creation). So a couple of questions:
- does soaping at cooler temperatures prevent gelling?
- is gelling related to soap getting harder quicker?
- can you reassure me that I can cut soon and make the deadline for the February challenge?!
Thank you!

 

[dibbles]

If I am soaping with cool temps, which is almost always, I put my mold on a heating pad and insulate it to get it to gel. Especially here in the winter. I think it will be firm enough for you to cut in a few days, especially since it came out of the mold easily.

 

[DeeAnna]

You can warm your soap after it's saponified to help it along ... or just wait and let the soap do its thing at room temp. I do both, but I have to say I like the results of heating the soap if it doesn't gel during saponification -- the soap is more translucent and definitely firmer.

My usual way of doing this is to preheat the oven to 150-170F. Put the soap -- it can be cut bars or a whole loaf -- on a cookie sheet that's been covered with something heat resistant like parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. You don't want the soap directly on metal.

Put the soap in the preheated oven and let it warm for, oh, about 1 hour. Check it at that time to see if it appears more like your usual gelled soap. If not, let it go for another 1/2 hour. In my experience, I haven't seen a need to go longer than that -- every time the soap has turned out fine after warming for 1 to 1 1/2 hours total.

If you don't need the oven for other things, turn off the heat and leave the soap in the oven while it cools. If you do need the oven, just take the soap out and let it cool down on its own. I don't handle the soap while it's warm from the oven -- it can become slightly softened, but I've never had it truly melt. Fancy peaked tops and cut bars aren't affected in my experience.

Soapish, a SMF member, heats soap at a higher temp and gets nice results, but it's really important to not walk away from the oven with her method. It does a better job of removing the bullseye ring of a partial gel than my lower temp version. But you can melt the soap if you forget and let it heat too long. She has a Youtube video about her method -- well worth watching. Search on her name in Youtube.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I’ve had trouble getting soaps to gel when I start with the batter in the low 80s, but I rarely go below 105 F now unless I’m trying to do a complicated swirl. If you don’t have a heating pad, you can put the soap in a pre-warmed oven to help it along. Just be sure to shut the oven off when you put the soap in. 140 F works well as the starting oven temperature for my lard-rich soaps that don’t have any sugar or problematic fragrances added.

 

[Zing]

Thanks everybody for all of this, I appreciate it, at least for future batches. We won't have an oven during our renovation and I'll see if I can find the moving box that has the heating pad, LOL. Can't wait to be settled!

 

[Zing]

@dibbles @DeeAnna @Mobjack Bay and other experts,
I will sound like a total noob but here goes: I made this problematic soap 14 days ago. I just unpacked a moving box and found the heating pad! Is it too late now to put the cut bars on the heating pad? These are the slooowest bars to firm up. I care less about the color (I like gelling for the bright colors) and more about the firmness. Thanks!

 

[moodymama]

@dibbles @DeeAnna @Mobjack Bay and other experts,
I will sound like a total noob but here goes: I made this problematic soap 14 days ago. I just unpacked a moving box and found the heating pad! Is it too late now to put the cut bars on the heating pad? These are the slooowest bars to firm up. I care less about the color (I like gelling for the bright colors) and more about the firmness. Thanks!

I don't think the heating pad will get it hot enough. You'd need to do it in an oven. Just be aware if you do it in the oven you need to watch it good and make sure it doesn't get too hot. When I tried it with a batch that didn't gel the bars warped, oven was @ 120°f. Now I wish I would have just let them sit instead.

 

[dibbles]

@dibbles @DeeAnna @Mobjack Bay and other experts,
I will sound like a total noob but here goes: I made this problematic soap 14 days ago. I just unpacked a moving box and found the heating pad! Is it too late now to put the cut bars on the heating pad? These are the slooowest bars to firm up. I care less about the color (I like gelling for the bright colors) and more about the firmness. Thanks!

Here is a link to DeeAnna's article https://classicbells.com/soap/rescueOP.asp which contains a link to a video by Soapish on her process.

I've never done this, but I think it would work better than using the heating pad, but you certainly could try that. If you do try either method, let us know how it worked. Good luck!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@dibbles @DeeAnna @Mobjack Bay and other experts,
I will sound like a total noob but here goes: I made this problematic soap 14 days ago. I just unpacked a moving box and found the heating pad! Is it too late now to put the cut bars on the heating pad? These are the slooowest bars to firm up. I care less about the color (I like gelling for the bright colors) and more about the firmness. Thanks!

I’ve fixed partially gelled single bars and a small loaf that hadn’t hardened properly with the oven heating method. I‘ve had the best luck using the high end of the temperature range recommended by DeeAnna (160-170F). When I tried the hotter soapish method, the bottom of the individual bars started to melt and the soaps started to deform before the ring disappeared. I also doubt that the heating pad will get hot enough to force gel, but it might help a bit.

 

[TheGecko]

Thanks everybody for all of this, I appreciate it, at least for future batches. We won't have an oven during our renovation and I'll see if I can find the moving box that has the heating pad, LOL. Can't wait to be settled!

Maybe a toaster oven and do a few bars at a time?

 

[Zing]

This is all super helpful and I loved the video. Because our kitchen is under construction, and we're making do with a hotpot and coffee maker, I think I will try the heating pad. I'll keep you posted.