I just made my first batch of soap and I'm pretty sure I royally ****ed it up. I am going to give a detailed description of what I did, and hopefully someone can tell me what I did wrong, and if there's any way to rectify the situation.
I used a basic recipe that I found on the internet: 7.5 oz. olive oil, 7.5 oz. canola oil, 5 oz. distilled water, and 2 oz. lye. I bought a digital scale for like 15 bucks on Amazon. Even though it goes to two decimal places, it's not precise enough to measure in hundredths of an ounce. So when I measured the oils, it would jump from 7.48 oz. to 7.54 oz. (or something similar, I don't remember exactly). I ended up measuring 7.54 oz. on each of the oils, 1.98 oz. on the lye (I think), and I think the water was between 5 and 5.05 oz. I figured that it was better to have too much oil and too little lye instead of the other way around.
I underestimated oil's ability to heat up quickly. I heated it on my stove on medium heat until it got to over 280 degrees fahrenheit. I used a cheap infrared thermometer to measure it. The lye and water solution heated to about 180 degrees. I waited for the oil to cool down, and by the time I mixed the lye-water and the oil, I think the oil was like 140 degrees, and the lye-water was 115 degrees. I then used an electric mixer to reach what I think was trace.
I used a 4-inch abs pipe with a cap as a mold. I sprayed the inside with vegetable oil cooking spray and then poured the "soap" into it. I covered it with plastic wrap and then wrapped it in a blanket and let it sit outside for 2 days.
It is now 2 days later. I thought the soap was supposed to be solid enough to cut with a knife. The soap resembled cake frosting. Not only that, it wouldn't come out of the mold easily so I ended up scooping it out with my bare hands. I made sure to keep vinegar close by just in case I really screwed this thing up even worse than I thought. At first, it felt okay, but then when I got to the bottom of the mold, it was somewhat irritating. It wasn't a really bad burn, just irritating. The vinegar took care of it, no problem. Of course, now my hands smell like vinegar, but that's beside the point. Instead of bars, I ended up making misshapen lumps of soap. Also, it was a pain to wash the soap off my hands. I currently have the lumps of soap sitting on a film of plastic wrap inside a cardboard box. The box has been wrapped with blankets.
Sorry for the long-winded spiel, I was just trying to be as detailed as possible.
I used a basic recipe that I found on the internet: 7.5 oz. olive oil, 7.5 oz. canola oil, 5 oz. distilled water, and 2 oz. lye. I bought a digital scale for like 15 bucks on Amazon. Even though it goes to two decimal places, it's not precise enough to measure in hundredths of an ounce. So when I measured the oils, it would jump from 7.48 oz. to 7.54 oz. (or something similar, I don't remember exactly). I ended up measuring 7.54 oz. on each of the oils, 1.98 oz. on the lye (I think), and I think the water was between 5 and 5.05 oz. I figured that it was better to have too much oil and too little lye instead of the other way around.
I underestimated oil's ability to heat up quickly. I heated it on my stove on medium heat until it got to over 280 degrees fahrenheit. I used a cheap infrared thermometer to measure it. The lye and water solution heated to about 180 degrees. I waited for the oil to cool down, and by the time I mixed the lye-water and the oil, I think the oil was like 140 degrees, and the lye-water was 115 degrees. I then used an electric mixer to reach what I think was trace.
I used a 4-inch abs pipe with a cap as a mold. I sprayed the inside with vegetable oil cooking spray and then poured the "soap" into it. I covered it with plastic wrap and then wrapped it in a blanket and let it sit outside for 2 days.
It is now 2 days later. I thought the soap was supposed to be solid enough to cut with a knife. The soap resembled cake frosting. Not only that, it wouldn't come out of the mold easily so I ended up scooping it out with my bare hands. I made sure to keep vinegar close by just in case I really screwed this thing up even worse than I thought. At first, it felt okay, but then when I got to the bottom of the mold, it was somewhat irritating. It wasn't a really bad burn, just irritating. The vinegar took care of it, no problem. Of course, now my hands smell like vinegar, but that's beside the point. Instead of bars, I ended up making misshapen lumps of soap. Also, it was a pain to wash the soap off my hands. I currently have the lumps of soap sitting on a film of plastic wrap inside a cardboard box. The box has been wrapped with blankets.
Sorry for the long-winded spiel, I was just trying to be as detailed as possible.
You can also rebatch to help straighten pout a mess.
