HELP! first time to make soap. i dont know if its right.

[soap_ph]

good day guys! its my first time here and my first time to make a soap. the problem is i dont know if i have done it correctly. i followed the instruction carefully but after a day of leaving it in the mold its still not hard so i waited 4 more days before cutting it, but still its soft. but i cut it anyway. then my next problem is when i touched the soap my fingers dried up. i dont know... is it because its not cured yet? its has only been days. and ants are eating it.
i've used olive oil, coconut oil, lye, water, calamansi juice, aloe vera and green tea essential oil. please help. and thank you in advance!

 

[galaxyMLP]

We need your amounts of ingredients in order to help you troubleshoot. Did you use a lye calculator? Sounds like it may be lye heavy if your finger "dried up" from touching it.

After that many days, soap should not zap. Try zap testing. Take a little peice of soap, wet it, build a bit of lather and touch the lather (on your finger) to your tongue. If it "zaps" you similar to a 9 v battery then you have excess lye. If it doesn't zap you, put your tongue on the actual soap and see if it "zaps" you then.

 

[shunt2011]

Please post your recipe and procedure and we can help you troubleshoot.

 

[Seawolfe]

If you used a lot of calamansi juice, that might explain the softness of the soap - citrus de-activates the lye basically - see this video: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFOdi989-aU[/ame]

What recipe did you use and where did you get it? I would recommend starting out with a much simpler recipe, soap has a very definite learning curve and there are no shortcuts.

 

[dixiedragon]

I'm scratching my head over the ants.

I googled calamansi - looks like it's a citrus fruit, very similar to a lemon? If you used a lot, then yes, it gobbled up your lye.

 

[dixiedragon]

You have a lot of stuff going on for your first recipe! While I don't particularly advocate no scent, no color for your first batch like many here do, I do strongly advocate using water only as your liquid in your first soaps. What ingredients do you have access to in the grocery store? Any lard, tallow or palm?

 

[soap_ph]

thank you all for your replies
heres my recipe
coconut oil - 7.2oz
olive oil - 8.8 oz
lye - 2.28 oz
water - 6.8 oz
calamansi juice - 1.25 oz
aloe vera extract - 1.40 oz
green tea essential oil - 0.5 oz

 

[soap_ph]

i've got excited in making the soap thats why i have used a lot of ingredients. i have been watching a lot of tutorials and i thought i can just put anything in it... but it turned out to be just waste of time and money
but atleast now i have learned my lesson to keep it simple first and basically learn from it one step at a time.

 

[shunt2011]

I think the problem is you added more liquid than required. You added and extra 2.65 oz not including the EO. Otherwise it should have been a relatively solid soap. I would recommend lowering your CO to no more than 25% as at 45 it will likely be drying for a lot of people. Also, if you have lard/tallow/palm I would add that and a bit of castor (5%). I too recommend using straight up water until you get the hang of it.

 

[cmzaha]

I am guessing Aloe Juice was used not extract. The extract is infused in oil
Active lye will make your hands especially your fingers feel slick when you initially was your hands. It is after your hands have dried that they will be like sand paper from the lye. The slick feel is a good indicator of active lye. Handle soap with active daily and it will destroy the treads on your finger tips.

 

[dixiedragon]

With a batch that small, that extra 2.65 of liquid is about 33% more liquid. That is a LOT.

Try the same recipe without the aloe vera or the calamansi juice.

 

[Dorymae]

Just let it sit and cure. It will harded over time. Give it 6 weeks before using. There is a learning curve to anything you try, don't give up.

Who knows, after the cure you may love this soap.

 

[Susie]

Here's a sort of standard starter recipe to try. If you want to use color or EO, use one or the other, not both until you have at least one good batch of soap under your belt. I would also go spend some quality time learning to use a lye calculator before proceeding. Just Google "lye calculator", and you will get a plethora of options.

Lard/tallow/palm oil(one or other, not all) 55%
Coconut Oil 20%
Olive Oil 20%
Castor Oil 5%

Superfat 5%

Don't try aloe or milks yet, as they are a little more complicated.

Don't give up, though. We all went through something like this. We all also got past it.

 

[dixiedragon]

Any liquid you might use as a water replacement - beer, wine, juice, aloe, dairy milk, vegetable milk, etc - is temperamental. Some just a little, and some a LOT.

 

[soap_ph]

For the aloe vera what i did was, i scrap it from its leaves, stirred it and added it to the mixture of lye, water and oils. Can i still use the soap that i made? Or is it too harsh for the skin? Yeah i agree, i maybe have put a lot of liquid in it. Because in the tutorials they didnt say if your gonna subtract the juice or the other liquid that you wanna add in your water, for example the calamansi juice and thr aloe vera.

 

[Dorymae]

You can use it, just let it cure a bit first. I don't think there is any chance that it is lye heavy, on the contrary, it is probably highly superfatted.

 

[zolveria]

THIS LOOK OKAY. IF THE SOAP IS TO SOFT let is sit out and dry.. If not try another batch add palm oil or tallow.
I have seen recipes that have 9 oz of citrus juice in it.. that worked fine Actually Ann Watson

http://www.annelwatson.com/soapmaking/creative/July/citrussoap.html
and they turn out beautiful.

heres my recipe
coconut oil - 7.2oz
olive oil - 8.8 oz
lye - 2.28 oz
water - 6.8 oz
calamansi juice - 1.25 oz
aloe vera extract - 1.40 oz
green tea essential oil - 0.5 oz[/QUOTE]

 

[Seawolfe]

Calamansi are like limes - so Im not sure what they did to your superfat - let it cure a good long time and see how it is.
I would use distilled water for the first few batches, and try Susie's recipe.

 

[soap_ph]

thank you all for your responses. i'll take all your advice. you all have been truly helpful and i have learned a lot. i'll try to do another batch without calamansi and aloe. thank you!!!

 

[dixiedragon]

I definitely don't think it will be too harsh. Probably the opposite, actually. If the juice (an acid) combined with a lot of your lye (a base) before your oils (acids) even arrived, then your soap may stay soft and not lather much at all, or it may even be greasy b/c there is too much free oil.