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Soapy_Bear

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Hello everyone,

I am very new to soap making and two days ago I made my very first shampoo bar. After it had sat for 48hrs it had the appearance of vaseline. The soap was solid but had a transparent, glossy look. Now i split this batch up, most of the batch was poured into a bigger mold and the rest was poured into the smaller mold. The smaller mold came out fine but it was the bigger mold that came out looking like vaseline. I think maybe I didnt let it cool down slow enough and didnt wrap it right, but I am still unsure what went wrong.. Can I save this batch? I really dont want to throw it away or is this soap actually okay to use?

Any advice would be helpful and appreciated. Thank You!
 
A glossy Vaseline look sounds just like gel phase. It makes sense that it would happen like that in the larger mold, more soap, more heat generation , higher temp held for longer. Soap should be totally fine
 
Thank you! I was so worried I might have wasted all that soap. But I have another question; Soap doesn't always have to turn back into a solid color? I just assumed it had too based off of things I read that seemed to always say after gel phase it goes back to a solid color.
 
This is how my soap turned out. Hope you can see the difference compared to the small one.

1404500109958.jpg


1404500205919.jpg
 
It they are both hard, those are really nice examples of gelled vs un-gelled soap. Save them for reference! The gelled soap will loose some translucency as it cures, but will still look nice and shiney.
 
It isn't that hard like the other one, the smaller one is a bit harder. Both of them cut the same with no problem like cutting butter.
 
That is really odd. It looks like it gelled and stayed transparent for some reason, its actually really neat. Test it for zap, if it passes then I would use it with no worries.

I didn't get a zap like a battery but I got a tingle burning sensation
 
Are you sure you didn't use too much water or not enough lye? It looks like it's not very hard but if it cures ok and foams then it's clearly soap. Wait a few days and zap test again.
 
You might consider rebatching both loaves back together just in case something besides gel is going on. If you batch wasn't stirred quite enough, the smaller loaf could be lye heavy and the big loaf could be too super fatted.

The more I think about it, the more I think that it could be something gone wrong. It it was mine, I would rebatch to just be on the safe side.

Was the tingle almost painful or just a little tingly? Did you test the smaller loaf? Did you use any scent? Sometimes the fragrance can cause a bit of a tingle.
 
Here is the recipe I followed:
15oz distilled water
5.6oz lye
12oz coconut oil
6oz palm oil
10oz caster oil
8oz olive oil
4oz jojoba oil
0.5oz rosemary oil

This is the website: http://learningandyearning.com/DIY-Shampoo-Bars

I did test the smaller batch and I did get a tingle but I had to lick it twice. First lick I got soap taste, second lick that's when my tongue started to tingle. I wouldn't say it was extremely painful or anything like that but it was uncomfortable feeling. I used rosemary essential oil.... if I do have to rebatch it. What do I have to do? Just remelt it, stir and pour it back into a mold? Or do I need to add stuff too it?

And thank you for helping me I appreciate the information your giving me..... and thank you to everyone else that has replied also and gave me some info as well.:)
 
Holy crap that's a lot of castor oil. I usually keep mine at 5% so its not sticky.

But to rebatch, you pretty much summed it up. Put it all in a crock pot, double boiler, or the oven and melt it back down. You may need to add a tiny bit of water to keep it from drying out. Rebatching may burn off your fragrance so you might need to add some more before remolding.
 
Holy crap that's a lot of castor oil. I usually keep mine at 5% so its not sticky.

But to rebatch, you pretty much summed it up. Put it all in a crock pot, double boiler, or the oven and melt it back down. You may need to add a tiny bit of water to keep it from drying out. Rebatching may burn off your fragrance so you might need to add some more before remolding.

Haha I don't know maybe it's because its a shampoo bar?? ..... oh okay, thank you for the information.
 
Oh ok that makes sense lol. Yeah i think I used 15% in my shampoo bar. Maybe 20%. I don't remember right off.
 
You said this is your first shampoo bar, have you used CP shampoo bars you got elsewhere before? I ask because many people find a recipe like this too stripping for their hair. If you find this one like that it should still make a really nice, mild bar of soap I would think.
 
You said this is your first shampoo bar, have you used CP shampoo bars you got elsewhere before? I ask because many people find a recipe like this too stripping for their hair. If you find this one like that it should still make a really nice, mild bar of soap I would think.

No I haven't but I have extremely oily hair and skin. So hopefully that doesnt happen to me.
 

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