Help.. my first HP soap not so good.

[mcobb]

Hello, I am new here. My first attempt at making HP crock pot soap didn't come out so good.

Pouring in the lye, it went quickly to the trace phase in about 1-2 minutes. From there it went to the vasoline phase. It never was very fluid and didn't do that self turning flow.

I hand stirred it every 10 minutes for about 50 minutes until the lye was processed out (via tongue test). It had lots of air trapped and didn't mold up very well.

Any idea what went wrong? I am wondering if I didn't have enough water with the lye? There never was a separation phase.

thanks for your help.

 

[Guest]

what ingredients did you use,

oils and amounts

lye amount

and what liquid and amount

thanks and i'll pop by later to check for your response

 

[Barb]

i don't take a water discount when hp as you are cooking the water out while soap is doing it's thing. the rapid trace may be the temp of the lye water when you added it or some oils trace faster then others.

it will not be fluid for pouring, you have to glop, and bang ( gets the air bubbles out, but becareful soap is hot ) the mold on counter, smoosh, and or glop some more, bang etc.

barb

 

[Guest]

checking back but the OP hasn't responded back yet.

But barb is right. The consistency you are looking for when HP is done is mashed potatoes. You have to work fast and plop it into the mold and bang the mold on the counter to make sure it get into the molds corners and what not without any air bubbles

 

[mcobb]

Thank you everyone for your replies

I used 2lbs of oils

Coconut 30% 9.6 ounces
Corn 20% 6.4 oz
Olive 45% 14.4 oz
Sesame 5% 1.6 oz

12.16 ozs of water
4.56 ozs of lye

I demolded the soap this am. It came out better than I thought. I tired it, it leaves a dry - tight skin feeling, maybe a little waxey.

As a noob - are there common descriptive adjectives for soap like for wine?

Anyways.. whatever you can add please let me know

 

[Guest]

ok thanks,

going to check a few things with your recipe and I'll be back in a few minutes.

BRB

 

[Guest]

ok just looking at your recipe, you don't have any base oils. These are your animal tallows, lard, crisco or palm oil. And your relying on your coconut oil and olive oil to add hardness to your soap which accounts for the low harness number. (even though the olive oil doesn't show up on this for hardness it's still sorta between because of all the other softer oils included.

Your low bubbly number is of 20 is because your depending on your coconut oil for your bubbles. Next time add between 5% and 8% Castor oil to help drive that number up.

You do have a good conditioning number but your also using a lot of coconut oil, which is drying to the skin without adding a butter or another skin emollient. So that might be why your feeling dry and tight skin.

It's not just about the numbers but the ingredients used to get a good balance between them in the right porportions.


Next time why not try something like this.

Coconut 30%
Olive Oil 14%
Seasme Oil 15%
Crisco 34%
Castor Oil 7%

This brings your numbers to
Hard 37
Cleansing 20
Conditioning 58
Bubbly 26
Creamy 23

 

[Chay]

When making HP in a slow cooker, after you reach trace you should put the lid on the crockpot and do not remove it until the soap is done cooking. Somewhere between 45-60 minutes. You do not stir again until the soap is done and you are ready to add your EO/FO.

 

[LaLuna]

Faithy, how do you calculate these figures?
You all seem to have a different method for making your soaps than I use. I didn't realize there was another way ~ I mix the lye & water, then let it cool to about 45degrees Celsius, while I melt my oils and waxes, then when they are both about 45C, I mix them together, until trace, add eo/fo and clays etc then pour them into molds, in a thick liquid form. Then leave for 4 - 5 weeks before use. What is this crock pot method?

 

[Barb]

http://www.candletech.com/hpsoap/


if you google hot process you can find numerous other tutorials on how to do this. crockpot, stovetop or oven. you can use the soap formula you are using now it is just a different method of arriving at the end result. the cure time is less. you can use it right out of the mold, but it is even better to let it sit for a couple of weeks, one of the other advantages is you can use less fragrance or essential oils because you add it after the cook and it is not affected by the lye.

you do not have to wait for the oils and lye to reach a certain temp, if you use a crockpot, just melt your hard oils, add your soft ones and your mixed lye and proceed. just make sure the crockpot or kettle is big enough for the batch you are using as it will roll up and over itself as it cooks and you don't want it climbing out of the pot all over your countertop or stove.

this soap will have a more rustic look in the end bar due to it not pouring smoothly, it is more of a glop and plop with a few bangs of the mold for good measure. a friend of mine uses sodium lactate in her hot and swears it allows her a smoother pour. i personally can't say.

in the few hp batches that i have done, i've found i get a smoother looking bar if i let it gel again, once i get it all in the mold but that's just me.

barb