help need easy recipe

[herbgirltam]

New to soapmaking need easy recipe Sap for hot process soap using oils i have available.Have virgin coconut oil : olive oil and coco butter.Tried to use the lye calculator and failed miserably it said i need o/fluid o lye.Have 8 0z of each oil available and i would like to add clove powder cinnamon and essential oil. Thanks

 

[herbgirltam]

Thanks anyway i figured out what i was doing wrong with lye calculator that it wasn't working right.

 

[Maythorn]

Hello. Virgin coconut oil, olive oil and cocoa butter sounds great. I had cinnamon leaf essential oil seize on me and I added cinnamon powder and milk so it really got thick before I could pour it. Good luck with the recipe!

 

[herbgirltam]

Maythorn

Hi and thank you for replying.I am remelting it for the third time.The first two batches were soft and crumbly.I added more lye.I hope this time is the charm lol.I am stubborn and will not give up.

 

[Maythorn]

Majestic Mountain Sage has a good lye calculator and there's Soapcalc. You can get the amount of lye to use in ounces or grams.

 

[sistrum]

What made you think your soap needed more lye? Did you mismeasure the first time?
How much more did you add and how did you figure that out?
You said your soap was soft and crumbly, how long did you let it rest before you rebatched it?

 

[herbgirltam]

explanation to Sistrum

Sistrum, I typed in troubleshooting hot process soap on google and it said if the soap was soft and crumbly it needed more lye and if it was hard and crumbly you used to much.I used the sap calculator again the first time for some reason it didn't include my olive oil.I also was stirring it to much before it jelled.I didn't have any problem with the trace i just didn't fully understand the next process.i poured it and it has been on my kitchen counter since 11pm last night.it is no longer crumbly but it isn't hard yet either its the consistancy of caramel.Any thoughts on that will it dry more or do i need to rebatch it and add more lye?

 

[new12soap]

Without knowing EXACTLY what you have already put it in and EXACTLY how much, there is no way to troublshoot your soap. It sounds like you may have already used too much lye. If you can post your complete recipe and and changes and additions you made, we may be able to offer to suggestions, but I'm afraid without that you can never be completely sure that soap is safe to use and it should be thrown away.

 

[sistrum]

If it was me (and you are probably not going to like this) I would just let it sit and see what happens. Trying to add more lye to a made batch just has to many problems that could pop up. If it doesen't firm up later you can always cut it up and add it to a new batch so it won't really be a waste.

And just so you know, its ok to stir your HP while it's cooking, I do my HP batches with a 40% lye solution and I stir most of the time. In fact if you stir and keep scraping the sides down you won't get those crusty bits in your finished soap.

Hang in there and keep up your research and you will be fine. Sissy

 

[herbgirltam]

safety

Why wouldn't it be safe i did the zap test so many times i'm lucky to still have a tongue.I'm pretty sure that soap has no lye left in it as many times as i cooked it.It has no zing to it.I am going to let it sit for a day or two it seems to be hardening.I can't give you recipe because i ended up not using one do to the lye miscalculation.Next time i am going to use simple recipe and measure precicely and not add oatmeal,etc until i know what i'm doing.Thanks for trying to help me.Tam

 

[herbgirltam]

update!

So excited my soap turned out awsome.It just took a week for the excess water to dry out.It actually worked better than a bar i ordered for my hair.Doing the happy dance and excited to order more oils and try next project.All the trouble that first batch was i should be worth 100.00 a bar.I'll look upon it as a learning process.I forsee problems in the future if i make soap like i cook.I'm not good at following recipes i add a little of this and that.:smile: