help!soap not drying out??

[katiemikmik]

hi...vveeeerrry new to this,got a recipe off channel 4 program and followed exactly....now the soap hasnt hardened/dried out fully and im not sure who to ask for help,hence i find myself here. this is the recipe:

• 900ml water
• 295g caustic soda
• 615g vegetable fat
• 800ml sunflower oil
• 800ml olive oil

we have a few soaps that we've managed to take out of the moulds but they are quite soft,but the rest seem to have hardened in the middle with the edges still squishy. theyve been there 2weeks!!! im scared to take them out in case i could do something simple to save them that im missing!! we follwed the instructions perfectly and i even tried leaving them somewhere nice and cool when we went away for the weekend thinking that may help...i think it did a teeny bit.



this is a snippet from the instructions on the drying part that im currently tearing my hair out over lol :


((''Step Six: Dry Out The Soaps
Once the soaps have cooled down and set, take them out the moulds and leave them to dry in a cupboard for six weeks so the caustic soda dissolves and the soap won’t have any harmful effects on your skin.''))


ours didnt ''set''....so if anyone has any ideas before i go giving up and dont have soapy gifts to give at yule n xmas that would be brill
thank you!!:thumbdown:

 

[judymoody]

Your recipe is very high in liquid oils and calls for a lot more water than I would use. (I'd have used about 600 grams of water) So I'm not surprised your soap is still soft. It sounds like you got partial gel (firmer in the middle and darker color, more opaque and softer around the edges).

hi...vveeeerrry new to this,got a recipe off
((''Step Six: Dry Out The Soaps
Once the soaps have cooled down and set, take them out the moulds and leave them to dry in a cupboard for six weeks so the caustic soda dissolves and the soap won’t have any harmful effects on your skin.''))

This above is silly. Lye doesn't dissolve during cure. It saponifies (reacts with fats to produce a salt - soap) but that process is pretty much done within a few days. Waiting six weeks makes the soap milder so that advice is sound.

 

[Obsidian]

Maybe try putting a small fan on them so it blows over the tops to help dry it out faster. I would remove it from the molds as soon as you can then let it finish drying before you try and cut it.
Being relatively new to soaping myself, the best advice I can give it to learn how to use a lye calculator and always run recipes through it to double check you water/lye amounts.
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp

 

[katiemikmik]

thank you! makes sense really...will get um out n see what happens,nxt time i will use less! water lol...ta again xx

 

[ca_soap]

Another thing I would recommend is getting yourself a digital scale if you don't already have one and do everything by weight. I prefer to do everything in grams so I know I am being precise in my measurements. I couldn't help but notice part of the recipe in ml and part in grams. That would make me a bit nervous

 

[soap_rat]

I'm not sure what type of mold you used, but if it's flexible you can freeze the soap solid, let it sit out perhaps 10 minutes, then push it out.

Be sure to tongue-test the soap, if it stings your tongue something went wrong, probably inaccuracy of the scale or recipe (which I have not checked on soapcalc myself)

 

[Crombie]

Soft Soap

katiemikmik: What you experienced is why you should never use a recipe verbatim out of a book or website. You still need to run it through a soap calculator (i.e. soapcalc.net). Most of the time the recipes are fine - however, the ingredients for soap are expensive and it just takes a minute to use the calculator.

 

[katiemikmik]

thank you all again....we may have got a recipe online,but haven't we all got to start somewhere??,
why would i even know such a thing as soapcalc.net existed??!! unless i came on here and asked such a question? and then why would i know to ask that?

i came here for help not criticism, and as for using the recipe ''verbatim'', isn't that what recipes are for?? next time i'll make my own up? i dont think so...i'll use the first answer on here which was polite and informative,not just a dig at how i went about beginning to learn about soap making...
also to presume that we find the ingredients expensive is also not helpful and not what we needed telling about.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Katie, while Crombie might well have been over cautious in the tone, I agree that with something that can be very dangerous like soap making it pays to do more research early on. I know it doesn't help after the fact, but as has been pointed out already, the water and the 'advice' in the recipe is a little odd. A bit of further research, which in this day in age is not hard, would have shown conflicting information and allowed a questioning of the initial recipe and so on. As has also already been said, it being a mix of volume and weight is a concern once you look at a few recipes where it's all weight based.

Thankfully the issue in this case is an interesting wet soap problem rather than one with too much lye or essential oils that end up with you getting seriously hurt!

There is a lot of really good quality information here on this forum, with places for us to post our recipe ideas for critique and advice and so on. Not all the responses will be as sugared as one may like, but that's always so. Keep at it, have a good read around on here (as I'm sure you have done so already) and get planning for the next batch!

 

[Derpina Bubbles]

Katie, while Crombie might well have been over cautious in the tone, I agree that with something that can be very dangerous like soap making it pays to do more research early on. I know it doesn't help after the fact, but as has been pointed out already, the water and the 'advice' in the recipe is a little odd. A bit of further research, which in this day in age is not hard, would have shown conflicting information and allowed a questioning of the initial recipe and so on. As has also already been said, it being a mix of volume and weight is a concern once you look at a few recipes where it's all weight based.

Thankfully the issue in this case is an interesting wet soap problem rather than one with too much lye or essential oils that end up with you getting seriously hurt!

There is a lot of really good quality information here on this forum, with places for us to post our recipe ideas for critique and advice and so on. Not all the responses will be as sugared as one may like, but that's always so. Keep at it, have a good read around on here (as I'm sure you have done so already) and get planning for the next batch!

I'm thinking you really are well named sir. I didn't post mine as I couldn't get the tone right. :clap: Really, why don't you go for that legal career?

 

[Lin]

The comment about expensive oils was saying its better to double check things before you make the recipe because thats easier than having to replace all the ingredients that were ruined bad batch. It wasn't a personal attack.

 

[dixiedragon]

Goodness Katie, your response was very defensive. If you will look, you will see Crombie's advice repeated by posters every time this question comes up. It wasn't an attack or a judgement.

Making soap is more expensive than, say, baking a cake. Especially b/c so much of the ingredients are specialized, not likely something you had sitting around.

When you get your soaps out of the mold (the freezer trick is excellent), put them on a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper, then put them somewhere in your house. Not sure where you are, but both heating and air conditioning systems draw moisture from the air, so your soaps will dry faster inside (unless you happen to live in the desert). Depending on how moist your soaps are, something like newspaper or paper towels make stick to them, and you have to peel them off in shreds, which I hate doing. Blech.

 

[shunt2011]

Katie, I think your response was more rude than the the OP. She was giving sound advice. I know I myself did not attempt making soap until I had read for several weeks-months. Research is a huge part of the soapmaking process. Recipes are great but as stated you really need to check them. Errors can easily be made in print. You are making a product that could be very dangerous if not calculated correctly. Do you want to put yourself or your family/friends at risk of being burned? I wouldn't take the responses as criticism but as helpful advice on how to make a safe product. You will be creating your own recipes before you know it with the knowledge you can get from the internet and from the wonderful people here. If you don't like the responses you get then just ignore them. You could end up burning bridges before even getting started. Good Luck to you!

 

[katiemikmik]

thank you everyone yet again...i have already made a second batch successfully (i think) ..... the reason i came here was to check out a better recipe(as obviously i knew mine was wrong) and now i found one....along with finding some lovely people with brilliant information. i was very aware of the caustic soda being very dangerous,and i work with essential oils every day and know the dangers they pose when mixed with other chemicals....so thank you all again,problem solved hurrah!

 

[katiemikmik]

also,just to mention,i make cakes for a living and they cost a hell of a lot more than the soap i made, thats what i meant xx

 

[shunt2011]

All I can say is WOW.....Glad to see you are a pro already. Good luck!

 

[katiemikmik]

so saying thank you and trying explain myself and what happened and how with your help means you get to take the mick...thats so friendly and not ****ty of you atall...bullying mentally is not acceptable in my book..very disappointing, i retract the words; 'i found some lovely people with brilliant information'...i struggle with depression and anxiety every day, its a difficult battle and you sir have just put me back,forget i said thank you several times.:cry: