Help with coffee soap recipe

[Martha]

Hello,
I just made my first batch of coffee soap and it was perfect....until I tried to cut it. It was so hard that when I cut it, it shattered into chunks. I would love some suggestions as to what I did wrong, and what I can do going forward.

Background: I have about a dozen to 20 batches of soap under my belt. Lately they seem to be so soft that I haven't been able to get them out of the cavity molds without mangling them. I ordered sodium lactate to try and help with this problem. I made 2 batches of soap using sodium lactate in a loaf mold and they were fine to cut after curing 24 hours. I did the same with the coffee recipe and had the problems. Please if someone could look at my recipe and share their vast experience I would be very grateful.

I soaped at 99F. I used frozen coffee instead of water. 2t of sodium lactate for the 2lb mold. 1 t of coffee grounds and 1t of espresso fo.

Thanks!

Here's a version of the recipe that hopefully you won't have to download. Again, I soaped at 99F. I used frozen coffee instead of water. 2t of sodium lactate for the 2lb mold. 1 t of coffee grounds and 1t of espresso fo. Can anyone tell me why it would be so hard and brittle after 24 hours? Is it the coffee? I'm new to using sodium lactate, but I used the right amount. Please help!!

 

[KiwiMoose]

HI Martha,

I just made a coffee soap myself and so I can say it's not the coffee. It doesn't seem to be lye-heavy as someone else has suggested, judging by your recipe. I regularly use sodium lactate at about the same quantity that you do and don't have any problem with brittleness. Did you gel the soap? I sometimes have an issue wiht brittle soap if I don't gel. Can I ask if you added any salt? And is this the exact same recipe you usually use (with the exception of the coffee)? It looks like it should have been cut after about only 12 hours - it was just too hard at 24. You might need to babysit next time and cut earlier.

 

[dibbles]

I agree with @KiwiMoose - your recipe looks fine and I use sodium lactate at 1 tsp PPO without any problems. I don’t know what could have caused the soap to be brittle. Is It possible you might have made a mistake when weighing your oils? Or had a scale problem?

 

[Martha]

HI Martha,

I just made a coffee soap myself and so I can say it's not the coffee. It doesn't seem to be lye-heavy as someone else has suggested, judging by your recipe. I regularly use sodium lactate at about the same quantity that you do and don't have any problem with brittleness. Did you gel the soap? I sometimes have an issue wiht brittle soap if I don't gel. Can I ask if you added any salt? And is this the exact same recipe you usually use (with the exception of the coffee)? It looks like it should have been cut after about only 12 hours - it was just too hard at 24. You might need to babysit next time and cut earlier.

Thanks KiwiMoose. I didn’t think it was lye heavy. I did gel the soap. And I adapted a recipe I used before. I guess I will do the babysitting.

 

[Martha]

I agree with @KiwiMoose - your recipe looks fine and I use sodium lactate at 1 tsp PPO without any problems. I don’t know what could have caused the soap to be brittle. Is It possible you might have made a mistake when weighing your oils? Or had a scale problem?

Thanks Dibbles for taking the time to look at my recipe. It is certainly possible I made a mistake. There’s always a first time I guess. You are also making me want to upgrade my scale now.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Have you had the soft soap problem using a loaf mold without adding sodium lactate? I’m asking because you mentioned that you were having soft bars using cavity molds. The recipe may not be behaving the same way in the cavity molds vs. the loaf mold. Do you know if the soaps in the cavity molds gelled? It’s often that case that soaps in cavity molds don’t want to gel readily. If they didn’t gel, they would likely stay soft longer. The same recipe might gel and be fine/hard enough in the loaf mold without adding sodium lactate. It’s really just a guess though because I don’t have experience with a recipe similar to yours. I hope you can get it figured out. I do occasionally have brittle soap, but it’s only when I use rice bran oil and I haven’t a clue why .