Hot process oven process help

[Elle+Jelly]

Hello! I need some help with my soap. This is my first time doing hpop and I'm not sure if something went wrong. I mixed my lye water into the oils to light trace in a stainless steel bowl and put my soap into the oven at 170F for the gel phase. After 15 min I checked up on it and it just turned into soap right in the bowl! I panicked and I mixed it and put it back into the oven to try to save it. Did I react prematurely? What should I do?

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

You have to put the soap in the mold in the oven, not in the container, cause as you found out, the heat speeds the process and turns it to soap.

 

[szaza]

Hey @Elle+Jelly ! I love doing HP in the oven. It's definately possible and your procedure seems about right, but it's really important you keep an eye on your soap at all time! Going away for 15min could mean disaster if the soap decides to volcano or something.
What do you mean by 'turned to soap in the container?' was it hardening out? Or Just a thicker trace? You say you mixed it, so I guess it wasn't completely hardened out. A thicker trace is normal since the soap has been sitting (in a hot oven no less) for 15min. As for gel, was the color different/more translucent?
I generally don't stir the batter if I hpop, because I don't want to lose too much water. I just let the batter sit in the oven until it is fully gelled.
I like to use Pyrex bowls for hpop so I can see gel happening all around the batter (don't use them to mix your lye solution though!)
The best indicator if soap has been fully cooked is the 'zap test'. If your soap is zappy I would let it sit in the oven a bit longer.
Another general tip: make sure your lye concentration is low enough - I use about 25% for HP soaps (which is 1 part lye to 3 parts water) and keep some of your water or other liquid (yoghurt is great) to add after cook with your additives. That will make pouring/plopping in the mold a little easier. And a high water soap will gel more easily.
Let us know how the soap turned out[emoji6]

 

[gloopygloop]

Hello! I need some help with my soap. This is my first time doing hpop and I'm not sure if something went wrong. I mixed my lye water into the oils to light trace in a stainless steel bowl and put my soap into the oven at 170F for the gel phase. After 15 min I checked up on it and it just turned into soap right in the bowl! I panicked and I mixed it and put it back into the oven to try to save it. Did I react prematurely? What should I do?

What you had was normal, the soap goes through different stages and after 15 minutes which is not long it would be going through the first stage which is kind of a CP look, it then starts to gel around the edges which moves towards the centre until the entire batch is in gel and at which stage you can zap test. This will usually take around 45 minutes to one hour and sometimes a little longer depending on your recipe and oven temperature. Your oven temperature was slightly lower than I would use as I tend to go 100c which is around 212f I think. As already said normally there is no need to stir or do anything except wait until it looks all gelled and then take it out and give it a stir to zap test.

 

[Elle+Jelly]

Hello @Alfa_Lazcares @szaza and @gloopygloop ! Thanks for the replies.

Szaza, By "turned into soap in the container" I meant it was like a really soft soap. I "mixed" but it was more like scoop it around. The very edges were gelled which I didn't see until I scooped the edges out. I put the soap back in the oven (I didn't know what else to do) and I checked up on it a bit later. The top looked dried out but when I mixed it the whole thing was gelled and mashed potato consistency! So you add a bit of liquid like yogurt after it gelled? Do you mix it first with fragrance?

Gloopygloop, I think I overreacted because I didn't expect it to turn into a cp soap-like consistency before gel phase. I thought "how am I supposed to add my fragrance?!" Well it's in the mold now and I'll see how it turns out soon.

 

[earlene]

It is soap at that point, of course, so you weren't wrong in calling it soap, but that's what you want.

It sounds like you will end up with very nice HP soap, in spite of the momentary panic. I am really looking forward to your finished product and seeing photos!

Make sure when you use yogurt to have the yogurt warm (not straight from the fridge), at least room temperature before adding it to hot soap. I think some people add it while cold, but for me it tends to shock the soap and it's harder to mix it in.

So how did you mix the fragrance in? Did you add it straight to the 'mashed potatoes'? I don't HP as much as I used to, but that's what I used to do. And I add the yogurt on its own.

But I am interested if other do it differently as I'm always open to trying other tricks.

 

[bohunk]

I've been doing OPHP for around 20 years now; I'm a lazy soaper and I've never cared about finely detailed swirls, though I have gotten some nice in the pot swirls with OPHP. Here's what I do in a nutshell. Use full water discount, blend to a heavy trace and pop in an 180F oven with a lid on the pot. Leave alone for about 45 minutes. Do zap test, if good remove from oven and mix in additional liquids; usually sodium lactate and goat's milk or coconut milk. Let cool and then add FO and then pour into mold.

My liquids are at room temperature before adding. Makes for easier adding to hot soap. The only times I've had to deal with volcanoing soap was when I used shortening as part of my oils. My current base recipe oils are lard, olive oil, coconut oil and castor oil.

 

[Elle+Jelly]

It is soap at that point, of course, so you weren't wrong in calling it soap, but that's what you want.

It sounds like you will end up with very nice HP soap, in spite of the momentary panic. I am really looking forward to your finished product and seeing photos!

Make sure when you use yogurt to have the yogurt warm (not straight from the fridge), at least room temperature before adding it to hot soap. I think some people add it while cold, but for me it tends to shock the soap and it's harder to mix it in.

So how did you mix the fragrance in? Did you add it straight to the 'mashed potatoes'? I don't HP as much as I used to, but that's what I used to do. And I add the yogurt on its own.

But I am interested if other do it differently as I'm always open to trying other tricks.

After I mixed the "mashed potatoes" I added 2 tsp sodium lactate and 1.2 oz essential oils (0.6 oz orange, 0.4 oz lemongrass, 0.2 oz spearmint) and mixed. Those essential oils smelled so strong though. I know you need less for HP I wonder if I put in too much? How much do others put in their hpop? I'm also interested in the yogurt. Do you use plain yogurt or Greek yogurt?

 

[earlene]

I've used whatever yogurt I had on hand. I doubt it really matters that much.

Here is a useful link about producing lactic acid by adding yogurt (and other milk products) to soap:

https://classicbells.com/soap/lacticAcid.html

Not sure how much of which EO's you added, but if you followed the manufacturer's guidelines and plugged those percentages into the lye calculator, you should be fine. Not all EO's can be added in the same amounts due to various sensitivities and other contraindications, so always check what the allowable/recommended usage rate is for skin products.


Edit: This link may help in understanding IFRA rates for fragrances:
https://nurturesoap.com/blogs/soap-making-rules/how-to-read-ifra-rates-for-fragrance-oils

More about IFRA & why it's important if you are not familiar with this idea:
https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/essential-oil-usage-rates-ifra-guidelines/

Some Essential Oils to be very cautious with (or not use at all):
https://essentialoils.co.za/banned-oils.htm

 

[bohunk]

I add .5 ounce of sodium lactate ppo. I add .5-.7 ounce of FO ppo depending on the strength of the FO.

 

[Elle+Jelly]

The soap turned out well I think for my first attempt. It's a bit crumbly but I think that's because I let it cool down too much before putting it in the mold. The essential oils weren't too overwhelming either.

 

[Elle+Jelly]

I've used whatever yogurt I had on hand. I doubt it really matters that much.

Here is a useful link about producing lactic acid by adding yogurt (and other milk products) to soap:

https://classicbells.com/soap/lacticAcid.html

Not sure how much of which EO's you added, but if you followed the manufacturer's guidelines and plugged those percentages into the lye calculator, you should be fine. Not all EO's can be added in the same amounts due to various sensitivities and other contraindications, so always check what the allowable/recommended usage rate is for skin products.


Edit: This link may help in understanding IFRA rates for fragrances:
https://nurturesoap.com/blogs/soap-making-rules/how-to-read-ifra-rates-for-fragrance-oils

More about IFRA & why it's important if you are not familiar with this idea:
https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/essential-oil-usage-rates-ifra-guidelines/

Some Essential Oils to be very cautious with (or not use at all):
https://essentialoils.co.za/banned-oils.htm

Wow thanks those links are very helpful! There were a few oils on that restricted list that I didn't know can be unsafe. I'll definitely do more research on essential oils.