How can I tell if a batch wasn't emulsified?

[GuacamoleSalad]

I made a cold process batch two days ago and I'm not sure whether it wasn't fully emulsified when I poured it, or it's just taking ages to set up. It holds together, it's just very soft and crumbly and the top looks like there was a little gel phase in the middle (slightly more translucent) but mostly the color is sort of a chalky off-white.

 

[Lion Of Judah]

One quick and sure sign is separation of oil and water . it may show up as pools of one or the other or both . it would have been nice to see a picture and the recipe . it seems like it was going thru gel phase and stopped leaving opaque color on the edges . it being soft could be due to the "soft" oils ratio of your recipe . but without your recipe its pretty much guessing , could be right could be something else.

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

One quick and sure sign is separation of oil and water . it may show up as pools of one or the other or both . it would have been nice to see a picture and the recipe . it seems like it was going thru gel phase and stopped leaving opaque color on the edges . it being soft could be due to the "soft" oils ratio of your recipe . but without your recipe its pretty much guessing , could be right could be something else.

Of course, silly of me.

125g palm oil
75g coconut oil, 76
25g shea butter
200g olive oil
75 sweet almond oil
+
68.58g NaOH
190g water
+
23g lavender 40-42

Related, I feel like that was too much lavender. Should the fragrance weight be in proportion to the oil weight or the total batch weight?

Apologies for photo quality, it wasn't meant for display.

 

[Lion Of Judah]

did you cut your soap as yet ? i was hoping to see what you meant by "crumbly" . the white on top of the soap could be soda ash , just a cosmetic problem that can be fixed by steaming or cut off . if the soap came out of the mold without leakage or falling apart then the "softness is due to your soft oil ratio .

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

did you cut your soap as yet ? i was hoping to see what you meant by "crumbly" . the white on top of the soap could be soda ash , just a cosmetic problem that can be fixed by steaming or cut off . if the soap came out of the mold without leakage or falling apart then the "softness is due to your soft oil ratio .

I did cut it, and it was soft and messy but nothing leaked or came apart. Lesson learned, thank you.

Bonus question: if I had taken the batter to a thicker trace, would it have set up faster?

 

[Susie]

The white stuff on top looks like soda ash. Just wash the bars and it should come off if it is.

 

[AliensrReal]

Probably just needs a little more time in the mold to harden up.

 

[not_ally]

Hi @Suzie, is that you from the days of yore? So good to see you, how have you been?

OP, Lisa from I Dream in Soap has a great video on the first part of the saponification process/emulsion through trace, well worth watching, I rewatch it every once in a while to remind me of important things.

 

[KiwiMoose]

That seems like quite a lot of water for what appears to be 500g of oils. I suspect some of your problem might be caused by using too much water - which also contributes to soda ash BTW. What setting did you use for the water in the soap calculator? If it was 'water as a percent of oils' I suggest changing it to 'lye concentration' and set it to 33%.

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

That seems like quite a lot of water for what appears to be 500g of oils. I suspect some of your problem might be caused by using too much water - which also contributes to soda ash BTW. What setting did you use for the water in the soap calculator? If it was 'water as a percent of oils' I suggest changing it to 'lye concentration' and set it to 33%.

Yup, that is exactly what I did. It looks like it worked out to 26.52% lye concentration. No wonder. Thank you!

I actually learned about lye concentration between making that batch and my next one, so the one I'm unmolding this morning is 33%. No surprise, it set up gorgeously.

 

[Zing]

+
23g lavender 40-42

Related, I feel like that was too much lavender. Should the fragrance weight be in proportion to the oil weight or the total batch weight?

You used a safe usage rate for lavender essential oil. For safe usage rates, I use online calculators. I used to use Bramble Berry and I believe they ask for total batch weight. But now I use eocalc.com which is AWESOME and they ask for total oil weight. I plugged your recipe in:

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

You used a safe usage rate for lavender essential oil. For safe usage rates, I use online calculators. I used to use Bramble Berry and I believe they ask for total batch weight. But now I use eocalc.com which is AWESOME and they ask for total oil weight. I plugged your recipe in:
View attachment 76539

Amazing. Thank you so much. My newbie notepad is filling up fast.

Hi @Suzie, is that you from the days of yore? So good to see you, how have you been?

OP, Lisa from I Dream in Soap has a great video on the first part of the saponification process/emulsion through trace, well worth watching, I rewatch it every once in a while to remind me of important things.

Thanks for this. I watched that video once but I think I need to watch it a bunch of times to make it stick.