pjknight
Well-Known Member
yes I did
How much citric acid for this recipe?
- Thread starter TeresaT
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pjknight
Well-Known Member
yes, I did. The only thing I have done differently with this recipe is I added citric acid and additional lye to make up for citric acid eating up lye. I have used this recipe for years with no problems at all.
pjknight
Well-Known Member
What a mysterious situation! Do you think it's at all possible your lye might be weakening? Asking because I had that happen to me a year or 2 ago. I didn't make soap for a month or two, and then made a couple of loaves that seemed to stay soft for longer than usual. I didn't worry about it at the time (though perhaps I should have!) because they did harden up several days later, and I put it down to bad measurement on my part, or rainy weather, or anything else I could think of. Then I made a loaf that failed completely. It never hardened, and had a disgusting texture — I kept one bar and it is still soft and yucky after all this time. Because it was the only thing I could think of to do, I tried a new bottle of lye and everything about my soap went back to normal!
I have no idea if that is what has happened to you, but thought I'd mention it in case you want to try a new bottle of lye to see if it helps. If someone else already asked, I apologize for missing it! Oh, and in case it's useful, here is the formula you gave listed out in SoapCalc, re-sized down to use only 16 ounces of oils. Good luck with your next batches!
View attachment 78976
pjknight
Well-Known Member
thank you for the scaled down recipe! I will use it to perform testing if need be. Thats an interesting concept of the lye weakeing, I will have to check into the shelf life of l my lye. I don't think that is the case as I added citric acid to my recipe to counteract the formation of DOS, which I am struggling with.
Shelf life is subjective. You can have fresh NaOH that's been manufactured 2 days ago and if you keep the container open for some time, it will start absorbing moisture from the air, helping turn part of it into sodium carbonate. That will lower its purity and will subsequently increase the SF of the soap. It's more about storage and in what condition you got it from the manufacturer than the numbers on the label
pjknight
Well-Known Member
I checked the bottle of lye. It doesn't have an experation date. Ill use a new bottle. This morning I checked the soap - it is getting harder. I think it will harden up if it cures for 3-4 weeks. Also if raise the lye concentration to 35%, which lowers the water to 21.54 ounces, I think that will work. What do you think? When I added the lye for that batch, my oils and lye solution was around 100 degrees. And when it was poured together, it didint seem hot at all, and when it reached trace, ( which took a long time) it was warm. When I covered it an hour later, it was really hot and had developed a few cracks (which had never happened before), so I had to remove a blanket it finish cure.
pjknight
Well-Known Member
pjknight
Well-Known Member
thats good to know. I'm not going to use that bottle anymore, and open a new one, making sure its closed tightly.
If you reduce the water amount that may help with the soap being ready to be unmolded a little earlier, and it will take a little less time for the bars to get as hard as they can (according to your recipe). Sort of like making the cure go a little faster and yet not exactly, because curing does not mean only water loss, even though they are related.
So, you are buying prepared NaOH solution, mixed with water, and not pearls/flakes of NaOH? Is that correct or did I misunderstand?
So, you are buying prepared NaOH solution, mixed with water, and not pearls/flakes of NaOH? Is that correct or did I misunderstand?
pjknight
Well-Known Member
No its not prepared, it's dry pearls. I have to say the soap I made with the Citric acid looks fantastic! There is virtually no ash, the color looks consistent, I'm really satisfied with how it turned out believe it or not!!! Also, that bars are hardening up quite nicely now, and I think cure may take a bit longer, but thats no big deal. I don't think I will reduce the water, as I'm pretty happy with the results so far.
pjknight
Well-Known Member
yes, I can adjust as needed, but for now all is good. Thank you for all your imput. I really appreciate your knowledge. I've been making soap for so many years without any problems and thought I knew it all Haha!!!! but there is always room for knowledge even for this old bird! Hoping to see the last of DOS.
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