I did something wrong but not sure what

[Dawni]

Halo all.. Was wondering if anyone can tell me what I did wrong to get this consistency of soap in the pictures below. And also what I should do to save this batch. Actually I'm not even sure it is soap, although it does bubble and clean lol

Here's the story first.

1. I measured and melted all the oils and butters in the slow cooker, totalling 600 grams
2. I measured and dissolved my lye into chamomile tea.
3. I mixed some sugar first and then salt, one teaspoon each, into the lye solution.
4. I mixed the lye solution in with the oils and stick blended in short bursts until light trace.
5. I meant to mix my additives after the cook but for some reason added them at trace (1.5 tsp Fuller's earth, 1 tsp Turmeric, 1 tsp Neem powder).
6. I gave it another mix with the stick blender until a sort of thick trace then covered and let cook on low
7. I cleared up my workspace and checked in on the slow cooker every 5mins and on the second time noticed what I think was separation so I hand mixed it all back together and left to cook.

Now here's where it goes downhill for me...

I kept waiting for the sides to roll up and over the center, was anticipating a volcano of sorts, was waiting to see any signs of gelling and translucency... But nothing! The mixture just kept getting thicker and the small bits on the side just kept getting drier. I must have let the soap cook about 2.5 hrs.

I then did something - I touched the soap (got some off the spoon I was using, let it cool, rolled it around between my fingers) and closed my eyes and touched my tongue to it.. Coz stupid me figured if nothing was happening it must be done.. Again nothing!

I got worried I had already overcooked it (which I probably did) and took the pot off the base and added the EOs (Lavender, Rosemary, Cedarwood, Tea Tree, Lemon) after about 10mins of cool down.

I proceeded to mold into a clean Pringles can, and went to bed after cleanup.. Unmolded after 12hrs, 2 of which the can was in the freezer and this is what I ended up with.

It is hard-ish, but waxy and crumbly at the same time. And a few minutes out of the mold it looked like it was sweating. In the pic is one single whole slice and all the rest broke in half of crumbled on the sides.

Should I let it be for some weeks? Should I recook (although I don't know yet how) or do I just.. Emm.. Clean my dishes with it? Coz it did a good job on that (I took some of the crumbly bits and got nice bubbles btw). It was meant as a facial bar. for my teenager.

Any and all help will be very much appreciated and sorry for the long post.

 

[Loralei]

What was your recipe? I'm no expert, but knowing the recipe will give a lot more info on what possibly went awry....

 

[Obsidian]

I think a number of things happened here. One is it was cooked too long, this can lead to the waxy, crumbly texture. Two is that you waited an awfully long time to cut and you froze it which is probably why its wet now. HP can be cut as soon as its cool to the touch.

When cooking your HP, don't overcook waiting to see all the stages, often you won't. Just cook it until it looks a little translucent, zap test and mold as soon as its zap free.

Some additive like the fullers earth might make the transparency hard to see.
Your soap should be fine. Give it a couple days to absorb the liquid or you can use a paper towel and gently blot it off. As long as its zap free, its safe to use.

 

[lsg]

The soap does look like it might have been over-cooked. I usually mix in the dry additives after the cook. As long as it doesn't zap it will be OK to use.

 

[Dawni]

What was your recipe? I'm no expert, but knowing the recipe will give a lot more info on what possibly went awry....

Oh yes, of course, I should have thought of mentioning the recipe.. What I initially wanted was to use just 2-3 oils and the butters for hardness but ended up not having enough olive oil so I used whatever I had on hand..

I think a number of things happened here. One is it was cooked too long, this can lead to the waxy, crumbly texture. Two is that you waited an awfully long time to cut and you froze it which is probably why its wet now. HP can be cut as soon as its cool to the touch.

When cooking your HP, don't overcook waiting to see all the stages, often you won't. Just cook it until it looks a little translucent, zap test and mold as soon as its zap free.

Some additive like the fullers earth might make the transparency hard to see.
Your soap should be fine. Give it a couple days to absorb the liquid or you can use a paper towel and gently blot it off. As long as its zap free, its safe to use.

Thank you. I had the feeling I overcooked it but by the time I realized I was probably doing so, it was too late.

I should have figured that the fuller's earth won't show me "real translucency" but I looked for it anyway because a previous batch with cocoa powder did (not sure if my logic was correct lol).

Also, I only stuck it in the freezer coz after about 10 hours with the top still being soft, I went to best friend Google and he told me that's what some do lol. I live in a tropical country, and should have known everything here sweats.

Thanks for the tip too.. Next batch I will watch out for just a lil but of translucency.

The soap does look like it might have been over-cooked. I usually mix in the dry additives after the cook. As look as it doesn't zap it will be OK to use.

Thank you. I have tried using it, whenever I needed to wash hands today coz I had a ball I collected from the crumbly bits that had fallen off. It actually feels very nice hehehe

So other than mixing dry additives after the cook, would you say I did everything else alright?

 

[Obsidian]

Mixing your additives in before the cook wasn't wrong, its how I do it. There really is no right or wrong time for additives, as long as its gets in the soap all is well.

I wouldn't say you did anything else wrong either, its just a matter of learning the HP technique. I think everyone overcooks the first few times, I know I sure did.

Oh, I take it back, you did do one thing wrong. When using salt and sugar, dissolve it in your water before the lye.

 

[Dawni]

Mixing your additives in before the cook wasn't wrong, its how I do it. There really is no right or wrong time for additives, as long as its gets in the soap all is well.

I wouldn't say you did anything else wrong either, its just a matter of learning the HP technique. I think everyone overcooks the first few times, I know I sure did.

Oh, I take it back, you did do one thing wrong. When using salt and sugar, dissolve it in your water before the lye.

Got it. I'll definitely do that next time. Thank you.

The soap is so bubbly and my skin feels so nice after testing it, it's a shame it looks the way it does lol but I'll wait n see what happens maybe curing it longer will help it a little lol

 

[Loralei]

Oh yes, of course, I should have thought of mentioning the recipe.. What I initially wanted was to use just 2-3 oils and the butters for hardness but ended up not having enough olive oil so I used whatever I had on hand..

Did you recalculate your lye water , after subbing in a different oil? As each oil/butter has different SAP values, this could be part of why your results were the way that they were, on top of over cooking..

 

[Dawni]

Did you recalculate your lye water , after subbing in a different oil? As each oil/butter has different SAP values, this could be part of why your results were the way that they were, on top of over cooking..

Actually I did. I spent about an hour subbing on Soap calc and ended up with the recipe posted above. Notice there were several oils but in small quantities only coz that's all I had.

I get the overcooking.. But does overcooked soap stay sticky even when it's cut and out of the mold for two days? Or is this normal and I should wait several weeks?

I've attached several pics of how it looks like. Here I just lifted one up to turn it over so all sides get aired out.

1. Crumbs in my hand from just picking one up (you can see one piece that even broke off under my hand)

2. What the crumbs look like when I smushed some from the piece that broke off lol

3. You can see here that I can mold it like play doh that's been left out of the tub somewhat (it's sticky but still crumbles)

4. I washed my hands with that small ball of play doh soap hehe


I want to figure this out so I don't make the same mistakes in my next batch and waste some hard earned money.

 

[msunnerstood]

I would agree you over cooked it. you can use the same recipe,the same FO,but not get all of the stages every time. even a few degrees of cook temp can change what happens. I always put my HP soap in the freezer for about an hour and a half after i mold it. Once I pop it out of the mold i wait for it to thaw (which is when it gets wet) as soon as the outside dries up,I cut it and put it on my drying racks.

 

[Obsidian]

No, it shouldn't be that crumbly and sticky after two days. Have you zap tested it yet? Did you measure ingredients by weight or volume?

If its zap free, I think I would rebatch and see if you can drive off some off the excess moisture.

 

[Loralei]

Might it be the amount of oils that create a soft bar of soap in your recipe? From my calculations, it's about half of your total recipe.. my guess (and I'm a newbie), is that the amount of soft oils, plus overcooking, may lead to this.. I don't know why, but the first time I saw your post with your recipe, it didn't show up- or maybe I just didn't see it, lol!

 

[Dawni]

I would agree you over cooked it. you can use the same recipe,the same FO,but not get all of the stages every time. even a few degrees of cook temp can change what happens. I always put my HP soap in the freezer for about an hour and a half after i mold it. Once I pop it out of the mold i wait for it to thaw (which is when it gets wet) as soon as the outside dries up,I cut it and put it on my drying racks.

Thanks for the tips, misunderstood

No, it shouldn't be that crumbly and sticky after two days. Have you zap tested it yet? Did you measure ingredients by weight or volume?

If its zap free, I think I would rebatch and see if you can drive off some off the excess moisture.

I measured in grams. In my head I'm sure I weighed everything exactly but I could always be wrong. I did the zap test right before molding it on Friday night and it was ok.. It's Monday night now and so far I've used it several times to wash dirty hands and feet and it seems ok.

Should I just melt it all down and "boil" it uncovered? For how long? I've never rebatched before.. What is the most important thing I should watch out for while it's in the slow cooker?

Might it be the amount of oils that create a soft bar of soap in your recipe? From my calculations, it's about half of your total recipe.. my guess (and I'm a newbie), is that the amount of soft oils, plus overcooking, may lead to this.. I don't know why, but the first time I saw your post with your recipe, it didn't show up- or maybe I just didn't see it, lol!

I wasn't sure how to attach pics and I actually didn't know if it could be seen lol.

About the soft oils, I tried my best to harden everything with the amount of coconut oil + shea butter +cocoa butter that I had.. You think they would have been enough if I didn't overcook the soap?

 

[dixiedragon]

I've....never seen something quite like it. Congratulations!

I think you've probably waaaay overcooked it. I have to disagree with Obsidian here...I'm not sure that rebatching will produce better results. I suggest you put on some gloves and press the broken pieces/cracks together, so your bars are a bit more intact...and then try again.

Try a simple recipe with no (or maybe ) additive.

 

[Dawni]

I've....never seen something quite like it. Congratulations!

I think you've probably waaaay overcooked it. I have to disagree with Obsidian here...I'm not sure that rebatching will produce better results. I suggest you put on some gloves and press the broken pieces/cracks together, so your bars are a bit more intact...and then try again.

Try a simple recipe with no (or maybe ) additive.

LOL I know right? I've spent the last two days reading here and Google-ing to see if anyone made the same mistake, so I can figure out which part I did wrong and not repeat it, and maybe someone knows how to salvage it but seems I did something awesome haha.. So thank you!

Me and my partner have had no issues using the crumbly bits so far lol every time we see bits n pieces had fallen off we'd collect em and there's a golf (ball) sized ball of it sitting on the bathroom sink right now.. And the ball is staying intact so far. The previous ball stayed a ball until it became about the size of a jelly bean then it crumbled.

My next batch will probably be simple... But I was confident I'd get it right coz my first batch turned out lovely hehe and that had cocoa powder and basil seeds (again only using what I had here at home).