Is it my recipe?? Consistent overheating + cracking

[maryannm]

I don't think i would put anything on top to try and tame it. I have never done that on purpose, but several times by accident. It will just stick to the cover and make a terrible mess

 

[panpaste]

Cracking SoAp

http://www.colebrothers.com/soap/oils.html

This website I found tells you what percentage of what types of oils to use.

It says not to use more than 30% Coconut Oil.

I had problems with cracking and I stuck with the same recipe but I lowered the temperature at which I mixed the oil and lye water and I also mixed much slower, turning on the stick blender sparingly.

It hasn't been a problem again... yet.

 

[judymoody]

Re: Cracking SoAp

http://www.colebrothers.com/soap/oils.html

This website I found tells you what percentage of what types of oils to use.

It says not to use more than 30% Coconut Oil.

This site has a fair number or errors and questionable advice mixed in with some useful information.

For example, it recommends that you can use soy, safflower, or canola oil at up to 50% of your recipe. Well, if you want to increase your chances of DOS, sure, give it a try. There are also photos of pouring soap into what looks like an aluminum pan. Yes, it seems to be lined with saran wrap but using metal molds is not recommended practice.

There are better options like www.millersoap.com

And BTW, you can use up to 100% coconut oil and get good soap if you use a steep lye discount, as other posters have indicated.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

You could make your high coconut oil soaps in individual moulds and they shouldn't overheat. :wink:

 

[Sunny]

I think I might go 50/50 with the oils and see how it goes. Sigh, I love high CO%, it makes me sad.

If you're using a wooden mold, you could trying getting a silicone mold. You can also do individual molds, they're usually small enough to not cause problems.

 

[Soapsugoii]

I think I might go 50/50 with the oils and see how it goes. Sigh, I love high CO%, it makes me sad.

If you're using a wooden mold, you could trying getting a silicone mold. You can also do individual molds, they're usually small enough to not cause problems.

Hehe, bingo! So, I got some silicone molds from bebe collection, and lowered my CO and upped my PO/OO, and the cracking issue has gone away. Now I'm wrestling with alligator skin! lol. I want the full gel each time - do I need to keep the heat on the soap when it starts to gel, or can I turn it off? I peek every 10 minutes or so, so I'm sure quite a bit of heat escapes every time I open the oven. Therefor I'm hesitant to turn the heat off until gel is done.

I feel like it's mostly timing issues tho. I think If I can start cooling the soap during a certain part of the gel phase, the gel phase will complete itself without overheating in the middle. Guess we'll see this week!

 

[Sunny]

Try a plug-in heating pad. Set it on medium or high and watch it closely until it gels, or put it on very low/warm for a couple of hours and hope for the best.

 

[IrishLass]

Also, somebody on this forum said that they put something on top the soap to prevent cracking (don't remember exactly what, maybe some weights).

Yes- that was me. Whenever I make batches with a high amount of CO, they always tend to overheat and crack, too, except for when I do this:

I gently press a layer of bubble-wrap onto the surface of my soap (the 'bubbles' are lying on the soap's surface and are slightly sunken into it). Then I cover my mold with it's mold cover, which sits flush on the top of my mold (as opposed to the kind that fit inside the mold opening and sit flush against the soap). Then I set some full water jugs on the cover to act as counterweights to the soap, which tends to rise as it get gels. In the end my soap has no cracks in spite of how hot the soap gets or how high it tries to rise.

I started regularly using the bubblewrap and counterweights with this particular formula ever since I made a milk & honey soap with it using bubble wrap as my liners for a honeycomb look, and weighing the cover down when the soap tried to pop my cover off. I noticed that my finished soap did not have any cracks in it in spite of getting quite hot and pushy. All my subsequent batches with the bubble wrap have no cracks either.

IrishLass

 

[Soapsugoii]

Tasha - do you think a heating blanket would get warm enough to work? I have five of the 1.0 liter bebe molds, and sometimes i fill them all at the same time. Or do they make bigger pads, I wonder...

IL - I'm really wanting to try this! I have asked some coworkers to save bubblewrap for me in the next couple weeks