Is my soap set yet?

[Rah]

I made some CP soap yesterday, it's been in the mould for about 24 hours and I just went and checked to see if it was set. The thing is - I can't tell! I can make a slight indent in it if I press really quite hard, and when I pull the edges of the mould (I used a flexible plastic box) it makes a sound that I can only describe as the sound royal icing makes when you pull it apart. Now, because royal icing is squidgy, that made me think that my soap is still too squidgy. Is it meant to be really rigid and sort of break away from the mould?
Do you guys think it is ready yet, or should I want a bit longer? (I am impatient... <D)

 

[IanT]

If its cool then its ready to cut!! edit and it should be hard, not squishy or anything... what was your recipe if you dont mind me asking?

 

[Rah]

If it's cool? You mean it was still warm when I put it into the mould? I wouldn't know because I had gloves on when I touched it, but it was off the heat for a very long time before it traced!

And recipe was for 'kitchen' soap from a book called The Handmade Soap Book by Melinda Coss.
It was:
30g (2 tbsp) coffee grounds
325g (11.5 oz) distilled water
340g (12oz) beef dripping
340g (12oz) coconut oil
227g (8oz) olive oil
142g (5oz) lye

I chose to use that as my first soap because the ingredients were all relatively easy to find, plus I love coffee...

 

[topcat]

I ran that through soapcalc's lye calculator Rah and it will definitely be a very cleaning soap. That is 0% superfat (or no lye discount at all) so it would be harsh as a body soap and will make cleaning your hands really easy! The coffee will also help with any kitchen odour like garlic or onion. It also seems quite water-heavy, so that will effect how long it needs to be in the mould....more water = longer to dry/set up.

Congratulations on your first CP soaping adventure! Sometimes I have to leave my soap in its mould for 48 hours.....just wait and see how it goes. If you unmould a little early you will just leave a fine layer behind on your liner probably - no big deal

Tanya

 

[IanT]

If it's cool? You mean it was still warm when I put it into the mould? I wouldn't know because I had gloves on when I touched it, but it was off the heat for a very long time before it traced!

And recipe was for 'kitchen' soap from a book called The Handmade Soap Book by Melinda Coss.
It was:
30g (2 tbsp) coffee grounds
325g (11.5 oz) distilled water
340g (12oz) beef dripping
340g (12oz) coconut oil
227g (8oz) olive oil
142g (5oz) lye

I chose to use that as my first soap because the ingredients were all relatively easy to find, plus I love coffee...

nope it should still be heating up when you pour it into the mold (the saponification process will take anywhere from 18-36 hours to complete...any longer and id recheck the recipe... some times soaps need to sit for a while before unmolding, all depends on your particular recipe. i wouldnt be too worried because soapcalc says its fine!!

great job on your first cp!

 

[MikeInPdx]

Congrats on the first batch.

Can I make a suggestion? Any time that you use a recipe from a book, run it through SoapCalc or Soapmaker to double check the lye content....books have misprints and it's better safe than sorry.

Plus, some of the older books have different superfats than what is currently considered standard.....for example, Melinda Coss tends to 0 superfat....some of Norma Coney's recipes are downright lye heavy, and Susan Miller Cavitch superfats way too heavily for my tastes.

 

[Rah]

Topcat - Thanks :] It has been in the mould for about 48 hours now, I did take it out earlier but it had some crumbly bits at the eges (nothing major or anything) which were quite soft so I put it back in. The actual block itself seemed pretty hard though so I think it is ready, though i may be wrong...

IanT - Oh right well, I didn't think to take the temperature after I'd mixed the lye solution with the fats so thats why i didn't realise!

MikeInPdx - Thanks for the tip, I will do that next time. What % superfat would you recommend, by the way? Also when superfatting would you recommend increasing the oil amount or decreasing the lye amount or does it not make any difference?

Thanks for the congrats guys I will try and take photos of my soap soon. Need to cut it first.

 

[MikeInPdx]

I usually like to start out at around 5% superfat....for gift soaps. If you measure in grams, you can go down to 2-3% but make sure your scales are accurate and you measure very carefully.....I do that for my own personal soaps.

I would leave the oils the same amount.....just take your soap recipe....plug it in to your lye calculator with your desired superfat....and then use the recommended amount of lye.

With many books, you will probably find little difference....with others, there's quite the discrepancy, and I would use the lye calculator amounts.