It hasn't been cooking but 10 minutes. It looks like this.
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navigator9
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It's been cooking for two hours and a half now. It still doesn't look like this.
If you would share your recipe (including additives) in weights, we can help you troubleshoot better.
Don't throw it away! Save it until after Monday when the majority of folks get back online. (We actually have more people on weekdays than weekends.) I do not make HP, as it seems needlessly complicated for no benefit, whatsoever, so I am no help. But Monday is coming, and I do not mind bumping this thread if you don't get an answer before then.
I didn't throw it out. It's the consistency of Parmesan cheese, but I put it into a mold.
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I wish I had come on a little earlier. You have a water discount affecting your recipe. YOu should be fine in another day or so but if you make this recipe again, use 210g of water (20g more than what you used) for the 70g of lye you used. That will give you enough liquid not to dry out so fast. By the way, how high was your crockpot? was it on low?
I'm trying to post a picture of my new batch. It totally looks like vaseline! I can't post a picture but I figured out what I did wrong.
This time, I left the crockpot alone for 45 minutes. The first batch, I was probably opening it up every fifteen to twenty minutes.
This time, I left the crockpot alone for 45 minutes. The first batch, I was probably opening it up every fifteen to twenty minutes.
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That's another thing. If you stretched that time to 20-30 minutes and stirred when you first see that top layer "collasping into itself", you might have had an easier time. When I cook my soaps, I tend to leave them alone and stir after 30 minutes or so, whenever I see the side bubbling as I go. While you have to babysit a HP soap, you should also be able to enjoy the pauses in between stirs too.
Congrats on making the soap, by the way. :mrgreen:
Thanks. Now, I was putting the soap into the mold and it started to harden. So I imagine there will be hard chunks throughout the second batch. I'll keep learning as I go.
Is it best to wait until the batch is at 160 degrees before I add the fragrance?
How would I increase this recipe to produce 2 pounds of soap? I have a 2# silicone mold, and I noticed that as I filled it with the soap, it was about half full. So, I am guessing this recipe produces about a pound of soap?
Thanks for answering all of my questions. I know I have many!
Thanks for answering all of my questions. I know I have many!
Your first batch can be rebatched by reheating it with a bit of water to help put it back together Remember that most of the water you use to "melt" the soap will need to be evaporated off before you can remold the soap.
You can increase the size of the recipe by setting the ounces to 32 for a two pound recipe. Soapcalc lets you do that but I am not familiar with the lye calculator that you are using. There are links to soapcalc.net in the beginner's section.
Congratulations on your first problem and solving it! Now me thinks you're hooked on soap making for good.
You can increase the size of the recipe by setting the ounces to 32 for a two pound recipe. Soapcalc lets you do that but I am not familiar with the lye calculator that you are using. There are links to soapcalc.net in the beginner's section.
Congratulations on your first problem and solving it! Now me thinks you're hooked on soap making for good.
I am using the soapee calculator. I doubled my original recipe which brings me to 35 ounces of oils. Earlier in this thread, someone mentioned that I had a discount on water, but this is what soapee is telling.
View attachment Soapee - Beginner's Recipe Doubled.pdf
View attachment Soapee - Beginner's Recipe Doubled.pdf
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LOL, I said you have a water discount in you recipe. I was going by the water:lye ratio for it. Especially so for newbies to HP, it's suggested you use 3 parts water to 1 part NaOH when testing recipes for HP soap. It offers the best experience you can get for learning how your recipe behaves while cooking your soap. If you were to do CP, however, You'd want to drop the water to about 2 parts in most cases so you won't have an overly soft batch hardening up in your mold for days on end.
As for the temp to add your FO or EO, I think it depends on the smoke or flash point of your scent. I can barely give you an answer for that at the moment. I'm not quite all there right now. It's 1:30am for me.
As for the temp to add your FO or EO, I think it depends on the smoke or flash point of your scent. I can barely give you an answer for that at the moment. I'm not quite all there right now. It's 1:30am for me.
You want to change the total batch weight. In Soapee, the best way to do that is to change your recipe to % (box #2) and type in the goal weight as 2 pounds (for your goal), then check the box that says 'Adjust oil weights to include water in Oils total' in box #2 (upper right). That adjusts the oils down for you. Depending on the lye concentration you choose, you will end up with a total batch weight closer to the 2 pounds you are aiming for.
Soapee makes adjustments to your recipe on the fly, which is really nice.
Re: lye concentration, you can change that as well. I don't know if you have tried that yet, but since this is HP, I wouldn't suggest using a higher concentration. You need that extra water for HP.
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