keeping gm soap from darkening

[awi]

I make gm soap and was recently told that you could add just enough water with your lye to get a thin paste and add that to your slushy gm....slowly, of course and then when proper temp was reached (she recommended 95 degrees) add your oils of equal temp and bring to a light trace and pour into molds.

Does anyone know if this works or not? Will this little adjustment of liquid change my lye measurements?

Thank you.

 

[artisan soaps]

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[awi]

Thank you very much for your suggestion. I prefer to use only gm and not add the water. I have used an ice bath in the past and added the lye very slowly...a little at a time, but I must be going too slow or something beause the temperature wouldn't raise above about 80 degrees. What could I be doing wrong? My oils need to be at 115-120 degrees and isn't the gm and lye mixture to be the same temp when added together? Sorry for my stupidity...I am new at this and some things I just dont understand yet. Thanks for your willingness to help!

 

[SilverMaple]

I freeze my GM solid-- either in ice cube trays or in a stainless steel bowl. Then, VERY SLOWLY sprinkle your lye onto the frozen GM cubes or chunk and stir with a whisk. It takes time, but if you go slow enough, your GM will remain creamy in color and so will the resulting soap, especially if you prevent gel. At first, it seems like you're not doing much aside from scratching around in the frozen GM, but it will gradually thaw and will remain cool throughout.

Be sure to wear eye protection when doing this-- it's easy to scrape and splash if you're not careful.

 

[artisan soaps]

..

 

[awi]

I freeze my GM solid-- either in ice cube trays or in a stainless steel bowl. Then, VERY SLOWLY sprinkle your lye onto the frozen GM cubes or chunk and stir with a whisk. It takes time, but if you go slow enough, your GM will remain creamy in color and so will the resulting soap, especially if you prevent gel. At first, it seems like you're not doing much aside from scratching around in the frozen GM, but it will gradually thaw and will remain cool throughout.

Be sure to wear eye protection when doing this-- it's easy to scrape and splash if you're not careful.

Thank yo so much! So basically if the milk and lye mixture are at room temp or so when added to the oils, it is okay? Is this right? How do you keep it from going through the gel stage. Sometimes mine does and sometimes it doesn't. I normally use molds and i haven't noticed a gel, but when poured into a loaf mold it does. So as long as the soap doesn't separate after poured into the molds, it is okay?

A million thanks for your comments.

 

[awi]

I'm very happy to help, everyone helped me when I started!

You know I carefully measured my temps on my very first batch of soap and haven't done it once since!

I generally mix my water and Sodium Hydroxide at night and soap the next day so it's very much cooled down by then ..

With the goats milk I melt any oils that need to be in the microwave and add my liquid ones if I haven't already, then leave it for 10-15min .. I find this mix can cool down quite considerably without re-solidifying, and during this time I mix the GM & Lye ..

So it's all pretty much room temp by the time I mix everything together and I've never had a batch separate on me yet *touch wood*

*edited to add*

Sorry I forgot to say I use slushy/half frozen GM

I had no idea you could mix your liquid with lye the night before. Could I do this with the GM and lye, or should you only do it if you are using water? This would be so helpful for me. I have two small boys and am a stay home Mom, so I have to do my soaping during naps or when everyone is in bed!

I have been so careful about my temperatures and really wondered it it mattered so much. I guess the general rule is that your soap is okay as long as it doesn't separate...right? I have been told so many times that your oils should be around 120 degrees or so and that if your milk/lye mixture isn't within 5 degrees, it wont turn out. This can't be true because several of my batches were far apart in temperature when I mixed them together. I used my stick blender for a couple of minutes and poured them up...the didn't separate and appeared to turn out wonderful. I have used them and so has my family. No one has complained yet!

Thanks again!

 

[SilverMaple]

I freeze my GM solid-- either in ice cube trays or in a stainless steel bowl. Then, VERY SLOWLY sprinkle your lye onto the frozen GM cubes or chunk and stir with a whisk. It takes time, but if you go slow enough, your GM will remain creamy in color and so will the resulting soap, especially if you prevent gel. At first, it seems like you're not doing much aside from scratching around in the frozen GM, but it will gradually thaw and will remain cool throughout.

Be sure to wear eye protection when doing this-- it's easy to scrape and splash if you're not careful.

Thank yo so much! So basically if the milk and lye mixture are at room temp or so when added to the oils, it is okay? Is this right? How do you keep it from going through the gel stage. Sometimes mine does and sometimes it doesn't. I normally use molds and i haven't noticed a gel, but when poured into a loaf mold it does. So as long as the soap doesn't separate after poured into the molds, it is okay?

A million thanks for your comments.

My GM/lye solution is usually around 90 degrees when I add it to the oils. I don't pay too close attention to temperature, but I don't want the oils to be 'hot'. I'll melt them, then let them sit 30 minutes to an hour so they are cooled down. Add the lye solution/GM and soap as normal.

To prevent gel, I put the soap in a small log mold (2-3 pounds) or a slab mold, and stick it in the freezer for 3-5 hours, then transfer it to a cool place for a couple of days. No gel in all but one batch. Every now and then you'll run across a soap that will gel after you get it out of the freezer, but I've had that happen only once.

Some freeze the soap overnight, but I had that stop saponification completely once, forcing a rebatch. It takes some trial and error. Ungelled soap is usually softer for longer, so I don't unmold it for 2-3 days, then give it a good long cure and you are all set.

 

[kittywings]

I find adding the gm at trace works best/is easiest as far as discoloration is concerned. With canned gm (which gets diluted 50/50 with water), I make the lye solution with 50% of the total water amount needed for the recipe, put it in the freezer/ice bath to cool it down, and then add the rest of the gm at trace. For powdered gm which is even easier, I use the full water amount (well, I usually do a water discount, but I use the whole amount that I'm GOING to use) for the lye solution, cool it as before and mix the powdered gm with a little bit of the oils and then add that whole thing at trace. SUPER easy, you don't have to freeze the gm or add the lye slowly, etc.

 

[artisan soaps]

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[tangled_panda]

I didn't really read the other post, cause my attention span isn't all that great today, but here is what I do and my GM soap is pretty light.

I do HP so I have my oils in the crock pot all heated up.

I freeze my GM, I use an ice cube tray then pack them away in a tupperware container.

I make an ice bath in a large bold, and put a stainless steel bowl in the bath, let it set and get nice and cold.
The I put my GM ice cubes in the stainless steel bowl, add a little bit of lye at a time and poke it around (usually with a chopstick or skewer) The GM will slowly melt, but never gets hot enough to scorch.

Then once all the lye has been incorporated I add it to my oils and process like normal.

The pick doesn't really do it justice, it is much lighter in real life. And smells really sweet after it cures for a while. I actually like my GM soap (unscented that is) cured for over a year. . .lol. . it is like a fine wine, just gets better with age!

 

[roadannii]

If you want a super easy cop out LOL just add Titanium Dioxide to your lye mix - 1 dessertspoon full (not flat but not heaped either if that makes sense LOL) normally does the trick. Thats for an approx 3kg batch.
I have never had any problems with chalkiness with that amount.

I prefer not to add it but I have a lot of customers who like the 'white' look so I cater to them as well :wink:

 

[awi]

I didn't really read the other post, cause my attention span isn't all that great today, but here is what I do and my GM soap is pretty light.

I do HP so I have my oils in the crock pot all heated up.

I freeze my GM, I use an ice cube tray then pack them away in a tupperware container.

I make an ice bath in a large bold, and put a stainless steel bowl in the bath, let it set and get nice and cold.
The I put my GM ice cubes in the stainless steel bowl, add a little bit of lye at a time and poke it around (usually with a chopstick or skewer) The GM will slowly melt, but never gets hot enough to scorch.

Then once all the lye has been incorporated I add it to my oils and process like normal.

The pick doesn't really do it justice, it is much lighter in real life. And smells really sweet after it cures for a while. I actually like my GM soap (unscented that is) cured for over a year. . .lol. . it is like a fine wine, just gets better with age!

THank you for your suggestion. I have used the ice bath trick and it seems to work, but I have worried about the mixture not heating up enough to process the soap correctly, but so far it seems to be working! Does your soap ever start to smell bad after a year? How long of a shelf life does gm soap have? I have been told only a year, but I wasn't sure. How do you store it? Thanks again for your help and your soap looks nice!

 

[jwoodcrafts]

Everything seems to have been covered so nicely already, but I just wanted to add to all these great answers how I keep mine from turning brown.

I use powdered goats milk actually, but anyway, I take my water amount and mix my goats milk powder with my water. Then I put it in a zip lock baggie and freeze it.

I then break it up and put it in my lye/water mixing pitcher. Then I add my lye and stir. It does not heat at all as far as I can tell. Then I just soap as usual and, after I pour the soap mixture into the mold, I stick the mold in my frig overnight. The soap stays a nice creamy white/off white color.

I have never had a batch go brown or tan on me doing it this way.

 

[awi]

Everything seems to have been covered so nicely already, but I just wanted to add to all these great answers how I keep mine from turning brown.

I use powdered goats milk actually, but anyway, I take my water amount and mix my goats milk powder with my water. Then I put it in a zip lock baggie and freeze it.

I then break it up and put it in my lye/water mixing pitcher. Then I add my lye and stir. It does not heat at all as far as I can tell. Then I just soap as usual and, after I pour the soap mixture into the mold, I stick the mold in my frig overnight. The soap stays a nice creamy white/off white color.

I have never had a batch go brown or tan on me doing it this way.

Great idea about putting the mold into the fridge! Do you use a loaf style mold? I do both the loaf and the 4 oz molds and have noticed that my loaf always gels and gets pretty dark...caramel in color to be exact! I didn't realize you could put it directly into the fridge after pouring. I am going to try this today!!!! thank you.

 

[jwoodcrafts]

Yes, I use loaf molds and I do put the soap in the frig as soon as it is poured. Also, I don't use a lid. I don't give it any reason to heat up at all. It has always worked great for me

 

[IrishLass]

Another alternative to the slushy/frozen method is adding fresh, refrigerated goat milk to your oils instead of the lye. That's the method I use and I must say that I like it so much better- less stress and hassle for me. My finished bars are ivory colored or creamy, off-white- even when gelled. I mix my lye with the minimum amount of water needed in order to properly dissolve the lye, and then I add the rest of my liquid amount as refrigerated (not frozen) goat milk directly to my oils and stickblend it in either before adding the lye water, or just after, when my batter is emulsified but not to trace yet. I use the fresh-type refrigerated Meyenburg goat milk that you can find in a carton in the cold case at the grocery store. I usually take my milk portion out of the fridge and let it come down to room temp before adding to my oils.

If I want to do a 100% GM soap I do things the exact same way as above, but with the difference that I add enough powdered GM to my fresh milk to bring my entire liquid amount up to a 100% GM concentration. When I do a 100% GM soap, I lower my superfat to 3% to maintain my bubbly lather quotient.

And yes- you can mix your lye and water days and even weeks in advance just as long as it is stored in an airtight container that is made out of the right kind of material (very important). I mix up a large masterbatch of 50% lye solution all the time that lasts me up to a month. It might even last longer, but by a month it is used up from all the batches I make.

IrishLass

 

[Paula58]

Awi, This part of your post set off alarm bells.

"..was recently told that you could add just enough water with your lye to get a thin paste."

The strongest lye solution you should ever attempt is 50% or equal parts lye and water (or other liquid). Anything stronger and the lye will not fully dissolve and you will end up with a lye heavy soap since the lye will not be fully incorporated into the oils.

Think of the water or other liquid as a carrier used to evenly disburse the lye throughout the oils. If the lye is not fully dissolved you will get lye patches in your soap.

Your lye/ liquid should never, ever be of a paste consistency. It should be fully liquid.

 

[awi]

Awi, This part of your post set off alarm bells.

"..was recently told that you could add just enough water with your lye to get a thin paste."

The strongest lye solution you should ever attempt is 50% or equal parts lye and water (or other liquid). Anything stronger and the lye will not fully dissolve and you will end up with a lye heavy soap since the lye will not be fully incorporated into the oils.

Think of the water or other liquid as a carrier used to evenly disburse the lye throughout the oils. If the lye is not fully dissolved you will get lye patches in your soap.

Your lye/ liquid should never, ever be of a paste consistency. It should be fully liquid.

Hi Paula58-

I may not have been clear...the lady that told me that said to make the Paste and then add it to your goats milk and stir to dissolve. You would still be using the goats milk, but dissolving the lye in some water first. I have no idea about doing this because I haven't tried it, but she says it works for her??? I am really liking the idea of putting the batch into the fridge after pouring it into the mold/loaf. I am going to try this for sure. It sounds less risky to me!!! Thanks for your wonderful help everyone!

 

[Paula58]

Awi, that does make more sense. Just be extra careful that the lye is full dissolved into the goats' milk. I would even give it some bursts with the stick blender and strain it when adding the solution to the oils.