Liquid soap paste dried up

[Anna_smile]

Hello,

I'm quite new to soap making. I just made by second batch of liquid soap paste yesterday but it ended up looking like dried up dough. I used soapee to help me out with the calculations and the following are the amounts I used:

oils 500g:
Castor oil 10%
coconut oil 20%
palm oil 10%
olive oil 60%

SF 1%

KOH 95% 105.9g
water 317.8g

I used the stove top method to process the soap. It did reach the mash potato phase but never reached the vaseline phase. The entire hot process took 2-3 hours, then I decided to use the oven (I do not own a crockpot, and was tired of mixing over the stove) at 120 degrees celsius to see if it can finish cooking. 1h30 min later, stirring it every 20 min. The mash potato paste turned into a softer paste with a slightly darker color, but no where near the vaseline stage. I left it in the oven overnight, then woke up to this hard, dry, dough looking paste.

Would any one know if I can rebatch this paste? I'm suspecting that the soap was unsaponified but dried up due to overheating.

Thanks so much!

 

[DeeAnna]

From what you explained and looking at the photo, I'd say you cooked most of the water out of the paste. If you're going to cook soap paste for hours, you have to keep the soap pot tightly covered to reduce evaporation. If the paste gets too dry during a long cook, you can add liquid so it has a paste texture rather than get crumbly.

You won't always see all of the stages that people say you should see. That's especially true if the water content becomes too low.

Frankly most soap paste doesn't need multiple hours of cooking -- it was most likely fully saponified and done within the first hour.

I haven't checked your recipe for correctness, but assuming it checks out, you've got soap. Go ahead and dilute it. It will be harder to dilute because it's starting so dry, but it will dilute just fine with time and patience.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm suspecting that the soap was unsaponified but dried up due to overheating.

I think it's fine, i.e., fully saponified. And you are correct -- it dried up due to overheating. Once you bring a batch to hard trace you can stop there and let it finish saponification on its own.

From what you explained and looking at the photo, I'd say you cooked most of the water out of the paste. ... Go ahead and dilute it. It will be harder to dilute because it's starting so dry, but it will dilute just fine with time and patience.

I agree with @DeeAnna. To make it easier to dilute, weigh the paste. Then add boiling water to it and let it sit over night to absorb as much of the water as possible.

Here's a link learn more about dilution rates:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/questions-about-dilution.77486/#post-803596

 

[Anna_smile]

Thank you @DeeAnna and @Zany_in_CO for your advices!

I tried diluting a bit of it for the PH test, but it still seem quite high (looks like its near ph12). Does it matter if the PH is that high? or should I add citric acid to it to lower down the ph?

what do you think?

Thanks!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

should I add citric acid to it to lower down the ph?

You can do that if you want to but it's not necessary. LS normally finishes at 9.5 - 11 pH. Adding citric acid to lower the pH needs to be done with care or it will cause the LS to separate. Read more:

pH TESTING AND LOWERING pH

 

[Anna_smile]

thanks so much!!