My first batch! (Pics + Questions added)

[CafeRacer]

I finally made my first batch of soap! After several weeks of gathering supplies, reading through books (Anne Watson and Susan Miller Cavitch) and the SMF archives, and playing around a bunch on soapcalc, I simply couldn't wait any longer! The plan was to start with Anne Watson's Shea Butter Supreme recipe, but since I'm still waiting on my order of shea butter to arrive, I decided to start off with this simple recipe since I already had all of the ingredients:

EVOO - 55% (385g)
CO - 25% (175g)
PO - 20% (140g)
NaOH - 98g
Water - 220g (soapcalc initially suggested 266g and MMS gave a range of 175-260g, so I followed Watson's advice and chose an amount right in the middle of the range)
Superfat - 6%
Water as % of oil - 38%

I decided to leave out any colorants or essential oils for the time being -- I want to get a sense of everything "au naturale" before I start adding color and scent to the mix.

I blended everything really well with my stick blender and got to trace in about 5 min, poured the lot into my homemade wooden loaf mold, and now I'm happy as a clam. All of the advice and insight I've read in this forum has been a great help and hugely encouraging, so thank you all for being so passionate about soap! I can definitely see this becoming a new obsession/addiction/compulsion of mine.

Keeping fingers crossed that this first batch comes out usable and at least halfway decent,

Dave

 

[Bubbles Galore]

G'day Dave & welcome. You are so right in beginning with a simple recipe with no additives. You're going to love this soap. Congratulations on successfully creating your first batch of soap. You are now hopelessly addicted. Enjoy!

 

[CafeRacer]

Thanks, Jenny! I can't tell you how excited I am. I keep checking the sides of my mold to make sure they're still warm and I only poured the soap 2 hours ago! lol

 

[Bubbles Galore]

LOL - No peaking. Are you in USA? :wink:

 

[CafeRacer]

Too late...I already peeked once! haha
Yes, I'm in Los Angeles...I'll add that to my profile.

 

[gekko62]

Hi Dave. It's pretty exciting that first batch isn't it? If you manage to get thru the next few hours without peeking then you have about 100% more willpower than me! So long as you don't rip the covers off n let all the warm out it's ok to take a quick look once or twice...gel phase is amazing!!

 

[jarvan]

Congratulations on mixing your first batch. Sounds like you did CP. I can't wait to see your cut pics!

 

[rubato456]

congrats dave! i'll share a secret....i still peak every time and things still come out great! welcome to the obsession and you must post pix!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Too late...I already peeked once! haha
Yes, I'm in Los Angeles...I'll add that to my profile.

Welcome to the forum and to the addiction.

Have you never heard to "let sleeping logs lie" ?

After more soaping years than I care to admit to, I STILL fuss over every log. Fortunately that is the only OCD symptom I have (to date). I always peek.

 

[Toady]

It really is addictive and like most others I take a peek now and then, although I made some batches of an evening so I'm asleep when they're working their magic and I'd wake up to see it almost ready to unmould.

Can't wait to see pics of your first batch!

 

[CafeRacer]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

OK, here's the update: I was all excited about making my second batch today after my mold was vacant again, but after seeing the below, I thought it best to take a pause and ask some questions first.

This batch was sitting in a wooden mold (kept in a 70 degree room with no blankets) for about 26 hours and when I finally took it out, here's what I saw (apologies if the colors aren't coming through that well -- my digital camera is on the fritz so I'm stuck with my phone's camera ATM...).

The loaf is a nice, creamy color with a hint of yellow. I did a sloppy job in laying a piece of saran wrap on the top before putting the lid on the box, hence the somewhat wonky looking top. See that spot of discoloration on the side?


And when I cut the loaf, I discovered this large, dark area in the middle...


So, the big question I have is, what's going on with the two-tone soap? I haven't quite figured out what gelling is, but is that what's going on in this batch? Should I be concerned?

Secondly, I'm also confused about pH. I haven't embraced the licking of the soap test yet, deciding instead to go the route of pH test strips. When I tested the outside surface of the loaf right before cutting, the pH strip was reading right around 11 or 12. When I cut the loaf and tested a center piece (in the dark area pictured above) the pH came in right at 10. Do any of you experienced soapers out there have any insight into this? If anything, I would have figured that the pH would have been lower on the outside surface and higher on the inside.

Please forgive the nOOb questions, but I'm quite baffled here! :/

Thanks in advance!

 

[krissy]

Nice first batch!!
the 2 tone is partial gel. the darker part gelled, the light did not.
i never have used a Ph strip to test my soap so i can't tell you anything about that. the zap test is the best way to do it as far as i know, if you are testing it to see if it zaps at all.

 

[gekko62]

Your soap looks fine! The inside is always a different colour when first cut.The crust has been exposed to the air whilst the inside hasn't.Give it a day or so & it'll all look the same.

 

[CafeRacer]

Thanks guys! I must say I was a bit disheartened to see the two-tone coloring so I'm really happy to know that everything is OK.

Re pH strips, between 7-10 is considered safe. If you're at 11-12, then you're lye heavy and will get zapped. Perhaps the pH in the lighter, ungelled portion will mellow out in a couple of days? If not, I suppose I can always trim it off and just use the center portion of the bar.

Ah, soaping! Maybe I'll start that second batch tonight afterall...

 

[jennikate]

It' s way soon to be checking PH yet. PH strips are not accurate when used on soap. The zap test is the best way to make sure its all good but checking zap so soon might give you a false positive as it were. I checked a batch at 2 days and got zapped at 5 days it was no zap. God luck and wedlcome to the addiction.

 

[gekko62]

Gel speeds saponification(well heat speeds the process,gelling is what happens when the soap gets hot)so the outer ungelled parts of your log will get there,just at a slower pace. Also,ph strips are notoriously vague,tongue test is the only way to go. Welcome to soaplickers anonymous! :twisted:

 

[satsuki]

Hi! Congrats on your first batch! I have noticed the same thing you did, with the pH being higher on the outside than on the inside. But the pH being 10 on the inside means your soap is a success, so great!

I have read somewhere that many people hardly ever produce soaps with pH <10, and I've never seen it myself. It might just be my recipes though..

 

[satsuki]

Just adding something about pH strips. I use laboratory grade pH sticks and they work perfectly. There is pH paper that doesn't work well for soap making, so make sure you have the right ones. I use Macherey-Nagel (1-14 range with 4 paper sections per stick) and they're great both at my work in the lab and for soap making.

 

[CafeRacer]

Thanks for the insight, satsuki. I've got the Machery-Nagel strips as well...my mom is a chemist and was able to get me some for free. These lab grade strips are great -- they're so much more accurate than the cheap paper test strips we used to use for our pool way back when.

Got too distracted with other things to start my second batch last night, but you can rest assured I'll be soaping today just as soon as the breakfast dishes are put away!

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Your soap looks good Dave. :wink:

Since using a wooden soap mould, I've started to warm the mould up in the oven (@ about 70 to 80c) while making the soap up. I then pour it into mould and pop back into oven. I usually switch the oven off straight away and leave the soap in there for the next 12 to 18 hours. It will gel nicely without need for covering and you can turn the light on and look at your soap without opening the door.