My first batch

[tjcav2363]

Hi, I just made my very first batch of soap and it is really soft and I'm not sure if it is good or not. :shock: I made it in a plastic square 2 inch deep bowl so I could just pop it out. I let it sit for about 36 hours as suggested. When I went to pop it out it stuck and I had to go around the edge of the bowl with a knife and it still stuck inside. Then using a spatula I removed the rest. It has a consistency of kind of soft wax. The following is my recipe could anyone give me a tip as to why it's so soft? I did pry it out which kind of messed it up but it's my first batch so I'm experimenting and have placed it on wax paper and put on a shelf in my hutch so it is in a dry dark place.

5 oz. Lye
1/8 c castor oil
1/8 c jojoba oil
4 c veg. oil
2 c distilled water
4 drops tea tree oil

 

[dubnica]

You cannot measure your ingredients in cups when you are making soap. You need to measure in oz or grams and run every recipe through soap calc.

There are a lot of turorials here for beginners and they are very helpfull.

 

[judymoody]

Yes, recipes must be by weight not volume in order to be able to determine if the quantity of lye is appropriate.

That said, I see a few possibilities.

All of your oils (technically, jojoba is a wax) are liquid at room temperature. Under the best of circumstances, that will produced a softer soap.

"Vegetable oil" is not specific enough. The amount of lye necessary to saponify soy, canola, corn, etc. is different for each oil.

If you used a mold with a fair amount of surface area and did not insulate, your soap probably didn't gel. That would also contribute to initial softness in the finished product.

Four drops of tea tree oil isn't going to impart anything in a recipe of this size. Fragrance (depending on type) is typically used at 3-6% of your weight of soaping oils.

A great place for beginners is millersoap.com Her recipes are good but large in size. You can resize them by using a calculator like the ones at Majestic Mountain Sage, Summerbee Meadow, or soapcalc.net

Run any recipe you find, be it in a book or on the internet, through a lye calculator to make sure it is balanced.

A reliable digital scale is a must, ideally one that measures in grams or to one tenth of an ounce.

Hope this helps.

 

[IrishLass]

Hi Traci!

I'm looking at the recipe you used and right off the bat I see a glaring problem- the amounts are listed as volume measurements instead of weight measurements. I know there are many soap recipes on the net that use volume measurements, but that's actually a big no-no when it comes to good soap-making. Using a scale to weigh your ingredients is the standard/recommended way of measuring them because it's much more precise and/or accurate. And trust me, when working with lye, the more precise/accurate you are with your amounts, the better you will be able to avoid lye-heavy soap as well as a host of other potential problems.

Unfortunately, because you used volume measurements instead of weighing, and also because I'm not sure what type of 'veg oil' you used, I'm not able to tell if your lye amount is correct for your batch, which in turn means I cannot help troubleshoot what's going on with your batch all that well (if at all).

What was your veg oil made of? I ask because every oil used in soap-making has what is know as a SAP number, which basically denotes how much lye it will take to fully turn that particular oil into soap. When something is labeled as just 'Vegetable Oil', it is usually a mix of different oils unless specified otherwise on the bottle, and if it's a mixture of different oils, there's no way for me to gauge its correct SAP number, which means that I won't know how much lye to add in order to aviod a lye heavy soap on one end of the spectrum, or an overly superfatted soap at the other.

May I ask where you got the recipe?

Here is a great tutorial that helped me when first starting out:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldp ... cpsoap.htm


IrishLass

 

[ToniD]

Yes, for your next batches of soap it will be good to follow the above suggestions. for now, you can wait a week or so and then "zap test" your soap. Either wet your finger, rub it around on your soap to get a bit of it on your finger and then touch it to your tongue, or just touch your tongue to your soap. If you feel something like a tiny touch of electricity, then your soap is lye heavy. If so, look into rebatching.

If it passes the zap test, you can try it, and then let it cure for 6 weeks. It will get harder. All soaps start out a touch soft and then gets harder, it depends on the recipe how quickly they firm up. Some can take weeks and some hours.

Judy mentioned Millersoap, which is a good resource. I also like David Fisher. You can check out soapqueen also.

 

[tjcav2363]

Hey everyone I just wanted to say thanks so much for all your input and next time I'll weigh it all correctly! Fortunately as much as I was hoping it would come out ok I expected my first attempt to be a failure for I do know that that is the only way to learn. :cry: So now I know that I have to weigh out in weight measurements. I had copied this recipe from somewhere (can't remember where now) but it too just said vegetable oil could be used and I didn't know there were different types of vegetable oils. Boy I see I still have alot to learn but that's ok I don't give up easily!

 

[SoSoapy]

You have a great attitude!

I have been soaping for about six months and I still find I have more questions with each batch of soap I make!

My first soap was In October of 2011

hang in there! The people on this forum have great ideas!

 

[tjcav2363]

Thanks! I hate quitting anything, mistakes just solidify my resolve that I will figure this out. Plus the sense of pride I'll have when I get my first successful batch will be wonderful. I love doing new things and learning new things and I'm rarely intimidated about the fear of failure. I'm online researching new ingredients I can buy to try in my new soap making ventures! :wink: I did figure out the soap calc though and I think that's a good start. 8)

 

[adonudo]

Another thing I can say from my experience is the soap hardens a lot as it cures. Most of the water you put into the soap will actually be leaving it in the process. My bars, after 3 days, are soft enough to deform even while picking them up. After a week, you can drop it with only minor deforming. After 3 weeks, you could chuck it at a wall with minor deformities (except you might dent the wall).

 

[Fragola]

Still curious what kind of vegetable oil you have actually used.

 

[tjcav2363]

What kind of oil...

Um yea well I'm kind of embarrassed to say because I think it was a boneheaded thing ...I had read this recipe that just said to add so many cups of vegetable oil so I used just regular vegetable cooking oil. Was that a mistake? I still haven't figured out that recipe but I don't plan on using it again. The same thing as olive oil. I had read another recipe that had called for olive oil. Is that the same olive oil that is used for cooking? :shock:

 

[IrishLass]

Re: What kind of oil...

Um yea well I'm kind of embarrassed to say because I think it was a boneheaded thing ...

no need to be embarassed- it was your first time soaping afterall. I'm sure we all can regale you with an embarassing story or two or more of our own first attempts. I know I can.

I had read this recipe that just said to add so many cups of vegetable oil so I used just regular vegetable cooking oil. Was that a mistake?

Well...yes, but we'll let it go this time. :wink:

I still haven't figured out that recipe but I don't plan on using it again.

Good!

The same thing as olive oil. I had read another recipe that had called for olive oil. Is that the same olive oil that is used for cooking? :shock:

As long as it lists Olive Oil as the sole ingredient (i.e. no other oils but olive oil), then yes, you can use the same olive oil that you would normally cook with. I myself use the Pure Olive Oil from Costco to make soap.


IrishLass

 

[Fragola]

Was that a mistake?

Cooking oils can be used for soap, but the quantities must be adjusted on a case by case basis and certain oils make a better soap than others.

There are different cooking oils, for example it can be canola oil, or palm oil, etc. I am sure the label must say something to enlighten this mystery.

This was my question, really. And it's not really your mistake, but whoever made the recipe didn't explain certain very important issues.

 

[IrishLass]

And it's not really your mistake, but whoever made the recipe didn't explain certain very important issues.

+1


IrishLass

 

[tjcav2363]

Cool,

Ah not to worry I just go with the flow. :? I'm really having fun in this. The only frustration I am having is trying to figure out the best places to go online to buy what I need and know I can trust the quality of what I am ordering and then for the best prices, etc. In my little town virtually 90% of the stuff that is required is not sold here I have to order it all online and just when I figure out that I need something I have to wait for a week or two to get it in the mail. So really the only issue I have is learning to be patient!

 

[ToniD]

I buy a lot of my oils at Columbus Foods, soapers choice. Brambleberry, Camden Grey, Lotioncrafters are some other online places. I get my Olive Oil at Sams. I get my lye at ACE hardware. Rooto brand. Mine is in the housewares department, but I think some people have to ask at the counter.

 

[adonudo]

I'll be honest, most of my oils come from Costco. I have been looking at Essential Depot lately, so far I order my Lye and a few essential oils from them. I know what I order has good quality so far, I'd say it's a good place to check out.

 

[tjcav2363]

Thanks all!

Thanks for all the input everyone, I'm sure in time I'll figure all this out. I just made another batch today and it went perfectly and hopefully tomorrow when I cut up my bars they will come out just perfectly! So does anyone think I could tackle cupcake soaps? lol..... Katie bar the door!

 

[judymoody]

Two words: Soapers' Choice. Great selection of oils and given the weight of the product, I think their shipping is more than fair. They ship fast too.

For lye, Essential Depot is good as are AAA chemical and the Lye Guy.

For one stop shopping, try Brambleberry.

I get my olive oil at Costco and my coconut oil at Walmart (Louanna brand) if I'm between Soapers' Choice orders.