Need Help ..Failed Honey recipie

[wisoaper1]

HI
I just made my first batch using honey and it was a failure. I Only have 3 good bars and the rest I will have to cut into chunks and add to another batch

For some reason there were deposits of honey throughout the loaf which were like pools of honey.
Heres what I did to help you identify what I might have done wrong:

added warm water to honey to dissolve it ( I thought this would help it mix better)

added honey after trace (2 TBS for a 5 lb batch)

I didn't insultate, because I read this somewhere that the honey already makes the batch hot so insultating will cause it to overheat

Other than that I didn't do anything different from other basic batches I have made

Please help ! I want to make this batch of oatmeal honey soap again,.....but I don't want to waste ingredients

If I'm going to make the same mistake again. Thanks

 

[green soap]

What I do is add the measured amount of honey to my filtered water, then freeze the honey water in ice cube trays.

When i want to make honey soap I take the ice cubes out, wait until there is just a little liquid at the bottom, add my lye and stir diligently. Then proceed as normal.

 

[wisoaper1]

Thanks for your suggestion..you've never had a problem with honey deposits in your soap using this method? I still wonder what caused the deposits...any guesses?

 

[green soap]

No, never did have a problem using this method. Honey does not dissolve in oil, but it dissolves in water very well. Perhaps this helps explain the honey deposits?

I never got honey deposits since my first honey soap was completely ruined. It burned, and it always had that funky burnt soap smell, so it is possibly the only soap I ever had to dump in the trash. So I did the ice cube thing after that and it has always worked well. Just make sure your lye is completely dissolved, it takes a little longer since the mix will be cooler from the frozen water/honey.

 

[wisoaper1]

Thanks for your help

 

[booboo]

I add my honey to the oils when I am heating them up, add the lye water and then stick blend it all together. I tend to soap on the cold side.
I think when I first started using honey I would dissolve it first in water first and then add lye.
I have had honey causing problems when it was in the mold, it got very hot and the oils and lye water seperated.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I just made a batch this weekend turned out great! I add honey to oils and I also insultate. But that's just me

 

[Loolee]

if you are sure that you measured everything correctly, you can rebatch all of it. mix everything up real well before you pour in to the mold. It should be fine!

 

[judymoody]

I also recommend rebatching. That's a lot of soap and it's worth trying to save it.

I add a slurry of honey and water to my COOLED OFF lye solution. If you try this, use a tall container, put it in the sink, and add the honey gradually because the lye will heat up again and could possibly volcano. Once it is cool, soap as usual. In my experience, I don't get overheating in my soap as the sugars in the honey have already reacted with the lye solution and done their thing.

 

[wisoaper1]

Thanks for all the replies...this list rocks!
I'm going to try rebatching tonight..ill keep you posted