Need help, making whipped soap, oils not blending

[Summerblue]

Hi there!

I need some advice about my whipped soap I'm currently in the process of making. I'm using:

palm oil 65%
coconut oil 22%
castor oil 1.7%
olive oil 11.3%

I haven't added the lye, fragrance or colors yet.

I've been whipping this darn soap for about 30 minutes now and the mixture will not smooth out. There are still firm granular pieces of hard oil that won't soften and work into the whipped blend.

I tried 20 seconds in the microwave and that didn't work. I've tried using my stick blender and it helped a little bit but the oil mixture sort of flattened out a little and there are still those hard bits of oil in it.

Does anyone have any idea what will happen if I continue and add the lye? Will the lye incorporate the hard bits of oil?
Should I just melt the oils and cold process it to save the batch?

I'm not sure what to do at this point.

Any help is welcome!
Thanks,
Anne

 

[krissy]

i always melt my oils all the way down and add the lye before i do any whipping. i have never had any lumps or weird grainy pieces. why are you whipping it before hand? once you add the lye water, your oils will flatten out as the heat from the chemical reaction melts the oils.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

Hi Summerblue,

I have made whipped soap and followed this recipe:

http://nizzymoulds.com/Whipped/index.htm

It worked really well.

Basically you beat your harder oils at room temp, add the softer oils (which is a very small amount) and then add cooled lye (I put mine in the fridge)

The beaten harder oils will look like egg whites. I'm not sure if this is the procedure you followed or not....

 

[Summerblue]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Just to answer your questions:

I am using the Nizzy recipe. The only difference is that I put all of my hard oils and soft oils together and started to whip instead of whipping the hard oils first and then adding the soft oils. I don't know if this made a difference.

I have used this recipe before with great results and the last time I don't remember getting the hard bits of oil in the whipped oil mixture.

Not too sure what to do at this point, continue and add lye hoping it will all incorporate and be fine or just melt the oils down and do the usual cold process.

Thanks for your help Krissy and busymakinsoap!

 

[JackiK]

Hi Summerblue,

I have made whipped soap and followed this recipe:

http://nizzymoulds.com/Whipped/index.htm

It worked really well.

Basically you beat your harder oils at room temp, add the softer oils (which is a very small amount) and then add cooled lye (I put mine in the fridge)

The beaten harder oils will look like egg whites. I'm not sure if this is the procedure you followed or not....

What she said.

I melt my oils and refrigerate them so the CO won't lump. Try putting it in an ice bath. That might help.

 

[Summerblue]

Thanks everyone for your help.

I did end up adding the lye and whipping it some more, this helped and the hard bits of oil finally disappeared.
I think next time I won't put all of the hard and soft oils in at once, I wonder if that's what caused the problem?

Today I have "whippers arm", my shoulder is sore but at least the soap is nice!

I'll post some pictures when I cut it in a few days, it's a springlike soap with light blue, yellow, white, purple and black colors. I think it's going to look nice.

Thanks again everyone, you guys are great!
Anne

 

[JackiK]

Glad it worked out for you. Experience is the best teacher!!

 

[carebear]

Today I have "whippers arm", my shoulder is sore but at least the soap is nice!

did you actually whip by hand? I'd never considered that - I've always used my Mixer.

 

[Summerblue]

Carebear,

I used an electric mixer and sort of circled and figured eighted it around the bowl for about 40 minutes. After a while the weight of the mixer and the repetitive shoulder movement gave me a strain.
I didn't realize that I'd done anything to my shoulder until early this morning when I woke up with it hurting.

I wish I had one of those Kitchen Aid mixers where you just set it up and it mixes while you relax!

 

[JackiK]

Carebear,

I used an electric mixer and sort of circled and figured eighted it around the bowl for about 40 minutes. After a while the weight of the mixer and the repetitive shoulder movement gave me a strain.
I didn't realize that I'd done anything to my shoulder until early this morning when I woke up with it hurting.

I wish I had one of those Kitchen Aid mixers where you just set it up and it mixes while you relax!

I, too, use a hand mixer. It typically only takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach the proper thickness. Hopefully, your next attempt will go better.