Newbie Questions!

[nudelogic]

Hello everyone!

I'm brand new to this forum as well as the CP Method.

A few hours ago I just made my first batch of soap! It looked so beautiful when I put it into the mold. After the car ride home, I picked up the mold and it was very hot! I uncovered it and the soap is see-through....

I've watched so many different videos and I've never heard of anything like this happening! Did I do something wrong?

Here's my recipe:

4.8 ounces castor oil
4 ounces coconut oil (76 deg. melt)
4 ounces coco butter
3.2 ounces almond oil

6.08 ounces of water and 2.23 ounces of lye.

I was going for soap more on the softer side.

Any tips and tricks help!

 

[Relle]

What you described is the process of soap making - here's a link in the forum for you to read - have a look at what MoodyGlenn wrote.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=36890&highlight=gelling

It might be a good idea for you to do some research before making your next batch of soap so you know what to expect. Lots of information in the forum and you can do searches if you are unsure, most questions have already been answered before if you spend some time reading.

Would you like to go to the Introduction section seeing your new here and tell us a little about yourself.

 

[nudelogic]

Well I did as much research as I could but I guess I must've missed that part in the curing phase...
That post was very helpful but I'm still confused, will my soap be clear/see through? I thought you had to add an extra step to the process to have that happen.

What are the benefits of letting it gel and not letting it gel?

 

[robtr31]

Well I did as much research as I could but I guess I must've missed that part in the curing phase...
That post was very helpful but I'm still confused, will my soap be clear/see through? I thought you had to add an extra step to the process to have that happen.

What are the benefits of letting it gel and not letting it gel?

to read some answers to your questions type them in on the link below may help.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/resources.html

 

[nudelogic]

I do appreciate everyone's help and concern and I don't want to seem stupid or ungrateful but the address above gave me a bunch of links that no longer work :/

 

[mel z]

nudelogic;

When you picked up the soap mold and it was hot, the soap looked kind of transparent, that is part of the saponification stage and gel stage had begun. That is normal.

Your soap will not be a transparent soap though. It will be a normal opaque soap once it is finished. To make transparent soap it a bit of a different process. Hope that helps.

Oh, there are loads of videos on youtube that are helpful with seeing the stages of soap making, that helps a lot as simply reading the stages does not always make a mental picture of what is happening. Try googling: how to make cold process soap, how to make soap, things as such, these will give lots of choices that I found helpful when I first started, I read everything I could find, but needed some pics to help me out with seeing how it would work.