One good batch, one bad?

[powderpink]

I just started making soap and made my first batch two days ago and so far, despite going overboard with the castor oil, it seems succesful!

At least for a soap. I wanted to make pretty swirls on top, but the consistency got very "cooled pudding-ish" too fast, so. i just resorted to glopping the stuff into my molds and making a mental note to try making a recipe with a slower trace.

But overal, it saponified within 24 hours.

this is the first ( the gloppy) recipe I made with the help of soapcalc:

8% cocoa butter
10% shea
25% coconut oil
40% olive oil
17% castor oil

superfat at 7%
and 14g peppermint EO after trace for a 500g batch.

http://imgur.com/ujbHmVB (<--- the good batch)



So, feeling a little more confident, yesterday evening, I returned to soapcalc made a mix with lots of soft oils and a bit of coconut oil (7% superfat).


4% castor oil
4% macadamia oil
10% sw. almond oil
22% coconut oil
60% olive oil
+ 12g lavender Eo after trace for a 500g batch

mixed it until there was a very light trace (and ma sure it wasnt false by stirring and stickblending a couple times more) which gave me more than enough time to layer black and white into a mold.

However, looking at it today, there are little white spots near the sides and there are some very small drops of liquid on top.

http://imgur.com/DoneikE <---( the doubtful batch)

I did a zap test,and the middle didn't seem to zap but I tested closer to the side and it did?

other than that it seems to firm up a bit...


So my question is did I judge too fast and should I just leave it be for a couple of days? Or should I be worried about the white spots/drops of liquid?

 

[girlishcharm2004]

I wouldn't worry about it at first. Let it sit for a couple days to see if the liquid soaks back in or evaporates. Not sure what you used for a white colorant, how much, or how it was mixed, but those white dots could be from your colorant, soda ash, or something else. See how it is in a couple days and if it still zaps.

 

[powderpink]

Thanks, you were right

I let it sit for another 6 or so hours, after wiping it with a paper towel and lo and behold....it turned out fine

Can't wait to go all out with the colors in my next batch

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Looks good, but I would slow down. For one thing, let this batch cure before you make more of the same recipe - if you don't like it, you've made a load of something that looks good but that you don't like. I'm not saying leave all colours alone, but get used to making soap in various recipes and use some colours if you really want to (do you looking at the soap that much as you use it?) before trying lots of colours in one go.

You might also not be happy with the scent in this one - it was around 2-3% which made fade away somewhat

 

[cmzaha]

Looks good, but I would slow down. For one thing, let this batch cure before you make more of the same recipe - if you don't like it, you've made a load of something that looks good but that you don't like. I'm not saying leave all colours alone, but get used to making soap in various recipes and use some colours if you really want to (do you looking at the soap that much as you use it?) before trying lots of colours in one go.

You might also not be happy with the scent in this one - it was around 2-3% which made fade away somewhat

This is good advice. I would have used 30 grams of lavender which works out at approx 6%

 

[Dorymae]

But first sit down right now and make notes on this batch. Note exactly what happened, what you did, what you added and how much. This info will become so important months from now when you have forgotten. ( yes you will forget after making 6 batches or so, what exactly happened the first time. )

 

[shunt2011]

I would also drop the castor oil in the first recipe to 5-7%. Too much can make soap soft. I would also recommend making some soap with a few ingredients to get the feel for it then add other ingredients. Also much less expensive if you should have a failed batch. Your soap turned out nice though.