Please help, what has happened to my soap?

[Ceri]

Good afternoon all, sorry for size of pics.

I am a complete newbie here and am posting in desperation...sob.

I tried what I thought would be a lovely batch, but disaster struck.

My receipe was:
300g coconut oil
300g olive (pomace) oil
300g Sunflower Oil,
100g beeswax.

I used 300ml tap water & 135g sodium Hydroxide. (run through MMS lye calc beforehand)

It seemed to be going so well and traced within 5 mins or so, i poured it into a silicone loaf mold, covered it with cardboard and wrapped it all up in old towels. It set up nicely overnight and I de-molded it this morning.

Any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated, I really want to save it if i can.


Thank you :cry:

 

[loveit_latherit]

That sticks...I feel bad for you :cry: I can't help as I'm pretty new also, but I just wanted you to know that I understand and hate being disappointed too. Better luck on the next one and hopefully some has an answer for you. Good luck! :wink:

 

[Deda]

10% Beeswax, try the recipe again with 1 or 2%.

 

[Zenobiah]

This happened to me when I used sunflower oil once as well. Never used it since.

 

[Ceri]

Thank you guys,

loveit_latherit - thank you for your support it is disheartening when something goes wrong

Deda - I'll try it again with a lower % of beeswax and keep my fingers crossed.
Do you reckon I'd be able to re batch it and add more oil & Lye?

Zenobiah - what do use now instead of sunflower? I like coconut but i believe this can make the end soap a bit drying.

 

[Zenobiah]

Just up one of the other oils. I have heard it said that CO is not really drying but is some sort of myth among soapmakers but I really don't know, haven't researched it myself. I would go with more OO personally.

 

[Ceri]

Thank you Zenobiah, I,m just running a tweaked version through the lye calc as we speak, I'll let you know how it goes xx

 

[dagmar88]

Just up one of the other oils. I have heard it said that CO is not really drying but is some sort of myth among soapmakers but I really don't know, haven't researched it myself. I would go with more OO personally.

It's not a myth; you just have to up your superfat when you use higher percentages of coconut.

 

[ewenique]

Well, your recipe should've been okay. Are you sure that you measured correctly/that your scale is accurate? I've read that if it crumbles like that it may be lye heavy, although the 135 grams is a proper amount. If you touch your tongue to it, does it zap?

You should be able to rebatch. There are diffferent methods. For smaller batches like yours, I like to grate the soap up, put it in a microwave safe container, and melt it. You can melt it on a lower power for 5 minutes, stir, and put it in again until the soap is melted enough to glop it into the mold. Or you can use high power for a minute or so. Just keep an eye on it so it doesn't volcano. Often my rebatches turn out nicer than the original. Give it a try. It's a great opportunity to learn more about soapmaking.

 

[Ceri]

Hi Ewenique,

Thanks for the re-batch tip, I'll give it a go. I tried the zap test and it seemed fine, no zap, just crumbly :O(

It is just a plain batch so I could test the base recipe without wasting EO's additions etc. I can't wait to crack the base recipe so I can start experimenting with yummies.

 

[carebear]

Just up one of the other oils. I have heard it said that CO is not really drying but is some sort of myth among soapmakers but I really don't know, haven't researched it myself. I would go with more OO personally.

It's not a myth; you just have to up your superfat when you use higher percentages of coconut.

the myth is that the SAP was incorrectly calculated for coconut oil and we've all been making lye heavy soap without knowing about it. so people substitute a different SAP for it and voila - milder soap. some well known soapers have bought into this - and I cannot for the life of me imagine why.

why is it absurd? cuz if the SAP was wrong to begin with, all my 100% coconut, low SF soaps would have been zappy and lye heavy and they aren't. so what people are doing by using a different SAP is simply superfatting at a higher percent. make sense?

I

 

[Ceri]

Thank you Zenobiah, I,m just running a tweaked version through the lye calc as we speak, I'll let you know how it goes xx

Just checked my two tweaked test batches, they have both set up but still a little too soft to de-mold, I'll check again tomorrow and try cutting them.

 

[Ceri]

Just up one of the other oils. I have heard it said that CO is not really drying but is some sort of myth among soapmakers but I really don't know, haven't researched it myself. I would go with more OO personally.

It's not a myth; you just have to up your superfat when you use higher percentages of coconut.

the myth is that the SAP was incorrectly calculated for coconut oil and we've all been making lye heavy soap without knowing about it. so people substitute a different SAP for it and voila - milder soap. some well known soapers have bought into this - and I cannot for the life of me imagine why.

why is it absurd? cuz if the SAP was wrong to begin with, all my 100% coconut, low SF soaps would have been zappy and lye heavy and they aren't. so what people are doing by using a different SAP is simply superfatting at a higher percent. make sense?

I

ahaa, yes it does, what % superfat would you reccommend?

 

[dagmar88]

your recipe is:
30% coconut oil
30% olive oil
30% sunflower oil
10% beeswax

I tend to keep my coconut at 25% with 7% superfat, but I've used around 10% sf for 30% coconut.

Personally, I'd fully ditch the beeswax and replace it with olive oil; it cuts away the lather and you don't need it for hardness.

 

[carebear]

ahaa, yes it does, what % superfat would you reccommend?

depends on your formula and your objective