Questions on my recipe for CP

[dbloomingdale]

Well, I did not know whether to post this under this beginners topic or under the CP topic. But right now that is the least of my my concern. I've been doing this bath and body hobby for about 16 years but only have about 30 batches of CP under my belt. I have lived in Texas for about 10 years and prior to that in Nebraska. Since living in Texas, all my different soap recipes have come to trace quite quickly. That was until yesterday. Mind you, I am not complaining because it gave me more time to play with my soap.

Here is the situation:
I pulled out a recipe that I had used once before. That being Coconut oil at 30%. Crisco at 20%, Lard at 20% and Olive oil at 30 %. 5% SF. Lye was at 7.19 ounces. Total oils 50 oz.

So the first thing I did was make my lye solution. Then I went to start measuring my oils and discovered that I had no lard. I was on a time constraint as I needed to start getting ready for work. So I subbed the lard for more crisco and ran it thru the soap calc and my Lye was recommended at 7.14. I figured that this would be close enough. I did use an additive in this soap that I have not used in the past. I added 1.5 ounces of ground up oatmeal at trace. Most of the soap was poured in a single rectangle mold but I also poured the some of the soap into two individual cavities before adding my FO (1.5 ounces). I needed two bars with no fragrance.

When I peaked at my soap this morning, it was cool to the touch but it looked like it was stuck in gel phase. The two individual bars look perfect and beautiful. Then I went to clean out my soap pot and before adding any water, I found the soap to be soft and could mold the left over soap into a ball quite easily.

So my questions are: 1) will the individual bars ever get hard enough to pop out of the molds (please say yes as I had certain plans for them)? and 2) how do i prevent this recipe from going into a gel phase in the future if I want to continue to pour everything into a single mold (as I loved the creamy white color that the individual bars are)?

TIA!!!
Diane

Just to clarify. The soap in the loaf mold only looks like it is still in a gel stage. It is just slightly soft to the touch but definitely on the hard side.

 

[steffamarie]

I would leave (edit: the individual molds) for another couple of days before attempting to unmold. They should harden up more in that time. If you want to prevent gel phase in the future, you can try putting it in the fridge. Individual molds don't gel as easily as your large mold will because they don't retain heat. If they don't gel, they'll take a little longer to unmold. If you're able to get the soap out of the large mold, you could unmold it today and leave it to sit out in the open air for another 24 hours or so before you try to cut.

 

[dbloomingdale]

I would leave (edit: the individual molds) for another couple of days before attempting to unmold. They should harden up more in that time. If you want to prevent gel phase in the future, you can try putting it in the fridge. Individual molds don't gel as easily as your large mold will because they don't retain heat. If they don't gel, they'll take a little longer to unmold. If you're able to get the soap out of the large mold, you could unmold it today and leave it to sit out in the open air for another 24 hours or so before you try to cut.

OK!!! I will try sticking the loaf mold in the fridge the next time. But will the food in my fridge take on the smell of the soap? Also, I covered my soap with a towel. Do you think not covering it with a towel would be enough to prevent the gel stage? I also covered my soap with plastic wrap.

Thanks for the speedy reply and good advice!!!

Diane

 

[MKLonestar]

Being how high the humidity levels are here in Texas due to all the rain we have been experiencing the past few days/weeks, it could take a little longer to unmold than usual. I have found that the rain really messes with how long I have to leave mine in the mold. I do put mine in the oven (I do not ever heat the oven up though) and will leave them in there for a day or two before unmolding. I have had to wait as long as 4 days to unmold if it was really rainy, though.

Where in Texas are you located?

 

[dbloomingdale]

Being how high the humidity levels are here in Texas due to all the rain we have been experiencing the past few days/weeks, it could take a little longer to unmold than usual. I have found that the rain really messes with how long I have to leave mine in the mold. I do put mine in the oven (I do not ever heat the oven up though) and will leave them in there for a day or two before unmolding. I have had to wait as long as 4 days to unmold if it was really rainy, though.

Where in Texas are you located?

I am in Plano, on the verge of Allen. What about you?

 

[steffamarie]

Covering the soap in a towel will encourage gel by allowing it to retain heat. If you can't put it in the fridge, you could try covering with a layer of plastic to prevent anything from blowing into it and turning a box fan on it. Set it up on some cans or cups or something to help air circulate around the whole mold.

 

[dbloomingdale]

Covering the soap in a towel will encourage gel by allowing it to retain heat. If you can't put it in the fridge, you could try covering with a layer of plastic to prevent anything from blowing into it and turning a box fan on it. Set it up on some cans or cups or something to help air circulate around the whole mold.

Got it!!!!

 

[MKLonestar]

I am in Plano, on the verge of Allen. What about you?

We just moved (8 weeks ago) from Arlington to Portland, which is just across the bay from Corpus Christi. I got tired of the DFW rat race and traffic, so wanted to be away from it and near the beach. I am keeping all my doctors at UTSW though, so will have to still deal with the traffic every 3-6 months .

 

[lenarenee]

The soft soap you were questioning was less than 24 hours old?

It all depends on the recipes we use, but generally speaking, it takes 18 to 48 hrs for soap to become hard enough to cut. Gelling definitely reduces that time. My high lard recipe doesn't typically gel and it can take 3 days to cut. (Nurture's black raspberry vanilla had me pacing the floor for 6 days just to unmold!)