Sad day for soaping!!!!

[BWsoaps]

Hey guys, bad news for me today.

So I made goats milk, honey and oat meal soap.

Turned out well but it was still soft after a 3 day mould.

I think this is because I used too much honey and honey is wet.

Anyway I decided to try something I've never done before and put it in the oven for 5 mins on 100c

BAD IDEA

This is the out come.... I'm so sad!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Bad luck, old boy.

How much honey did you use?

 

[cmzaha]

If you ever want to put it back in the oven put the soap back into your molds. Ovens melt soap . Bet you figured that out. You can rebatch it and it will still be a nice soap

 

[Dorymae]

I have a feeling that recipe used way more than the usual 1 Tbsp PPO. Possibly more than double from the looks of the oozing.

 

[doriettefarm]

I'd be tempted to rebatch too but looks like it's sitting on aluminum foil . . . not sure it's worth the risk.

 

[not_ally]

Actually, the color fade looks pretty to me. If that is the only issue I would not mess w/it unless there is something else at issue?

 

[BWsoaps]

It looks ok now it's gone cool.

In the picture it was red hot.

I used a lot of honey yeah, I just poured it in from the bottle lol...

It's all a learning curve

I've placed it back in to the mould and put it back in the oven...

Fingers crossed guys I'll keep you updated xx

 

[spenny92]

I had this happen with a honey beer soap a while ago (the softness part, not the oven part...) and I had to toss the batch. It was a tiny batch, so not a big issue but I think I used too much honey as it was still soft 3 weeks later! Like fudge consistency, you could squish it in your hand easily.

 

[BWsoaps]

Yes spenny that's how they felt exactly!

 

[Susie]

Here is what I have found, that even though soaping can be a wonderful expression of your artistic side, accurate measurements are necessary in soaping to avoid unwanted results. Soaping is both a science(accurate weights and measures) that can't be fooled with, and an art(designs and such).

 

[TeresaT]

Here is what I have found, that even though soaping can be a wonderful expression of your artistic side, accurate measurements are necessary in soaping to avoid unwanted results. Soaping is both a science(accurate weights and measures) that can't be fooled with, and an art(designs and such).

Exactly, Susie!! That's why I love soaping. It's therapy for me, in a way, now that I'm limited in my knitting. It brings out the mad scientist in my artist. Or the artist in my mad scientist. It's great to combine a love for precision and exactness with creativity.

I got that fulfillment with knitting. Now I get it with soaping.

 

[dibbles]

TeresaT, I was a knitter too. An obsessive knitter. So much so that I gave myself a repetitive stress injury. I didn't think anything could consume me like planning a pattern, choosing the wool, creating a soft cozy something from a ball of yarn. Then I found soap! I am spending way too much time watching videos and ogling pretty soap and learning, learning, learning. A new obsession!

 

[IrishLass]

Honey is awesome in soap, but there is a point of diminishing returns, which I believe you've just discovered. lol I would definitely weigh it next time, and stick to about 21g honey ppo (that's a tablespoon's worth).

I agree with Carolyn. It might yet make a nice soap if re-batched.


IrishLass

 

[BWsoaps]

Ok guys. Here is the news...

I put it back in to the mould and put the oven on and here is the result


Looks like the oats got burnt lol

In the bin we go!!

 

[happygoluckyfarms]

Whatever you add in honey you need to take away in oils ie ; 2 oz honey 2 oz less oils Will still work who knows maybe burnt oats is the new scent

 

[umeali]

WB soaps I am.new too here and just make 1-3 soaps only to learn more .I also made honey soap which I shared here and same happened to it.It was soft eniugh and I learnt we should keep it for a week instaed of 24 hours myhoney soap is still a bit soft from upper side where I left alot of oats .But now its turning hard.We all should use something to harden the honey soap .best of luck .

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Why bin it? Is it completely unusable?

 

[IrishLass]

I wouldn't bin it, but that's just me. I would set it aside somewhere and take another look at it a few months down the road. Who knows? It might end up being an awesome soap. Such things have happened to many of us soapers with a seemingly (at first glance) botched batch.


IrishLass

 

[DeeAnna]

"...Whatever you add in honey you need to take away in oils ie ; 2 oz honey 2 oz less oils..."

I have to speak up, since this could create a safety problem. We have a lot of beginners here, and I can just see someone doing this blindly and then wondering why their recipe is not working out properly. If there is more to this bit of advice than just this much, then please give the whole advice so people don't get in trouble.

Here is my advice for using honey --

Honey is a water-based additive; it is NOT a fat. If you add honey to a soap recipe, add it to your soap recipe in reasonable moderation. Leave the rest of the recipe alone! Most specifically do NOT reduce the amount of oils unless you recalculate the recipe to then use less lye in the correct proportion to the new amount of fat.

If you reduce the the fat in a soap recipe, but do not recalculate the lye, this will decrease the superfat in your soap. This is not something you want to do blindly, so always recalculate the lye weight if you do anything to change the fats in the recipe.

If one feels the need to reduce something if adding honey, then reduce the water amount. (Not that I'm suggesting this ... just sayin' that reducing the water is the more reasonable choice if you feel like you have to do something).

 

[doriettefarm]

Excellent advice as always DeeAnna! Am I really the only one freaking out about the fresh soap sitting on what looks like aluminum foil? Not sure if I'd be freaked out enough to chunk it but I would be cautiously watching how things developed. Haven't some folks reported premature DOS from curing on wire racks that weren't stainless?