SMF March Challenge- Whipped Soap

[galaxyMLP]

I wanted to say, for those people who are having trouble unmolding, I did place mine in the fridge overnight but then I took it out and let it sit at room temp for an additional 24 hours. It was still very soft when cut and I didn't zap test because of that. At the time of posting the tutorial, the soap did not zap (1 week later). This soap may take a little longer to saponifiy however it will harden up and should be ready to use within the traditional curing time.

I tried the second batch in a silicone mold and after sitting for 4 days, I still could not get them out cleanly. I don't usually use silicone molds so I didn't anticipate that issue. However, I now think it may be best not to use silicone molds (it may have just been mine). Let me explain my thinking behind putting the soap in the fridge at first:

This soap is dependent on the oils staying cool. If your reaction begins to generate heat and your oils melt, you will loose some "fluffiness". Your soap may still float but it is likely that any texture will deflate and smooth out (think piping, and textured swirls here). If you know your FO is not a heater or your recipe is well behaved, leave the soap out at room temp/in a cool area. I put mine in the fridge because I was worried the coconut FO would heat and I really didn't want my piping to deflate or get partial gel.

I took my soap out of the fridge because I noticed it really wasn't hardening much. I knew after sitting in the fridge all night it was unlikely to overheat now if I let it sit at room temp. But I was hoping it would harden faster sitting on the counter. If my soap had still been too soft after that, I would have placed it in the freezer overnight to completely harden it so I could remove it from the mold at least. I'd let it thaw before I cut it though.

Some tricks I would try if your soap is not coming out.
-let the soap sit at room temp for a day
-freeze the soap if it's stuck in the mold, the allow to thaw before cutting.

I'm sorry for those of you that are having some difficulties.


ETA:

So using an A fo with 40% lye, would it still work, or does this need more water?

40% lye concentration? Yep, that should be just fine. Mine was right around 33% but the second one I did was closer to 40%. I don't think it should be an issue at all.

I soap my Castile recipes at 45% concentration and never have an issue so I think this should play by similar rules. I master batch my lye at 45% and sometimes I don't add as much extra liquid so my recipes rance from about 45-33% lye concentration.

 

[lionprincess00]

Thx! Off to soap!
:twisted:

 

[lionprincess00]

Ok, if i add my fo before lye water, does it increase the chance of acceleration? Sorry, but I'm paranoid. Only time i added fo before lye on an A it became a rock. Literally couldnt smash into mold, and being salt bars it crumbled to oblivion on rebatch and went into the trash.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Ok, if i add my fo before lye water, does it increase the chance of acceleration? Sorry, but I'm paranoid. Only time i added fo before lye on an A it became a rock. Literally couldnt smash into mold, and being salt bars it crumbled to oblivion on rebatch and went into the trash.

I originally thought that would be ok but then I thought about it some more. I probably would wait to add it after you've already mixed in the lye.

Keep in mind that you'll have to whip the soap a lot once you add in the lye. If you've already added the lye, you can mix the FO in by hand with a spaltula or spoon. You won't have that luxury if you add your FO before you add the lye.

 

[lionprincess00]

Done! Thx for the reply, and sorry I'm a mile a minute with questions. Paranoid using salty mariner bb, i added after lye. SB fats and oils, cooled lye with 40% concentration, sodium citrate and sugar, sb that after folding it all in at once to incorporate (like egg whites), added fo, sb, and the batter stiffened like over worked gluten in dough, but it remained pliable and moldable, quite much so. I was so surprised at this entire process, thank you so much for doing this challenge! A great learning experience!!!! It's in the fridge and will sit for however long it needs. Will check daily.
I was able to do multiple layers and although grainy, I sb the fo into submission which may account for the stiffness. All in all it worked beautifully (fingers crossed low on air pockets!).
Thx again

 

[amd]

Ok, if i add my fo before lye water, does it increase the chance of acceleration? Sorry, but I'm paranoid. Only time i added fo before lye on an A it became a rock. Literally couldnt smash into mold, and being salt bars it crumbled to oblivion on rebatch and went into the trash.

The FO that I used for mine I had attempted to make soap with twice before and the batter both times went to gloppy concrete within 5 seconds of adding the FO. When I made the whipped soap, I added the FO to the oils before adding the lye and it didn't accelerate. (That's about the only good thing I can say about this experience is that I finally have a nice looking bar of orchid fragranced soap.) YMMV

 

[lionprincess00]

Thx amd. My only beef with this method is the mess lol
I try to be neat (I'm fickle for I hate HATE cleaning ), and mess is unavoidable. Otherwise, so many options!

 

[lionprincess00]

Sad day. It was in the freezer overnight, put in the fridge to thaw this morning, and removed to cut a few hrs later. It stuck to my silicone mold terribly, and once finally out and cut it proceeded to completely fall apart. I made several layers while it was fairly fluid. It didn't break at the layers, however. The soap piece broke in multiple horizontal places. One bar was cut crooked and overly large, and it held together. If I dont have a chance for round 2, can I enter the lone bar so long as it floats? I suppose I'll rebatch the rest.
Hopefully I'll get a chance for a second try. Maybe I'll use more water and hope it holds together.

 

[galaxyMLP]

You may have wanted to let it sit a few more hours at room temp. It probably wasn't done saponifiying since it went from the freezer, to fridge and only sat out for a few hours.

You can absolutely enter your lone bar.

I'm sorry to hear cutting didn't go well for you!

Eta: did you cut with a knife? Or wire?

 

[lionprincess00]

Flat dough slicing thing for soap cutting. I just dont know why it fell completely apart. I understand sticking, but to split into multiple pieces. It normally tends to crumble when high stearic is left too long uncut in low water. Probably the culprit now that I think about it. When my stearic is over 9 I tend to run into this, and it was a 10 if I recall.

 

[newbie]

With all the air, the bars are more fragile until they've fully saponified and hardened, I've found. I've had to cut very very carefully. Because the recipe I'm using for this gets super hard, I also can't wait too long of the bars get too hard and can break. There's a definite window of time here to figure out.

 

[Arimara]

With all the air, the bars are more fragile until they've fully saponified and hardened, I've found. I've had to cut very very carefully. Because the recipe I'm using for this gets super hard, I also can't wait too long of the bars get too hard and can break. There's a definite window of time here to figure out.

I'm guessing that using an individual bar mold may make the cold process easier?

 

[DeeAnna]

Warm those brittle soaps up a bit in the oven before cutting, maybe?

 

[lionprincess00]

Warm those brittle soaps up a bit in the oven before cutting, maybe?

Ive done that in the past with splitting cp soaps. Cut one, it splits, heat in oven to soften, and the rest split in spite. I can normally get one to behave in the batch, but the rest fail.

I decided i will rebatch this one and try #2.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, I bet you are frustrated with that! I would be seriously annoyed. :evil:

 

[Sonya-m]

My imagination has completely gone away and I've no idea what design I'm going to attempt. I did have one in mind but I think it means doing the soap in 3 separate batches and waiting for each to set before doing the next. Do you foresee any issues doing this??

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Okay, I was up way too late tonight, but I got my oils measured out, hard oils melted together and stuck in the fridge to re-solidify, and lye water mixed and also stuck in the fridge to get it nice and cold.I'm that much closer to making my first batch tomorrow!

Sonya--I don't see any more issues than you'd get from any other time where you'd be making and pouring separate batches on top of one

 

[Saponista]

I'm currently doing a bit of a macgyver with some sticky tape, drinking straws and a syringe. Hmmmm, I hope this turns out the way it looks in my mind. Sadly that isn't often the case with my crazy ideas....... :crazy:

 

[Serene]

First try was a failure due to lack of coffee. Do start soaping at 5am without having a cup of coffee first. sigh....

 

[Misschief]

I'm hoping I'm well enough on the weekend to 1) come up with an idea and 2) try another batch. Right now, I'm one week into the flu/cold bug that's going around and it's no fun at all. I've missed 3.5 days of work in the past week, my ribs feel like they're cracked because I've been sneezing so hard and coughing so deeply and now I've got a headache on top of it all.

Why yes, I AM feeling sorry for myself; why do you ask?