So hello finally…

[Tirzahmuse]

Hello, I’ve been stalking this forum for awhile now and finally decided to join.
Little about me I am all into the natural making of things and a big do it myself-er.
I forage for plants, grow my own medicinal flowers, infuse my own oils with them and plants. Make my own tinctures, salves, balms and my own supplements, grow a big garden, pressure can my own food. Plus work a 40 hr job, and a side business that I’ve had for over 9 years.

This years goal was to make my own soap. I did two loafs with MP just to get my feet wet. I have now made 8 different types of soap…much credit to Muddy Mint, and Elly’s Everyday Soap they have been such and inspiration.
Although the soaps I’ve made are still curing but looking amazing, I recently ran into an issue trying to make a lard soap, from lard I rendered as I get a pig every year. And tried to do my own recipe using soapcalc.
Just need some feedback on what may have gone wrong…is there a way to fix it?
It looked beautiful at first butttt then there was a layer of oil on top. I got nervous and suctioned off the excess oil. It did firm up sort of. But to touch it... oil come out the top. I still have it sitting in the mold. It just seems squishy.
I added some photos and the recipe, plus photos of the soap that seems to be a success. The creamy round dish soap bars I made using tallow that I rendered from my cow. Which is look great also.

Thanks in advance for the help. Everyone here seems to be very knowledgeable.

I should add that I do a 50/50 lye solution so the Aloe Juice accounts for the rest of my water. And not sure how I missed it, but as I am staring at the recipe I just saw the NaN % not sure how I did that and more importantly how I missed seeing it till right now. I'm guessing that's my problem..is it fixable?

 

[dibbles]

Do you masterbatch your lye solution or make it fresh for each batch? If you are using masterbatched lye solution and only used 132 grams of that, there is where the problem lies. You would have only added 66 grams of lye and 66 grams of water, which is not enough to saponify your oils and caused the oil to separate.

 

[Tirzahmuse]

Yes I master batch. But I do a 2:1 ratio so the extra “water” was aloe juice. Which I thought gave me my 2

Yes I master batch. But I do a 2:1 ratio so the extra “water” was aloe juice. Which I thought gave me my 2

I tend to do ounces on that part so I did 4.68 oz of lye
4.68 oz of water
4.68 oz of aloe juice

 

[Ekuzo]

Those soap bars look lovely!

It's been quite some time since I last used SoapCalc, but there must be a reason why there are some issues with the results - the water and the total batch weight both appear as 'undefined' which I don't remember happening to me - maybe you just missed to make a selection since you used masterbatch and you knew how much water and aloe to add and you only needed the NaOH calculated. Maybe you should play a bit with the settings, maybe the wrong radio button was selected, or the calculator needed a refresh and cache/cookie cleaning? Can't say if that lead to the issues with the batch though, you say all your calculations (even if missing from soapcalc) were correct, and the correct amount of water, aloe and lye were added - 132.6 gr each.

One thing that I noticed in your recipe though - isn't 102 grams of EO too much for a batch like this? Maybe that's the/part of the problem, and the EO is oozing out on top. If that's the case and you only removed EO, the soap should be fine.

There's also a possibility that you didn't get stable emulsion when you poured and it's really starting to separate, which could be a PITA. I see it's been some time since your post, how is it now, did it solidify nicely in the mold or does it look/feel funny? Is there still oozing on top?

 

[Tirzahmuse]

Those soap bars look lovely!

It's been quite some time since I last used SoapCalc, but there must be a reason why there are some issues with the results - the water and the total batch weight both appear as 'undefined' which I don't remember happening to me - maybe you just missed to make a selection since you used masterbatch and you knew how much water and aloe to add and you only needed the NaOH calculated. Maybe you should play a bit with the settings, maybe the wrong radio button was selected, or the calculator needed a refresh and cache/cookie cleaning? Can't say if that lead to the issues with the batch though, you say all your calculations (even if missing from soapcalc) were correct, and the correct amount of water, aloe and lye were added - 132.6 gr each.

One thing that I noticed in your recipe though - isn't 102 grams of EO too much for a batch like this? Maybe that's the/part of the problem, and the EO is oozing out on top. If that's the case and you only removed EO, the soap should be fine.

There's also a possibility that you didn't get stable emulsion when you poured and it's really starting to separate, which could be a PITA. I see it's been some time since your post, how is it now, did it solidify nicely in the mold or does it look/feel funny? Is there still oozing on top?

Still very soft. Oils seem to be snails pace absorbing. When I touch it it does seem to pool as much. Should I leave it? Just see what happens? Or toss?

 

[bookworm42]

Still very soft. Oils seem to be snails pace absorbing. When I touch it it does seem to pool as much. Should I leave it? Just see what happens? Or toss?

You could try cutting/grating it up and hot processing it. @Ekuzo might have better advice. That's just what I'd do since I'm bad at waiting.

 

[Ekuzo]

Still very soft. Oils seem to be snails pace absorbing. When I touch it it does seem to pool as much. Should I leave it? Just see what happens? Or toss?

If I were you, I would just leave it be and see how it goes. If it doesn't become normal soap, you can rebatch it, as @bookworm42 suggested.

But then again, I haven't had any batter separate and I never had to do anything to save my soap - I just never risk and always play it safe. But if the only issue with the batch is the EO amount and the rest is fine - there shouldn't be any problem with your soap.

Why don't you insulate it or CPOP it to speed up the saponification/absorption?

You could try cutting/grating it up and hot processing it. @Ekuzo might have better advice. That's just what I'd do since I'm bad at waiting.

Oooooh, I'm good at waiting - it doesn't take any effort on my behalf

 

[Tirzahmuse]

Would it still be ok to OP since I actually made it this past Sunday?

 

[bookworm42]

Oooooh, I'm good at waiting - it doesn't take any effort on my behalf

I've used soap 3-4 days after making it. I know it gets better with age but I just can't wait cause I want to use it and test it.
I've gotten better the more soap I make but that's just because my shower can't fit anymore bars in it.

 

[Tirzahmuse]

I’ve just been watching and waiting but I thought I should ask more experienced soapers their thoughts…so here I am. Lol

I've used soap 3-4 days after making it. I know it gets better with age but I just can't wait cause I want to use it and test it.
I've gotten better the more soap I make but that's just because my shower can't fit anymore bars in it.

Hahaha

 

[Ekuzo]

Would it still be ok to OP since I actually made it this past Sunday?

Well, IF it hasn't finished saponification already, that will help a bit. It's still worth the try, instead of putting extra effort that we don't know you really need at the moment. Definitely don't toss it, that's a lot of expensive stuff.

I can see from the photos that it looks pretty solid and is popping out of the mold (not sure if you did it, trying to get it out out or something). But it looks like it's getting into soap, if it hasn't already. I still think that it was only the EO that was getting separated, nothing else. I may be wrong, but it's my theory. In any case, the EO is too much - it sums at 11.25% of total oil weight - which I'm not even sure whether or not is skin safe (I don't use EO and every manufacturer can give you different recommended numbers, but it still looks too high to me).

What are the usual percentages that you use when you make soap with EO? Have you made soap with that much EO before?

I've used soap 3-4 days after making it. I know it gets better with age but I just can't wait cause I want to use it and test it.
I've gotten better the more soap I make but that's just because my shower can't fit anymore bars in it.

Tbh, I haven't tried a soap earlier than a month after being put on the rack.... that being said, even now, there are 3 different bars in the bathroom... too few, I know, I need to step my game up

I’ve just been watching and waiting but I thought I should ask more experienced soapers their thoughts…so here I am. Lol

Of course, we can try to help from a distance... there will probably be more people with more suggestions, so you can measure everything out and decide for yourself what you want to do, so you can save the batch if needed

 

[Tirzahmuse]

My usual measurements for EO is max of 52grams. But usually less. I did end up putting less EO than it said cause it seemed like too much. But did not write it down. I pulled it out of the wood mold to see if the side were holding up yesterday then put it back. And yes most of the other bars I have made I used EO and everything has came out great so far. On the bright side the other 8 loaves I have done look good so to mess up on one isn’t to bad of luck so I’ll consider that a win! I will try to OP it today and see what happens. I’ll let you know

 

[AliOop]

Just to be clear, are you saying that you used 9.36 oz of your masterbatched lye solution? And then another 4.68 of aloe vera juice?

 

[Ekuzo]

My usual measurements for EO is max of 52grams. But usually less. I did end up putting less EO than it said cause it seemed like too much. But did not write it down. I pulled it out of the wood mold to see if the side were holding up yesterday then put it back. And yes most of the other bars I have made I used EO and everything has came out great so far. On the bright side the other 8 loaves I have done look good so to mess up on one isn’t to bad of luck so I’ll consider that a win! I will try to OP it today and see what happens. I’ll let you know

Hopefully it will get better, maybe it won't look the same as you hoped but will still be an okay soap. Those are some fine swirls - some people tend to pour too soon when making those, even before a stable emulsion, so that thought crossed my mind. But if it's getting solid, maybe that's not the case. Of course, you should test to see if it's zap free and safe to use after you manage to cut it. Keep us updated, not all hope is lost - you can still rebatch if something's not right

 

[dibbles]

I'm still having trouble understanding your liquid amounts. Is your masterbatch solution 50:50, and exactly how much of that did you add? Exactly how much aloe juice did you add after that?

I think @Ekuzo is right about your EO amount. Tea tree EO has a usage rate somewhere between 2-3%. EO calc is a good resource for finding IFRA recommended usage rates.

 

[Ekuzo]

I'm still having trouble understanding your liquid amounts. Is your masterbatch solution 50:50, and exactly how much of that did you add? Exactly how much aloe juice did you add after that?

I think @Ekuzo is right about your EO amount. Tea tree EO has a usage rate somewhere between 2-3%. EO calc is a good resource for finding IFRA recommended usage rates.

I believe OP said lye:water:aloe was 1:1:1 - but I agree that it doesn't show properly in the printed recipe and it has some issues altogether. If the measurements were not correct, that could contribute to the problem, we can only guess

 

[bookworm42]

At this point if you made it on Sunday and the soap is solid I would pull it out, cut off a slice and zap test it. My soaps are generally zap free by day 3-4. If it doesn't zap then you should be good to go.

 

[Tirzahmuse]

Just to be clear, are you saying that you used 9.36 oz of your masterbatched lye solution? And then another 4.68 of aloe vera juice?

4.68 of lye
4.68 of water
4.68 of aloe
Yes

I did the OP at 5 am this morning. So I’ll check it when I get home home work

I'm still having trouble understanding your liquid amounts. Is your masterbatch solution 50:50, and exactly how much of that did you add? Exactly how much aloe juice did you add after that?

I think @Ekuzo is right about your EO amount. Tea tree EO has a usage rate somewhere between 2-3%. EO calc is a good resource for finding IFRA recommended usage rates.

It was 4.68 of lye/4.68 of water (for the 50/50 batch) and 4.68 of the Aloe Juice so that its a 2:1 ratio.

 

[Tirzahmuse]

At this point if you made it on Sunday and the soap is solid I would pull it out, cut off a slice and zap test it. My soaps are generally zap free by day 3-4. If it doesn't zap then you should be good to go.

I will check it again when I get home today. It still had some squish to it last night. Went ahead and did the OP this morning when I got up. So we will see how it looks later.

 

[Tirzahmuse]

I'm still having trouble understanding your liquid amounts. Is your masterbatch solution 50:50, and exactly how much of that did you add? Exactly how much aloe juice did you add after that?

I think @Ekuzo is right about your EO amount. Tea tree EO has a usage rate somewhere between 2-3%. EO calc is a good resource for finding IFRA recommended usage rates.

I believe OP said lye:water:aloe was 1:1:1 - but I agree that it doesn't show properly in the printed recipe and it has some issues altogether. If the measurements were not correct, that could contribute to the problem, we can only guess

I think something happened when I calculated for the water to show up NaN.undefined. I was very secure on my water/lye ratio which is why I think I did not notice it. I was focused on the oil measurements.
That said it won't slip by me again. I tried to duplicate the recipe to see if it would say that again, but it did not. Maybe just a glitch in the matrix. lol
It may be the EO was the problem, like others have said.
I will definitely refer to the IFRA usage rates with a fine tooth comb next time.