soap crumbled after cut...

[nickbar]

Hi there!!!

I continue to make some experiments on learning how to make my soaps better...

Finally i overcome the problem with air bubbles (using properly the stick blender) and i decrease the amount of soda ash on my soaps thanks to the members of the forum and past threads i read, but now there is another problem...

I made a recipe with 100% olive oil using lye concentration at 32%. No fragrance no additives.

Water 0.301 p 4.82 ounces 136.74 g
Lye - NaOH 0.142 p 2.27 ounces 64.35 g
Oils 1.102 p 17.64ounces 500.00 g
Fragrance -
Soap weight before CP cure or HP cook 1.546 p 24.73 ounces 701.09 g.

I mix soda and oils at 107 deg F and i mold at light trace on a plastic mold...

After 3 and a half days, i decided to unmold as the soap seems hard...

I took a regular knife and start cutting the soap on my table...


This is what we have:

http://postimg.org/gallery/o8mkzwgu/245cfeb0/


:mrgreen:

 

[shunt2011]

I think you just waited too long to cut it.

 

[BlackDog]

I think you just waited too long to cut it.

Yep. 3 1/2 days would be too long for even my non-gelled soaps.

 

[DeeAnna]

And using a regular knife made matters worse. The tapered shape of the blade wedges the soap wider and wider apart as it passes through the soap. Eventually the soap is under enough stress it breaks apart. A very thin knife or a pastry scraper will work better -- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SSZ4Q4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[nickbar]

Thank you all guys.
So next time a 100% olive oil soap needs cutting 24-48 hours after molding...Next time also i ll use a steel scraper for better results...

 

[penelopejane]

You can use a paint scraper too.

 

[nickbar]

Great idea! Thanks!

Would it be any difference if i use a paint scraper instead of a pastry scraper as DeeAnna wrote?

There are also many of them on ebay like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wax-Vegetab...268213?hash=item5d5ebaf0f5:g:Tp4AAOSwAYtWN0s8

 

[shunt2011]

Paint scrapers are very similar to pastry scrapers and either should work.

 

[JPicasso]

Newbie here, but I would think you could use a thin bladed saw to cut down any more of that soap. It would be a total mess with the bits of soap, but you could probably get some better sized bars without them breaking apart from your pieces you have left. Try a coping saw.

Just a thought.

 

[Susie]

The teeth on the saw leave unmistakable marks on the soap. I know this from personal experience. Better to use scrapers mentioned above or cheese cutter at this point.

 

[cmzaha]

Was your soap still a little sticky in the middle. To me it looks like it stuck to your knife and pulled a chunk from the soap, at least the picture I just looked at. OO soap tends to stay softer and stickier for more days than most soaps and you still had a pretty high water for OO soap. I soap my OO soap with 40% lye concentration to light trace and they sit around for approx 4 days before cutting.

 

[penelopejane]

I use a wide paint scraper because I have one and didn't have to buy anything. It works very well.

I had the problem of the soap breaking when I used a knife but ever since I changed to the paint scraper my cuts are beautiful.

No matter which you buy check the width of your cutting guide and the height of your mold to ensure you can cut through the soap in one go. When I looked the pastry cutters weren't big enough unless they were very expensive.

 

[burnandgroom]

If the soap is crumbled too much, you could always make laundry soap out of it by grating it up super fine, (food processer works too) and adding borax and washing soda (think baking soda on steriods) You can also add citric acid, extra FO/EO, and baking soda. Here's the recipe I use: http://senselesshousewife.blogspot.com/2009/01/laundry-soap-research.html

I hate wasting soap and if you think hard enough, there's always a use for it!

 

[shunt2011]

I wouldn't personally use it for laundry soap. It's all olive oil and it's likely got a decent superfat. Not good laundry soap. Either CO or Lard 100% and 0 SF.

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't think it's a good idea to use citric acid per the recipe at the Senseless Housewife. You want your wash water to be alkaline and you want the soap in the wash water to be soap. The citric acid as used in this recipe will react with the alkali and/or soap to form citrate. Citrate is certainly helpful as a chelator to reduce soap scum, but you don't want to make citrate at the expense of reducing the effectiveness of your other ingredients.

Far better to create the citrate when you make the soap by adding the right amount of citric acid AND the additional lye the acid needs to create citrate. THEN make the laundry mix with this soap and without the added citric acid.

If a person is using soap already made up without citrate, then it would be a better idea to use sodium citrate when making the laundry mix rather than citric acid.