Soap is gel-like in center

[RobertaJM]

Yesterday I made my 3rd batch of cold process soap. It is the first time I used vegetable shortening in the recipe. This morning my soap loaf is gel-like in the center. This did not happen in the first 2 batches I made. Is this common when using shortening?

Roberta in CNY

 

[Genny]

Sounds like it got partial gel, which is fine.

 

[sudbubblez]

You mean it had partially gelled, or that it is squishy? Some soaps take some time to set up. If your INS of this recipe with the added shortening was higher than before, that could explain why it went into neat phase. The Higher INS recipes want to turn into soap quicker and in turn build up more of the heat that causes gel phase.

 

[RobertaJM]

It's been over 2 days now and the soap is mushy in spots and has large puddles of oil on top. Help!

Here is the recipe I followed:
24 oz olive oil
24 oz coconut oil
38 oz vegetable shortening (I used Aldi's brand)
12 ounces lye
32 oz distilled water
8 oz powdered oatmeal
honey almond essential oil added at early trace

 

[Genny]

How much essential oil did you use?

The recipe looks fine. Use a little bit of paper towel to soak up the oil off the soap and then smell it. Does it smell strongly like your essential oil?

 

[judymoody]

It's been over 2 days now and the soap is mushy in spots and has large puddles of oil on top. Help!

Here is the recipe I followed:
24 oz olive oil
24 oz coconut oil
38 oz vegetable shortening (I used Aldi's brand)
12 ounces lye
32 oz distilled water
8 oz powdered oatmeal
honey almond essential oil added at early trace

I have used vegetable shortening in soap before and have never had issues with it.

What you describe sounds like separation - either you got false trace or your fragrance oil caused your soap to heat up to the point that it separated. If it has mushy pockets and is weeping oily fluid, I would rebatch it.

Could you post a photo?

Also you can look at the trouble shooting section (I believe it's called "botched batches") on Kathy Miller's site www.millersoap.com to see if any of the problems documented there look like the result that you got.