Soap Or Vaseline ?!

[Mestiza Girl]

This might sound extremely silly but it's always good to ask, right...?

I decided to test out one of my bars from a batch that has only been curing about a week. I washed my hands and it seems a tad oily but the soap is still soft. I can easily carve into it with my nail and it'll leave what feels like vaseline on my finger as shown. Is this solely because it isn't cured or does it have to do with my oil ratio?

32 oz oil batch-
OO Pomace 60%
Castor 10%
Coconut 15%
Cocoa Butter 15%

 

[BattleGnome]

Simple answer, probably both.

That’s a ton of olive oil which usually indicates a longer cure is needed. As a reference, I don’t touch 100% olive oil bars for a year before I test because I know it won’t be at its best. I’d wait your standard cure time to see how you like it and keep in mind you may have to leave them for longer. (And then when you find a good cure time for this recipe loose a bar and realize it’s even better the longer you wait. My favorite recipe is good at 3 months but the most luxurious thing ever after 6 months or longer. Only know this, because I lost a bar and found it later.)

The other thing that could be happening is “oleic slime” or the general slime made by the oleic acid in olive oil. DeeAnna has a good article about it but in short, it’s just what olive oil does sometimes. The less olive oil you use, the less the slime is likely to occur (just look at the fatty acid profile if your soap calculator shows it). There may be a correlation between slime and water hardness but I don’t remember if that’s a dream or it was discussed on the forum before. Some people use canola or sunflower oil to avoid the slime but that would be personal choice if the slime bothers you.

To;dr: let the soap finish curing. Olive oil soaps are known to be slimy because of their fatty acid profile but it’s only been a week and things could easily fix themselves

 

[penelopejane]

Castor oil above 5% leaves a soap really oily for me.

 

[DeeAnna]

Also you don't say how much NaOH and water you used, and those numbers are also an important part of the recipe. Be sure to include all ingredients used if you want good troubleshooting advice. If the superfat or water is too high, that can cause problems like this.

 

[Mestiza Girl]

Also you don't say how much NaOH and water you used, and those numbers are also an important part of the recipe. Be sure to include all ingredients used if you want good troubleshooting advice. If the superfat or water is too high, that can cause problems like this.

Lye concentration was 33% and SF was 3%.

 

[IrishLass]

I would say a combo of both....i.e., very little cure time as of yet (one week old is very early days yet- cure is barely getting started), and high OO. And if your soap did not go through the gel stage, that would definitely contribute, too.


IrishLass

 

[Mestiza Girl]

I would say a combo of both....i.e., very little cure time as of yet (one week old is very early days yet- cure is barely getting started), and high OO. And if your soap did not go through the gel stage, that would definitely contribute, too.

IrishLass

How do I know that my soap when through the gel phase? I just thought that if it solidifies and is all even color, it fully gelled. (i'm clearly very new to this)

 

[penelopejane]

How do I know that my soap when through the gel phase? I just thought that if it solidifies and is all even color, it fully gelled. (i'm clearly very new to this)

Usually, if a soap goes through gel it will be hard within 12-24 hours.

 

[IrishLass]

How do I know that my soap when through the gel phase? I just thought that if it solidifies and is all even color, it fully gelled. (i'm clearly very new to this)

There are a couple of different ways to detect if your soap has gone through the gel phase. One is visual- i.e., you can actually see it going through the gel stage if you happen to be looking at the soap at the time. What you'll see is a dark, translucent spot begin to develop on the top center of your soap while it's in the mold, which eventually gets bigger and bigger as it spreads out out to reach the edges of your soap. Basically, what is happening is that the chemical reaction between the lye and oils is intensifying and causing the soap to greatly heat up on its own to the point that it becomes liquefied into a gel state......then it gradually cools back down and solidifies.

Another way to be able to tell if your soap has gone through the gel stage is by feel if you happen to unmold and try to cut your soap sometime within 24 hours after pour. Gelled soap is much firmer in comparison to un-gelled soap if unmolded within this time period. An un-gelled soap, although in a solid state at this time (no longer liquid), will feel somewhat like cream cheese (soft/easily dented), and will be nearly impossible to cut without crumbling or denting or damaging it in some way. It's very delicate. A gelled soap, on the other hand, will not be so delicate. It's more like refrigerated butter....it is much firmer and cohesive and won't crumble when cut.


IrishLass