Soap Separation Anxiety

[blissfullather]

I made a CP soap today. When I put it in the mold, it looked great. About an hour later, it separated. Ironically, I had some of the same batch left over and put it into a smaller mold, and it set up nicely.
Instead of making it into a HP, I put it in the oven for a CPOP..... still no change. Then to top off my faux pas, my daughter left the oven light on. I just woke up and saw it.

Is there any chance that the oils will reabsorb? Or should I re-batch? (I'm truly trying to avoid that...)

 

[fuzz-juzz]

How much oil is there?
If it's even a few tablespoons I doubt it will get reabsorbed. I had barely oozy batches in the past and they never reabsorbed extra oil, I had to rebatch them all.

 

[blissfullather]

Separation Anxiety

Thanks Fuzz Juzz,

Turns out, it is much more than a tablespoon. I guess I will have to go ahead and do a re-batch. I was trying to avoid that part...... ugh. I left it in the oven overnight. :sick:

One last question.... I have read other posts suggesting that soap be put in the fridge to discourage gel phase. I thought we wanted gel phase. How long should it be refrigerated? Should I do that in the future?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Sometimes you want to gel, sometimes you don't!

If using oils that usually look whiter until it gels, you can prevent gel and it keeps that creamier look. If using colours, people generally want to gel as it seems to make the colours less pastally and more vibrant.

To stop gel, it varies from recipe to recipe. In many cases, once it is poured, freeze it for about 24 hours, then let it warm up slowly (transfer to fridge for 24 hours, then a coolish place that is warmer than the fridge........and so on) until it is ready for cutting. As I said, it varies from recipe to recipe and some will need things like the moulds pre-frozen before you pour and so on, really keeping it cold the instant it is poured.

 

[Obsidian]

CPOP won't help a separated soap as you found out, the mass has to be stirred back together. Its possible it overheated, causing it to separate. That would also explain why your smaller mold set up, it didn't hold as much heat.
Did you use anything in your recipe that might have cause it heat up? Things like milks, sugars, fruits and even certain FO's can cause overheating and those recipes should be kept from gelling.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It does sound like that heat was the issue - as Obsi said, the smaller one didn't manage to generate quite the same heat as the big one, so it didn't go through it.

 

[Bex1982]

I thought you meant you get anxiety when you are away from your soap. Hehe.

 

[blissfullather]

Separation Anxiety.

Thanks all,
Yes, I used citrus (whole lemons and oranges and pureed papaya) for the additives in my soap. I have made this soap before. The first batch made a beautiful orange color (looked like sweet potatoes). But, I did not do a water discount, and it was too soft. It is curing rather nicely now though.

This is the second time that I have had a batch to separate on me. (A different batch, with different ingredients). The problem is that once I re-batch and make it a HP soap, it turns into an ugly beige soap. (Not something that I would be enthusiastic about selling). For future reference, could I add some mica or another color additive to it to give it some pizazz?

All my beautiful swirls, gone to waste, and the essential oils have evaporated. I am going to try this batch again. I am determined.... :!:

@Bex1982 -Anxiety from being separated from my soap..... Hilarious. ;-)

 

[judymoody]

The natural sugars in the fruit may be what caused your soap to heat up and separate. You might want to soap cooler next time and/or put your mold in the refrigerator after you pour your soap.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

As for the stoping of the gel, I have to admit I was NEVER able to stop large slab of soap from gelling. Soap in the individual mold yes, but big soaps, no. I got partial gel even when I left them in the freezer overnight. Gel depends on so many variables, type and size of the mold, type of FO or EO used, water discount, if milk was used, what powdered additives were used, whether anything sugary was added etc.
I now gel all my soaps. Way I've done it is that I identified what can potentially cause soap to overheat, e.g. honey and I either don't use it at all or use it to make soap in individual molds. Or, even if I decide to go with FO that accelerates and heats super fast, like I've done yesterday, I soap with cool oils and lye and keep an eye on it. I wrapped it lightly and as soon as it get quite hot, it gets uncovered and goes in the fridge if it gets really bad.

 

[blissfullather]

I'm so glad I have found this site. You more experienced soapers have enlightened me on some things that I haven't found in the books I bought. I just posted about my latest soaping fiasco. I rebatched this soap along with some soaps that I had made previously. Long and short of it, I added some indigo blue to the rebatch, and it turned into this muddy clay looking gray color. Since my husbands favorite color is gray, I added some manly scents and dedicated this disaster to him. Looks awful, but smells fantastic!

 

[eucalypta]

Don't want to spoil your party, but lemons are a bad choice to add to your soap.

I don't always agree with Soaping 101, but [ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFOdi989-aU]this video[/ame] is a must see!

HTH

 

[blissfullather]

Yeah,
Eucalypta
I've seen this. I found a way around it; using water with the lye and adding the lemons/juice just before pouring into my mold. It worked out great. This time, I think I had too much going on. First time working with lemons, oranges and papaya all at once. Thanks for the info though.
My last successful soap with lemons was a lemon-ginger eucalyptus soap. My family loves it. I only wish I could master using mica colors.... that way I could make it a little more yellow.

 

[blissfullather]

No Bubbles in my soap

Help! Has anyone ever made a soap that did not lather? I made a CP soap yesterday. According to the soap calculator that I used, it should have had a really good lather. I had to refrigerate it because I used mango puree (sugar), and goats milk. It set up nicely. But, today, I took a small bit and tried to test it... NO LATHER, BUT, MY HANDS WERE REALLY SOFT!!! I'm wondering what could have gone wrong?

 

[Seawolfe]

Help! Has anyone ever made a soap that did not lather? I made a CP soap yesterday. According to the soap calculator that I used, it should have had a really good lather. I had to refrigerate it because I used mango puree (sugar), and goats milk. It set up nicely. But, today, I took a small bit and tried to test it... NO LATHER, BUT, MY HANDS WERE REALLY SOFT!!! I'm wondering what could have gone wrong?

Uhm, are you sure it had finished saponifying? After 1 day in the fridge and no cure it might just still be partly oils and lye- which would not lather and is REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD FOR YOUR SKIN!!!

Always let your CP soap cure at least a week before testing, and zap test before using it please!

 

[DeeAnna]

It doesn't really make any difference when or how you add the citrus -- the citric acid in the juice will react with the lye, reduce the lye available for saponification, and basically increase your superfat. For every 10 grams of citric acid added, it is going to take 6 g of lye away from the saponification reaction. Whether your soap stays together and looks fairly normal ... or if it separates ... the same chemistry is going on. This excess of fat or fatty acids may be one of the reasons why your last batch separated.

Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2637791/

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Agree with both posts above me - I use citric acid and add it in to the water before the lye, accounting for the extra lye as well.

As for testing cp, waiting is needed. I don't often make cp and tested a little bit a few days after cutting - really not pleased. But it will get there after a cure

 

[Dahila]

I cut one soap in small pieces and try them every week, the difference in the humble 3 weeks is incredible. I am also adding 1% of my oil weight of CA. I will see how it works soon, the soap is so beautiful (in pot swirl) that I do not want to try it

 

[blissfullather]

Soap oozig oil

Okay,
So, I made a soap, and it is oozing oil. I have read that sometimes the soap will evaporate back into the soap. However, this soap oozes when I cut it. It has been 4 days. How long should it take? I really would hate to have to rebatch. My swirls look great! :shifty:

 

[snappyllama]

Hi, Have you been making soaps successfully for a while and just occasionally having a failure like oozing oil? From the posts, it seems like you are selling/contemplating selling and making a lot of changes to your additives each time with mixed results. Was this another lemon batch? Did you use a FO? Is it oil or lye water leaking out? I'm just firing off guesses here... I think we could help you get the process and a viable recipe down if you could give a little more information. Your exact recipe, procedure, additives, and pictures help tremendously.

Edited to say... I've had an oil leaker from a misbehaving FO. It reabsorbed within 24 hours. I've had an oil leaker from over-heating. It reabsorbed after just a few hours. four days seems excessive to me, but a soaping guru here should be able to help out.