Soap too soft....

[GaiaOne]

Hi everyone, first time posting and before I start I want to say "HI, nice to meet you, and I'm so glad I found this board!". I am trying to make little Christmas soaps and an having issues with the soap being too soft. The consistency is that of Crisco Shortening. I am using a SFIC Organic Clear Base with Iron Oxide powder for red coloring, and added some stearic acid to make the soap harder. Then I added more stearic acid, then more, and more!!! You get the point, it refuses to harden! Any ideas on what is going on? I only use organic ingredients, so if you have any ideas on some other kind of organic coloring I could use (I think that may be the issue) please let me know. Thanks!

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Welcome to the forum! :wave:
Can you tell us how you're heating the base (crock pot, double boiler, microwave) and at what temp you're adding your colorant? I can't imagine that just melting a base and adding an oxide would cause it to be so soft that it's the consistency of Crisco...that would be really weird :Kitten Love: Is it just rubbery? Rubbery is usually from overheating...

 

[sperry]

I just ordered a sample pack from SFIC that I should get tomorrow. I'll be sure to run a test on that type first thing and let you know if I get anything wierd.

 

[Sanctuary]

Your situation sounds really weird....I never had that problem....but if you want to use a natural colorant....try using beet juice. It won't make the soap dark red.....but it is natural.

Sanctuary

 

[Mish]

Hi Sanctuary,

I just looked up "beet juice' and came across this post of yours. Do you suggest using the beet juice with the lye or minus a percentage of the water you would use with lye and then adding that percentage of beet juice in at light trace?
I am looking forward to experimenting with beet juice as a natural colorant.

 

[Seifenblasen]

Do you suggest using the beet juice with the lye or minus a percentage of the water you would use with lye and then adding that percentage of beet juice in at light trace?

I don't know anything about melt and pour. In CP, beets would turn the soap a muddy yellow/light brown. It also has a very strong smell that tends to linger ...

 

[lisamaliga]

I'd suggest contacting the supplier and the manufacturer of the base. Here is the contact information for SFIC.
http://www.sficcorp.com/inner.php?cs_brief=23

 

[Mune]

I use cocoa butter in my mp to make them firmer and not so pliant. Works really well. Too much oil can cause the soap to be "crisco-like" or for it to sweat the oil and be slimey.

 

[Mish]

I don't know anything about melt and pour. In CP, beets would turn the soap a muddy yellow/light brown. It also has a very strong smell that tends to linger ...

I was referring to CP not MP... I guess when everyone talks about beet juice perhaps they are using it in MP... Thnx for the heads up... that saves me a wasted experiment. ;-)

 

[Badger]

Mish, they are talking about MP because this post is on the MP forum

 

[normasbathandbody]

I heard that coconut oil added hardens the soap!

 

[Mish]

Ah, Well that makes sense... I just did a search on "beet juice" and landed here. Thnx for the heads up.