Soap won't set.

[younglivingmargo]

Hi all, just wondering if someone can help. I'm brand new to soap making and my soap won't set. I've made three batches of cold process and followed the receipe to the letter only my soap won't set. It looks like glycerin soap. I can't get it out of the containers and when I do manage to get it out it's so soft I can mould it like modeling clay. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with temperature. I know everyone says to wrap up the soap after making but I live in Australia and its now the middle of our summer and I'm wondering if that could have anything to do with it. Basically I'm lost and don't know what to do. Could someone help please.
best wishes happy soapers,
younglivingmargo

 

[adoptapitbull]

Post your recipe and we can see if there are any red flags.

Temp shouldn't be an issue. I've soaped hot and gelled and cold and ungelled and all set. My only squishy soap had too high of a SF and I rebatched it till it firmed up.

 

[younglivingmargo]

soap won't set

Dear adoptapitbull, thanks for replying so quickly. The recipe i used is :-
900 ml of water,
295 grams of sodium hydroxide,
615 grams of coconut oil,
800 mls of sunflower oil,
800 mls of olive oil.
I watched this recipe being done on tv and then downloaded the fact sheet from the internet.
With CP do you still need to wrap it in a blanket to let it cool slowly ?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
best wishes,
younglivingmargo

 

[SoapyD]

I haven't tried to calculate your recipe, but it looks like some items are being measured by weight and some by volume. All oils, lye, and liquid should be measured by weight.

 

[debbism]

.......It looks like glycerin soap. I can't get it out of the containers and when I do manage to get it out it's so soft I can mould it like modeling clay......

I am curious.....how long has it been in the mold (how long since you poured)? When mine looks like glycerin soap, that is usually because it is still in gel phase. Is it still warm/hot?

I usually wait at least 48 hours to unmold

 

[younglivingmargo]

soap won't set

Dear debbism, thanks for the reply. I poured a new batch yesterday, almost 24 hours ago. But the first batches I made were on Saturday, so they're now four days old. ( I'm in Sydney, Australia so a day ahead ), I tried rebatching one lot and another batch i just pulled out of the mould and tried to smooth the edges and the last one from Saturdays batch is still stuck in the mould. I could pull it out but would have soft, glycerin type soap everywhere. Its still very soft. I just put a thermometer in the batch I made yesterday and it didn't even register on my thermometer so its obviously cool. I would say cooler than body temperature but not really sure as my thermometer doesn't go that low.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

Hi Margo,

As mentioned before, it's really important to use weight and not mls. If you convert your recipe from mls to grams using the exact same oils (which may not be 100% accurate), it shows that your recipe has a lot of water which will mean your soap is soft for a longer period of time - but should set eventually.
If you want to use the same recipe try plugging it into a lye calculator such as this one:

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcWP.asp

The standard superfat % (or lye discount) on this calculator is 5%, your recipe is currently 10% which is fine, just change that box.
the water amount is automatically set on 'full water' which is good for beginners, so the calculator will work out the lye and water amount for your (the water will be less than you are using)

There are a couple of other issues with your recipe - you might want to search 'sunflower oil', and 'gel'. Gelling is where you wrap your soap, but if its summer I would say yours will gell anyway. Gelling means your soap will be 'ready' quicker.

Don't believe every recipe your read/see, there are lots of duds out there. soapcalc is essential in making great soap.

Good luck

 

[younglivingmargo]

soap won't set

thank busymakinsoap, I will give the calculator a go and hopefully have some success. There seems to be way more to this than I anticipated.
Could you tell me of any books you would recommend me reading or should I just utube the info I'm after. Not really sure which way to go from here. The process I watched on t.v and utube seemed soo easy.
cheers,
younglivingmargo

 

[Traceyann]

Younglivingmargo, I am on the Gold Coast and depending on the soap I am making I still wrap if I want to ensure a full gel....if I dont want gel I put my soap in the fridge .

I agree with the others you recipie needs to be all in grams. The recipie that you followed is massive for a starting soap, maybe have a look at some of the recipies on here and start a little smaller.

There are quite a few Aussies on here and Im sure they will chime in later.

 

[Elly]

I agree with all of the advice given here. There are 2 possible issues with this recipe that might be causing the soft soap, one is too much water and two is high % of soft oils (72%) IMO. Soaps with high% of soft oils like castille soaps stay softish for a while. My ratio of hard/soft oils is around 60/40. If you need basic information on soap making go to millers site there are tons of info there, that is where I started, read as much as you can and then attempt a small batch. Happy soaping

http://www.millersoap.com/ :wink:

 

[Dragonkaz]

Hi and welcome to this wonderful addiction.

I agree with what's been written above and think you've used too much water ... which does mean your soap will harden, but it will take a while. I also think for a beginner you'd be better making smaller amounts ... like 1000 gm or 1500 gm, until you find a recipe you're happy with.

I checked your recipe and with a 10% superfat in Soap calc and it says you need 841 gm water.

Another reason why this soap may take a longer to harden is due to it only having 28% of hard oil. Although it will still harden, as even 100% olive oil soaps still harden.

Soap making is also about patience ... which can be hard when you're keen to see your results.

I soaped 8 kg of oils and butters last Sunday and most of it is still in the moulds, due to my soap only having 30% of hard oils (coconut oil and cocoa butter). Due to the heat, I wrapped it with a couple of thin towels, no blankets. This wrapping is more to keep th air away from my soap batter.

I recommend you read as much as you can from this forum. That you check out blogs ad youtube and most importantly learn about the safey needed when making soap. Then have loads of fun ... and post your finished pics in the soap photos section, as we love seeing what people are making.

Good luck!

 

[younglivingmargo]

soap won't set

Hi everyone,
Just want to say thanks for all the responses I've had. Everyone's been so helpful with tips and information. I'm now onto my third batch. This time i used a really basic recipe from this site. So hopefully tomorrow afternoon I'll be able to report some good news.
Off to bed now its late.
Thanks again.
margo