I'm back! Glassfishy- good news.....methinks you may be overthinking things a bit, and possibly making much ado about nothing.....
ATTEMPT #3. Later today I took my supplies home and attempted the Glycerin method. Here are my exact steps...
Measured: 24oz. TOTAL OILS
7.8 oz. Olive Oil 32.5%
7.8 oz Rice Bran Oil 32.5%
6 oz. Coconut Oil 25%
2.4 Castor Oil 10%
Measured:
15.14 oz Glycerin
5.05 oz. KOH
1. In my soap pot I melted my oils on low temperature to get them all to a liquid state and clear
So far, so good...
2. in my newly bought KOH/Glycerin pot I melted on medium High heat until white KOH was melted.
So far, so good....
3. I poured my KOH/Glycerin mixture into my soap pot and stick blended for more 8-12 minutes. I started to get the TINY little bubbles floating in the air...
Excellent! Those tiny bubbles are a sign that all is going to plan and that you have saponification going on. Now, you could have actually stopped blending and fussing with it right then and there (I always stop at that point myself), covered it, and left it alone off the heat to come to the paste stage all in it's own time.
BUT I never got any translucent stages.
That's okay- believe it or not, translucency is not an important factor.
It basically stayed like amber thick pudding. It reminded me much of like when you make peanut brittle and it's a thick sugary liquid.
Still nothing to worry about- that's actually completely okay.
I finally tried to use a whisk just to see if I got different results and nada.
From my experience, that's completely normal and to be expected at that point. Still nothing to worry about. I'd have just stuck the lid back on and walked away for a few hours.
4. I then remembered that IrishLass said to put a lid on it and forget it.
Yes!!!
It's only been several hours but I just feel like it's completely wrong. I keep reading the posts and see where everyone says theirs turned translucent and had a beer head on it. My just looks like thick taffy peanut butter...
Don't go by looks or color ...... instead, go only by
feel (it should feel like thick, sticky, taffy or of a soft caramel-like consistency), then go by zap once it has reached that texture, in spite of whether it's translucent or opaque or dark or light or not, and then see if it will lather under running water. The looks/color/translucency, or whether or not you have a head of bubbles on top actually do not matter. What matters is the
texture and whether or not it's zappy, and if it lathers. Your description of "thick taffy peanut butter" sounds to me like things are right on track where they should be and that you actually have nothing to worry about. I myself have gotten an opaque/peanut butter taffy looking paste once, but it diluted clear as a bell and made lovely liquid soap.
I hope you still have this paste and did not toss it out? (
oh please, oh please, I hope Glassfishy did not throw it out!) If you still have it, pinch off a small blob of it and zap test it and also try and see if it lathers under running water. If there's no zap and it lathers, go ahead and dilute that baby. It's ready!
,
I'm sorry I'm bugging you all.
No need for apologies at all- it's all good, and we are all glad to be of help.
So I started my 4th batch........went back to whisking.......At that point the entire mixture was opaque, back at the same consistency as last nights. Thin Peanut butter. I didn't get any floating bubbles this time. It's a lighter color than last nights... More of a tan color.
Again- color/translucency does not matter- the only things that matter are the texture, its ability to lather, and whether it zaps or not. Just put a cover on it, leave it alone off heat, and walk away for a few hours or more. When it reaches a point where it feels like thick, sticky taffy or like a soft, sticky caramel, test for zap, and test a blob of it under running water to see if it lathers. If it lathers and there's no zap- you have the green light to dilute.
Please keep us informed!
IrishLass
