Sodium Lactate Issue

[ChristinaR]

Hello soapers! I am in need of some guidance. I am making a 4 layered (colored with clay) tall and skinny soap for my daughter's wedding. I've made this recipe before in a wooden mold and it hardens up no problem. My issue is that the silicone mold combined with the depth of the mold is making it take forever to harden and I need to get the soap out in order to make more. I tried adding a little salt to a batch( in lye water) and it made no difference. I added the recommended 1 tsp. ppo of sodium lactate and it doesn't seem to be making it get hard any quicker and now I have water droplets all over the top. I am using expensive ingredients and e.o., so I just can't afford these mishaps. I also tried added beeswax and that worked some but I don't want to soap that high.
My recipe is 16 oz. coconut, 16 oz. OO, 14 palm oil, 2.5 shea butter, 2.5 castor oil, 5% super fat, 28% water discount, E.O. of lavender and litsea. I read that sodium lactate can mess with your soap/water but I just don't understand the additive and have never used it. I have seen so many different comments that I find the additive confusing. Is it worth using and will the water drops dry up? Also, has anyone ever made tall and skinny soap in just the wooden mold and didn't use the liner? Thanks for any advice!
Christina

 

[Andy7891]

This may not be helpful, but I think sometimes people put soap in the freezer to harden? It doesn't look like you have too many liquid oils so I would think it would harden relatively quickly, especially with less water? I hope you solve the problem soon!! I'm sure they will be great soaps if they sopanified and everthing! (No separation, ricing, volcanoes, etc.) If you're colors are scents are how you want them then I'd say it's a home run!

 

[TheGecko]

28% water discount

So what was your Lye Concentration before you took 28% of the water away.

 

[penelopejane]

Use 32% lye concentration or even 33%. I use high OO soaps, don’t use sodium lactate and unmold at 12-18 hrs.

it’s not the silicone.

 

[kagey]

I use my lye concentration at 45% -- meaning that I'm soaping at 45:65 (lye:water) above the minimum 50:50 (lye water). My soap sets fast!

The more water you use, I'm told, the more curing that needs to happen.

What you can do here is remove the silcon (inside mold) from the wooden (outside) mold, and just line the wooden mold with parchment paper so you can reuse it.

 

[ChristinaR]

I use my lye concentration at 45% -- meaning that I'm soaping at 45:65 (lye:water) above the minimum 50:50 (lye water). My soap sets fast!

The more water you use, I'm told, the more curing that needs to happen.

What you can do here is remove the silcon (inside mold) from the wooden (outside) mold, and just line the wooden mold with parchment paper so you can reuse it.

Yes, that’s what I ended up doing but I’m making soap foe my daughter’s wedding and wanted all the bars to be the same. I like the way the soap behaves better in a wooden mold.

 

[ChristinaR]

So what was your Lye Concentration before you took 28% of the water away.

So I have 5O oz of oils and I used 19 oz water and 208 grams of lye. So maybe take a steeper water discount? I just worry it will thicken up too fast.

 

[Anstarx]

So I have 5O oz of oils and I used 19 oz water and 208 grams of lye. So maybe take a steeper water discount? I just worry it will thicken up too fast.

Try using the same unit for all your weights. 208g lye and 19oz (528g) water is about a 1:2.5 ratio, which is a lot of water, and perha[ps why you have water beading on top.
I usually use a 1:2 lye water ratio which is plenty enough to make complicated designs. I will use as low as 1:1.5 I want the recipe to move faster but so far it hadn't accelerate significantly. Temperature is more important in my experience.

I also use sodium lactate. I usually use at 0.5% total batch weight but will go up to 2% if it's a very soft recipe, and it had worked well so far, so perhaps add a bit more?
Freezing the batch may be a good idea if your freezer have enough room. It will shrink the loaf so with the silicone it should be easy to unmold. Just let it sit until thaw and all liquids on the surface are evaporated or absorbed.

 

[dibbles]

It looks as though you are using the default setting for your water amount. Select 'lye concentration' and set it to 31%-33%. That will reduce the amount of water you are using. I use silicone lined wood molds and sodium lactate at 1 tsp PPO all the time and have no problem unmolding the next day. Your recipe has enough hard oils that you should be able to do this as well. IF you are making sure your soaps go through gel phase.

 

[ChristinaR]

It looks as though you are using the default setting for your water amount. Select 'lye concentration' and set it to 31%-33%. That will reduce the amount of water you are using. I use silicone lined wood molds and sodium lactate at 1 tsp PPO all the time and have no problem unmolding the next day. Your recipe has enough hard oils that you should be able to do this as well. IF you are making sure your soaps go through gel phase.

Ok good info! Thank you!!!

 

[ChristinaR]

Try using the same unit for all your weights. 208g lye and 19oz (528g) water is about a 1:2.5 ratio, which is a lot of water, and perha[ps why you have water beading on top.
I usually use a 1:2 lye water ratio which is plenty enough to make complicated designs. I will use as low as 1:1.5 I want the recipe to move faster but so far it hadn't accelerate significantly. Temperature is more important in my experience.

I also use sodium lactate. I usually use at 0.5% total batch weight but will go up to 2% if it's a very soft recipe, and it had worked well so far, so perhaps add a bit more?
Freezing the batch may be a good idea if your freezer have enough room. It will shrink the loaf so with the silicone it should be easy to unmold. Just let it sit until thaw and all liquids on the surface are evaporated or absorbed.

Thank you for this!! Idk why I didn’t think it was the water!!! All my recipes are 33% so not sure why I have it at 28%. However, I’m going to use your info to recalculate and hopefully get it hard fast! Thanks again!