Soft Soap 1 Week Out

[Maddie M]

Hello Smart-Soapers! I made this soap last weekend (used frozen coconut milk for the water), and by all accounts it should be a hard bar of soap… I used olive oil I had steeped with fresh goldenrod in the cupboard for 6 weeks… was really excited about it. But I noticed when I un-molded that they were soft and even after a week on the rack (and it’s been cool and DRY here) they are all still soft. What do you think went wrong?
Thank you!! M

 

[MrsZ]

Your recipe is very low in hard oils. It looks like it will be a nice bar of soap, but will definitely take a while to become a hard bar.

 

[Susan Cote]

Hi Maddy how curious! Did you bring your soap to a trace before pouring? Have you worked with goldenrod infusions before? A high percentage of olive oil in a recipe will indeed slow down curing. You do have a high amount of soft oils. However, will still give you a hard bar after a more lengthy cure time. Mine are nice in 2 months. And very hard in 6 months. Some things just take more time!

 

[Ekuzo]

Hi! Do you usually make soap with 10% SF? That contributes to softness, among other things.

If you really like high % OO soap, besides adjusting the SF lower (don't go higher than 4-5 % IMO, even 3% would be fine, especially for this particular revipe), try adjusting the water content as well - that will help with firming up too. Go for lye concentration of 40%, for such recipe it should be fine.

I agree that overall your recipe is too high on liquid oils and that contributes to softer bars after the cut and some time into curing. But as the rest mentioned, with time it will get better. If another recipe is fine to use after a month, this one would need at least 2 months in the best case scenario to show some good qualities in the shower - and it can still be not enough. Changing it a bit and including more solid oils like palm, tallow, or lard will help significantly.

You didn't say how much oats and honey you used, too much will contribute to the overall softness as well - in addition to everything else that was mentioned. HTH!

 

[Maddie M]

The heavy olive oil bars I have made in past got pretty hard fairly quickly so I figured with 50% and a good amount of coconut oil too this would be firmer faster BUT will be patient and see how shes feeling in the new year!
Yes I do tend to soap with higher SF when I can (esp when there is coconut oil involved). I have Eczema and find that if I skimp on the SF the bars get too cleansing/squeaky-skin-feeling (if that makes any sense?). That said could totally try with some mango butter in there or other more solid oils!
I used about a tablespoon of the colloidal oat powder and a heavy tsp/light tbsp of honey. I figured the oat powder would make firmer - does that actually keep things soft? If go so good to know!!
Thank you all for thoughts!

 

[Ekuzo]

You can lower the coconut % along with the SF - if you add some hard oils and butters to the equation that will be great! Overall, it's mostly about how you like the soap, you can always tweak your recipes accordingly, if needed.

I don't think the honey/oats you added were too much in this case. But they play a role as well, depending on the amount - I've had soap I waited to unmold for 10 days after I added a little bit too much honey. Still worked great at the end, but surely took its sweet time firming up. As for oats/meal/colloidal, they tend to soak water and make evaporation go more slowly. And get in the way of the soap structure in general (if too much) - so it can contribute to softness more or less, from what I've seen. As a rule of thumb, any additive can ruin your batch if it's too much

 

[Cindy D.]

There are some hard oils and butters that help with hardness and aren't cleansing. This is a picture of some of the oil qualities(written at the top) it may help you to compare. Looking at the chart, has helped me understand what each ingredient adds to the soap.

 

[Ekuzo]

There are some hard oils and butters that help with hardness and aren't cleansing. This is a picture of some of the oil qualities(written at the top) it may help you to compare. Looking at the chart, has helped me understand what each ingredient adds to the soap.View attachment 79916View attachment 79914View attachment 79915

That’s pretty useful - thank you for taking the time to compile and share the information!

 

[VikingChick]

Adding salt will help with hardness as well. Many people add sodium lactate to their lye water (I add 1 tsp per lb of oil), but you can also add table salt (I never have done this so can’t comment on the ratio). Using seawater will also act as a source of salt.