Sticky and tacky goat's milk/high olive oil soap

[ahauer88]

Hi,

Last Friday night I made this goat's milk soap from the Nerdy Farm Wife: https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/how-to-make-goats-milk-soap-from-grocery-store-items/

Ingredients were:

22oz Olive Oil
8oz Coconut Oil
5 oz chilled water
5 oz canned/condensed goat's milk (Meyenberg)
4.2oz lye

I followed the steps exactly but also put in:
1 tsp ground oats
1.5 tsp sodium lactate
~1.5oz oatmeal, milk, and honey FO

I put it in the freezer once it reached a medium trace and I poured it into individual bar molds. I took it out of the freezer Sunday while frozen solid, turned it out onto a cookie sheet covered with freezer paper.

I have never made goat's milk soap before nor have I made one that high in olive oil so maybe that's the issue, but now on Wednesday the soap feels not so pleasant. It is soft, sticky, and tacky. I left everything alone on the sheet except for one bar I goofed up when I poured, and when I run my finger along the edge of it, it is soft enough that it rounds it off. I am used to making a palm/olive/coconut soap in equal amounts and it unmolds and feels "normal" within a day or two especially when CPOP.

I am a bit afraid that this is the consistency I am stuck with. Can I expect this sticky/tacky/soft feeling to go away in time as it cures? I feel like at this rate it is never going to cure properly but maybe I will be surprised.

In case olive oil is the issue I remade this recipe using a 30% tallow/40% olive oil/30% coconut oil blend last night because that's what I had on hand, it will be an experiment if nothing else.

Is this common with soaps high in olive oil or goat's milk soap or both? thanks for any pointers!

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I make a bastille soap similar to this and yes it's typical to be super soft and sticky. It takes about 8 weeks to fully cure. If you want a harder set up then use sodium lactate. I usually un-mold it after 48 hours then let it sit for another 48-72 hours and then cut it and let it cure for around 8 weeks. The longer it cures the better though.

 

[atiz]

Unless it's a typo, that seems like an awful lot of water! 100 oz liquid with 30 oz fats? If it's not a typo, that may be part of the problem, then it just needs more time.

 

[ahauer88]

Unless it's a typo, that seems like an awful lot of water! 100 oz liquid with 30 oz fats? If it's not a typo, that may be part of the problem, then it just needs more time.

Oops!! Yes, that is a typo! I fixed it. Sorry about that. My o's turned to zeroes somehow.

I make a bastille soap similar to this and yes it's typical to be super soft and sticky. It takes about 8 weeks to fully cure. If you want a harder set up then use sodium lactate. I usually un-mold it after 48 hours then let it sit for another 48-72 hours and then cut it and let it cure for around 8 weeks. The longer it cures the better though.

Thank you for the reply. So does it harden up after 8 or so weeks or will there always be a bit of a sticky feeling to it?

 

[atiz]

Oops!! Yes, that is a typo! I fixed it. Sorry about that. My o's turned to zeroes somehow.

This looks better
You just probably need to wait with it. I'm not experienced in this kind of soap, but that seems to be the case with a lot of high olive oil soaps. I would not worry too much about it yet.

 

[ahauer88]

I think I'll wait a bit longer before starting to freak out, then. It sounds like what I'm seeing is pretty normal. Thank you both!

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

It will harden up and won't be sticky after the cure.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

I have made a similar soap and it did feel quite different after 8 weeks. Like others have suggested, a high OO soap is best after a 3 - 6 month cure time.