Struggling to Acheive Gelling

[MellonFriend]

I just don't get it you guys. Yesterday I made my first batch of honey beeswax soap and with all I've heard about being careful not to let honey soap overheat I figured I'd have no trouble gelling this batch. Wrong! I used about two tablespoons of honey in the two pound batch, I was soaping at around 113-115 degrees and after an hour of doing nothing in the mold I put it on my heating pad and wrapped it in towels. After eight hours it never gelled and I gave up waiting. I even checked at one point to see what temperature it was under there with it and the thermometer read 130*. That should be hot enough right? Did I just not wait long enough? This is the second time I've used this base recipe with the exception of the addition of the honey and beeswax and last time it didn't gel either, although I can't say I tried this hard. Any ideas?

 

[DeeAnna]

How do you know it didn't gel -- what criteria were you looking for?
What lye concentration did you use in these batches?
What are the rest of the ingredients in your recipe(s)?

If you're looking specifically for the darker "vaseline" oval on the top of the soap, be aware that doesn't always appear even if the soap gets warm enough. In fact, I would rather not see that darker oval because it can also mean the soap is getting a bit too warm -- it's more likely to expand a bit too much and crack on the top.

Many of my soaps don't show obvious signs of gelling, but all the other things I see tell me the soap got warm enough to gel -- soap is firm enough to unmold and cut in 12-18 hours; colors are bright and clear rather than muted pastels; and the soap has a slightly translucent appearance if I haven't used a lot of pigmented colors.

 

[AliOop]

100% what DeeAnna said. The brightness of your soap sure looks like it gelled to me. And FWIW, I put many of my soaps on heating pads to gel, and I never get anything that looks like vaseline, either.

ETA: I don't see any partial gel ring, either, which given the temps you measured, you would be seeing on the inside if you didn't have complete gel.

 

[MellonFriend]

Okay. I was under the impression that the soap had to be noticeably liquid and shiny after a period of opacity, for gel phase to have happened. I checked on it around every half an hour to an hour, so I assumed that I would have caught it if happened, but maybe it did after all! It definitely doesn't have a translucent appearance, but the soap is highly pigmented so maybe that's the reason it doesn't have that. I did unmold it at around 10 hours.

Here's my recipe if that contains any hints for you. Hopefully this link works. Moisturizing Lard | Soapmaking Friend

 

[AliOop]

FWIW, my gelled soaps never look translucent unless they are 100% CO. The colors are definitely more vibrant after gelling.

 

[DeeAnna]

Your lye concentration is 33%, which is the same as what I usually use. It's been my observation (based only on my soap, no one else's) that soap is less likely to show obvious signs of gel when made with moderately high to high lye concentrations (less water). It's my opinion that I'm more likely to see that "vaseline oval" or other signs of gel, such as the top swelling, when I use a 30% lye concentration or lower.

Pigmented colors and other additives def do reduce the translucency of the soap. You're also using some shea which has a higher % of unsaponifiable content, which might have some effect on translucency. I'm not sure though -- just a guess.

The translucency varies in my soap which is a high % of lard usually with high oleic sunflower and coconut oils. If I use a dye-based colorant such as annatto infused oil to get a golden yellow or no color at all, the translucency is most obvious.

 

[MellonFriend]

Thanks for clearing that up @DeeAnna and @AliOop. I figured I was just cursed to not have gelled soap.

 

[TheGecko]

Looks to me like it gelled.

 

[Trinbago27]

Hi all! My issue is the opposite… I did not want to gel my soap and it did anyway… I put it in the freezer, then the fridge for almost 24 hrs! What do I get? A dark dot in the middle

 

[cmzaha]

Hi all! My issue is the opposite… I did not want to gel my soap and it did anyway… I put it in the freezer, then the fridge for almost 24 hrs! What do I get? A dark dot in the middle

Putting your soap in the fridge or freezer will not necessarily stop gelling. It is better to raise the mold on a rack and use a fan aimed at the mold to get airflow all around the mold. If your soap batter is very fluid do not let the air blow on top of the mold or it will destroy your swirls. Also, your Lye Concentration will make a difference, at 33% or above, depending on your recipe I find it harder to gel soaps unless you have a naughty fragrance that heats up. Some FO's such as spicy types with cinnamon, florals, and especially Coconut Fo's are notorious for heating up. I have a CO fo that will start gelling right after I pour the batter into the mold which I pre-cool in the freezer plus I soap very cool.

@MellonFriend I agree that your soap gelled. With my recipes, I have to force gel with most of my soaps which I do by putting my molds in low sided large crates, and stacking the crates with heating pads and blankets. I do have some fo's/batches I have to keep an eye on in case I have to uncover the crates if they start to overheat, so you do need to keep an eye on them, not just walk away and forget them.

 

[Trinbago27]

Putting your soap in the fridge or freezer will not necessarily stop gelling. It is better to raise the mold on a rack and use a fan aimed at the mold to get airflow all around the mold. If your soap batter is very fluid do not let the air blow on top of the mold or it will destroy your swirls. Also, your Lye Concentration will make a difference, at 33% or above, depending on your recipe I find it harder to gel soaps unless you have a naughty fragrance that heats up. Some FO's such as spicy types with cinnamon, florals, and especially Coconut Fo's are notorious for heating up. I have a CO fo that will start gelling right after I pour the batter into the mold which I pre-cool in the freezer plus I soap very cool.

@MellonFriend I agree that your soap gelled. With my recipes, I have to force gel with most of my soaps which I do by putting my molds in low sided large crates, and stacking the crates with heating pads and blankets. I do have some fo's/batches I have to keep an eye on in case I have to uncover the crates if they start to overheat, so you do need to keep an eye on them, not just walk away and forget them.

That makes sense! What I forgot to say is that it was an avocado soap… I usually gel my soap , but the next time I don’t want to I will try your method.

 

[cmzaha]

That makes sense! What I forgot to say is that it was an avocado soap… I usually gel my soap , but the next time I don’t want to I will try your method.

It makes no difference that it was an avocado soap. I use fresh avocado and avocado oil in many soaps. After all, I am from So Cal where avocados grow in our backyards and the oil is readily available.

 

[kaygrrl]

I just don't get it you guys. Yesterday I made my first batch of honey beeswax soap and with all I've heard about being careful not to let honey soap overheat I figured I'd have no trouble gelling this batch. Wrong! I used about two tablespoons of honey in the two pound batch, I was soaping at around 113-115 degrees and after an hour of doing nothing in the mold I put it on my heating pad and wrapped it in towels. After eight hours it never gelled and I gave up waiting. I even checked at one point to see what temperature it was under there with it and the thermometer read 130*. That should be hot enough right? Did I just not wait long enough? This is the second time I've used this base recipe with the exception of the addition of the honey and beeswax and last time it didn't gel either, although I can't say I tried this hard. Any ideas? View attachment 65534

These are beautiful! What did you color use to color?

 

[MellonFriend]

Thank you! I used Trial by Fire from Nurture soap.

 

[Megan]

If you unmolded in 10h and didn't smush the loaf up ...I think it's safe to say it gelled

 

[MellonFriend]

If you unmolded in 10h and didn't smush the loaf up ...I think it's safe to say it gelled

Okay cool! I've been unmolding the vast majority of my batches at around 10 hours so now I'm questioning whether I've really ever seen a batch not gel.