Too much superfat! What should I do?

[janesathome]

Happy New Year! I’ve nowhere to go this new year but up, after making my first soap of 2024.! Yesterday’s attempt was a BUST. Somehow I forgot to account for my citric acid in my NaOH calculations (I wish soapcalc.com would make that adjustment!) and after wondering why my batter was taking so long to come to trace, I finally got the soap made and into the oven to CPOP … and THEN the penny dropped. I’ve done the calculation and I have a TWELVE percent SF . I use 10% coconut oil, and my preference is for a 3% SF. I have never gone over 5% (excepting a salt bar that’s curing now) and I have no idea what 12% will give me. I have hard water (thus the CA). Is this soap even worth curing and using? What would you do, soaping experts?
… and just to top things off, I forgot to turn off the oven for the first 2 hours of CPOP and my poor bar has a little case of silicone rash. Sigh. I need sleep!
TIA for your help!

 

[AliOop]

Those are so pretty! Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about the extra SF. It is more than I'd normally use, but it's not out of the range of usable.

 

[katili]

How pretty! I would let them cure and see what happens. Maybe you like them, maybe you don't, but either way you'll learn something from it

 

[dibbles]

I agree, let them cure and use them. They are too pretty to not give them a chance.

 

[janesathome]

Thank you for your guidance, @AliOop , @katili , @dibbles - I will go ahead and cure them, and see how I like them. I worry about the high SF making the soap prone to DOS and clogging my pipes. I can deal with sinks full of soap scum for a while - and I can always give them away to rellies who have soft water!

I love this community - so much support, experience, and wisdom!

 

[janesathome]

How pretty! I would let them cure and see what happens. Maybe you like them, maybe you don't, but either way you'll learn something from it

The learning is so interesting! It’s what keeps me soaping

 

[KiwiMoose]

They look very nice, so i agree it would be a shame to do anything other than use them. You could use a couple and if you really hate it, then save the rest for your next ciaglia soap?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Very pretty! After a few miscalculations of my own, I stopped using CA and switched to sodium citrate so I wouldn’t have to worry about the lye correction.

 

[janesathome]

They look very nice, so i agree it would be a shame to do anything other than use them. You could use a couple and if you really hate it, then save the rest for your next ciaglia soap?

@KiwiMoose, good idea! I could mix the shreds with some zero SF dish soap shreds I have hanging around - maybe the two will cancel each other out!

Very pretty! After a few miscalculations of my own, I stopped using CA and switched to sodium citrate so I wouldn’t have to worry about the lye correction.

@Mobjack Bay I did use sodium citrate for a while - went back to CA because of the lower cost - and because I’m SO CAREFUL when soaping that I’d never forget to adjust the lye HAHAHAHA.
I had four (count ‘em, FOUR!) whoopsies with this batch. That’s a first; good lesson learned not to soap when really tired! And no-one got hurt in the process

 

[dmcgee5034]

Sooo pretty - great colors!

 

[janesathome]

@dcmcgee5034 thanks! I am happy with the colours, swirls, and the shade of the uncoloured batter . It’s always so much fun to play with the colours. Endless variables to keep my “possibilities” nature happy!

 

[NewlyCreative]

They look lovely and I think they will be fine to use. Look at it this way - you’ve got a chelator to keep those pesky oil molecules bound together as they go down the the drain!

 

[Lanie]

I’m new to this and learning with every batch. Honestly, I’m finding it a great way to embrace the learning that comes with mistakes (and absolutely loving my imperfect bars).

Your bars are so pretty and I bet they’ll feel great on winter skin (it’s 17 degrees where I am today)!

 

[janesathome]

I’m new to this and learning with every batch. Honestly, I’m finding it a great way to embrace the learning that comes with mistakes (and absolutely loving my imperfect bars).

Your bars are so pretty and I bet they’ll feel great on winter skin (it’s 17 degrees where I am today)!

@Lanie yes, mistakes are a great opportunity for learning! It will be interesting to see how we like the extremely superfatted batch. We are just coming out of a prolonged severe cold “snap” (I think when it gets colder than -40 it should be called a cold “punch to the face!” because the air HURTS at those temps). The humidity in my house has been around 17% so a little extra Superfatting might have been nice on my skin.
BUT I have learned that for our local hard water and for my plumbing, to decrease soap scum and create a long-lasting hard bar of soap, 2 or 3% SF is my happy spot. I’m a bit leary about introducing a 12% SF to my pipes.
I cure for 8 weeks and this one might be longer - will try to remember to post with an update when I have started using it!

 

[Zing]

Put 'em in a frame and hang on a wall. Very pur-tee.

 

[janesathome]

Put 'em in a frame and hang on a wall. Very pur-tee.

@Zing well, I looked up adding a frame to a photo but I’m technically challenged. And TBH, not motivated enough to learn! But here’s the (kind of unfocused) photo I posted, once I had cleaned up the bars a bit.
Because I am nothing if not impatient I did try washing my hands with the end scrap today. Way too early to tell how a 12% SF will turn out. I did apologize to my pipes in advance!