Variables over unmolding time

[cascarral]

Hello!

I've been using the same recipe for a while and always cut around 24 - 48 hrs after pouring.

This last batch I made was super hard after 20 hrs and when I cut it some of the bars cracked around the edges... What could have happened?

Are there any variables that affect how fast it hardens once in the mold?

I soap at room temp.

 

[Catscankim]

I soaped through last summer when I was still really new at soaping. So I didn't have a baseline on how weather affected my soaps, because I was trying a few different recipes.

I settled on a few recipes since then. I religiously added sodium lactate (except salt bars), but hated everybody reading the ingredients list on my "natural and chemical free" soaps, and having to explain the only chemically sounding ingredient: sodium lactate. So I stopped using it and my soap was fine to unmold, I just had to let it sit on the counter after unmolding to give the corners time to harden up a bit before cutting. I was also glad to cut out one expense from my soapmaking.

Now it is summer again, and I am in Florida, and it is rain season. Not adding SL to my soaps is a miserable experience LOL. I would have to leave them in the molds longer because they are just way too soft. I also have to wait to cut, get finger prints indented in the bars, even beveling has to be put off for a while. So I started adding SL again...at least now I have this story to tell customers when they ask about the sodium lactate instead of just fumbling through what what it is. I know this is the exact opposite of your situation...

I guess my point is, everybody needs to know your recipe and methods in order to troubleshoot your problem.

 

[Tara_H]

this story

The link doesn't seem to be working?

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Are there any variables that affect how fast it hardens once in the mold?

Oil blend and batches (changed supplier, pomace OO vs. EVOO, forgotten to melt up the whole batch of palm oil upon arrival…), lye concentration, SB discipline/state of trace when pouring, colourants, EOs/FOs, mould size/shape/material/insulation, cleanliness of mould lining, residual oils (fatty oils/EOs/FOs) soaked into the silicone, batter temperature (false trace?), temperature during initial saponification (uneven heating of the oven/heating mat during CPOP?), insulation or not.
Probably a few more. Everything, essentially.

Do you use sodium lactate? How precisely do you measure it?

@Catscankim Sorry to hear. That's ridiculous. Sodium lactate is most often made from corn. People opposing its use as a “chemical” don't know/refuse to admit that every substance is a chemical. If they don't want sodium lactate in their soap, they should refuse sodium oleate/palmitate/laurate too, let alone DHMO . Chemical free soap = no soap, they should better stop washing themselves altogether (as well as eating and drinking).
The fact aside that they're obviously not knowing what they're talking about, it's still absolutely possible to add sodium lactate not as a fine chemical out of a glass/plastic bottle, but from less “refined” sources. I don't have/use cosmetic-grade sodium lactate, but got some lactic acid from a brewery/winemaking supply, and make sodium lactate by neutralising it in situ with some extra NaOH (with some extra math). The same is possible with the similar working sodium acetate, from vinegar. Yoghurt is a popular HP post-cook addition that converts into sodium lactate when stirred into the soap paste. Sourdough is another excellent source of lactate from guaranteed biological origin (evaluate non-gluten-free vs. triple rice cross-over).

 

[TheGecko]

Are there any variables that affect how fast it hardens once in the mold?

I've been using the same two basic recipes for my Regular and Goat Milk soaps. I live in the Pacific Northwest in the US and the weather has a huge affect on saponification and curing times since I don't have a climate controlled studio...I soap in my kitchen and cure in my garage. On the average, my soap is ready to unmold in 18 hours, packaged at six weeks and sold at eight (personal preference). But warmer or cooler temps, rain...can not only change the average, but produce conditions that I have to mitigate. Like having to refrigerate my GMS during the summer heat and reducing my water during the winter when it rains a lot. And while I haven't documented it, certain FOs seems to affect time spent in the molds.

 

[Catscankim]

The link doesn't seem to be working?

Meaning this story i just told in that post lol

 

[Tara_H]

Meaning this story i just told in that post lol

Sorry! Lol!

 

[cascarral]

I've been using the same two basic recipes for my Regular and Goat Milk soaps. I live in the Pacific Northwest in the US and the weather has a huge affect on saponification and curing times since I don't have a climate controlled studio...I soap in my kitchen and cure in my garage. On the average, my soap is ready to unmold in 18 hours, packaged at six weeks and sold at eight (personal preference). But warmer or cooler temps, rain...can not only change the average, but produce conditions that I have to mitigate. Like having to refrigerate my GMS during the summer heat and reducing my water during the winter when it rains a lot. And while I haven't documented it, certain FOs seems to affect time spent in the molds.

so many things to consider! Thanks for your reply!