what causes soap to crack?

[flavapor]

I made a batch today that I got a recipe somewhere online.

It was
25 oz soybean (lard type)
10 oz coconut oil
10 oz palm kernel
5 oz rice bran
15 oz water
7.06 lye

I ran it thru the calc, did not superfat, and it was very watery, took forever to get to light trace, than I poured some off into measuring cups to color, and the main batch thickened up nicely but the colored soap stayed like water. I blended each a bit than added them.

The whole batch looked like a melt and pour, didnt swirl nice, and took about 4 hours to start to harden. Now that the top has hardened, it is cracking. I dont have the experience to know what went wrong, can someone shed some insight.

Also.. if you put a recipe into a calc and it wont work, does it tell you? How would you know if a recipe is not going to work?
Thanks

 

[sosocal]

Sounds like it is over heating - soaps crack through the top when they get too hot. :s

 

[Genny]

Yep, like so cal said, overheating soap can crack.

Also, no the calculator doesn't tell you if a recipe won't work out. That's why whenever I'm testing a new recipe, I only make 1 lb so I'm not out supplies if it doesn't work and I have to trash it.

The only way you'll know for sure if a recipe is going to work or not is by testing it out.

 

[flavapor]

Sounds like it is over heating - soaps crack through the top when they get too hot. :s

it didnt seem like it got hot at all. Didnt look like it even gelled. I never used soybean before, dont know if that was the problem or what it was, but it was a swirl that wasnt thick enough so if I have to rebatch it, its gonna be one ugly soap!

 

[sosocal]

Sounds like it is over heating - soaps crack through the top when they get too hot. :s

it didnt seem like it got hot at all. Didnt look like it even gelled. I never used soybean before, dont know if that was the problem or what it was, but it was a swirl that wasnt thick enough so if I have to rebatch it, its gonna be one ugly soap!

Hmm! I've not used soybean either so I cannot be of much help I am afraid...hopefully someone else will come along!

 

[kaaty]

Sounds like it is over heating - soaps crack through the top when they get too hot. :s

do you mean the mixing temperature was too high or the ingredients make the soap overheat in the mold?

 

[Hestey]

I've mixed a soap at 120* F and not had an overheat. Overheating is when the soap in the mold undergoes chemical reactions at an increased pace, these reactions produce heat from the inside of the loaf. When they heat is high enough it causes the water inside the loaf to change states (become steam) which causes the soap to crack to release the pressure. You never see a burst of steam puff out of the crack, but its there! Overheating is common is soaps with floral or fruit FOs, some EOs and anything with sugar (honey, milk etc). The soap should still be alright, as long as there is no zap

 

[flavapor]

I've mixed a soap at 120* F and not had an overheat. Overheating is when the soap in the mold undergoes chemical reactions at an increased pace, these reactions produce heat from the inside of the loaf. When they heat is high enough it causes the water inside the loaf to change states (become steam) which causes the soap to crack to release the pressure. You never see a burst of steam puff out of the crack, but its there! Overheating is common is soaps with floral or fruit FOs, some EOs and anything with sugar (honey, milk etc). The soap should still be alright, as long as there is no zap

Well, there is zap. This morning I checked it. I made it in a 9x9 brownie silicone mold from brambleberry. The top has tons of cracks, its still not hard but its firm, and it has lye water on top, just a few drops. I had a little extra and put it in a clamshell mold last night. That bar is solid but also has the lye water on top. Its only a few drops on each peice but its there.

I soaped at about 90 F.

 

[Hestey]

Give it a couple days. I've had overheated soap leach lye water too. Usually absorbs back in.

 

[newbie]

I see you said you did not superfat. Be certain to tongue test your bars because you don't have a margin for error without a superfat percentage. It may be drying as well at 0%. Because there is a margin for error with a scale, I think some superfat is almost required, just to protect you. Just my 2 cents!

 

[Hestey]

I completely agree! The only 0% SF soap I make is laundry soap! I do a minimum of 5% SF in a normal bar of soap, my basic recipe is 8%. I have severely dry skin and I find even the 5% SF to be drying.

 

[flavapor]

Give it a couple days. I've had overheated soap leach lye water too. Usually absorbs back in.

Thank you for that advice, and the advice on superfatting. I just followed the recipe given.

Has anyone soaped with soybean oil? It was the hard kind, I have alot of it so I wanted to use it.

If anyone has, I would sure like a tried and true recipe.

 

[Hestey]

I read he ingredients on a few brands of shortening (hard vegetable fat); the chemicals they add to increase longevity -should- cause issues with soap. So I have never tried it, though I know others who do without issue.

 

[desarae19]

I have used crisco, soybean oil, and vegetable shortening. All 3 have worked fine. I think yours just got too hot. You never mentioned what fragrance you used, if you used one.

I superfat between 6 & 8 for my regular bars.

 

[flavapor]

I have used crisco, soybean oil, and vegetable shortening. All 3 have worked fine. I think yours just got too hot. You never mentioned what fragrance you used, if you used one.

I superfat between 6 & 8 for my regular bars.

I used peaks fruit slices. One ounce per lb.

How much soybean have you used when you used it. I honestly dont know what is going on. This is the strangest batch I have ever made. I had extra and ran around putting it in stuff, so the ones in clamshell basic rectangle soap bars, (individual) all got hard and weaped lye water, except one which was perfect till I unmolded it about an hour ago. I sat it on a rack where it promptly got condensation and turned very soft.

The other two clamshell bars are still in the mold and hard as a rock but have the lye water weeping.

The brownie mold is hard but not as hard as I would like it to be to remove it, so there it sits with all its cracking. My small clamshells above, two cracked one didnt. Last but not least I made a two bar peice in my multi mold with rosemary,lemon and lavender scent that is from the same batch, but I removed 8 oz at trace and colored and scented those differently. Those two bars are still in the mold, and were still a thick liquid this morning but have hardened tonight. They are still not hard enough to remove from the mold.

This is all from the same batch of soap, I just dont get it!

 

[Hestey]

Fruit scents are notorious for overheating. I do insulate them but I check them ever 15-20 minutes for signs of overheating (basically if they are getting super hot, re-liquidizing, swelling or cracking) if I see any of these I pop it into the fridge or freezer. A lot of folks just automatically put fruit scents into the fridge or freezer to completely avoid overheat. That said soap can even overheat while in the freezer! I've never had this happen, but a friend told me about it.

 

[kaaty]

Aha, thank you for the info.I realize now when reading all theese ..the reason why we don't insulate the soap with sugar or beer. It's all abut overheating which causes cracking. correct me if I'm wrong , please
It's important to know what soap we insulate or not.

 

[flavapor]

Thanks for telling me about the fruits overheating. So florals accelerate trace, fruity overheats, are there any other tips and tricks? This is good info since EO and FO is not cheap!

That leads to another question, where does everyone get theirs from?

 

[Hestey]

Florals also seem to like overheating, though not to the extent of fruits. And yes, alcohol soap will have a tendency to overheat; like milk soaps they have a large amount of sugars. Anything that adds sugars to the batter will increase the risk of an overheat.