What causes soft soap?

[Guest]

One of the 2 batches I made last night is still very soft and pliable after 24 hours of being made.

I used the same recipe that I used for the other 2 batches (75% EVOO, 25% coconut oil), the only difference was the addition of peppermint EO (1 oz ppo).

I've cut it into bars and I'm assuming it will harden up as it cures, but I'm wondering what causes this? The other soap I made last night is much harder. The recipes were the same (except for the EO). No zap and visually it looks fine.

Could this be due to the soap losing too much heat after it was poured?

 

[carebear]

it could be that one gelled and the other didn't?

 

[Guest]

Could be, the peppermint soap looks chalkier on the surface..... though when I cut it into bars, it had that mysterious swirly effect in the middle that my first batch had.

In your experience, does soap that starts out soft eventually harden up, or can it always remain soft?

 

[Lil Outlaws]

I have no idea, but I wish I did.
I have one batch (apple cinnamon) that has been curing near 2 months and is still soft to the touch. Not squishy, but definitely too soft to use or sell.

Only thing I can think of with this batch:
I used raw/unfiltered apple juice for my liquid. When I added my lye to the liquid, it bubbled up over the edge a little (I lost a little liquid but not much). I wonder if the bit I lost had a good bit of the lye in it, so it didn't saponify hard enough or something.. ??

It's not zappy but it's very soft..

 

[beachgurl]

Danielito, your recipe is high on oleic acid which creates a rather soft bar to begin with. Perhaps one batch didn't gel, like was mentioned above. There are two things you could do to make it harden faster. First, you could add some stearic. The second thing you can do is soap with a 34% lye solution instead of a 28% solution. I would try soaping with the 34% solution because your recipe is a little on the soft side.

 

[Guest]

Danielito, your recipe is high on oleic acid which creates a rather soft bar to begin with. Perhaps one batch didn't gel, like was mentioned above. There are two things you could do to make it harden faster. First, you could add some stearic. The second thing you can do is soap with a 34% lye solution instead of a 28% solution. I would try soaping with the 34% solution because your recipe is a little on the soft side.

Really.. hm! Thanks for the heads up on that.

I'll increase my coconut oil ratio and change my lye discount from 6% to 5%, and see how that works out. The other 2 batches I made using the same recipe have hardened up considerably, I think this particular batch lost too much heat during saponification.

Is there anything that can be done to harden this batch? As of day 2 of curing the soap is still very soft and pliable.

 

[IanT]

dont worry about it... dont judge your soap until at least 2 weeks out... i had a batch i made with castor, coconut and olive oils and it was sooooo soft.. almost like playdough for the first week, now its hard as a rock and registers as a deadly weapon

just give it some time!!


as far as hardening that batch up... not TOO much you can do save fore rebatching it and adding something like beeswax or stearic as mentioned above

 

[Guest]

Ian -- thanks man. Gives me some hope, since I'm planning on giving some soap from this batch as a birthday present....

 

[IanT]

no worries at all man!! I almost trashed my mushy batch but im REAL glad i didnt as I made it with my mother in mind (she is OBSESSED with patchouli, and it was a patchouli soap.... )

 

[Guest]

I love patchouli too... need to find a good online shop to buy it from, Bramble Berry can't get it right now!

 

[heartsong]

x

one word of caution, peppermint oil will burn your eyes if you wash that area. i use rosemary oil now-no problems and it has a kind of green/minty scent. maybe use 2 parts rosemary and 1 part peppermint.

with peppermint oil a little goes a long way-maybe use .5 oz ppo.

 

[Guest]

Re: x

one word of caution, peppermint oil will burn your eyes if you wash that area. i use rosemary oil now-no problems and it has a kind of green/minty scent. maybe use 2 parts rosemary and 1 part peppermint.

with peppermint oil a little goes a long way-maybe use .5 oz ppo.

Thanks, I'll try that!

I tested out the peppermint soap this morning.... it was INTENSE! I liked it though, aside from being so soft it literally melted on my skin!