What soapy mistake have you made today?

[ArtisanDesigns]

I thought I would let you guys see how my soaping failure from the other day progressed from bad to worse
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yJ18sDYmvg[/ame]

 

[lionprincess00]

I love everyone's mistakes! It reminds us no one is free of imperfections (concerning soap at least ;-))

 

[ArtisanDesigns]

To me it tells how much effort we put into research and development of recipes. Lots of effort here LOL

 

[Deedles]

I have a very good friend who's been teaching me to make soap. We usually do it at her house across town because it's just more fun with a friend! She's in the process of moving so on Saturday we decided to soap all day and try to use up the rest of her supplies so she doesn't have so much to move. That was her excuse....like we needed one, right? First we grated the rest of the Castile soap we made a couple months ago and make laundry soap and some liquid soap.

Since she's moving I decided to make my next batch of goat milk soap all by myself. We've always tag teamed it with one of us melting the oils and one mixing the lye so I wanted to do it all to get used to the timing by myself. On top of that I had gotten a free sample of some grape purple oxide and some TD so I wanted to do a white and purple spoon swirl. Now, being new to all this I've read so much from so many places my brain is full of soapy stuff with no memory of where I read what. I had it in my brain that I needed 1 tsp of colorant ppo, so for my recipe I needed 3 tsp of color. So following a video I had seen recently, got 3 small cups with 1 Tbl of glycerine in each. I then mixed 1 tsp TD in one, and 1 tsp grape in each of the other 2 and mixed it well with my nifty little mini mixer. It was so pretty! When the soap got to a light trace, I seperated it into 3 equal bowls, added the colors and mixed well with a whisk then the SB. So good so far except....it wasn't purple! It was a really intense dark blue...kinda like blueberries! I had intended to layer it purple, white, purple but for some reason added the white first. So it ended up white, purple, purple. I did the spoon swirl thing and was so proud of myself...it looked great! So into the oven while we took a break and started the clean up and visiting. After a couple of hours I needed to get home. Ooh look...it's changing colors! Now it looks like raspberries!

This is the second time I've used the 5lb loaf mold so I didn't think anything about moving it, it was OK the last time! Of course, last time I moved it it had been set up about 4 hours. Sure enough when I put it on the floor of my truck I noticed some movement. I was thinking I sure hope I didn't have to slam on my brakes! Well, it didn't take slamming on the brakes, just your normal slowly stopping and going around curves does some strange sloshing in a loaf mold! As I watched the top of that loaf undulate and finally slop over the edge a bit, I could just imagine what it was going to look like. On top of being so dark as to look almost black instead of a nice medium blue/purple.

As I unmolded it on Sunday I was surprised to see some definite streaks so was still hopeful that maybe a bar or two would look OK, even if the top was a bit caved in along the middle. I sliced it today and was really pleasantly surprised, I had swirls...of sorts!

After seeing how dark it was, it did cross my mind that maybe I had used too much color powder so I went to the website where it came from and the only thing I could find as far as directions on how to use it was a note that if the lather wasn't white, you used too much! I had a few pieces of the 'spillage' so this morning I lathered it up and sure enough, blue bubbles! But it smells devine! So more research is defintely in order! AND notes taken instead of depending on my rotten memory!

Oh, and upon closer look, I noticed some...graininess on the dge of some of the white parts. I don't know what made that, maybe the glycerin?

 

[Jstar]

Oh my AD..thats terrible for you ....however I had to laff a bit because I could very well imagine that being me.

@Deedles, those are really bright blue and look awesome..too bad about the blue bubbles tho..I have some that are purple...yup...purple bubbles...I used a bar to wash my truck..very bad idea since I was wearing a white t-shirt.

Oh and that looks like glycerin rivers and maybe some TD speckle, but I think it looks cool myself

 

[gigisiguenza]

Lol Deedles, I feel your pain. It sure is pretty though. Truck soap. I love it. LOL

 

[cgawlik77]

Hey all.. I know its been a verrrrrry long time since I posted, but we all know how life is.. thought I would share my first EPIC FAIL. Happened yesterday, after almost 2 years soaping.

It started with high anxiety. My biological sister is at my house trying to get her life together ( meanwhile turning mine upside down) what better to do than ease frustration than make soap?
Mistake one.. soaping while frustrated
I need some shave soap..
Mistake 2.. not finding the thread I based my SUPER AWESOME SHAVE SOAP OFF OF, trying to do it from memory
I had the recipe wrote down how hard can it be to remember the steps I took... UGH
I weigh everything out.. mix my koh with water
Mix my naoh with ice cubes
Go back to my koh... the freaking container is leaking.. (normally don't follow the "rules" and mix on top of the counter.. this time THANKFULLY I had it in the sink... WHOO HOO GO ME
So I pour it over into another measuring cup, weigh it.. im 50g light.. I think ok I can fix it.... YEAH RIGHT
I only have 8 or so grams of koh left so I add a bit of water dump the remaining koh in and just go for it..
Yep I guess that was uber mistake 3..
5 hours cook time on high in the crock, I still have zappy soap..
I had added more water, more oil.. then more water and more oil.. I finally gave up, said F it. Plopped it in my mold, and went to bed.. wish I had had a bottle of wine to end it with..
I don't even know if I can attempt to rebatch it or what.. I don't know that I want to... someone please come get my gremlins.. I don't like them


And the gremlin remains.,
Today's batch
Lard/coconut/castor
Mix everything, seperate it out.. add my pink/purple mica I already had mixed.. instant curdles.. only in that portion.. my white was fine.. grrrrrrrrrrr. I have stick blended till my sb got super hot.. guess I should put the soapy stuff up for a bit, until I get my nerves in check.. but then what do I do for self therapy

 

[umeali]

I made another batch of soap two days before but still it is very soft ,I am wonder what I have done wrong ? The remaining part in a small container is bit harder than the big one in my wooden mold.I used shea butter very first time ,Iam attaching the picture where you can see the jelly type yellow soap ,The lid made this .
I used soadium lactate also to harden it .
My recipe was 500 gms soap with almond oil ,coconut oil,caster oil ,bees wax and shea butter .it was exfoliating bar so just added orange peel 1 tea spoon .

 

[not_ally]

Umeali, what does the soap look/feel like under the plastic wrap (it looks like you have some on top?) Is it sweating? If you can post your recipe, all the amounts, for everything - you always should if you have questions - maybe someone will have useful advice. It is hard to even guess, otherwise.

It looks like it might be fine/good if you take off the plastic and let it dry, but it hard to tell without knowing what went into it and what your procedure was. I always like your posts and that you are so good about doing them even though you have to translate in your head (my parents are non-native English speakers, as well), I know that it takes more time, but I think it is worth it!

 

[umeali]

Umeali, what does the soap look/feel like under the plastic wrap (it looks like you have some on top?) Is it sweating? If you can post your recipe, all the amounts, for everything - you always should if you have questions - maybe someone will have useful advice. It is hard to even guess, otherwise.

It looks like it might be fine/good if you take off the plastic and let it dry, but it hard to tell without knowing what went into it and what your procedure was. I always like your posts and that you are so good about doing them even though you have to translate in your head (my parents are non-native English speakers, as well), I know that it takes more time, but I think it is worth it!

Not ally thanks a lot for your nice words ,the soap is looking brown but where the lid touched it it is uneven and yellow jelly like substance is visible which is even after 4 days is still soft .
I used
50 g almond oil
175g coconut oil
175 g olive oil
50 g caster oil
20 g bees wax
30 g shea butter
1 g sodium lactate ,orange peel .
only the sides of molds are sealed with plastic wrap ,its a flash of my cell fone .
Plz some one help me ,how to harden it now?

 

[not_ally]

Umeali, I just did the math in my head, so there could be some mistakes. That percentage of beeswax seems a bit high from what I have read, but I would think that would make the soap harder (and harder to work with), not softer. Hopefully someone else who knows more about it will chip in. The only other thing I can think of is maybe reduce the castor a bit?

10% is quite high, although usually not enough to make it that soft (4 days to unmold is a long time). I am wondering if there is something in your process or in the environment there - high humidity or something - that is making the soap wonky in general, it seems like you have had a consistent problem with the soaps hardening?

 

[shunt2011]

You said the lid touched where you are having the problem, could it perhaps be a reaction between the wood and the soap? Just a guess. Maybe something in the wood reacting with the soap?

 

[umeali]

Umeali, I just did the math in my head, so there could be some mistakes. That percentage of beeswax seems a bit high from what I have read, but I would think that would make the soap harder (and harder to work with), not softer. Hopefully someone else who knows more about it will chip in. The only other thing I can think of is maybe reduce the castor a bit?

10% is quite high, although usually not enough to make it that soft (4 days to unmold is a long time). I am wondering if there is something in your process or in the environment there - high humidity or something - that is making the soap wonky in general, it seems like you have had a consistent problem with the soaps hardening?

Again thanks for a quick reply,this was my first large batch 500 g .I told you earlier the extra soap I put in a small container is bit harder than this soap .The soaps I made before did not had this problem except honey oat milk soap that took 4-5 days to harden .

 

[umeali]

You said the lid touched where you are having the problem, could it perhaps be a reaction between the wood and the soap? Just a guess. Maybe something in the wood reacting with the soap?

Shunt when I was removing the lid after 24 hours it slipped and touched the soap and from that place it is yellow looking but the other part where nothing touched color is brownish .I touched the yellow part which is creamy even to day I checked both ,soap in a small container is much better now though soft but not as soft as it was 2 days back but the soap in mold is the same creamy and soft and even the part of the soap on the lid is as creamy .What should I do now?
wait for few more days?
or throw it ?
What people do if they face something wrong ?As most of people are here new like me .

 

[Obsidian]

I wonder if it overheated a bit and started to separate on top? I would toss it in a crock pot and rebatch.

 

[not_ally]

Umeali, pretty much the universal advice, unless there is clearly something wrong w/the recipe (I did not check the lye/water, I am assuming you did that carefully, but otherwise yours looks OK) or if it oozing like crazy/does not start to dry after a few days, is to let the soap sit for as long as you need to unmold (within reason).

Unmold when you can, then check it for zapping/too much lye. If it is OK in that respect, put it aside and then just check it every once in a while to see how it is doing. Sometimes a soap which seems awful right after you make it can be v., v. nice after a cure. Don't throw it away.

If it is lye heavy after waiting for long enough - the zap test just means touching a piece of the bar w/your tongue, zapping is the feeling you get if you do that w/a battery - then you may need to give up and rebatch, but that is a whole different issue. I don't like doing it b/c it is more work and the soap is not as pretty afterwards. W/your soap, the way it looks right now and sounds, I would just wait and see what happens.

ETA: cross post w/Obsidian. That is the problem w/helpful people, you do get a lot of opinions, and sometimes they vary But they are generally good/worth thinking about, if they are from a regular here.

 

[umeali]

Thanks for all replies I must wait for one more week and then try to learn how to re batch it and interesting thing is that ,soap which stuck with lid is as creamy.:think::think::think:

 

[TwystedPryncess]

This story isn't from today either, but it was a pretty phenomenal fail. I'd decided to work with 3 colors, a behaving FO, a slow-moving recipe, and play! So that's what I did! And it came out beautifully! So beautifully, that I was so amazed, and impressed, and in awe. I was like, wow, I dinked around forever with that, no soap thickening after that first light trace, I plinked and plopped my colors here and there and hand mixed them and wishy-washed etc...got all my mess in the mold and happily went to finish off to CPOP.

Then something Happened.

I checked on my CPOP'ing soap about 20 minutes in and noticed that oils were oozing out from the mold all into the pan I had it set on! All my lovely barely traced soap had just come un-traced and was separating and flowing gookily about, becoming liquid in the mold. Hmm.

Now, I'm madder than a wet cat that all my dinking around has for some as of yet unidentified reason been all for naught, but there is no time right now to be mad as a wet cat, so I yanked it out of the oven and tossed it all into the crockpot, dripping oils from the pan and all (Cause we need those too, right?) At this point I'm just not wanting to waste ten or fifteen dollars of materials if at all possible. Spatula blended the mess back together,in a panic added a few tablespoons of water (in hindsight, now knowing that was a total no no) then stick blended it to a thick trace this time, my beautiful brick red, dusk yellow and deep black all turning into...a murky glop. Sigh.

But it worked. After some time in the crock pot, I made soap. I determined later that either I didn't light trace, and just emulsified, or I false traced. Cleaning up my crock pot told me I made soap, zap testing my spatula told me I made soap, but it was soooooofffft. I dumped it into a mold and thought 'Well, soft hardens up over time'. I saved it, it's soap, and I have mechanics. They are like the Mikeys who eat anything---they will wash their hands with anything.

I am still waiting on that mess to harden up. I cut it into small bars two days ago so that the middles could cure out. The ends though, about an inch in on each side, are good, and it did make a lovely soap--wash wise. Somehow. I also had added some walnut shell powder as exfoliant to it, so it should be a pretty good soapy fail for the boys to use, although I expect it to be used up quickly once I turn it loose. Pretty sure I did this like, 3 months ago, and it's still moist in the middle--as in it clung a bit to the soap knife when I cut it.

I did let myself cheer in happiness that I saved the materials, and then be madder than a wet cat that my playing around went for naught. Then, I promptly made a duplicate batch. That batch turned out just fine. Yay!

 

[Viore]

Yesterday I was adding tumeric infused oil and orange powder infused oil to make a yellow & orange soap. I shook up the mason jar of orange oil, measure out a tablespoon, and added it to half of my batch. Shook up the tumeric jar and the lid flew off, splattering me and the kitchen with bright yellow oil! I cleaned everything up as best as I could right then, and I'll have to scrub down the counter some more when I get home from work. Definitely don't want yellow stained counters!

 

[galaxyMLP]

Oh No Viore! That sounds like a nooooot fun mess...

I had a soapy mistake yesterday. Soaped a little too hot and found out that my "well behaved" FO was not well behaved at all and causes acceleration/ heating... I'll cut the soap when I get home. I sorta just plopped/spread it in there. It had the consistency of coconut butter spread that I've had before (the sweetened kind, sooo yummy!)

I added my picture in! It doesn't look as bad as I thought from the cut. You can see where it thickened right away and didn't let me add color though. I'm not getting this FO again even though it smells good and sticks.

This soap was my inspire me game soap.