What to do with soap that didn't harden?

[luvbentley]

My first attempt seems to have failed, sadly. Almost 24 hours later and it remains goo. It's in a silicone muffin mold, am I able to put it in the oven and try to cook it to harden? If not, can I water it down and somehow convert it to liquid hand soap?

 

[Quanta]

That depends on what's wrong with it. What is your exact recipe, and how did you make it?

 

[AliOop]

I agree, we will need to know your full recipe (including all oils, additives, fragrances, amount of water and amount lye), and how you processed it in order to help. For instance, some recipes that are high in liquid oils may need several days to harden. In other cases, if the recipe wasn't correct, you can often save it by rebatching.

Regarding your second question, you cannot convert bar soap to liquid hand soap. Even if you dissolve it temporarily, the soap will re-congeal over time to become a slimey, goopey mess.

 

[luvbentley]

I don't have the recipe but it was 40% lye to 60% water, and nothing but olive oil other than that. The recipe should be fine as I had someone else check it and they said the numbers were good. I'm almost positive that I didn't blend it long enough, or perhaps didn't dissolve the lye well enough. Another possibility is I've seen comments about people taking temperatures and keeping things at certain temperatures, none of which I did. I just measured ingredients, put the lye into the water and stirred, put the solution into the oil and blended until I thought I maybe saw a trace, but I think I was wrong about it. I read olive oils take a long time blending and I would say I blended maybe 2 minutes.

 

[AliOop]

Unfortunately, we can't help much if we can't determine whether you used enough lye for the amount of olive oil.

Temps aren't that important for such a basic recipe, fortunately. But you absolutely MUST stir the lye into the water until it is completely dissolved. If you didn't do that, then you will have undissolved lye crystals in your soap, which would make it unsafe to use.

Also, what size was your recipe? For a small batch of OO soap, two minutes of blending might be enough. For a large batch, maybe not.

In any event, OO does take a long time to firm up, especially in cavity molds where the batter cools off more quickly. Is the goo consistent, or has any oil separated out? If it is a consistent goo, and you don't see pools of oil, your soap may be fine after more time to set up. You can CPOP it or put it on a heating pad for a couple of hours to encourage it to gel. But I'd give it at least a week to see if it firms up.

 

[Quanta]

How much oil did you use? What did you blend it with?

ETA: Crossposted with AliOop.

 

[luvbentley]

The appearance looks okay, nothing has separated at least.

Here is a photo

The top one looks that way because I touched it this afternoon. I touched it again just now and I do think it has stiffened a bit since then, although still soft.

I didn't save the recipe since I didn't plan to use it again, but I used an immersion blender.

 

[Quanta]

If it hasn't separated, then you most likely reached at least emulsion when you poured. The tops look perfectly flat which means it was a pretty thin consistency and not tracing.

I'm with AliOop, just leave it in the mold longer and see what happens.

 

[luvbentley]

Thanks, I won't give up on it just yet then. Would letting it sit out in the sun help?

 

[AliOop]

Thanks, I won't give up on it just yet then. Would letting it sit out in the sun help?

So glad you asked - absolutely no sunlight! That can cause rancidity, including DOS. You want to cure and store your soap in a darker, well-ventilated area if possible.

 

[luvbentley]

Thanks so much. No sun. Got it. And I'm glad to say that it wasn't my imagination, the soap *is* definitely hardening, albeit slowly. Now when I touch it, it does not leave a mark on the surface anymore, and I can feel that I would have to apply a bit of pressure to cause the surface to break. I'm so excited! I can't wait for these to be done enough to release so I can try making a more interesting soap.

 

[Quanta]

Thanks so much. No sun. Got it. And I'm glad to say that it wasn't my imagination, the soap *is* definitely hardening, albeit slowly. Now when I touch it, it does not leave a mark on the surface anymore, and I can feel that I would have to apply a bit of pressure to cause the surface to break. I'm so excited! I can't wait for these to be done enough to release so I can try making a more interesting soap.

Make sure you wear gloves when touching soap that isn't hard yet. If it's still soft, that can mean there's still unreacted lye in it which, depending on how much there is, can either burn you or irritate skin at the very least. If you make a loaf that needs to be sliced, that means wearing gloves to slice it. Get in the habit of doing that and even though you may sometimes not need gloves when handling fresh soap, if you always do it anyway you'll have them on when it matters.

 

[dibbles]

I would also encourage you to learn to use a lye calculator. The SMF lye calculator, Soapee or Soap Calc are all user friendly. Happy soaping!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

My first attempt seems to have failed, sadly. Almost 24 hours later and it remains goo.

No worries. You did NOT fail. What you see is typical of a 100% olive oil castile!

It's in a silicone muffin mold, am I able to put it in the oven and try to cook it to harden? If not, can I water it down and somehow convert it to liquid hand soap?

Do absolutely nothing except be patient and watch what happens. Soap has a way of "doing its own thing" when left alone. 100% olive oil soap takes a long time to get hard enough to unmold - 1 week or more in this case. Just don't rush it or it won't come cleanly out of the mold. If uncertain, you can leave it an extra day or 2 or 3 to be sure. Once unmolded, allow 12 weeks - 3 months to cure to a surprisingly hard bar.

Well done! Welcome to the wonderful world of soapmaking!

 

[AliOop]

Thanks so much. No sun. Got it. And I'm glad to say that it wasn't my imagination, the soap *is* definitely hardening, albeit slowly. Now when I touch it, it does not leave a mark on the surface anymore, and I can feel that I would have to apply a bit of pressure to cause the surface to break. I'm so excited! I can't wait for these to be done enough to release so I can try making a more interesting soap.

If you want to get them out of the mold at this point, you can put the mold in the freezer for about an hour. Then let it sit on the counter for about 5 minutes while a little condensation forms. The soaps will pop out very cleanly, although you will want to transfer them to an appropriate curing spot quickly to avoid getting them bunged up or covered in fingerprints as they begin to defrost and soften again.

As @Quanta says, use gloves for this process, for sure. Then as @Zany_in_CO says, leave them alone for at three months while they cure. You can start testing one sooner than that, but the lather is likely to be disappointing. Many folks cure Castile soap for 6-12 months, unless they are using the ZNSC recipe that you can find on this blog by using the Search box at the top of the page.

 

[luvbentley]

Thanks everybody so much. I'm so glad I came here, because I was about to actually scoop the goop out and try again before thinking of checking for a soap message board. And I'm happy to say that as if this afternoon, the soap is hard! I will give it another day and then remove it.

One small unrelated question that probably doesn't merit it's own thread... when people talk about ingredients making long-lasting soaps, what exactly does that mean? That the bar won't go bad sitting on the shelf for years, or is it that the bar can be used more times before it gets "used up"? Thanks!

 

[Tara_H]

when people talk about ingredients making long-lasting soaps, what exactly does that mean? That the bar won't go bad sitting on the shelf for years, or is it that the bar can be used more times before it gets "used up"? Thanks!

The latter, that's one that confused me too! It's the inverse number of how easily it dissolves in water.

 

[Quanta]

Thanks everybody so much. I'm so glad I came here, because I was about to actually scoop the goop out and try again before thinking of checking for a soap message board. And I'm happy to say that as if this afternoon, the soap is hard! I will give it another day and then remove it.

One small unrelated question that probably doesn't merit it's own thread... when people talk about ingredients making long-lasting soaps, what exactly does that mean? That the bar won't go bad sitting on the shelf for years, or is it that the bar can be used more times before it gets "used up"? Thanks!

The latter, that's one that confused me too! It's the inverse number of how easily it dissolves in water.

Yes, what Tara said. It mostly has to do with what oils you use to make the soap, but there are additives that help as well (like beeswax). As far as making a soap that can sit on a shelf for years, there are some oils that go rancid fast and should be used in small amounts and/or with a low superfat. There are other oils that are particularly resistant to rancidity, but if your recipe has oils in it that are prone to rancidity you should slow down the oxidation that causes it by adding an antioxidant (rosemary oleoresin is the most commonly used) along with a chelator (Tetrasodium EDTA is nice because it also reduces soap scum).

A note though, just because a soap is very hard, does not mean that it will last longer. Some soaps are very, very hard but they dissolve easily in water and are used up quickly. Softer soaps get used up fast when you use them with a washcloth just because more soap is being rubbed off onto the washcloth. You don't want a bar that lasts forever, because that means there isn't enough soap dissolving from the bar to make enough lather and that soap won't be nice to use. You want a nice amount of soap to transfer to your washcloth or hands when you use it. It's a tricky balance but a lot of people who don't sell but only give away their soap to family and friends just don't worry about the soap being used up fast. After all, the faster it's used, the sooner more soap can be made and it doesn't just pile up in the curing area.

Here is some good information on preventing rancidity using antioxidants and chelators:
https://classicbells.com/soap/soapyStuff.asp#chel

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Many folks cure Castile soap for 6-12 months, unless they are using the ZNSC recipe that you can find on this blog by using the Search box at the top of the page.

Here's a link to ZNSC: Zany's No Slime Castile
You may want to wait until you've made a few more batches before trying that recipe. You can use 100% Olive Oil, but I prefer 85% Olive, 10% Coconut, 5% castor to boost the lather. All olive oil castiles tend to have stingy lather and unsaponified oil that resides on the bar that people have a love/hate relationship with. It would be best, I think, if you wait until you experience it with this batch before trying the "No Slime" option. You may just love it!

 

[luvbentley]

Thanks again so much. Currently the oils I have in my pantry are olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, and soybean oil (Crisco). I have read that palm oil is used to make soap long-lasting, but stores here don't seem to carry it at all anymore. According to their online inventories at least. How long could I expect a soap without it to last?

And thank you for the castile soap recipe! I am definitely going to make that, I wasn't all that interested in castile soap and was just testing it out as a trial run but somehow I really like the idea of adding sea salts to have it suddenly transform into a "Spanish Sea Salt Castile Soap." So much more dreamy!