What went wrong? Anything?

[prenger745]

15 days ago I made a batch of bar soap. 70% Lard 30% Coconut Oil. Everything went great, it traced perfectly and I put it in the mold (basically a 9 X 11 tupperware container. It was the purest white and I thought it was a great batch. Last night I started to cut it into bars and while its perfectly white on the outside, the inside is off white and not as hard. Is this soap ok? Does it need more time to cure? Should I finish cutting it into bars and let it cure for a while longer?

If pics would help, let me know and I can see what I can do.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Guest]

Needs more time to cure.

 

[prenger745]

Should I?

Should I cut all of my soap "blocks" up into bar size for final curing? How much longer will it take? Is a dark dry basement good for final curing? Did I possibly make the soap too thick?

Thanks again,
Dan

 

[Lucy]

Re: Should I?

It is easier to cut them while still fresh.

As soap cures it dries out. What you are seeing is the outside is drying but the inside still retaining moisture.

Cut them to the size you want and they will all dry out and cure at the same timespace.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Do you have a humidity gauge? If you sure your basement is that dry, you might want to check out the humidity levels. Most basements are kinda damp, ans tend to have a higher humidity atmosphere than upstairs in the rest of the house. Keeping your soap in a smaller place with lots of air circulating between spaced bars of soap on a proper drying rack is important. I make a drying rack that stacks up on top of each other. Each shelf holds 24 bars stacked on edge. I have a small fan that always runs stationed above the soaps circulating the air. I try to keep the humidity around 65 to 70% in my drying room/closet. 60 to 70% humidity will "cure" dry soap pretty fast! Next year, hopefully in the next month, I'm investing in a small dehumidifier to put in my soap drying room. I've heard people say who make CP soap using a 33% solution can have a bunch of soap "cured/dried" in 3 weeks and be as hard and dry as 6 to 7 week old room temp and normal 75 to 80% humidity dried soap.

Paul....

 

[prenger745]

Followup

Well its been about another month. I moved the bars to my upstairs of my house which I know is lower humidity and warmer. The bars are still pure white on the outside and an off-white in the center. I figured I would give them a try and they lather great but now I notice the skin on my fingertips getting eaten away. Has this happened to anyone before?

I like this soap for its 'drying' quality...meaning I have oily skin and this is the only soap I've used that helps. This is my third batch. The first one was great...solid uniform color all the way through. The second batch had off colors inside...but more splotchy. This batch just has a uniform off color in the center and perfect uniform white on the outside.

What could I be doing wrong?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Guest]

Re: Followup

I figured I would give them a try and they lather great but now I notice the skin on my fingertips getting eaten away. Has this happened to anyone before?

Sounds LYE HEAVY.. GET RID OF IT!
Nothing should be eating any skin away.. ITS SOAP!

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Dan, Shannan got me to thinking, have you tried the tongue test? If when held to the tongue, the soaps tingles like touching a 9 volt battery to your tongue, then, indeed, after this amount of time, it is still lye heavy. Give it the quick tongue test!

Paul.... :wink:

 

[pluto1969]

it isn't risky to be putting things which are possibly caustic in your mouth?

 

[Becky]

Don't actually put the whole thing in your mouth Pluto, just touch the tip of your tounge to the soap bar.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Like I and Becky said, that's why it is called a "tongue" test not a mouth test! It is standard "testing" ideology in the soap making world!

Paul.... :wink:

 

[edco76]

That always reminded me of the first time my big brother told me to test a 9v battery for him. Yuk!

 

[Soapmaker Man]

That always reminded me of the first time my big brother told me to test a 9v battery for him. Yuk!

I did that to my little brother too, Ed! It must be a big brother little brother hazing ritual!

Paul.... :wink:

 

[leansoapqueen]

Cracks in my lotion bar...ughhh! I know what I did though so I should have known better Soap all is coming along great though!

 

[Woodi]

I dry my soaps for 4 weeks to 6 months (if they last that long). The longer the better, if you want good, hard soap.
White streaks can mean insufficient mixing of oils and lye/water before putting it into the mold. This is often a newbie's biggest error. Afraid to overmix, but undermixing is worse.

You can stickblend for a few minutes, then hand whisk a few, then stickblend to completion.