What's going on with this batch?

[ohioguysoaper]

Hi all - does anyone know what is happening in these photos? I eventually added more distilled water (probably 15-20% more) and kept adding more lye water solution until the pieces were gone. However, I ended up with a soap that is too thin for my liking. I'm hoping to get something thicker that doesn't need to be used in a foaming bottle.

 

[lenarenee]

Looks like you made soap paste and are diluting it?? I don't see anything abnormal - that's exactly what happens when I dilute paste. If the recipe was calculated correctly there's no need to extra lye. Now that you have added extra lye - it might be lye heavy. You need to be a zap test - very carefully. There are directions on the forum how to do that properly.

If liquid soap is now lye heavy, I don't know how to help that, but there might be someone who does.

In the future when you have the same situation as posted in the pictures, it means you need to add a little more water - or simply remove the chunks and dilute them separately. Some people are very exacting when they dilute their paste and keep records on how much water it takes per batch. I wing it and am happy with that. Once liquid soap cools - it thickens quite a bit (at least my recipe, with high olive oil amounts) and sometimes little chunks of paste reform in the bottle. I can add a little water straight to the bottle, shake, let it sit and the problem fixes itself.

 

[DeeAnna]

What is your recipe for this soap? The choice of fats makes a big difference whether you can achieve a thick soap by dilution or not.

Why did you think you should add more lye? I'm puzzled about your reasoning for that decision. Like Lenarenee, I'm very concerned your soap is now lye heavy and unsafe for using on skin.

The picture looks like soap when it's close to being fully diluted. When the soap gets like that, you will want to add only a few teaspoons or tablespoons of water at a time. That's especially true if this is a recipe new to you. Bear in mind the soap needs a little time to react to the added water, so don't get impatient with the process. You can easily add more water if needed, but it's a pain to fix if you add too much. That's one of the reasons why I dilute at room temperature -- I know room temp diluting is a slow process, but it keeps me from getting impatient and do too much too fast.