What's wrong with this batch?

[MzMolly65]

Here's a link to the start of this batch .. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=41060

.. and the first batch I made http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=40588

This batch was slow to harden and did that weird separation thing but after it settled down it acted identical to my first batch. After it hardened I left it in the crock the same as my first batch and it turned to souffle .. then started turning to gel so I turned off the crock but rather than keep gelling it turned rock hard. I turned the crock back on and it went back to souffle/gel but I've left it for ages and every time I turn the pot off it goes rock hard again.

The first batch became the perfect pasty gel I was aiming for but this one is stuck.

Any thoughts on why this one isn't gelling?? Should I give up or do something else? Something's obviously wrong, I just don't know what.

 

[lsg]

Why not go ahead and dilute the paste when it is hot? I would add a preservative after diluting.

 

[MzMolly65]

Why not go ahead and dilute the paste when it is hot? I would add a preservative after diluting.

Technically I "could" dilute it but it's not a normal liquid soap. While it's made with Potassium Hydroxide it's always sold in a paste form and only diluted to a liquid format by the people who use it for Tadelakt plaster.

eta: so for the sake of the science I'd like to figure out why it's not doing what it should or why it's not acting like the first batch.