why does my soap look like this?

[anolinde]

Hi! So I made my second batch of soap ever ... and for some reason, it looks a bit crumbly. That happened the first time, too, but I thought it looked a little different. This is what it looks like coming out of the mold.

Apparently, the surface was stuck in the mold like this.

The recipe I used was (I followed soapcalc.net)
Water 190 g
Lye 70.5 g
Coconut oil 150 g
Olive oil 200
Palm oil 150
geranium and ylang ylang EO (about 1.25 g each, I think)

I took care to keep the temperature of both the lye solution and oil the same (I think they were at about 43-45 degrees celsius). I added the EO at trace, although I think the trace might have been a little too thin (I'm very impatient!). I wrapped a towel around it and let it sit for almost 2 days before I tried to unmold it. It wouldn't come off then, so I put it in the freezer for a couple of hours. That did the trick, but then I noticed that the surface was stuck to the mold, so I let it sit another day. It didn't help, obviously

The bars seemed a little soft (not too soft as to make an indentation when pressed). I didn't do the zap test (I'm too chicken), but I could use my bare hands with no problem. And when the bars were sliced, little slivers from the side fell off.

Any ideas on what I did wrong, please? Should I just be patient and let it sit longer before I try to unmold next time? Thanks!!

BTW, my lye discount is 7%, at least according to soapcalc.

- Jane

 

[dandelion]

my first thought if it is cp, is that you need a more study mold and need to let your soap "sit" longer before you take it out of the mold.

 

[Guest]

What do you use to make your mold not sticky? I use vaseline for cp soaps.

 

[anolinde]

Yes, it's CP. Guess I'll try and wait longer next time (like a week). Thanks!

 

[anolinde]

Hi, Freckle. I don't use anything ... could that be why?

 

[Zhuliya]

I think you should grease your mould with something before pouring the soap, especially if the mould is not plain but has those decorations like yours.

And certainly waiting a little longer could help too. Good luck!

 

[rubyslippers]

I use that exact same mold sometimes and have found that my soap needs to stay in there longer before I try to release it. Otherwise, I don't get all the details from the mold. I don't lubricate the mold at all. Maybe it would help if you stuck it in the freezer for an hour or so before trying to release the soap.

 

[carebear]

in those shallow molds, the soap is less likely to heat up and gel. which is fine, but it takes longer for the soap to be ready to come out of the mold.

- grease the mold. don't use soaping oils or Pam, those saponify. mineral oil works, as does vaseline.
- force gel if you wish - stack several molds, or put on a heating pad and insulate well.
- give it more time. like a week.

 

[anolinde]

Thanks so much for all your replies! I think I will make my 3rd batch tomorrow (last chance for a while since my daughter will have her holidays from daycare from Wednesday). I will use the same mold, grease it, and wait a week. Hopefully, it will turn out better! It's bedtime for me here in Japan. Laters!

 

[agriffin]

I use that exact same mold sometimes and have found that my soap needs to stay in there longer before I try to release it. Otherwise, I don't get all the details from the mold. I don't lubricate the mold at all. Maybe it would help if you stuck it in the freezer for an hour or so before trying to release the soap.

When I use those types of molds I put it in the freezer for an hour or so and it comes out better.

 

[LabWitch]

I'm a total rookie, so take this with a big pinch of salt.
Looking at the pattern of soap left in the mold, suggests (to me) that it's due to a heat effect of some kind. It's relatively clean around the perimeter, growing worse towards the centre. It might be that a longer spell in the freezer would have helped - ensuring that the centre portions are as cold as the edges.

Just a thought.

 

[kelleyaynn]

I've had that happen when I needed to give the soap more time to harden in the mold. Softer soaps need more drying time. What hardness value did soapcalc give you? Was it on the lower end? You didn't discount your water, so that and a soft soap might be why. Not sure if the light trace might have anything to do with it - I'm not that experienced yet. I think greasing the mold would be pointless, as the oil would saponify with the soap. Now Vaseline would be different since it is a petroleum product, but then you have to clean that off when you take the bars out.

I've found that in some ways soapmaking is like making wine (which I also do) - patience is a virtue! It's usually better to wait than to rush the process.

 

[judymoody]

On a completely different note, is the amount of EO you used enough to come through? I generally use about 25-30 grams per kilogram of oils.

 

[anolinde]

Agriffin and Labwitch: Thanks! I'll do that next time

Kelleyaynn: Soapcalc gave me a value of 46 for hardness on this soap. And I'm not sure what discounting the water means? And good point on patience! I need to learn to be more patient ... this should be good practice for me!

Judymoody: I was very conservative with my EO since I don't mind a subtle scent. I think I put in less than what was suggested (about 1.25 ml of each in this batch of 500 grams), but at the moment, I could still smell it okay. It's not a strong smell, but not too faint either. Not sure if the smell would stay as it continues to cure or not, though.

 

[kelleyaynn]

Kelleyaynn: Soapcalc gave me a value of 46 for hardness on this soap. And I'm not sure what discounting the water means? And good point on patience! I need to learn to be more patient ... this should be good practice for me!

Hmmm. 46 isn't especially soft, I don't think. But still, lots of variables affect results, and I'm still pretty new to all of this. What I mean by water discounting is using less water than the "standard" 38% of oils as soapcalc defaults. I found out I was discounting my water by accident. I plugged in a recipe I was using from a book, and saw that I put in less water than 38%. Did some calculations, and realized it was a water/lye ratio of 2:1. Coincidentally at about the same time I read some posts on the forum here that mentioned water discounting, and realized that's was I was doing. I also read about it in a book I just got for Christmas: The Everything Soap Book. Using less water means it should dry out faster, but I've heard it can be tricky to use less. I wouldn't know, as that recipe was the one I used for my first several batches, and I didn't have too much trouble. Maybe it was just dumb luck. :shock: I do know that water discounting is a no-no with HP soap, my next venture.