Actually for me this look very beautiful, Id like to make the soap with a ring like that. :) If your soap doesnt reach trace within 10 to 12 minutes, see if one of the situations below applies. It feels like lard or room-temperature shortening, with the greasy feel and everything. :). This increases the amount of free oils in the soap, making it more conditioning. ), put your soap in the fridge if it will fit or simply leave it un-insulated in a cool place with plenty of air circulation. , Here is the recipe: Aloe Cold Process Soap Kit $62.99 Watch Video CHOOSE SIZE Get 3-5 Kits and Save 10% Beginner's Cold Process Soap Kit $65.99 Watch Video CHOOSE SIZE Get 3-5 Kits and Save 10% Wire Soap Slicer $109.99 Learn More CHOOSE SIZE Soap Beveller $44.99 Learn More CHOOSE SIZE Soap Shaver $43.99 Learn More CHOOSE SIZE Sodium Hydroxide Lye $14.99 As you can see in the photo above, the charcoal soap shown started off incredibly soft, but over the course of a year, hardened up and turned into a nice creamy soap. ), CLICK TO RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LIST. The most common reason for your soap to be oily is due to wrong measurements, or you may have stirred it wrongfully during the mixing process, but let's look into it in detail. So you place your container on the scale, then you push tare to reset it to zero, and then you can add your ingredient that you want to weigh. Does it have any lumps or clumps in it? Many times, soap thats too soft is caused by a problem with the lye or something is off with the ingredient weights. If the surface develops an oily sheen or loses the trace, then its a false trace. Solution: Use 0.5 to 3% beeswax in a recipe. Use a handheld garment steamer to steam the ash from the soap. Thanks! Thanks. You may need to mash the soap down with a spoon and make sure to tap the molds on the counter to help the soap settle. 9. Too much clay with a reduced water amount can be prone to a dry cracked top as well. Was it an older or expired bottle? The lye solution has a hard crust of lye on the bottom of the container. This could be from working at high temperatures, high natural sugar ingredients (beer, pumpkin, honey, milk, etc), or a misbehaving fragrance oil. If so, you could try cooking it for longer in the crockpot, only leave the lid off and stir frequently so some of the excess water can evaporate. Solution: After removing soap from the fridge or freezer, allow it to come to room temperature and stay undisturbed for another 24 to 48 hours. Sometimes we just don't know what has happened. Q: I made a batch of lotion using beeswax, but the oil and water separates. Hi Uma! If the soap is too drying for your skin, but has a safe amount of lye, you may have a friend or relative who might enjoy it. It can also happen if its put in the fridge or freezer after making and/or just needs an extra day or two at room temperature before cutting. Glycerin rivers in soap is often caused by overheating/uneven cooling, and can be encouraged by certain colorants, like titanium dioxide (you may have heard of titanium dioxide crackles!). Be sure that the soap mixture is evenly distributed. Hello, i made a cucumber, ginger and punk salt soap. Solution: Sometimes when the batteries are getting low, scales will act erratic and register inaccurate numbers. :). 2. Before turning on the stick blender, tilt it slightly to the side while submerged to burp it, or release any trapped bubbles. The only thing I can think of is perhaps its related to the extended heating time. Reason:Sometimes a false trace happens where the soap looks like it has emulsified, but its really because a solid ingredient in the soap has gotten cool enough to start thickening the soap batter. Then I stumbled upon your write up and Im wishing I knew all this before. If you find your soap cracking then try to cool it down. Place the soap in front of a fan to help with air circulation. Soap is darker in the middle and the outside edges are lighter colored. No, the soap doesn't go into convulsions (although it's been known to make some soapmakers have fits!). :). Soap has dark spots that are oozy and sticky. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Many thanks, Anna in NZ, Hi Anna! This happens to me from time to time and I dont worry about it. I know its hard for me to wait too! . Solution: Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in a soap recipe. This is a fantastic list of cause and effect situations found in soap. We recommend testing FOs and EOs with small batches of cold process soaps to know which works for you and which doesn't. You can also try adding FO or EO into your oils first before combining with lye solution and then, stir by hand as that is more controllable. Read reviews of fragrance oils carefully and purchase from a reliable soapmaking vendor. Some soapers also have good luck adding the misbehaving EO or FO to the warmed oils before adding the lye solution. Simply leave them in the mold a day or two longer before un-molding and cutting. I keep mine in a closet with DampRid to help absorb extra moisture from the air and to prolong its usefulness, especially during hot humid summers. Most of the saponification process happens then. Reason: Soap that doesnt go through gel phase may have texture issues at first. (Virtually all of the recipes on the internet & in books should already be superfatted as well.) Reason: A higher amount of lye can cause dryness. Appreciate if you can please respond. 1. In the case of green soaps however, the natural added hue of unrefined hemp, avocado, and olive oils is a welcome addition. but i dont know how, how much lye should i add. Hi Jan, thanks for another great post. Is it that the commercial one has something else added my homemade soaps (oil, lye and water) are missing something??? When working with citrus essential oils, combine them with an anchor such as lemongrass or litsea to help them stick around longer. Check out our soap store at http://www.cheekymaidensoa. book, T-shirt, history, merchandising | 742 views, 34 likes, 2 loves, 0 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Simple History: Check out our. Good luck finding the cause! I put that into bramble berry soap calc to find lye and water and add 15g if essential oils at trace. When to cut cold process soap. This ultimate troubleshooting guide breaks down the reasons and solutions for 30+ common cold process soap problems. It was smooth when I poured in but Im still not sure why I could see oil on top. Reduce the amount of water in the recipe by 7-10% and the soap will cure faster. Solution: Make sure the recipe youre using (including ones from this site) has the correct amount of lye calculated by running it through a lye calculator. Soap has weird orange or brown spots on it and/or smells bad. Solution: Try reducing the amount of coconut oil down to 17 to 22% of the oils in the recipe. The information on this site is for idea-sharing only. They are in there third week sof curing what should i do? Castile or Bastile High Olive Oil Soap. Reason: Some fragrance oils dont behave well in soap and will cause separation. If the soap has been in the mold several hours and then starts separating, scoop it into a crockpot and cook on low heat for around 1 hour (hot process), then spoon into a soap mold. That might help with troubleshooting if you get a chance to let me know. :) What type and brand of essential oil did you use? Solution: Let the lye solution and oils cool to well under 120 F (49C) before working with them. Wait 5 days before testing your batch. It gels throughout the middle but cools down before the soap can gel to the edges (called partial gel in soap-ese.) For fragrance oils, be sure to read through product descriptions and reviews to see what other soapers have to say about them. (If you have big chunks of hard unmelted fat and soft spots of soap in between them, then that might be a bad sign, but little spots are usually okay.) Hi.i make soap with 3% superfat and 33% lye concentrate. Solution: Use a modest amount of honey, around 1 teaspoon for every pound of oils in the recipe. The major problem is the darkening of the soap after about 6 months. You can add more olive oil to replace the reduced coconut oil amount, or use another oil such as sunflower or sweet almond. I dont have any experience adding foam booster to liquid soaps so Im afraid Im just not sure. Add sodium lactate or salt to the lye solution and use a reduced water amount to decrease time spent in the soap mold. Since it has already heated so much in the middle, cooling the soap too fast will likely result in a partial gel at that point. If you want to add extra oils, you can definitely do so, but youd want to include them in the list when creating a recipe with a lye calculator to make sure you have enough lye. Do you know exactly how much lye you are missing? Stir it into the lye solution once it has cooled. 1130g distilled water Ice cubes Double check to be sure your recipe checks out with the lye calculator and that you are using the recommend amount of water. Solution: Increase the amount of hard oils in your recipe. Soap is soft and squishy, like playdough. If the center remains too hot for too long it will discolor and form a ring. Location. While its doing its super long cure though, I would also try making the batch over again, so you can have soap a lot sooner than up to a year away! Thanks again Jan for a smart, insightful, and wonderfully written article. Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) @ 5% Superfat. Is it forming sort of a hill in the middle of the soap? Thank you! The soap will have a rougher rustic look to it, but it will be salvaged. Ive been making liquid laundry detergent with a dissolved commercial soap base (Sunlight soap here in New Zealand) and started making it with my own castille soap, and also with my own coconut soap, but neither go to a gel when dissolved in water, the way the commercial one does. (See #2 below for that scenario.). You can also find her writing about gardening and foraging over at her family's website: UnrulyGardening.com! Reason: These are called DOS, or Dreaded Orange Spots, which indicate that oils in your soap are going rancid. Cold process soap. Similarly I added 2.9 to rest all too so do keep that in mind while guiding me. Thanks. Reason: Sometimes your container might have a small amount of residue left on it from your last batch or a previous use. Coconut Oil 12.8 Oz (30%) Sometimes this happens because of false trace where the soap looks like it reached trace, but if you wait a minute and check again, the trace is gone. Reason: Tap water contains impurities that can react negatively in the soapmaking process, increasing risk for soda ash and DOS (dreaded orange spots indicating early rancidity). Hot Process: . For soap to sweat, water must be available in the surrounding air. 14.4g peppermint Lye and oils must always be weighed with an accurate scale. Use the stick blender to incorporate into soap until the color is smooth. thats very informative. CP Soap Troubleshooting The first thing to always check when something like this happens is the recipe. Thanks! One of the main benefits of cold process soapmaking is having complete control over ingredients. Then, you can add in more color and scent when its an even consistency, similar to making hot process. Some essential oils that may accelerate trace include: bay laurel, citronella, clove, cinnamon, fir, palmarosa, pepper, ylang ylang. Over time, so much of the moisture will evaporate and it may help ease the softness enough so that it can be cut into bars. Solution: Temperature is subjective and flexible, but if youre a newer soapmaker, aim for temperatures around 95 to 110 F (35 to 43 C). Soaps gels from the center outward. Hi there, Lovely article very well written. Double check that you used the correct amount of lye and that your scale is accurate. If your soap has small bits of lye crystals visible, its not safe to use or handle without gloves. Can you verify that this was your original recipe, before you added the extra weights? :). Soap batter suddenly seizes up and becomes impossible to stir. <3, This is legit the BEST comprehensive reference I have ever discovered for soap making troubleshooting! Thank you very much for all the information from your article. In this case, use individual molds, cooler soaping temperatures, and place in the fridge or freezer for 24 hours after pouring. This means it started getting hot and going through gel phase, but cooled down too quickly before it could reach the edges. 698g Sodium Hydroxide You can check for false trace by leaving the soap batter undisturbed for about 20 or 30 seconds after you reach light trace. I tried to make your recipe Lavender shampoo and bar soap the total of my oils is 750grams and i run it thru the soapcalc before making. Good to hear that you are making cold process Box Soap. Can anyone recommend a natural preservative that l can safely add to my natural soaps that l will be selling in retail shops over summer? During the first 2 days, the lye is reacting with the oils and turning into soap. :). 10.7 oz water If it still shows the trace after 30 seconds then its a true one. Cocoa butter 7.85oz (15%) Here are a few places to research your essential oils purity: Reason: If you used an herbal tea or alternative liquid such as milk, beer, apple cider, aloe, carrot juice, etc, this is perfectly normal! Wrong Type or Amount of Essential or Fragrance Oil. Solution: Buy a fresh bottle of lye from a reputable vendor. For example, if your soap recipe has 32 oz (907 g) of oil, then use 2 tsp of sodium lactate. Ill try again and share results and pics with you. Given enough time the soap will become much harder. Hi, Hi Krystal, Im so sorry to hear that! could i rebatch the soap? So your soap isnt wasted, I just wouldnt use it on a pup. The amount of essential oil in that soap (7 g which is abt 2 tsp) is the equivalent of a bit over a 1% essential oil dilution rate. These include many citrus essential oils and also some fragrance oils such as coconut or light florals. Soap top is weepy or slightly oozy looking. Do I throw it n retry or is there any hope. Hello! Place the soap mold in the oven and monitor it very closely. Thanks for commenting! What is the best way to fix this? How is it looking now? Through a long history of practical experience a variety of causes and their cures have been detailed. https://www.eocalc.com/. Hoping someone can help. Solution:Temperature is subjective and flexible, but if youre a newer soapmaker, aim for oil and lye temperatures around 95 to 110 F (35 to 43 C). Can you tell me more about the soap and the recipe you used? She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her family and a menagerie of animals, where she enjoys brainstorming creative things to make with the flowers and weeds that grow around her. Solution: Carefully read reviews before purchasing and using a fragrance oil. That might help the lather more without needing to add detergents. Solution: Use individual silicone molds instead of a loaf mold for ease of unmolding. Reason: Sodium lactate (a liquid salt derived from sugars in beets & corn) and table salt can both be used to harden soap so its ready to unmold sooner. Solution: Make sure the soap is completely blended to a light trace. Failed miserably but not giving up. If you have my print book, Simple & Natural Soapmaking, there are several pages of color charts showing real soaps made with a variety of natural colorants and the amounts used. Monitor freshly poured soap for signs of overheating and move to a cooler place if needed. Reason: discovered an awesome homemade soap in Nova Scotia. Reason: Too much honey can make a soap overly soft. (I have a tutorial coming to the site soon!) I tried making my first cold process soap today and failed miserably. For a 5% superfat, you would use the recipe above but have 4.64 oz of sodium hydroxide and I think you will have a nice soap! I have been scouring the internet and it is difficult to find something that seems comparable and I dont know how to fix it. at that time i did not know that it could no longer be used. Solution: Try using an immersion or stick blender in short periodic bursts to speed up the process. Misbehaving Fragrance or Essential Oil. Distilled water 10.70 + 2.9 = 13.6 Solution:Temperature is subjective and flexible, but if youre a newer soapmaker, aim for temperatures around 95 to 110 F (35 to 43 C). (This applies to hot process soap too.) [1] [2] Organs are then formed by the functional grouping together . After less than 12 weeks they are fine. Im brand new to this whole thing. Hi Chloe, So glad you found it helpful! Use moderate amounts to prevent a chalky look. In 14+ years of soaping, Ive never had a soap volcano and when I tried to force one for a photo for my print book, Simple & Natural Soapmaking, I still ended up having to fake the look. If working in a warm room, or with ingredients containing natural sugars such as honey, milk, beer, etc, you may not need to insulate your soap. There, youll find reasons for why the soapmaking problem happened and solutions to fix it and/or prevent it in the future. Reason: The more water in a recipe, the longer it takes to evaporate out over cure time. I had to resort to a fan for a few days. Early in my soapmaking days I tried using a cheapo mechanical scale and the weights were wildly varying when I later tested against a digital scale. As a soap batch is being mixed, it's usually the consistency of cake batter. Ive made my soaps recently, but one of my soap still a bit soft, it feels hard and soft in the mean time. If your liquid soap recipe is made from scratch, then you might want to consider adjusting the recipe to include more coconut or castor oil, or try lather boosting additives like aloe liquid (in the lye solution, not for dilution) or sugar. (4 to 6 weeks at absolute minimum, 3+ months is even better). Set it on some parchment or wax paper to cure for a week or so and that's it. It has 12 different fats in it. Thank you, this is so helpful. As a bonus, beeswax also reduces the chance of soda ash! Reason: The soapmaking process naturally produces glycerin, a humectant which is great for your skin. 93g green french clay This isnt a common occurrence for cold process soap; youre more likely to get soap cracks. Cold work rooms will increase risk of soda ash. If you must use a loaf mold, keep a close eye on the soap after pouring it into the mold. Stearic spots are more cosmetic than anything & usually the soap is fine to use. Have you tried grating it instead of cutting? Can I follow one of your recipes, and add additional fats willy-nilly (a little bit of this and a little bit of that)? ), Ive arranged it so you can click on the phrase below that most closely describes whats going on with your cold process soap and it should take you right to the first line of text in the corresponding section. Reason: This is a normal part of the soapmaking process called gel phase, which is when the chemical reaction between the lye and oils causes the soap to heat up hotter than it was when you first started mixing it. Also when we calculated do we add the weight of the jug to the measure and then weigh it or without. For the recipes that arent high in coconut oil, are they higher in soft oils (such as olive) instead? Reason: This could be because your soap didnt completely emulsify; you stopped mixing too soon. Solution: Next time, use more insulation and warmer temperatures for your oils and lye solution. That works out to 40% olive oil, 40% coconut oil, and 20% cocoa butter. :), Hi Jan It is a full milk soap. :). Hi Vahid! Whew! Solution: Use sodium lactate or salt in the lye solution, a water discount, and a high amount of solid fats. Ive never done this before so this whole thing is new to me. To do so, preheat your oven to the very lowest temperature. Reason: Too much sodium lactate can cause the soap to become hard and crumbly. ), East = Easy Hi, thank you, this post is amazing and Im sure took a ton of time! But dont give up on it until then! Turn off the oven. :). :). Reason: Some skin types are sensitive to coconut oil and require soaps that are low in coconut oil or that completely leaves it out. We provide a 12-week soap-making class in one easy-to-read format, not . If the wrong amount of lye was used, it should be discarded. :). Stirring during the mixing process. Sodium hydroxide 4.79 +2.9 = 7.69 Sodium Lactate is thought to harden cold process soap while minimizing shrinkage associated with curing which will help alleviate troubles with unmolding. Rebatching the soap is recommended. Keep soap in a cool location with plenty of airflow. Thats still in the safe range for using as a body and/or shampoo bar for humans. Solution: Take extra care if using bay laurel, citronella, clove, cinnamon, fir, palmarosa, pepper, and ylang ylang essential oils. You can incorporate the color change into your soap by adding some swirls with a bit of unfragranced soap base to give a colored or white contrast or you can use some . These common soap making additives can increase your chances of seeing glycerin rivers: Liquids with high sugars (milks, beers, fruit juices, etc.) Lumps or clumps in it heating time then I stumbled upon your write up and becomes to. The more water in the fridge or freezer for 24 hours after pouring seems comparable and dont! 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It has cooled, so glad you found it helpful lye from a reputable vendor how lye.