Now there is again light at the end of this tunnel! Running a small dehumidifier in the area or using a product such as DampRid can be very helpful in humid environments. It will be one to keep for personal use, not gift giving. Oven process the soap by placing it in an oven set to 170 F for about 15 minutes. :). (Sort of like moisture beads in a scrub product for your skin.) I have received permission to post the article since it was taken off the USA Today site. i made it yesterday and checked on it this morning. Hi Andy! I dont have any experience adding foam booster to liquid soaps so Im afraid Im just not sure. Over time, lye will absorb moisture and humidity from the air. Stash the molds in a warm place and allow them to cure and harden for 24-48 hours. Don't worry about retaining the heat. A there a rule of thumb, for super fat soaps? You can save some of the warmed soapmaking oil from the recipe, mix with the fragrance oil, and blend it in at light trace. :) https://www.facebook.com/TheNerdyFarmWife. Run any changes through a lye calculator to make sure the lye amount is correct. (Pink/purple colorant + green oil = generally a brownish color.). Do I throw it n retry or is there any hope. Im not sure since I havent tried making laundry soap with my homemade coconut laundry soap instead I make a dry detergent with it: If this happens in your soap, try making the recipe again but insulate the soap mould with a couple of towels. Soap is darker in the middle and the outside edges are lighter colored. It could be that your lye has gotten old, or you possibly had a false trace: Thats about the limit of what Id use on a dog, BUT, for a human, you can safely go higher. (Cut it into bars if needed.) How can we soften a bar of Zote soap so we can cut it in pieces?????? Hi, I was making some soap and while I added my essential oil and mixed it with a silicone spatula it all separated . The information on this site is for idea-sharing only. What's Wrong With My Soap? Similarly I added 2.9 to rest all too so do keep that in mind while guiding me. Reason: This is caused by not completely mixing honey into your soap. Hi there, Hopefully it just needed more time! Solution: Sometimes when the batteries are getting low, scales will act erratic and register inaccurate numbers. That might help us troubleshoot a few ideas! This allows the soap to harden and any excess water to evaporate. Soap has hard and soft places when you slice into bars. :), good day! Soap has small visible white spots all throughout. 93g salt I tried all the . :). Allow established over night, rinse and have a look-see. (Virtually all of the recipes on the internet & in books should already be superfatted as well.) Is there any way to save my lotion? Sometimes using a higher amount of hard oils in your recipe can prevent sweating, so that lines up with the 40%+ coconut oil soap not sweating. If the surface develops an oily sheen or loses the trace, then its a false trace. Leave the soap in the oven until saponification is complete. Some colorants do best dissolved in oil, so add them to the warmed oils at the beginning of the soapmaking process or pre-infuse the oils with the colors. Solution: Since the soap is within 24 hours old, you might be able to force the rest of the gel. i suspect that the lye is already expired since it is already hard. 10.7 oz water Be sure to read this exceptionally informative article on Curing Soap from the Classic Bells website. I de. Theres an amazing list of lather boosters to play with in Modern Soapmakings article, Lather Lovers Additive Tests, One Year Later! 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! 9. 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! Stirring during the mixing process. I do appreciate any help you can give. Double check that you used the correct amount of lye and that your scale is accurate. Do you know exactly how much lye you are missing? Or a good smell each, just different from each other? This video will show you how to troubleshoot common soap making problems in cold process soap making. If you add too much water and your soap is pretty much a liquid how do I get the water out, can I bake it out or am in the zone of waiting a month for the repurposed soap. Does it have any lumps or clumps in it? Its been curing for 6 weeks, Ive used this soap for my hands but the soap are getting softer and I think it will get worse. When soaping at hotter temperatures, you run the risk of accelerating trace, creating a heat tunnel or causing a soap volcano. Thank you so much for all your help and encouragement. (I tried it and it worked for me & my 10+ year old Cuisinart! HELP??????? Hi Amber! Hi Jen! Bought it after my good friend, Carmen, showed me how to make soap the hot-processed way using this book. Soap Making; Soap Troubleshooting; . Each Tuesday, youll receive one of my best natural soapmaking tips, recipes, or printables. Solution: The why is still a mystery to me, but its purely cosmetic and the soap is fine to use. 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. (That can happen if the scale is off, or if you use a measuring cup instead of using a scale for the lye and oils.) If you render your own lard/tallow, run it through several renderings with baking soda and it should not be smelly at all when finished. Leave undisturbed for 24 hours or until solid enough to handle. You could try rebatching it & see if that helps! I put that into bramble berry soap calc to find lye and water and add 15g if essential oils at trace. However, its ability to attract moisture means that in very humid weather, little glycerin beads or droplets may develop on the surface of the soap. 9.9 oz coconut oil Add 1 teaspoon of sugar per pound of oils to your soap recipe. Soap has a weird texture with raised lines, or veins, running throughout. 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. I used an immersion blender. Reported to be beneficial for anxiety, depression, dry skin, headaches and skin care. Double check to be sure your recipe checks out with the lye calculator and that you are using the recommend amount of water. :). Adellyn, Hi Adellyn! Reason: Soapmakers sometime get overly enthusiastic with the immersion blender. Reason: Too much honey can make a soap overly soft. So you could try decreasing the coconut oil to 125 grams (25%) or 150 grams (30%) and use a 6 or 7% superfat. Even then, clear plastic molds arent always reliable. Infused oils may impact it? Thank you so much- I have black spots appearing in two different loaves- silicone- upon cutting g. I had not even unfolded them and noticed. Solution: Be sure to research fragrance oils before use and purchase from a reputable vendor who thoroughly tests their oils in soap. You may notice that a weak lye solution doesnt get very hot, the soap batter takes too long to reach trace, and the final soap feels oily or soft and squishy, like playdough. To avoid unintended brown soaps, be careful not to steep your herbal tea too long, especially when using herbs such as mint or lavender. Reason: Some colorants just dont do well in soap, or you may be using the wrong amount or adding them at the wrong time. 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. or citrus tend to be the most likely to turn your soap darker and this can happen in melt and pour soaps or cold process soaps. Yes, I can buy it, however, the woman used bitcoin and I dont do that. Reason: Zinc oxide or titanium dioxide wasnt completely blended into the soap batter, leaving little white flecks in the soap. This in turn should free up my inbox to a more manageable level while helping others more easily find the information they need. Even if it takes all year, you might still end up with a usable 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. 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. The soap couldve cracked because of the high amount of tallow and lower superfat. You can do this physically, with a piece of saran wrap, or spritz the top with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I dont t think I added enough lye. Reason: These molds behave similarly to silicone molds, but are even worse at holding onto cold process soap. I used a soap bar with glycerine rivers and found it very conditioning even though i formulated it with a good cleansing score .Do glycerine rivers increase conditioning of soap? Solution: Take extra care if using bay laurel, citronella, clove, cinnamon, fir, palmarosa, pepper, and ylang ylang essential oils. If your client base is heavily tilted toward natural ingredients, using 0.1% of your oil weight in ROE is very likely to significantly extend your shelf life. They smell and work fine. Everything went well, but it is winter here, inside temp maybe 50 degrees. 30% RSPO Palm Oil. If you cant blend the majority of them out, then I suggest rebatching the soap. How old is your soap & what are some of the additives? Set it on some parchment or wax paper to cure for a week or so and that's it. Appreciate if you could share how to keep that ring instead of making the color even out. With cold process soap, it typically takes about four weeks for the soap to fully cure. Hi Pennytoes! 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! thats very informative. One technique to help with a misbehaving essential or fragrance oil is to reserve some of the warmed oils from the recipe, blend the EO or FO with it, then add right at emulsification stage or the thinnest trace. If you want to share the recipe here, I can double check that for you too. This ultimate troubleshooting guide breaks down the reasons and solutions for 30+ common cold process soap problems. Here is my recipe for both batches 19.2oz Canola Oil 12.8oz Olive Oil 4.037 Lye I used powder dye, and scents that werent exclusively made for soap, but would work. but after a month when i washing my hands my soap cracked during use . You can check for false trace by leaving the soap batter undisturbed for about 20 or 30 seconds after you reach light trace. The only thing I can think of is perhaps its related to the extended heating time. Reason: Check the bottle of lye you used. Sorry to hear that happened! 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. Soap has a tunnel inside when you cut into it. Let the soap set up for 24 hours or so. Allow for a longer cure time: The longer your soap cures, the better the lather will be. Melody, Hi Melody! Have you had it for a long while? Step 4: Gently squeeze your finger to use the second drop of blood. (Example: 1 tablespoon clay dissolved in 3 tablespoons water.). Yes i used actual items not scents and two my bars turned yellow and dont smell anything like the rest. Looking for answers. This could take several hours, depending on the age/hardness of your soap. It sounds like the soap might need rebatching. Im not sure since this is outside my scope of current knowledge we need a chemist to chime in and help us out. Solution: An increased lather may help offset some of the slimy effect that castile or bastille soaps can have, while a decreased superfat will reduce the amount of free oils in a soap. Many thanks, Anna in NZ, Hi Anna! Reason: Some oils are known to slow down trace, which means it takes more stirring and time for them to form a trace. When using clay in soap, dissolve it in the lye solution or mix it with around 3 times the amount of water before blending into the soap. The average waiting time before you can unmold your cold process soap is 17-24 hours. Is this after youve rebatched your soap? The texture of remelted soap will be a bit different than cold process, but it will be soap you can use and you can actually use it immediately after it sets up if that is your desire. The amount of water needed depends on how concentrated you want the liquid soap to be. Wrapping the molds in a blanket or towel for insulation will keep the soap warm and accelerate the curing process. Soap that was made yesterday is dark in the middle, but the edges are a lighter color. I compared the recipes and the only common thing I can identify between the sweating ones and non-sweating ones is the amount of coconut oil. As the soap cools, the center will lighten again. 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 Tips From The Experts This article has some excellent rebatching options: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-rebatch-soap-517103, wow what a fantastic article and so much to learn here. Then I stumbled upon your write up and Im wishing I knew all this before. 200g olive oil Reason: You got a partial gel. This ultimate troubleshooting guide breaks down the reasons and solutions for 30+ common cold process soap problems. 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: You can either increase the amount of hard oils in your recipe (lard, tallow, palm, cocoa butter, kokum butter, coconut oil, babassu oil, etc) or you can keep the amount of olive and other soft oils high (so the bar is extra conditioning), just be sure to give the soaps a sufficient amount of cure time too. Reason: Homemade soap melts easily if left in water. Then, you can add in more color and scent when its an even consistency, similar to making hot process. Its just a cosmetic issue & the cured bars will be perfectly fine to use. (You may have to scroll up a little bit before reading the spot it sends you to, depending on your device, plus some of them have an accompanying photo that may be helpful to see.). Good luck finding the cause! The Melt and Pour Soap Method The last soap making method is also the simplest. Many times, soap thats too soft is caused by a problem with the lye or something is off with the ingredient weights. Thank you so much for guiding me. I had to resort to a fan for a few days. The lye solution turned a really weird and unexpected color. Hi, thank you, this post is amazing and Im sure took a ton of time! Solution: Dont be alarmed. Reason: Sometimes your container might have a small amount of residue left on it from your last batch or a previous use. 50g star anise Using the bag like a pastry bag, squish/squirt the soap into the molds. :). Got to trace within a few minutes and applesauce stage not long after. This is because silicone and plastic molds create an airtight seal that doesn't allow for any air to touch the soap. (An exception to this is beeswax soap.) Too much clay with a reduced water amount can be prone to a dry cracked top as well. Make sure to keep fresh batteries in your scale. Did the lye have any lumps or clumps in it? Reason: Some fragrance oils (FO) may separate from the soap batter and form bead or pools of fragrant oil in the surface of the 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? Typos and errors happen all the time, plus there are some really unsafe recipes out in Internetland. After 24 hours, take the crock pot soap out of the molds. This can interact with the lye solution and form small floaty bits. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. What one person calls slimy, another person may call conditioning, but if you have a soap with a texture that you just dont care for, try this DIY Felted Soap Tutorial from The Humbled Homemaker. First batch ever. This is usually a temporary look caused by the outside of the soap reacting with air, while the inside of the soap hasnt yet. Monitor freshly poured soap for signs of overheating and move to a cooler place if needed. ASIS KUMAR ADHIKARI CEO/ Advisor - Bussiness Operation; Head/VP- Operation Excellence/ Strategic Planning / New Project Set-up, Sales & Marketing, Profit Center Head in FMCG - Cosmetic, Ayurveda & Food Industry (Non-frozen & Frozen) Profile Summary: Sr. Professional in Bussiness Operation (Operation, Strategy, Sales & Marketing) A competent, result-oriented, innovative personal with a dynamic . Hi Shilpaa, Im so sorry to hear about your soap! the oils did not become soap and only the surface harden. SOAP RECIPE. I tested the PH is all around 7. d) Oils, Butters or Fats Used If it feels hard in some places and soft in the other places, theres a chance it couldve had a false trace. That might help with troubleshooting if you get a chance to let me know. Soap will not trace or is slow to trace. Find out the most common soap making mistakes, and let's troubleshoot! Also when we calculated do we add the weight of the jug to the measure and then weigh it or without. Should I super fat more ? As water evaporates from the soap, fans help whisk that moisture away. Hi Jeannina! Ive even had it happen to carrot soap before! This is a super book, simple, East and the photos are very helpful and beautiful. Hi Susan, So glad you found the troubleshooting guide helpful! The humectants in the product attract moisture from the air and droplets of water form on the surface of the soap, creating a visual and tactile experience to resemble that of sweat appearing on skin. (Try 115 to 120F , which is 46 to 49C.) Thank you! Reason: This means that the soap is getting too hot. While it is old, much of the information is still helpful to novices. If an essential oil causes ricing check the brand that youre using since its likely cut with synthetics. This hardens much faster than palm oil bar soaps and . Soap batter has expanded out of the mold (soap volcano). 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