The soap couldve cracked because of the high amount of tallow and lower superfat. The hard spots could have too much lye & the soft spots not enough. 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. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. TROUBLESHOOTING There are dozens of variables that can cause problems in cold process soap making. This in turn should free up my inbox to a more manageable level while helping others more easily find the information they need. I used an immersion blender. Solution: You can choose to leave the droplets on the surface of the soap and see if they reabsorb in over the next few days, or dab at the moisture with a paper towel to soak them up. 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. Im not sure if you will be able to help me . Wrapping the molds in a blanket or towel for insulation will keep the soap warm and accelerate the curing process. Hi.i make soap with 3% superfat and 33% lye concentrate. 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. Tips From The Experts Hi Amber! (Cut it into bars if needed.) So so helpful. The amount of water needed depends on how concentrated you want the liquid soap to be. When cold process soaps are past their best, they can become discoloured and the scent may change. Read reviews before purchasing a fragrance oil to see if its known to do so, especially if its a floral or spice scent. But dont give up on it until then! Wonderful post, thank you. Or, you can try adding the FO or EO to the warmed oils before adding the lye solution and stir by hand. but after a month when i washing my hands my soap cracked during use . Soap has hard and soft places when you slice into bars. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Thanks, Jan! You just cooked it all out! (This applies to hot process soap too.) I had to throw the batch. With the melt and pour method, you aren't making soap completely from scratch with oils, liquid, and lye. Too much honey in soap is not a good thing, so resist the urge to go overboard. In this case, use individual molds, cooler soaping temperatures, and place in the fridge or freezer for 24 hours after pouring. Solution: Be sure to research fragrance oils before use and purchase from a reputable vendor who thoroughly tests their oils in soap. Or place saponifying soap in refrigerator. ), 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. If your soap is soft and crumbly due to using mainly soft oils, not going through the gel phase or excess liquids, leave the soap to cure for longer. This works well for getting a nice brown colour, though, sadly the scent doesn't really come through. For tips on using synthetic colorants such as micas and LabColors, check out this article on How to Color Handmade Soap by the Soap Queen. What type and brand of essential oil did you use? Solution: Just wait and let the soap go through this natural stage. Castor Oil 4.55 Oz (5%) Hi Pennytoes! Place the soap mold in the oven and monitor it very closely. Reason: Consider additives such as beeswax and sodium lactate to increase soap hardness. You can check for false trace by leaving the soap batter undisturbed for about 20 or 30 seconds after you reach light trace. Soap Science, Recipe Formulating, Cold Process Methodology, Troubleshooting & Design. Solution: For more information on natural colorants, Jo Haslauer has a highly recommendedseries of 4 articles filled with loads of information. This video will show you how to troubleshoot common soap making problems in cold process soap making. Solution: Dont be alarmed. series of 4 articles on natural colorants, try this trick by Good Earth Spa of drilling holes in the stick blender, tutorial on removing soda ash at Modern Soapmaking, printable chart of 24 common soapmaking essential oils, Simple Secrets: Anchoring Fragrances In CP Soap. (Soap-on-a-stick). 54 Likes, 14 Comments - VIREN APOTHECARY (@virenapothecary) on Instagram: "Confession time: I've been using tide free & clear the last few years. 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. https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/troubleshooting-cold-process-soap-problems/#section10 i made it yesterday and checked on it this morning. 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! Hi Jen! Ive made my soaps recently, but one of my soap still a bit soft, it feels hard and soft in the mean time. If it still shows the trace after 30 seconds then its a true one. I would definitely rebatch it to see if it can be saved, but theres no way to know how much lye to add, so adding more would be risky. If using palm oil, its recommended to completely melt and stir the oil every time you use it or you might have an uneven balance of fatty acids, leading to more spots in some batches. Have a love summer! 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. 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. Thank you so much for this helpful treasure found! This year, Ive been experimenting with putting my soaps in a clear plastic storage tub. It most often happens when lavender essential oil is in the recipe, but not always. Can cold process soaps be molded into different shapes? :). :) Hi, so much info. A longer cure time will give the soap time to fully saponify and to lose the excess moisture. Keep soap in a cool location with plenty of airflow. They are in there third week sof curing what should i do? Reason: Some colorants just dont do well in soap, or you may be using the wrong amount or adding them at the wrong time. On a daily basis I receive emails from readers about problems and questions encountered while making soap. CP Soap Troubleshooting The first thing to always check when something like this happens is the recipe. (Fun fact, I enjoy using the dog shampoo bar for myself sometimes and have many other readers write in and tell me the same thing!) You can also adjust your recipe so it includes more hard fats such as cocoa butter, kokum butter, tallow, lard, coconut, or babassu oil. . Another quick and easy way to unmold your loaf is to pop it in the freezer for 15 minute spurts to allow for easier removal from the mold. Cold work rooms will increase risk of soda ash. I had to resort to a fan for a few days. Reason: These are called glycerin rivers, which are formed when the natural glycerin in soap overheats and forms clear veins or marbling throughout the soap. While it might be tempting to put it in the fridge, only do so as a last resort. Reduced water amounts, longer cure time, and certain additives can help them be harder and longer lasting. :). Store it tightly sealed in the original plastic container. but i dont know how, how much lye should i add. The lye solution turned a really weird and unexpected color. How can we soften a bar of Zote soap so we can cut it in pieces?????? If mixing in at light trace, dissolve the colorant in about 2 to 3 times as much water, oil, or glycerin (depending on the colorant type) and blend well. If you find yourself in this situation, put the soap in the fridge for about two hours to freeze solid. I dont know that you need to dissolve the lye in ice water though, since you are then heating the soap in the oven. Hi Carol, Im so sorry to hear it did that! some of my soap sweat slightly brown beads. I ordered sodium hydroxide but That helps a lot! 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 a great question! 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. Ive had many readers write to me struggling with soda ash and in mulitiple cases, theyd been making soap in very cold areas, such as 50F (10C). More information Pour it into molds, cover with wax paper, and let it sit for 24 hours. Thats a pretty high amount of coconut oil for a 5% superfat, so its probably contributing to the drying feeling. When to cut cold process soap. :) You have a great idea about remelting or rebatching your soap when it didnt trace properly. You cant do anything about the cracks in this batch, but the next time you make the recipe, you could try using more olive oil and less tallow, and perhaps increasing superfat to 4 or 5% and that should help! https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-rebatch-soap-517103, https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/troubleshooting-cold-process-soap-problems/#section10, https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheNerdyFarmWife/posts, http://cavemanchemistry.com/DreadedOrangeSpot-Dunn.pdf, https://www.facebook.com/TheNerdyFarmWife, https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/coconut-laundry-soap-stain-stick-laundry-detergent-recipe/, https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/handmade101/learn-to-make-articles/All-That-Glycerol.aspx. Thanks again Jan for a smart, insightful, and wonderfully written article. Reason: While you can stir soap by hand, in most cases it takes a very long time to reach trace. I made the dog shampoo recipe and I accidentally put two tablespoons instead of teaspoons of lavender. Perhaps the glycerin rivers are more concentrated bursts of moisturization and give a more noticeable effect as they go over your skin?? Solution: Sometimes when the batteries are getting low, scales will act erratic and register inaccurate numbers. Ground cinnamon makes the dark swirls here. I have received permission to post the article since it was taken off the USA Today site. Most of the saponification process happens then. 11. Some dont do well when combined with raw soap and will bind with bits of hard fats in the recipe causing those solid lumps. 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. Soap will not trace or is slow to trace. Im so sorry to hear that happened! Those are a few ideas to start with to help us troubleshoot better! A caveat of this is that soaps high in soft oils are often extremely gentle and lovely for your skin, so dont rule out making soaps that are high in soft oils! Reason: Coconut oil is very cleansing when turned into soap and can be drying for some skin types. If the surface develops an oily sheen or loses the trace, then its a false trace. You can use instant coffee powder or use brewed cold coffee instead of water to add the lye to. Monitor freshly poured soap for signs of overheating and move to a cooler place if needed. Wait 5 days before testing your batch. This is most evident when you see hard clumpy lye. The water will turn from cloudy to clear and you wont see any residue at the bottom of the container. the oils did not become soap and only the surface harden. Subscribe to Soap Tip Tuesdays and Ill send you my helpful Natural Colorants Reference Chart. After time is up, turn oven off and allow soap to remain in ambient heat until cooled. Solution: Use patience with these types of recipes. https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheNerdyFarmWife/posts, Hi Jan. If I ever find a way to make it stay, then Ill definitely update the post! Remove any insulation that you might have on your soap (blankets, etc. Find out the most common soap making mistakes, and let's troubleshoot! 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. My batch wouldnt trace properly to begin with. :). Soap Making; Soap Troubleshooting; . Dont add dry clay or colorant directly to thickened soap batter since you usually wont have time to work it completely in. Sometimes the veins may have a translucent white look to them. Soap has dark spots that are oozy and sticky. To use salt, add 1/2 teaspoon for every pound (16 oz) of oil in a soap recipe. :) https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-rebatch-soap-517103. 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. Its pretty hard and normal, but when I put it in the water, it oozes a slimy, kinda sticky gel thats so hard to wash off. Failed miserably but not giving up. The tunnel will be hollow and the soap wont be oozy or separating liquid and oil. 93g salt Solution: Try reducing the amount of coconut oil down to 17 to 22% of the oils in the recipe. This ultimate troubleshooting guide breaks down the reasons and solutions for 30+ common cold process soap problems. It could be that your lye has gotten old, or you possibly had a false trace: Solution: Increase the amount of hard oils in your recipe. (Pink/purple colorant + green oil = generally a brownish color.). If you are looking for an all-inclusive, intensive, and complete learning resource for all things cold process soap making, The Ultimate Guide to Cold Process Soap is the book for you. Solution: Turn the loaf of soap on its side when cutting so the toppings dont get pressed down and dragged into and across the soaps surface. If the lye solution is a strong dark brown though, then you can likely expect some type of tan or brownish color in the final soap. Really appreciate some feedback. Soap made with high amounts of olive oil take the longest to trace. what am i doing for prevent crack during use? Use the right water temperature: Using water that is too hot or too cold can impact lather. You can save some of the warm soapmaking oils from the recipe, mix with the fragrance or essential oil, and blend it in at light trace. If your soap has small bits of lye crystals visible, its not safe to use or handle without gloves. Conversely, recipes with high percentage of hard oils/fats will reach trace sooner. Adellyn, Hi Adellyn! I like using Soapee or Majestic Mountain Sages lye calculators, but there are several other good ones online. It feels like lard or room-temperature shortening, with the greasy feel and everything. Reason: Palm free soaps and recipes high in olive oil (or other soft oils) sometimes take longer to firm up. The more airflow, the faster soap hardens. Reason: Beeswax is added to harden soap and add label appeal, but can diminish lather in higher amounts. Heres a great site on rebatching your soap: Reason: Consider adding lather boosting additives such as milk, honey, beer, fruit/veggie juice & purees, etc to high olive oil soaps to help with lather. So you could try decreasing the coconut oil to 125 grams (25%) or 150 grams (30%) and use a 6 or 7% superfat. Yes, you can try to rebatch the soap & that can often fix problems such as false trace, or not reaching trace. (Most of my recipes work out to requiring 1 grams per batch.). Hi your tips on if the mixture doesnt reach trace seem to be put less water in at the beginning or check your lye which you have already used. This means it started getting hot and going through gel phase, but cooled down too quickly before it could reach the edges. Im thinking its based on ages of oils, but maybe there are other factors? Im sharing the recipe below. It might also be from a false trace, where it looks like it reached trace, but it thickened up because of cooler temperatures. Stearic spots are more cosmetic than anything & usually the soap is fine to use. thank you, Hi Elyang! Each Tuesday, youll receive one of my best natural soapmaking tips, recipes, or printables. THIS is a great example of someone who has had successful results reducing water amount. https://www.eocalc.com/. Was the cucumber and ginger finely juiced or pureed, or were there larger pieces in the 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. I dont t think I added enough lye. Leave the soap in the oven until saponification is complete. 972g olive oil This soap should be discarded or you can try to rebatch since the hard spots will have too much lye in them, while the soft spots wont have enough. Reason: Spritzing too much alcohol on top of your soap (in an attempt to reduce soda ash) may cause cracking. Place the soap mold on a heating pad or a seedling heat mat during saponification. book, T-shirt, history, merchandising | 742 views, 34 likes, 2 loves, 0 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Simple History: Check out our. (Currently, I have 70+ of those emails in the queue to answer! To speed things along, dont use the full amount of water given on a standard lye calculator. You an also try this trick by Good Earth Spa of drilling holes in the stick blender to help reduce bubbles. I used brambleberry lye calculator with super fattening level of 5%. Was heavy blending the cause of it? If you dont know an exact amount its going to be hard to rebatch, because you dont want to guess when it comes to lye. 100g cocoa butter Is it that the commercial one has something else added my homemade soaps (oil, lye and water) are missing something??? Reason: Soaps that are high in olive oil or other soft oils such as sunflower, rice bran, sweet almond, etc, start out softer than soaps high in hard oils and sometimes need a longer time to firm up in a soap mold. I bought a lot of it and now it is to hard. Hi Jeannina! Pour the soap mixture into the molds. About Soap has a dark ring or rind around the outside and the middle is lighter. Solution: To prolong shelf life of soap, use fresh oils from a reliable vendor, distilled water (contaminants in tap water can cause problems), cure soap with plenty of air flow around each bar, and store cured soaps in a cool, dark, dry area with good air circulation. 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. This means the soap started getting hot and going through gel phase, but cooled down too quickly before the heat could reach the edges. SOAP RECIPE. Many new soap makers don't realize the importance of the mixing process. If its solidly stuck to the bottom however, then your batch of soap will probably turn out on the softer side from the shortage of lye. It sounds silly, but it does happen sometimes! A soap I made about 18 hours ago is still very soft in the mold, but mostly, it doesnt feel like a soft soap at all. Im a beginner in soap making. Some soapers also have good luck adding the misbehaving EO or FO to the warmed oils before adding the lye solution. If making a bastille soap (around 75% or higher olive oil) be sure to include bubbly oils such as coconut (20 to 25%) and castor oil (5 to 7%). Everyone wants their soap ready faster, but handmade soap requires a certain amount of time and patience.

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