Thanks. Im not sure if you will be able to help me . If the wrong amount of lye was used, it should be discarded. Hi Amber! Find out the most common soap making mistakes, and let's troubleshoot! Hi Tara, Im so sorry to hear that! Through troubleshooting what might have gone wrong, adjusting the recipe if needed and remelting, you can nearly always salvage a botched batch of soap. Even then, clear plastic molds arent always reliable. In this case, use individual molds, cooler soaping temperatures, and place in the fridge or freezer for 24 hours after pouring. The "Miller's Homemade Soap Information" page received mention at the end of an article in USA Today that ran from July 9-12, 1999. Reason: This means the soap has overheated at some point. Solution: Be sure to stir the lye into the lye solution until its completely dissolved. Hello, i made a cucumber, ginger and punk salt soap. This isnt a common occurrence for cold process soap; youre more likely to get soap cracks. :), Hello, l have a question about cold processed soap preservatives. Im trying to reheat it, but doubt that will work. Some dont do well when combined with raw soap and will bind with bits of hard fats in the recipe causing those solid lumps. Reason: If your soap recipe contains more soft or liquid oils (olive, sunflower, rice bran, sweet almond, etc) than hard oils (lard, tallow, palm, coconut oil, cocoa butter, kokum butter, etc) it will usually result in a softer 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. some of my soap sweat slightly brown beads. https://www.eocalc.com/. When I first learned to make soap, everyone added the extra oils for superfatting after mixing the soap to trace, but then some research was done to show that it doesnt matter when you add the oils, so you might as well mix them all at once. 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. That might help the lather more without needing to add detergents. I love your website and have learned so much! Reason: Check the bottle of lye you used. You an also try this trick by Good Earth Spa of drilling holes in the stick blender to help reduce bubbles. I would rebatch it and then see how it does over the next few days. I tried all the . Pour it into molds, cover with wax paper, and let it sit for 24 hours. Try placing the mold on a baking rack so cool air can circulate underneath. (I have searched and seen many different soap makers videos and blogs. Solution: Make sure the soap is completely blended to a light trace. :), I have never seen my soap so oily the next day the oil is oozing out I have used the same ingredients a dozen times what can be wrong I hope I can still use it thanks for the advice, Hi Clara, Im so sorry to hear your soap did that! (Make sure its labeled sodium hydroxide and not potassium hydroxide.) I want to make sure my math is right. It is a plastic mold (16 bar) I love the size and quantity in one batch but they are always uneven! I used an immersion blender. Reason: This sometimes happens when the soap overheats. Your recipe looks good as far as lye amount it seems to have about a 6% superfat which is great. Bought it after my good friend, Carmen, showed me how to make soap the hot-processed way using this book. Thank you very much for all the information from your article. They are stored in a dry place with ventilation. To offset loss of lather, add castor oil at 5 to 7%. Ive never done this before so this whole thing is new to me. Hot Process: . Reason: This is primarily a problem with fragrance oils. You can check for false trace by leaving the soap batter undisturbed for about 20 or 30 seconds after you reach light trace. Thats a great question! I think you have a good idea of what could be the reason! Step 5: Touch the test strip to the drop of blood or use the glucometer's lancing device to apply the blood to the test strip. 9.9 oz coconut oil Hi Sandi! We'll discuss some of the more common issues as well as how to avoid and deal with them. Use moderate amounts to prevent a chalky look. Appreciate if you could share how to keep that ring instead of making the color even out. Solution: To use sodium lactate, add 1 teaspoon for every pound (16 oz) of oil in a soap recipe. :). :). Or, you can try adding the FO to the warmed oils before adding the lye solution and stir by hand. . Thank you! Please tell me if I used right recipe and what will become of my final product. Is it past its expiration date? About Soap has a dark ring or rind around the outside and the middle is lighter. :). 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. 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. That might help us troubleshoot a few ideas! This in turn should free up my inbox to a more manageable level while helping others more easily find the information they need. Conversely, recipes with high percentage of hard oils/fats will reach trace sooner. This means the soap started getting hot and going through gel phase, but cooled down too quickly before the heat could reach the edges. Everyone wants their soap ready faster, but handmade soap requires a certain amount of time and patience. You can also find her writing about gardening and foraging over at her family's website: UnrulyGardening.com! With cold process soap the water evaporates out during a process called cure. What is the best way to fix this? Coffee. Original recipe is just like you put it. Solution: Buy a fresh bottle of lye from a reputable vendor. Reason: Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, forms when the lye in raw soap batter meets carbon dioxide in the air around it. Hi Hallie! Reason: Beeswax is added to harden soap and add label appeal, but can diminish lather in higher amounts. Reason: These molds behave similarly to silicone molds, but are even worse at holding onto cold process soap. I tried making my first cold process soap today and failed miserably. :). I bought a lot of it and now it is to hard. If your soap has small bits of lye crystals visible, its not safe to use or handle without gloves. Solution: Check the recipe with a lye calculator and see what the recommended water amount is. 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. As water evaporates from the soap, fans help whisk that moisture away. Proven Information Technology and ColdFusion Administrator with extensive experience in application development and programming, server administration, business analysis, and IT project management. http://cavemanchemistry.com/DreadedOrangeSpot-Dunn.pdf, Would like to make Lavender/Lemongrass soap, but cant find a recipe. 9. After time is up, turn oven off and allow soap to remain in ambient heat until cooled. ), East = Easy Reason: This means that the soap is getting too hot. Thats about the limit of what Id use on a dog, BUT, for a human, you can safely go higher. (Virtually all of the recipes on the internet & in books should already be superfatted as well.) Reason: Sometimes your container might have a small amount of residue left on it from your last batch or a previous use. 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. Hi Jen! Pls can I add more foam booster to my liquid soap after making the liquid soap, cos I realized dat after making the liquid soap, it didnt foam to my taste, so please I need ur advice, if adding foam booster will have any negative effect on the soap,or should I go ahead.. Tnks waiting 4 ur response, Hi Asiosa! 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!). Hi Carol, Im so sorry to hear it did that! Soap has weird orange or brown spots on it and/or smells bad. 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%). It is a full milk soap. Hi Desiree, Im so happy you found the troubleshooting article helpful! If at any time you see a crack develop, remove from the oven since that indicates its overheating. Im a beginner in soap making. To avoid a gel phase, try: So happy to hear you like the book! Hi Uma! Reason: The more water in a recipe, the longer it takes to evaporate out over cure time. Be sure to read his paper on Dreaded Orange Spots for more information and options. 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: You got a partial gel. Solution: Increase the amount of hard oils in your recipe. Hot process soap should be cured for at least 1-3 weeks. Best avoided during pregnancy. 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. :). My recipe is: 5% super fat This is because silicone and plastic molds create an airtight seal that doesn't allow for any air to touch the soap. But there can be other factors that cause this to happen. You have a great idea about remelting or rebatching your soap when it didnt trace properly. A student of mine recently contacted me for some advice about one of the most common soapmaking mishaps when using the cold process method: soap seizure. Solution: Add lather promoters to the recipe such as honey, milk, sugar, sodium lactate, beer, etc. https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-rebatch-soap-517103. Q: I made a batch of lotion using beeswax, but the oil and water separates. Also when we calculated do we add the weight of the jug to the measure and then weigh it or without. the problem i think lies in the lye that i used. Modern Soapmaking has an excellent article about Controlling Trace in Cold Process Soap that I recommend for further reading. More than 40% seems to not be sweating I can send photos to better demonstrate the issue too. 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. 10.7 oz water The extra water weight makes it so it doesnt weigh out correctly and your soap will end up with less lye than it needs. It may take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour but you should hopefully notice an even gel across the top. Hi Asmin! 24 Likes, 0 Comments - Odor Om (@odor.om) on Instagram: " ." First batch ever. 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. 28.8g eucalyptus. It will be easier to troubleshoot with more details. :). I dont know that you need to dissolve the lye in ice water though, since you are then heating the soap in the oven. Double check to be sure your recipe checks out with the lye calculator and that you are using the recommend amount of water. 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 . What I would do is just let that soft soap cure in the open air and check it every month. d) Oils, Butters or Fats Used :). They set up quickly so if you cut them into bars too late, theyll be very crumbly. After less than 12 weeks they are fine. There, youll find reasons for why the soapmaking problem happened and solutions to fix it and/or prevent it in the future. :), Hi Jan (I often go even lower, to around 28% for some recipes.). :). my soap has palmolein n olive oil pomace I think I might have had oils hardening before completely dissolving It should start to cool down and stop cracking. Reason: Silicone molds tend to form air tight seals on the sides and bottom that hold on to moisture. Double check that you used the correct amount of lye and that your scale is accurate. Youve been a great help. :) After trace? The average waiting time before you can unmold your cold process soap is 17-24 hours. Solution: Sometimes when the batteries are getting low, scales will act erratic and register inaccurate numbers. Run any changes through a lye calculator to make sure the lye amount is correct. It sounds silly, but it does happen sometimes! If working with a new fragrance oil, read descriptions and reviews carefully to see if other soapmakers have experienced issues with it in soap.