Latherings

[cocoasmommy]

Hello everyone! I have tried Bunny's recipe twice in 2 days and I failed both times. I really don't know what I did wrong, but here is what I did.

I tried to increase the recipe to fit my new mold. I made it CP with:

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I left it alone for about 12 hours and then popped it in the freezer for 6 hours. It looked great, not soft on top at all. I tried to unmold it and it was coming out OK but then when we got to the center of the log, there was a split in the middle and oils were pouring out of it. I put it in the sink and it kind of split. In the center of the split, it was an odd, orangey color.

I don't know what I did wrong. The first time, the oils completely separated and I had to toss the whole thing. I thought that was because it overheated (I put the lid on my mold, I know this was wrong now). This time, I thought everything was fine. I wanted to unmold it so it could dry out. I didn't plan on cutting it today.

Wow, this was another expensive mishap. I'm hoping someone can help me and let me know what I did, so I can make it again. Otherwise, I may give up. Thanks so much in advance!

M

[reblyn]

Sorry to hear about your luck. I would like some feedback from others on this too! I recently made this recipe CP (2nd time), and mine looked good after I poured into mold, then in the morning there was oil on top of it where it had seperated. I did not insulate it, but had put it in the oven for a short while on very low heat, just till it looked like it gelled. Maybe you don't need to jump start this recipe since it has honey in it? I just put the whole thing in my crock pot and cooked it, remolded into my log mold, and it looks OK now, but I havn't cut it yet. Mine I am sure overheated, at least that is what I think happened. I am going to try it again though. Glad I only made a small trial batch with OO being $$.

My husband is using the first batch I made, and had to tell me this is his favorite soap. Leaves his skin feeling moisturized.

[Love 2 Craft]

Your lye is coming in too high. According to MMS, 8.25 ounces of lye will give you about a 2% superfat. Soapcalc also comes up with 2% superfat. When you make it again, make sure you superfat it at least 5%.

It sounds like the batch overheated. When you have milk and honey, overheating is often a problem. When milk overheats in a soap, it turns orange. Your soap was just short of 4 pounds, so your oatmeal and honey were actually a little below the recommended 1 T. PPO. I think the extra lye in this batch, plus the addition of a little goat milk and the honey is what made it overheat.

Try it again with a smaller batch. Since olive is so expensive, you might want to try just a pound of it. Trust me, this soap is definitely worth making again. You'll love it once you get it right. It does need a pretty long cure time, though. Three or four months and you'll have the bar of your dreams.

Another option is to just make it with the oils and no additives. Just the olive and castor will give you a bar that is to die for.

[cocoasmommy]

Thank you L2C - I am so in your debt!!!

I have been using Soapmaker software, and tried to double the recipe. I never ran it through the MMS calculator, which I used to use before the Soapmaker software. I always superfatted at 6% before, but because I was following a recipe, I didn't bother to check MMS. So THANK YOU! for pointing out that I should always double check with either MMS or Soapcalc (which was always a little more confusing for me).

I figured that it must have overheated because of the honey, and since it never happened to me before I was a little shocked by the orange color in the middle since the top looked fine! I forgot to mention that I had everything at room temperature, but it has been very warm in my house lately. I guess that could have added to the heat! It really stinks that I have to buy more olive oil with the $, but I really don't mind now that I know what I did wrong. I'm taking it all as a learning experience instead of getting upset. I haven't made castile before and I thought I might have to try it a few times before getting it right. I was wrong to try such a big batch.

Anyway, I will get a better scale tomorrow and I will follow your advice. I will also always run all of my recipes through MMS (since it's the easiest for me to understand). And I will try again. I would like to make one with the oatmeal/milk and one without. Thank you again so much for helping me figure out the problem and for taking the time to answer. I sincerely appreciate it!


***Thank you for your reply as well Reblyn - I think there is some great advice here by L2C and I hope you try the recipe again. I will post my results tomorrow and let you know how it came out, and I hope you'll do the same!

[Love 2 Craft]

I have this scale and I love it. It's on sale right now, and it comes with free shipping. If you can't find a good scale locally, check this one out.

http://digitalscalestore.stores.yahoo.net/501esmupudis.html

Let us know how your next batch turns out. Third time's the charm!

[reblyn]

[cocoasmommy]

Thanks for the link L2C! I saw that scale at Target, and I love the light green color! I'll be picking one up today, I think it is onsale at Target. If not, I have a coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond.

I will try the recipe again tonight once the kids are in bed for the evening and there are no distractions and then I'll update you guys when I'm finished. Again, thanks so much for your help. I'm very embarrassed about what I did!

[Love 2 Craft]

No need to be embarrassed. All of us have batches that don't turn out quite the way we expect. I have some photos here somewhere of a goat milk batch that defied all logical explanation. I did everything right, but sometimes, soap just takes on a life of its own and you just have hold on for the ride.

[lmerrillc]

I made a few batches of bunny's castile. I can't remember if hers had a deep discount, but my lye solution was around 40% I resized it to fit my mold.

Here is what my notes say.

OO 19.48
CAS 4.78

water, 4.60
lye 3.04
which gives a 6% sf, I added a 1T honey, 1 T oat flour & 2T milk @ trace.

I didn't let it gel, and had it in individual molds. They slid out hard as rocks in 6 hours.

They are wonderful, but I didn't get the honey well incorporated the last time so it is speckled. Looks pretty though!


HTH


Lisa

[cocoasmommy]

My husband came home with a new digital scale for me that weighs up to 4.5 lbs. and measures at .05 resolutions. The other ones I was looking at measured at .1 - and I think this will be a major help to me in my soapmaking so that I can measure more accurately. I am *very* excited about this because it has been such a pain to have my weights displayed in fractions.

I also got a new stickblender because one of the other things I thought could have attributed to my problem was not mixing long enough. The stickblender I have been using is older and doesn't have a lot of power. So for castiles I think I can stick blend a little longer than I have been.

Incidentally, I also took all of my recipes that I have been using and just double checked them by running them through the lye calculator at MMS. I ran them through there when I initially made the recipes (before Soapmaker software), but because of this, I wanted to check again. I can happily say that so far I have been coming up with between 6-7% superfat for all of them - except this one! I only have one recipe for my shaving soap that comes in at 5% superfat.

[cocoasmommy]

Waited until midnight.

I will *try* not to disturb this until tomorrow evening, if not Tuesday morning. I will update with the results once I unmold it.

Thank you SO much L2C for your help. I truly appreciate it, I have a great feeling about this. It looks so much better than the first time already and I can't wait to update you!

[Love 2 Craft]

You've got a good hubby! Can't wait to hear how this batch turned out for you.

[cocoasmommy]

Thank you L2C!!! I do have a great hubby, he is my best friend!

I unmolded in just under 24 hours. I didn't think I would be able to because it was still soft a couple of hours ago. I have it in a log mold and I didn't want to round the corners on the bottom by pulling the liner.

I gently tugged on it and it came up no problem. All 4 corners are sharp & square, and it's BEAUTIFUL!!! There is no discoloration visible anywhere on the log, no partial gel visible, it's all even. It's a beautiful cream color with light tan flecks of oatmeal throughout and lightly scented with buttermilk & honey.

I'm going to ask my husband help me cut it after work tomorrow so that all my cuts are even. I peeled back the liner so that it could dry out all around overnigh for nice crisp cuts tomorrow.

I am so pleased and so thankful for your helpful tips. I will say, I don't think castile is for the faint of heart! I'd like to make another this week so that they cure at around the same rate and are ready for the cooler months. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow!

[reblyn]

Congrats cocoasmommy - I can't wait to see the pics. I am anxious to make a batch and try it with buttermilk & honey. Now if I can just find the time

[Love 2 Craft]

Excellent! I think you're going to love this recipe. It totally changed my opinion of high-olive soaps. Looking forward to the photos.