50/50 Cp?

[Faye_SC]

How the heck, do you keep it from seizing on you?

Made two batches and both times the seized bad.

Added extra cold water to tonight's batch, may have saved it, but not sure yet.

[CareBear]

what do you mean by 50/50?

if you are using a 50% lye solution I'd say simply - don't.

[topofmurrayhill]

Do some people do that?

I think that's a little less water than in fully cured soap.

[CareBear]

I've done 40% for unscented castile, I've heard 45%. I'd never do that with any other soap though.

[Faye_SC]

Yeah, it's the lye amount with the same amount of water.

7.05 oz lye/ 7.05 oa water.

50/50

[Louise]

I've never heard of that before, makes my mind go WOW. Faye, what is the end result you are going for? Yanno, the advantage?

[singleyellowrose]

I MIGHT try that with an unscented castille.. but even after soaping for over 5 years, I don't think Im that brave.

[ebcandles]

34% is the max I've ever used.

[Hibiscus]

soooo what's supposed to happen if you use a 50/50 solution?

[Faye_SC]

You are suppose to be able to mold, unmold, and cut in like 3 - 5 hours.

Alot of people do it on some of the other soap boards.

Didn't know ya'll didn't.

I won't be doing it anymore.

[Hibiscus]

they do?....hmmm I wonder if they blow stuff up:shocked2:

...only joking with you...do whatever you're comfy with!...LOL

[Louise]

"You are suppose to be able to mold, unmold, and cut in like 3 - 5 hours."

Faye, I'm really curious about this 50/50 thing. Are people doing this because they have a shortage of molds and need a faster mold turn-around time? Also, would the soap even be cool enough to unmold after 3 to 5 hours? These are things that just kinda popped to mind (besides the ratio thing)

"Alot of people do it on some of the other soap boards"

Have you asked on those other boards where alot of people do it?

[Carrie]

I simply wouldn't do it. I've checked around before and found that absolutely the least amount of water that is needed to fully dissolve lye is equal parts. I worry What if my particular brand of lye (whatever it may be) required 51%. Is there a bit of undissolved lye in my soap? Like CarBear said, I might go as high as 45% but never more.

[natrldsastr]

50/50 is only for the very experienced soapers, using reliable FO's and not on batches where you are experimenting. The point is more that you don't have the shrink associated w/ full water amount, nor the dry time. Your soaps are firm enough to unmold in a short amount of time, although I would let them cool normally first. I find 3-5 hours to be pushing it, but your soaps can very well reach full gel in this time. And salt bars are cut while still VERY warm, so that is not such an oddity.

And no, I don't blow things up. And I do it right here where I do the rest of my soaping.

oh and you're actually probably right Carrie, 45% is a better % to be on the safe side.

[Faye_SC]

natrldsastr, thanks for the clarification on that.

That helps a lot.

I'M STICKING WITH THE 38%.

[Louise]

natrldsastr, thanks so much for that info, for I am genuinely curious about it. I can see the point about the shrinkage thing and had been wondering about that. I've seen some things here that I haven't heard of before and appreciate the opportunity to ask questions when some of these topics come up.

Now off to do a search on a few other things.

Faye, did you find out the answer to your seizing question?

[Faye_SC]

No, not really, other than...DON'T DO IT!!!

[Flicker]

I soap a 50/50 lye water solution all the time and depending on the scent, I may or may not have much time to work with it I can do white florals and other scents that trace lightening fast but I've made literally thousands of batches using this method.

Now scientifically speaking there are a few reasons to do it this way. First, I have plenty of molds but I make a LOT of soap. Some days I may make several hundred pounds to ship out. I sell my logs wholesale un cut to shops so they need to cut and cure it. "most" shops would not properly cure a soap before selling it so that is really what started this and the fact that I was selling soap so fast that a 4-6 week cure time was not realistic for me. Now I am not saying they don't need to cure however my full cure is achieved in a week to two weeks. Lye will actually fully dissolve in as little as a 30% solution, so whoever said 50% was incorrect. I've tested this theory over and over My lye is always completely blended in with no issues what so ever.

Now as for time, I can un mold my recipe in under two hours. Is it still warm? Sure but she is solid as a rock! I don't cut or shrink the log however until it is cooled down, which usually takes between 6-8 hours total. I don't gel my soaps, I soap only room temp no gellin.

It takes a lot of time to get it down right to do things 50/50. You have limited time to get things right and when they go wrong you fast have soap on a stick. LOL I have to say I began soaping with a 35% discount and went to this method slowly within a few years. I just didn't have the wait time to spare.

Top, the 50/50 comes out about equal to the water remaining in the soap after cure. I've made several batches side by side and waited to compare finished weight, almost identical. It just speeds the process a lot and also eliminates the chances of things like warped bars. I live in northern MN where summers are HUMID, my soap would take a decade to dry otherwise. LOL

My advice, if you are having issues with the 50/50 you are probably over mixing it. I add my lye, give it a few stirs and a few quick bursts with the stick blender, add fo, do the same then do colors, swirls etc. Certainly no room with most fo's to do a Grumpy Acid Trip bar (I so love those!) but I can do as many as a three color swirl with this method with the right fo. Some fo's I am lucky to get a swirl in with. Another tip is make sure your oils are not over 100* too hot will also make it go faster.

Maybe adding more water to the batch is your answer though Just be sure to add it to the pre mixed lye solution then to the soap so everything is blended correctly HTH!

ETA I also don't wait for the soap to trace. It will move too fast for that as it is. I just make sure it's blended usually do swirls in the pot and mold

[Faye_SC]

Thanks Flicker!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that is were I went wrong. I over beat the stuff, and soaped to hot. (Really need to learn to be more patient with temps). Mine was 110*.

It was fine until I added the fo.

I'll give it another try, as soon as my order comes in from BCN.

[Flicker]

Hey Faye, I bet you are right, don't wait for trace, just get moving on it If you have any problems next batch let me know and I can walk you thru my steps a little more.

[CBE]

Whew! You all are WAY braver than I am. LOL If I would try this, I JUST KNOW I would trip up BIGTIME.

Sounds interesting though...

[Flicker]

Whew! You all are WAY braver than I am. LOL If I would try this, I JUST KNOW I would trip up BIGTIME.

Sounds interesting though...

Remember, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself Don't be afraid to try it....just don't wait till it traces, just blend it and mold. I swirl plenty of soaps and I rarely goof one I say rarely cuz we all make mistakes. This soap here was done using this method

That is a colored base and two colors of swirls. From start to finish that soap took me under two minutes and unmolded in less than two hours.

[Faye_SC]

Thanks for the help Flicker. I may take you up on that.

I only have 2 molds and need to move soap faster.

[lolalapiconera]

Hi:

I´m María, I´m new in the forum. I soap 50/50 (1:1) my castille soap, and sometimes I still need to encourage it to gel. I use to soap 40%, except when using conflictive eo's or other fragances. Sinthetic fragances usually contain DPG which makes soap seizing, so you have to be really careful.

To be capable of swirling, I use the ingredients as cold as I can, put superfatting oils and eo's into the freezer, so they down the soap paste temp making it easier to handle.

The only exception is the castilles: I use the lye solution just mixed, very hot, and heat the oils.

Faye, I hope you don´t wrap your soap, do you? Maybe putting it in a cold place may help. I use to wrap them, but your lye solution is stronger.

Hope it helps

María

[lolalapiconera]

Sorry I didn´t read all the posts!!! Flickr's answer is better, thanks, Flickr, I learned from your post.

Cheers,

María