Too much silk?

[Judette]

Trying to do 10 things at once the other night and trying to save steps. Anyway, I mix my lye/water in garage. I forgot to bring my little spoon out, so instead of going back into house to get it, I tried just shaking a little silk into the water. Bam. About 2 T went in. Could not dig it out - so I put required lye amount in and mixed anyway. That was some brown water. Made the soap anyway. Unmolded yesterday and everything looks okay. No pockets of anything. Will it be okay? It is 3 days old. Should I just rebatch? I hate to, there are some pretty black and red swirls on top. Also, I forced gel in a 2.5# slab mold. I had AC on. The soap had condensation on top the next AM. Tested for zap. Definitely was condensation. This is the 2nd batch out of 8 that has done this. Is there away to prevent this? If I put saran or wax paper on top, it will mess with the swirlies. ??? TIA

Judy

[Barbara AL]

I force gell too but before I put the batch to rest I spray a light mist of 91% alcohol on top wait about 3-5 minutes and spray again it helps with ash.

HTH

Barbara AL

[Scent Cellar]

I haven't used the liquid silk in CP soap. I use silk fibers from Scent Works in my CP soap and the liquid silk in my lotions or body butters.

[Judette]

I did not use liquid silk. It was silk fibers from MMS. Just wondered if by adding too much might be irritating to the skin. I will try the misting with alcohol. I had only one batch with ash, this is water condensation. Maybe I am removing the mold from towels and such while it is still too warm? Should I allow to cool back down completely before removing. I have this fear of overheating. I have seen what can happen on other forums. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I have AC set at 68-70. So maybe house is too cold.

Judy

[Jeana]

I use about 2 tbsp of liquid silk in batches about 3-4 lbs. It is fine on my skin. It makes the soap feel really nice. I've always read that the amount to add is a tbsp pp. You should be fine.

As for the condensation, are you sure it isn't oil instead of water? And if it is water, are you using the full amount when mixing your lye and water? Maybe you could use less water. I get much less ash when I use less water, but then I don't have as much time to swirl.

[Carrie]

How much silk fibers did you actually add to the lye water? I use silk fibers in every batch. My silk comes in long, lovely strands and I add a piece about the size of a large cotton ball per pound of oils.

[Judette]

My silk was from MMS. It comes as fine little shreds, not liquid. It was at least 2 T. Like I said I dumped it in, like an idiot. So as far as exact amount, I do not know. I will cut a bar in half this weekend and use some of it. I have sensitive skin,,so if is going to be irritating I will find out fast. Does silk added to the water always make it brownish? Or was it because I added wayyy too much?

Judy

[Carrie]

I don't see that kind of silk on the MMS site, just powder and liquid. I've seen chopped lye at SW and other suppliers though.

I've never seen my silk turn the water brown but it does turn it a little dirtyish, I guess you could say.

If you used 2T in a 2.5lb batch then that isn't too much at all. I've seen soapers use much more than that. It shouldn't hurt a thing.

[Judette]

I think it was the silk powder. I will have to check the site or my invoice. I just always hear of peeps adding just a pinch of silk so I didn't really know. And yes, it turned the water very dark when I added the lye. Kind of like lightly steeped tea.

[MarieJeanette]

Sounds like you have the powder and not the fibers. The fibers that I have from Scent Works come in a big fiberous clump in a plastic bag and are very cottony in texture. I pull off cotton ball-sized amounts for each pound of oils in my batch much in the same manner that one would pull small clumps of cotton candy from the main clump.

When I've pulled off enough for my batch I then separate the fibers by pulling on them and spreading them out as thin as possible before adding them to my water amount. I let them soak in the water for a few minutes before adding my lye and then mix until completely dissolved. My lye water is always clear in the end.

MarieJeanette