Greek Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 i made a loaf of shea butter soap early last month and till this day the soap is still very soft in the inside. the only parts that have harden are the outer layer on the sides. what have i done wrong? i believed i gelled my soap improperly. i put it in a wooden box and covered it with comforters and towels, only to unmold it in 36 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndulgentCreations Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 You'll have to post your exact recipe for me to be able to give any advice. The way you gelled it is definately not the issue, I'd say more recipe calculation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwayneu Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 A wild guess would be too much or not enough lye. If the lye of off much, the saponification process will not dissolve all the fats. You might recheck your lye and water amounts with SoapCalc. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smittenheart Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 is it still in loaf form or did you cut it up??and yes posting the recipe may help in troubleshooting what went wrong...if anything it may just need a little more time curing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greek Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 thank you all. yes the soap is cutup. the recipe was:castor oil 1 ozcoconut oil 9 ozpalm oil 4 ozshea butter 2ozsunflower 16 ozolive oil 6ozlye was around 5 oz can't quite recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndulgentCreations Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Lye should should have been 5.29 (sound about right?) and water at 14.44. Did you perhaps use more water than what was called for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greek Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 i wish i had posted this question earlier because i can no longer find the exact measurements. but your guess sounds about correct. i wish to do another batch but with less oils. this sucks, i was so excited when i saw my soap trace , will it eventually cure or should i just discard it all together? i cautioned anyone at home from using the soap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singleyellowrose Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Just put it away ... forget about it for a couple of months. Then get it out and see if it has hardened up. My guess is you may have used a bit too much water. I am sure it will be soap someday.. just not as quickly as you would like! Just an FYI: ALWAYS keep accurate notes of EVERYTHING you use to make soap. Even if you don't follow the exact recipe as you have printed it. That way you will KNOW for sure what all is in a recipe and why it does what it does if it doesn't do it the way ya want! :smiley2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greek Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Thank you all. I will indeed take more accurate notes and forget about this soap till maybe next month or something. funny thing is, it soaps very well, i break off the cured parts on the sides to test it and it feels wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adillenal Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 How thicxk did you cut your bars? I can't break off pieces of soap from a bar. I also cure my soap for several months since I pretty much use full liquid in the form of goat milk.Patience. You might be surprised in a month or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire and Ice Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 It's always a good idea to print out the lye calculator and keep it handy. Check off the oils as you add them and make your notes on the printout including the date. Cirlce the date, the water discount, the weight of the oils and the additives. Hold on to it and then you can look back at everything you did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inherowndominion Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 There are a million reasons why soap doesn't cure so fast, too much water, a lot of soft oils, even the FO or EO will make it tough to cure (patchouli is famous for that). Here's what I do:When it's hard enough to get out of the mold, put it on a wire rack in the house where it gets the least humidity. Put a fan a couple of feet away and turn it on oscilate. Leave it like that for a week or so, works like a charm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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