Can this be saved?

[heidijo]

My fourth batch of OHP soap and the first learning-by-mistake. This coconut, palm, canola, and castor oil batch suffered from the onset. First, the lye wasn't very well dissolved (did without my glasses-mistake), then I hand stirred for close to an hour so I could pick out 6 to 7 very small pieces of lye crystals, and put in oven slightly before trace. Cooked at 175 degrees for an hour and all I got was separation, so got the stick blender out and mixed until creamy. Cooked another 15 minutes before having to move to mold and wrap with towels (needed oven to make dinner). Checked it an hour later and while bottom is getting hard, a layer of oil is on top and this is what it looks like. Thanks for all pointers!

1) What is this strange mess and which error caused it?

2) Can it be saved?

3) What happens at trace that makes it crucial to the process?

[scrochet]

It's overheated--don't even ask how I know. I am not an expert but I would say that you dont need to put it in the oven. If you do put it in the oven preheat your oven and when your ready to place in the oven turn the oven off, let it sit in the oven til it has cooled down. The only soap I use the oven method for is my salt bars. Again just my opinion, after you pour in the mold just insulate.

[scrochet]

Sorry I forgot you may be able to save it by rebatching it. This happened to me twice. The first time rebatching helped the second time I had to chunck it.

[heidijo]

Thanks Scrochet!

After 10 hours, a little more liquid absorbed and the blue crayon coloring magically appeared....

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss1/nippera/IMG_1311.jpg

Can you or anyone explain what physically happens with the lye water and fats at trace that makes it so critical?

To rebatch, just chunk, melt on stovetop, and repour?

[Meridith]

It looks like your soap batch overheated and the oils separated. You might be able to save it by rebatching, but I don't know that I'd waste my time if it was me. The heat from the oven was probably too much and what caused it to overheat. Did you use any milk or honey in your soap? These are both accelearants and will cause your soap to heat up so much so that using the oven is not necessary. Most people use the oven to force gel. You can soap without using the oven and you don't have to achieve gel for your batch to turn out.

To put it very simply, to make soap, you need an alkali and a fatty acid. The lye (alkali) and the oils and butters (fatty acids) combine together to cause a chemical reaction called saponification to happen. Saponficiation is just a fancy term for making soap. Trace is when the saponfication process has begun to happen - when the lye is grabbing onto the fatty acids and making soap. Adding heat can speed that process up or it can cause your mixture to overheat and your oils to separate. You have to be aware that you can also get a false trace which can cause problems for a soaper too. Do some more reading through the archives and the interent to get a better understanding of the process. It will help you alot in your soaping endeavors and hopefully lessen your failed batches. A failed batch is so frustrating so we can feel your pain.

I also would not recommend using crayons in your soap. I know some think its ok to use crayons, but its not something I'd do or recommend. I'd recommend buying some colorants that are actually made for bath and body stuff and leave the crayons for coloring. TKB is a good place to get some colorants for your soap.

[heidijo]

Thanks Meredith!

I would have never guessed this was a result of overheating, felt sure it had to do with not bringing it to a full trace. I can search the issue now that you have both helped me identify what it is.

I too was very hesitant about the crayons, but the Millersoap.com website didn't seem to portray it as a bad thing except for the coloring not being strong enough. I'm unemployed now and am definitely putting soap colorants on my Xmas list if anyone asks:)