Soap Makers Help!

[dun chick]

I ordered from backwoods fragrance company. They are from pa and shipped fast. Shipped sunday and got here today. The scents are amazing. I got lemon tart, autumn dreams, lilac and linen(very lovely). She sent me a one oz sample of gingerbread latte(oh my, oh my... I got get more to put into a soap.) My daughter says it smells just like gingerbread latte from starbucks. This will be a nice christmas scent. Still waiting on my lye.

 

[Rockpile99]

chiknwhisperer - you are hilarious!

I would love to see what your drying rack locks like now with you trying to stock up for your next big event!

Ok I remember all of you talking about the soap/lye calculators, but I don't remember what all the stuff means. Unfortunately I didn't mark those pages to go back to. On SoapCalc I am looking at the qualities of the receipie I entered... What do the ranges represent and what is outside of those ranges? Is that what they consider ideal for this soap or for all soaps? I have a 13 in the bubbly field and the range lists 14-46 - does this mean I have a very non-bubbly soap? I am assuming that the higher the value for the qualities of the soap = more of that quality, a 46 for bubbly would be a very bubbly soap?

Also - does Lye go bad? I tried soap making once upon a time and it didn't turn out well at all. I knew I still had some Lye form that episode and found it the other day. Guess what? It is Red Devil! I don't know how long that's been off the market but I do know my bottle is at least 7 years old. the bottle itself is in very good shape, no signs of decay, mold or other damage. I haven't opened it yet to see if it has hardend like old salt does.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

um... I have a question.

Why did only two bars of soap crack? It seized yesterday but thats not the part I am concerned about. I want to know why the soap cracked. I have never had cracked soap before.

 

[ametauss]

I don't use powdered milk since I have my own goats that give me fresh milk.... I'm soaping this weekend and will try Cyndi's suggestion with the lye/milk.... This last batch smells sort of sour with the scent over the top.... It's curing right now and I'll see how it is in a few weeks.

I'll call TNS about the MP.... I usually don't do MP but my nephew wanted a coconut-lime and I wanted him to help while he was visiting and be able to take it home.... The ingredients in TNS's MP doesn't show anything but the oils so I'm not sure they added anything else.... I also bought their lotion base and am excited to try my hand at that.... My DD wants me to add the baby fresh scent to it for her...

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

My first thought was overheating, but they seem to be on the outer bars of the mold.

I'm stumped.

Thanks Rockpile! I try to apply the KISS method. As for the numbers on SoapCalc. I look at the Fatty Acid numbers more than the others.

This is what I've found out from my experiments and testing:

The Lauric gives you a hint about the lather. I like mine to be between 10-15%. For a man's soap, higher than that!

The Linoleic gives you a hint about moisturizing. I like mine to be between 16-20%. For a teen or man soap, lower.

The combination of Lauric, Myristic, Palmitic and Stearic is your oils that tattle tell about the hardness of your soap. Added together, I like to see 30% or more for a hard, hard bar. You can go lower though.

The Oleic is your conditioning. The only way you won't be in the 30-40% is if you don't use OO.

The palmitic, in addition to hardness, tells me about non-conditioning. I want this under 15% at least and preferably under 10%. (but that is just my skin)

The Ricinoleic (only found in castor oil) is a rinsibility. I haven't found it to add significantly to the lather but it is a moisturizer being another oleic.

The Stearic, in addition to hardness, clues you in on sustaining lather. My recipes are generally 4-5%

A benchmark for me when experimenting with soap recipes for MY 40(something) skin.

Lauric: 13%
Linoleic: 18%
Myristic: 4%
Oleic: 45%
Palmitic: 9%
Ricinoleic: 0.0
Stearic: 5%

(Yes I know it doesn't add up to 100% ....)

A teen or man would want a lower linoleic. A man would want a higher lauric and stearic. Teens like higher oleic and ricinoleic.

Just my take on things, definitely not written in stone, your mileage may vary, read the small print for accuracy, not valid in states not recognizing raw milk sales, warrantee implied but invalid until 6 month cure time.

 

[Morgaine]

Quote:
cracking is usually due to over heating. I have a few that I get a small crack in the middle of the log.

What were your temps like when you soaped and what scent did you use?

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Quote:
cracking is usually due to over heating. I have a few that I get a small crack in the middle of the log.

What were your temps like when you soaped and what scent did you use?

Oils were room temp and lye solution was 110. But I used pumpkin cheesecake and granny's pie crust. The second I added the FOs it started to seize. You could see it happen as soon as it hit.

 

[Morgaine]

I just wanted to say too that when you use oils high in linoelic you run a greater risk of DOS because these oils are not as stable as say oleic oils like olive. So if you are using something like grapeseed oil, don't make a huge percent of your total oils.

 

[Morgaine]

Quote:
cracking is usually due to over heating. I have a few that I get a small crack in the middle of the log.

What were your temps like when you soaped and what scent did you use?

Oils were room temp and lye solution was 110. But I used pumpkin cheesecake and granny's pie crust. The second I added the FOs it started to seize. You could see it happen as soon as it hit.

It was prob the spice in the fo that did it. Though why the outside bars would crack and not the middle is odd. Next time, cool your lye to 100 and see if that helps. Also add the fragrance at a light trace, hand stir it in and then pour as fast as you can.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Quote:
Oils were room temp and lye solution was 110. But I used pumpkin cheesecake and granny's pie crust. The second I added the FOs it started to seize. You could see it happen as soon as it hit.

It was prob the spice in the fo that did it. Though why the outside bars would crack and not the middle is odd. Next time, cool your lye to 100 and see if that helps. Also add the fragrance at a light trace, hand stir it in and then pour as fast as you can.

It went to light trace faster then I expected. So everything moved a lot faster then I expected. I'll wait longer on the lye next time. I haven't unmolded yet so I haven't seen if there is a crack in the middle or anything.