The Story of Two Soaps
This is the story of two soaps. Both came from the same batch, but one is lye heavy and the other is superfatted. Soapmakers are scratching their heads right now wondering how this could be! I was confused at first, but it makes perfect sense now. Let me tell you how it happened.
*cue music as we go back in time*
Last November I had a brilliant idea to make a double batch of coffee soap, but split it in half after adding the lye solution to the oils, and fragrance each half differently. I even added different colored swirls to each batch. You may remember these soaps – one was Cinnamon Bun and the other was Moroccan Spice.
After I poured the lye solution into the oils, I just stirred the soap with a spoon. Then I poured off half of the soap, blended it and added coffee, fragrance, and a quick swirl and poured it into the mold. The second half of the batch just needed a quick turn with the stick blender, then I was able to add the coffee, fragrance and even had time for another quick swirl before pouring it into the mold. It was so easy!
Fast forward to yesterday. I was experimenting with a new recipe to see if I made my soap base without rice bran oil if I could add titanium dioxide without having a crackling effect. I wanted to make two kinds of soap out of one batch, so I started out the same way. Poured the lye solution into the oils, stirred with a spoon, then poured off half of the soap to make a batch of Antique Lilac first since I knew floral fragrances tend to seize. This was going to be my true test to see if the soap would come out without crackles. Here’s what my last batch of Antique Lilac looked like two years ago:
Lots of crackles, right? Well, here’s what my batch looked like today:
Unfortunately, I couldn’t cut this one yet because it is SUPER soft. And I was dying to cut some soap today, because I just got my new soap cutter this week and I haven’t tried it out yet!
So, I pulled out my second batch – Rosemary Mint. Made with rosemary and peppermint essential oils, and just a little bit of chromium green oxide – no titanium dioxide. This was the test batch to see how white the new soap base would be by itself. I spent quite a bit of time making layers and swirling the top of this one! It was quite hard when I pulled it out of the mold, so I was excited to try it out with my new soap cutter!
I positioned it into the cutter….
…pulled down the wires…and the soap was so hard it just crumbled on the edge. Then I realized that the wires needed to be tightened. But even after I tightened the wires, they wouldn’t go through the soap! I even got out my soap cutter box to see if I could get a blade through it. No luck!
It was right about this moment that I realized that this soap was definitely lye heavy and completely ruined. I really wanted to cry.
So have you figured out what happened yet? I believe that the lye solution was not fully incorporated into the oils. When I poured off the first half of soap, I left more lye in the second half. Moral of the story: Mix the soap just a little bit more before splitting a batch like that – if I dare try it again. I’m feeling a bit gun-shy right now.
The good news is, it appears that not having rice bran oil in the soap base prevented crackled soap – at least so far. I’ll have to verify that after I can cut the soap and see what it looks like inside. IF I can ever cut the soap. I’m praying pretty hard that the Antique Lilac soap will eventually set up!
Thanks to Michele of Tierre Verde Soaps for sharing her experience in trying to find the solution to smooth soap made with titanium dioxide! I will definitely be making more soap without rice bran oil in the near future.
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Oh noes! I rarely split batches these days, but if I do I make sure to whisk my lye & oils for a good minute or two before separating. I’m actually quite paranoid about that happening!
Of course you know the soap-making info is total jibberish to me, but I’m doubly sad b/c I was totally looking forward to the Rosemary Mint!! Guess I’ll have to wait a little longer for the next batch. 🙁 Love you, neighbor!
Sorry that happened. Try stick blending just until you get an emulsion. It should still give you time to work with it. I’m curious how the lilac soap will turn out.
Oh Amy. I want to cry too! I split batches all the time but I usually have additives so it ends up being at a light trace first. I never even thought about the possibility of one being lye heavy and the other not if I split too soon. I’m sorry you experienced it but it is a good lesson for many of us.
Yes, it stinks. The lilac soap is still soft today, but I’m hoping it will get better with more time…
I will make another batch of Rosemary Mint!
Oh my sweet, so sorry. If only you knew how many batches it took me to work through the “worm trail”/td crackling issue. Ugh! I seriously wanted to just give it all up -sell my equipment and forget all about soap – but the dh wouldn’t let me (too much $$ wrapped up into it all + and I really do love soap.<3)
Just a tip about your new tank. You will need to tighten the wires down as I see you have already done – it will still require a bit more force than you even think to cut through your soap. Just know that as you get into the log you will meet some resistance just keep pushing gently through. You will get used to the it all feels after a bit.
I just love this blog! I’m always learning something new! Rice bran oil is one of my main soaping oils, but I rarely use titanium dioxide. I’ll have to bookmark this post for future reference:D
Did you PH test? The second batch may not be lye heavy if you have palm oil in your recipe. It could be brittle from the steric in the palm settling to the bottom of the batch when you split it. It would also explain why the first was soft.
@Meghan – I didn’t do a PH test. I use palm kernel, but not palm. It just acts lye heavy. Either way, the Rosemary Mint isn’t usable, which makes me sad. 🙁
The log looked so pretty too. And rosemary and mint? I’m going to have to try that next. Randomly, I love your mold cutter! Where did you get it? I still cut everything manually so I can only imagine how hard thi soap was.
Oh Amy! and they look so pretty! I probably wouldn’t be as calm as you were, realizing what the mistake was. Neighbors down the block might hear my screams. 😉
Well, Maggie, I figure it’s just one more soap to send to Clean the World. I don’t bash my head against the wall nearly as much, knowing that my mistakes can actually help someone else.
ouch! sometimes things just don’t go right it seems!
I have never had the crackle effect and I use Rice Bran oil in most of my recipes. I love the look of the crackle and would love to make it happen. Glad you figured out the problem.
Thank you for mentioning Clean the World! I am a new soaper and didn’t know about it. My first batch of soap flopped because I didn’t know how to use my scale properly and my proportions were off. It already went out in the trash, but now that I know about Clean the World any other flops I have will go there. 🙂