CP soap set up to fast

by Larry Mitchell
(Youngsville, LA USA)

Made a batch of CP soap that got stiff almost as soon as I added NaOH to the oils. Both were at room temp. The batch got too stiff to pour smooth before adding fragrance oil. The formula is:

Castor 5%
Coconut 30%
Olive (grade A) 25%
Palm 30%
Cocoa Butter 5%
Shea Butter 5%
NaOH 8.6% (8% discount)
H20 21.8% (no discount)
White Kaolin Clay 1.8%
Vit. E 0.5%
Fragrance Oil 4.9%

I removed it from the mold today and there are voids around the edges of the soap. The loaf looks really bad. This is very similar to other recipes that I make. I've never had this happen. What do you think went wrong?

Answer:

I'm guessing that the reason that the soap siezed is because both the lye and the hard oils were at room temperature.

For a recipe containing such large amounts of hard oil you would at least need the lye to be hot. The room temperature method relies on the heat of the lye to melt the oils properly.

I can't tell from your recipe if the amount of lye is the correct amount but if too much was used it could also cause the mix to sieze.

Cathy