When Your Soap is a Flop!

     We made soap the other night. We started out later then we should have for the time it takes to stir and get your batch trailing. Trying to get done befre 10 pm was not a great idea. Taking turns stirring is what we do so it doesn't tire one or the other out. I usually take the second half and finish up by adding the scent or herbs we are using. 

     After stirring a bit I thought maybe the batch was just about finished up. I was so tired all I wanted to do was finish and go over to our shedroom. We added my patchouli leaves and stirred a bit more then poured into the mold. I added my patchouli oil and continued to stir a bit more. Wrapping it up in a blanket for the next coulple of days and we should have soap.

     Well when I got up in the morning I peaked in on it to see if it was soap. Well I guess I was wrong the night before and the soap had separated some. The extra oil was floating on the top. So we had to reheat the whole batch and stir some more. We also may have let it cool down too fast the night before. This is the first time we ever had this happen and it is all because we rushed it after starting too late.  

    Soap is something you cannot rush and a well planned out day of it is needed. There are a few other things that can go wrong like not having correct measurements or one or other lye or oils. You may have complete separation of lye and oil. If there is any layering it could mean too much oil. Curdling can occur which happen if you are remelting to milled or even slimy soap both may end up not curing right at all. Lye bubbles can happen too which means you had too much lye but the soap cured and when cut it leaks the hot lye outwhen bubbles are broke. Be very careful cutting it wear glasses and cut on something that will not be ruined. You can use the exact recipe from other times and sometimes it cause turn bad because the oil may be rancid or you changed oils. It is something you just never know until the finished cure is done. Prepare early, measure correctly and take your time to make sure you stir enough. If you try making your soap cold pressed and not melt and pour and you get it right more times than not you can say you are a true soap maker. We have been making soap since 1996 and this is our first time we had a problem so I feel we have succeeded quite well.

      I hope if you are ready to create a really nice bar of soap you have a good recipe and the patience and time to get started and you too will enjoy your creation.