Homemade Soap - Beginners Homemade Soap Mistakes
Soapmaking Problems
Fixing soapmaking problems means rebatching your soap. Beginners sometimes forget something in their soapmaking project, or worse. Don't give up on your soapmaking. Learning how to make soap is fun. We have all made soapmaking mistakes. The best part of soapmaking mistakes is that you gain more knowledge from fixing your soap mistakes. Learn how to troubleshoot soapmaking problems.
My First Batch of Homemade Soap - Beginners Soapmaking Mistakes
Troubleshooting Soapmaking Problems
Soapmaking can sometimes turn out wrong. Don't give up on your soap making projects because of soapmaking problems. This project or hobby is to rewarding to give up on it. When you create your first good batch of homemade soap, you will be proud of yourself and admire your batch of homemade soap.
When you make soapmaking mistakes. Always try troubleshooting soapmaking problems. Troubleshooting soapmaking problems gives you more knowledge, getting you a step closer to becoming the expert soap maker. First thing I suggest is use a soap calclator to check the soap recipe you are using. No matter what, check the soap recipe. SoapCal.com is a good calculator. Know your oils, know what kind of soap they produce. Know the saponification process. Before you start adding any ingredients to containers make sure you tare the weight of the container on a kitchen scale so your measuements are accurate.
Here are some solutions to some soapmaking problems.
If your homemade soap has water pockets it is probably slight lye solution separation. Small water pockets my absorb during curing. Large water pockets will need to be remelted. If you remelt/rebatch soap is best to rebatch as soon as soap hardens. The longer you wait the harder it is to shread into pieces and melt down. Wear you protective equitment because the soap is still caustic since it has not cured it's full time yet.
If your homemade soap has oil pockets it is probably due to fragrance or adding (superfatting) an oil at trace. Small oil pockets may absorb during curing. Large oil pockets will need to be rebatched. Again, the quicker you rebatch your homemade soap the easier is to shread and melt down. Next time try adding superfatting at the beginning of your soapmaking.
If your homemade soap is brittle when you cut it, your soap could be lye heavy. Check your recipe and your notes and find what oils you are missing or if your soap needs more water. When you have troubleshooted your soapmaking problem melt the soap down and add what is needed.
If your homemade soap doesn't setup theres not enough lye or saponification did not take place properly in the 24 hour setup time. Troubleshoot your recipe and prcedure. Check your notes then adjust ingredients needed.
If your homemade soap is crumbly or dry this may mean your homemade soap is lye heavy. Troubleshoot your soap recipe and make adjustments by finding the missing oil and add the missing amount to your rebatch soap.
If your homemade soap has a layer of water/lye solution underneath. This is full saponification, which you do not want. Check your soap recipe for lye to fat ratio before rebatching it. Be sure to save all liquid from your original batch of soap. Make adjustments to your soap recipe then melt down your soap adding the saved liquids back into your rebatch.
If your homemade soap is soft and crumbly when cut but produces oiliness when rubbed between your fingers, is normally caused from unproper mixing and saponification. This could mean there was to much heat loss during the stirring process from not stirring vigorously if mixing by hand. If mixing by stick blender there were not enough breaks stirring manually with blender. Try raising your temeratures to 120 degrees if your making a small batch. With blender stick mix a little while then turn blender off and hand stir. Watch for the proper trace. A stick blender is a lot qucker than hand stirring.
Keep notes of your measuring so you can refer back to them and the recipe. This can help speed up troubleshooting homemade soap.
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My soapmaking and candle projects - Homemade soap and soy candles
When I started making soap I knew nothing about soapmaking. After my first batch I rebatched it and it was okay. I loved making soap so I bought a couple of how to make soap books and started another soapmaking project. This was a larger batch and easier to make the second time around.
I knew a little bit about making candles. Paraffin wax is what I had used once before. But I kept reading on candles and a lot of people seemed to be intrested in soy wax candles. I ordered a soy wax candle kit and made the soy candles. I loved them. They beautiful candles and seen so delicate. Here are pictures of my homemade soy candles.
Video On Making Cold Process Pink Swirl Technique - Two Color Swirl Technique Soap
This looks very interesting I would love to know how to make multi color homemade soap
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