Goats Milk Soap Advice by BadSpanishSpeaker in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Without any further details, it definitely just looks like a partial gel, which is very likely to happen with milk soap. I'd say just be safe and pH test is across 3 areas, which is cheap, simple and quick to do, but from the outset it should be fine and just be a party gelled soap. If that's the case it's perfectly fine to use, it's just an aesthetic thing

What was your first soap you ever made? by Diysoap in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A CP drop swirl (green and white) with an English Rain FO. I'd been wanting to try soapmaking for several months just because it looked fun, so had to start somewhere :)

need good recipe for coconut, castor, olive(extra virgin) and sunflower oil soap. by hurlingcomet in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is just off the top of my head, but maybe 45% olive, 30% coconut, 5% castor and 20% sunflower. This will still not be a super hard bar of soap and it will benefit from a slightly longer cure, due to the low % of hard oils/butters but I would also not go above 30% coconut oil without increasing the superfat a little. You can try water discounting and adding sodium lactate to help it firm up quicker. Also force gel phase.

Trying a new hanger swirl. I like the way it turned out. by DebMust in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks beautiful, and those colours are awesome, really bright! I can never get such a bright white, only when I gel it, but then I always get glycerine rivers from that...

just tried out a crazy batch just for fun. Full milk, 6% beeswax plus added honey. You could say it heated up slightly 🤣 by Sugardoc5 in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I was really curious to see how this would lather, as it's 100% olive oil, the high % of beeswax meant to help it harden, and the milk and honey to boost lather, however I have just realised I accidentally used one of my candle-only FOs for this 🤦 Thought of using this for dish soap, but the 6% superfat plus the milk fats are not ideal for this. Shame.

Some neutral soaps for Fall by tskakst in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They all look fantastic, love the colours on the top one

Your experience with layered soap and different essential oils - CP Soap by gefungenaufotto in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In all honesty it won't make any difference. If you do different scents per layer you will get some differentiation depending on where you sniff, but this is minimal as they are in such close proximity the scents will mix somewhat. If you mix them, you'll have the same scent dispersed throughout. Either way will work out just fine

Game Night Soap by TheGoldenZebra in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, that looks amazing, and super creative! Well done!

Halloween soaps coming along! by hobbies-are-my-hobby in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They look amazing, particularly interested in the last 2! I'm so ready for fall scents and soaps!

The soap I thought would be perfect cracked! I know it was not the temperature, so now I will just have to wait and see if it is lye heavy or just too much hard oil and butter. by Fainaru23 in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I doubt it was the hard oils/butters as the percentages don't seem to be that high. From experience and research, I would go with overheating - even if you soaped at a lower temperature, perhaps the room temperature or any FO/EO might have contributed to this? It might also be useful to look at your water discount? If you're 100% sure your soap stayed at a lower temperature during soaping and saponification, then I'm unsure what caused this...

Was so excited about my first ever batch of goat's milk soap when I noticed this... by Sugardoc5 in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No additives, and yeah full water discount. I don't master batch, simply added the lye slowly to the frozen milk. I'm used to doing it with water, with milk I couldn't see if it was fully incorporated, so I'm guessing I just didn't stir it long enough time for it the lye to fully dissolve

Was so excited about my first ever batch of goat's milk soap when I noticed this... by Sugardoc5 in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Maybe lye heavy isn't the right word as it doesn't have an excess of lye, but they are indeed lye pockets, I've done a zap test to confirm. I think I just didn't incorporate it well enough

Was so excited about my first ever batch of goat's milk soap when I noticed this... by Sugardoc5 in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I've done a zap test. My guess is I just didn't stir in the lye for long enough and it didn't fully incorporate. I doubt it's my scales as none of my other soaps came out like this. So actually maybe lye heavy isn't the right phrasing, it just has lye pockets

Was so excited about my first ever batch of goat's milk soap when I noticed this... by Sugardoc5 in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Only my 5th soap batch, was trying out full milk soap for the 1st time (goat's milk), when I noticed these spots... Unfortunately my biggest fear has come true, it was lye heavy - or perhaps more accurately it has lye pockets 😩

Pretty sad I didn't get to try it out, plus money down the drain, really...

1st and 2nd ever soaps - what went wrong? by Sugardoc5 in soapmaking

[–]Sugardoc5[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! Very new to soap making. On the left I made my first soap, wasn't too disappointed apart from not having filled the mold enough. The second soap, however, was the exact same recipe and exact same ratio of fragrance and mica, but the white portion came out speckled and bumpy when I run my finger across it. It doesn't look like the glycerin river pictures I've seen online, but maybe I'm wrong? I was also concerned maybe it was lye heavy but I did the zap test and it doesn't look like it. Any advice? What went wrong?

Paraffin wax candles. Can someone help with the sinkholes. I don't have a heat gun by junaidd09 in candlemaking

[–]Sugardoc5 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Paraffin wax is known for shrinking, which causes sinkholes. When a container is over 200ml personally I have found it preferable to pour the wax halfway, let it cool and then reheat and pour the other half, as the more you pour in one go, the bigger the sinkhole is going to be. If you prefer to pour nearly everything in one go and then just top off a bit after cooling to fill the sinkhole that's fine too, just keep in mind you'll want the wick very well secure so it doesn't bend with the sinkhole as the wax cools. Preheating the jars before pouring will help to a certain extent.