Teach Soap

Phew, I haven't be activate in making soap lately. I got hit with the flu and then came a bad head cold. Was out of commission until recently. Yesterday, I was able to soap using BB's OMH fo's. After molding and upon cutting into my first bar I noticed the bottom crumbled. I proceeded to cut and it happen again. Could anyone help me why it crumble like that.

Placed the soap in the fridge. No gelling.

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http://blissfulsoaps.wordpress.com/

I just made a tiny batch useing the sample oatmeal milk and honey cymbilla from BB and I did not get a crumble only some marks from the knife pulling as the soap was to soft to cut . Im not sure as I am new to soapmakeing , hopefully somoene else will know .

What was your recipe? How much did you superfat? We need more info to help you troubleshoot. Ungelled soaps can sometimes get crumbly.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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http://blissfulsoaps.wordpress.com/

That's a lot of shea butter. That could possibly be it and/or your knife. If you are only cutting one bar at a time, try a cheese slicer. It has a wire.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

How long did you wait before cutting it? Was the soap still soft? I try to gel my soap, but every now and then I get one that won't gel. The last one took me a week before I could unmold it and then another few days before I could cut it easily.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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http://blissfulsoaps.wordpress.com/

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http://blissfulsoaps.wordpress.com/

You can use between 5 and 15%. I personally prefer no more than 10%, but it will depend upon the entire recipe, not just the amount of shea. This recipe may need a lower amount of shea. Put your recipe into the soap calc and see what numbers you get and then adjust the shea down some and see what happens. In the end you may just need to try a few recipes before finding the one you like best.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy