Teach Soap

I ran the recipe through the calculator at www.thesage.com, b/c it shows the correct lye for a range of superfatting. I have no idea what oil is in the tea tree oil, and my first choice (mineral oil) wasn't an option, so I chose soy.
% excess fat Lye Amount
(oz wt)
0 6.33
1 6.27
2 6.20
3 6.14
4 6.08
5 6.01
6 5.95
7 5.89
8 5.82
9 5.76
10 5.70

You said you used 5.479 oz lye. That's well over 10% superfat. However, I have heard of people soaping at as high as 15% superfat. I am wondering if there is some additive in the tea tree oil that is preventing saponification from occurring?

can it be fixed? and if so how? it is still liquid.

I've never had anything quite like this happen. What I would do is dissolve .5 oz lye with 1 oz of water. That will put the lye at 5.979 oz, which is between 5 and 6% superfat. The total water would be 14.53 oz, which falls within the 11 to 16 oz range that the calculator at thesage.com suggests. I would then gently heat the untraced soap mixture, then slowly add the extra lye and water, stirring as I poured. If this doesn't work...I'd throw it away. I, personally, would not choose to make a whole new batch of soap and mix this with it, b/c I feel like that could be throwing good ingredients after bad, since we don't really know what's in that Walmart tea tree oil. I (personally) would be willing to risk throwing some water and lye at the problem, but not more than that.

BTW, did the oil and lye water seperate when you let it sit overnight, or did they remain as it looks in the picture?

let me try to get a good pic for you. may not happen. also, i entered my recipe in and got different numbers. this is what i got...

Liquids

water
For the size of fat batch that you are using, we recommend that you use approximately 8 to 13 fluid ounces of liquid.

WARNING: Always add your solid form lye, sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, to the liquid. If the liquid were added to the solid form lye a violent reaction could result. This means you could have a "volcano" erupt out of your container.

Fats & Oils

Fat Amount
(oz wt) % in
recipe
Almond Butter, Sweet 5 14.71
Castor Oil 8 23.53
Coconut Oil 10 29.41
Olive Oil 8 23.53
Palm Oil 1 2.94
Soybean Oil 2 5.88
Total Weight 34
Lye Table (NaOH)

% excess fat Lye Amount
(oz wt)
0 5.03
1 4.98
2 4.93
3 4.88
4 4.83
5 4.78
6 4.73
7 4.68
8 4.63
9 4.58
10 4.53
0% to 4% excess fat range: Proceed with caution! We do not recommend this unless actual saponification values are known and used.
5% to 8% excess fat range: This is the range we use most often.
9% to 10% excess fat range: Creates a softer soap because of the amount of excess fat.
DISCLAIMER: Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained here is accurate. However due to differing conditions, tools, and individual skills we cannot guarantee the information is applicable in your situation. We are not responsible for any injuries, losses, or other damages that may result from the use this information available here.
Always wear protective goggles, gloves and other safety clothing when handling sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Refer to the appropriate MSDS for complete details.
Basic Soapmaking Instructions

While wearing safety goggles and neoprene gloves, combine solid lye and liquid, stir well. Set aside and allow to cool (100° F to 125° F). This is best done outside while you are standing upwind.
Combine oils and heat gently. Once the fats and oils are melted allow the temperature to drop to 100° F to 125° F.
Combine lye solution and melted oils. Be careful not to splash while combining the mixtures. Stir until the mixture traces. If tracing takes more than 15 minutes, which it often does, stir for the first 15 minutes, then stir for 5 minutes at 15 minute intervals. Tracing looks like a slightly thickened custard, not instant pudding but a cooked custard. It will support a drop, or your stir marks for several seconds. Once tracing occurs...
Pour raw soap into your prepared molds. After a few days the soap can be turned out of the mold. If the soap is very soft, allow it to cure for a few days to firm the outside.
Cut soap into bars and set the bars out to cure and dry. This will allow the bar to firm and finish saponification. Place the bars on something that will allow them to breathe.

You have Almond Butter in your recipe. I used Almond Oil. Which did you use in your original recipe?

ooh, you are right. it was almond oil - that would make a difference. here is the pic.

Is the mixture translucent, or opaque? It looks kind of translucent in that pic, but it looked opaque in the other. One of my batches failed. when I stopped stirring, it quickly settled into a clear layer of oil on top and an opaque layer of lye/water on the bottom. I think in that case they were too hot when I mixed them.

Very weird!

I have had the butter/oil mix-up before. BTW, your original recipe says 10 oz of palm and your second says 1 oz palm. (Just noticed it).

I am not sure what you have oil wise, except that you have oil not an essential oil. That being said, I would guess that it is a processed oil of some type. I doubt it would be mineral oil, so I would use the lye for olive oil since it is a medium.
I am confused by all the recipes listed. Exactly what did you use? And how much lye and water? Once you answer I will calculate it and see how much lye you should add.

What I would do is take a minimal amount of water and make a lye bath with the necessary lye. Then add that to the batter you already have (in the crock pot), then hit it with the stick blender until you get an emulsified batter or a thin trace. Then put the lid on and cook it on warm until it gets to the vaseline stage. Once there, add a small amount of scent if you want, coloring if you want, and stir well. Cook a tad longer, til it is getting hard pieces around the edges, then do a zap test. No zap, glop it into a mold. Zap, cook some more then re-test. When no zap, mold it.

If the above fails, dump it and consider it a learning experience.

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

Tammy

i guess it is opaque. not really translucent. i have two more pics to show you. i moved it around and the bottom was not solid but chunky. idk. and you were right. your numbers were totally correct. i can't type.

Typing is hard. ;p Depending on how curious you are, if the ingredients aren't listed on the bottle of tea tree oil, you could call or email the company and ask.

BTW, did you double check the bottle of Castor also?

i did not see anything on the bottle of castor oil. so i am going to go w/your assumption that it was the tea tree oil (not essential) which is a giant bummer.

i am going to try to add the amount of lye and water you suggested. can't really get worse i don't think.

you are probably right. i will post an update tonight or tomorrow depending on when i get the courage to tackle it.

If you superfatted to 10 + %, I would add more lye than just .5 . I would add enough lye to make it a 6% sf and only enough water to melt the lye. So make the water 1 1/2 x the lye amount which will be very concentrated, but your batter is way soupy anyway. I would calculate the recipe using olive oil as the oil sub for the "tea tree" and see what that give you for the lye amount. I only use the lyecalc.com so I don't know how the mms one calculates, but whatever one you use I am sure you can change the sf and see what the diff is between what you used and what you should use lye wise. Just make sure to add the lye into the water and stir well. When it is all melted well you don't need to worry about letting it cool or heating the other, just turn the crock pot on warm and mix in the lye bath. You can hit with the stick blender until it emulsifies and then let cook. Look up hot process /crock pot soap if you have not done that before and you will find great pictures of each stage so you can easily know when it is ready to mold. Main thing is to zap test it before you mold it. If it doesn't work toss it and try again another day.

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

Tammy