# Soft Soap



## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

It seems just when I think I have things figured out, it decides to throw a curve ball my way. 

Why, when using the same recipe as any other time, would the soap I made on Saturday be taking so long to harden up? 
Usually I can unmold and cut my soap within 24-36 hours. These two batches I unmolded (log molds) but I can't really handle much because I can leave indentions. 
I am sure they are going to harden up as each 12 hour period they get a little firmer, but it confuses me, lol. The only different things I can think of is that it was kinda cool in our house, and I let the oils cool longer than usual. 
How can the same recipe act so differently sometimes?


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## todog (Dec 10, 2011)

ambient temperature, humidity and oil temps. i have more trouble in the humid summer than in the winter when it cool. last thurs. our propane ran out and it got pretty cold in here. since soap is science everything has to be a constant to be the same.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

And there's always the possibility of human error.....something mis-weighed.


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## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

That was my first thought Kathy, but I made two batches same recipe and they are both acting the same, ski I imagine it was just external factors. Although.... I could definitely goof up twice lol.


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## Holly Govero (Mar 26, 2009)

was it olive oil soap


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

I know that if it is substantially cooler in my soap room (like last fall, when I hadn't turned the heat on out there yet and we had a cold snap), everything goes more slowly. Makes sense, if you think about it, chemical reactions move faster at higher temperatures. So I had soap, that ordinarily I could have been unmolding the morning after making it, that was still soft and slightly zappy. A day or two later, it was fine. If it had been very hard/crumbly and zappy, I would have worried that I had mismeasured something and it was lye-heavy, but soft and zappy meant it wasn't done saponifying...by the time it firmed up enough to cut, it didn't zap any more, either. It was just so cold out there (probably around 40-45, compared to 70+ normally) that everything slowed waaaaay down compared to what is normal for me.


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## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

It's about 20% olive oil.


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## Aja-Sammati (Oct 26, 2007)

Same fragrance, too? I have had the same thing happen- I think it is about weather conditions.


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## H Diamond Farms (Jun 3, 2011)

They were two different fragrances, neither of which I had used before. Lovespell and OMH from Brambleberry.


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## Aja-Sammati (Oct 26, 2007)

Ah- no surprise to me then. Different constituents in the different fragrance oils- some do not get as hard as quickly as others- some do not gel as well as others.


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