Janet's superfatting question-long

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I sliced the soap I discovered it had small

> >white little beads in the center. What are the beads?

my guess is the beads are shea......i've noticed this happening

to me with beeswax too. the soap continues to lather fine

though. it may be cooling too quick, or the base at 100 degrees

may not be high enough to incorporate such a solid oil properly.

It also was weeping

> >droplets of oil. When I moved the rack off the table there

where droplets

> >of oil on the table. I did the tongue test and it did not

tingle. It tasted

> >like soap.

i had this happen with an fo, um, lettuce. it made little drop

holes throughout the soap, like you described. i chose to " cut

them out " and use the soap, because everything else was fine. it

was not lye heavy or even overly superfatted.

if you keep documentation, you may see a pattern emerge, with

certain oils. you might choose to cut out the milk until you

discover where the " problem " occurs, or if it does. Milk adds

heat and it just makes the puzzle a bit more difficult. i think

it changes the landscape. all combinations are not always

compatiable and if you cut it out and the recipe works, you may

discover milk is the culprit (i personally don't think that's the

case here, but you do have many " subplots " going with this

recipe.

we choose certain oils for the benefits they add. i don't

usually use almond. someone else may use exclusively almond

because of a property they are looking for (for instance,

grapeseed oil is wasted in soapmaking because the lye trashes the

oil.......any positive property going in is destroyed in

saponification castor on the other hand, " absorbs " the lye in a

sense). i think i've read that laura tries her recipes once

" unscented " until she sees how the oils react together. was that

you laura?

it may be good to go to your basic recipe (maybe a 1 lber?) and

" superfat " with one oil at a time. get the feel of what the oil

is doing~~ i usually use shea or castor, but not both, you get

the idea.

also, silverlink has oil properties listed.........the fat

content, the fatty acid content and what the

characteristics/properties are of each oil. i will try and find

that link. i need to print it and paste it to my binder.

>So I'm beginning to think I don't understand the superfatting

process.

> >Someone enlighten me, please.

why do you think the problem is here? just because the oils are

added at the tail end, doesn't necessarily give the lye less of

chance of incorporating it into " soap " (this is an often debated

point which i don't even pretend to be knowledgable about). what

does guaranty superfatting, in my book is using an oil like

avocado that just ignores the sap process, per se.

i think you are asking wise questions. soaping is an art and

it's magic. sometimes it takes just a wink and a prayer, and

it's perfect! you are doing good.

i am struggling with soft soap. i have some of these recipes a

gazillion times, but darn it, my soap has become soft. i'm

really frustrated about it, so i can feel your pain, lol!