I've been CP soaping very occasionally for the last couple of years, just making enough bars for myself and one friend. Have never had a problem until last night, so I guess I've had good luck. But last night I made a batch that I'd like your opinion on...and this was a recipe I had never used before.

It was a mix of sunflower, olive, and coconut oils. I measured everything correctly according to the book, the soap traced as it should, I added the FOs and stirred a little more. Still looking good. I then started pouring the soap into the mould and YUK! It look like it curdled and kinda separated once in the mould. I poured it back into the pot and tried to remix it, but it didn't remix completely. I poured the mix back into the mould and let it sit until tonight.

Took it out of the mould and noticed it was kinda floating in an oil/water mix. I would guess total amount of the oil/water floating around was abt 1/4 cup in a 4 lb batch.

My question is...do you think this is going to be safe to use? The back of the book mentioned separation...a little separation was OK, but a lot meant a caustic soap.

My problem is very limited space to cure soap...if you think this stands a good chance of being caustic, I'd rather just pitch it and make a new batch (with my favorite recipe) this weekend.

TIA!

Nancy

"It was a mix of sunflower, olive, and coconut oils. I measured everything correctly"

Make sure that your scale is consistently correct.

"according to the book, the soap traced as it should,

Well, if you’re sure.

"I added the Fos"

Fos for soap, vice candles?

"I then started pouring the soap into the mould and YUK! It look like it curdled and kinda separated once in the mould. "

What FO did you use? (Let me guess, a white floral? (

What temperature did you soap at? (The cooler, the better. Try around the 100F to 110F mark

"I poured it back into the pot and tried to remix it, but it didn't remix completely. "

Are you using a stick blender? Hope so.

I poured the mix back into the mould and let it sit until tonight.

"Took it out of the mould and noticed it was kinda floating in an oil/water mix. I would guess total amount of the oil/water floating around was at 1/4
cup in a 4 lb batch. "

(Guessing): Either the wrong FO, or it wasn’t mixed thoroughly enough.

My question is...do you think this is going to be safe to use? The back of the book mentioned separation...a little separation was OK, but a lot meant a
caustic soap.

I have never had separation. If you think about it, your superfatting would be around the 5% to 8% mark of the total recipe. If you’re looking at the percentage of oils/fats floating around in the mold, then I would HP it.

"if you think this stands a good chance of being caustic, "
If you measured everything correctly, then it would be lye heavy because all of the fats/oils didn’t mix in with the lye solution thoroughly enough.
You could HP it (crockpot? Maybe?) Into soap.
I don’t care for HP’ed soap, it’s usually rustic looking, but it is soap, nonetheless.
Usually, if you post the recipe and method of soaping that was used, maybe others might be able to pipe in?

If your mix will not trace, or if it separates again, my guess is that (1) your lye is old; (2) weights were wrong.

Sunflower oil, btw, makes a soft soap but an excellent shampoo & is often used in liquid soap recipes for that reason.