Pine Tar/Deer Tallow Rescue!

[katayaga]

Hi all!

I'm totally new to soapmaking and to the site, so my apologies if this isn't in the right place!

I'm hoping for advice on my first soap batch, it's been about 40 hours since poured into the mold, and it's still pretty soft. Even the slivers of the batch that ended up on the top sides of the mold and not in the loaf are very soft, and seem to leave a residue on my hands when I tested it out. I did force the loaf out of the silicone mold and can see that it still has plenty of moisture in it.

I fully assume I messed up the batch. I'm hoping my scale read measurements accurately as I thoroughly double checked all the measurements from the recipe I used the calculator to build.

Could anybody please offer advice?? Maybe I'm just overly critical and impatient, or maybe it needs to be rescued.

Tallow Deer 17.99%;
Olive Oil 12.01%;
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 9.99%;
Pine Tar, lye calc only no FA 1.99%;

Thank you to anybody who can offer their perspective!!

 

[Yooper]

How much lye and water did you use, and what size was the batch? The percentages don’t add up, so a compete recipe would help!

 

[katayaga]

Maybe I'm reading the recipe wrong! Are you able to search for my recipe to see the whole thing? I just made it public: "Deer Tallow PT"

 

[Yooper]

No, I can’t find it. Can you screenshot the ingredients, and the lye amounts, etc. The oils should add up to 100%.

 

[katayaga]

Please see attached:

 

[Yooper]

The recipe looks ok, as does the amount of lye. Pine tar will usually harden instantly when added.
How did you put the soap together, and did you get a medium trace before pouring?

 

[katayaga]

So I split the fats (just warm enough to be liquid), added the PT to one half and mixed well. Added the lye (room temp) to the other half of fats and used immersion blender to bring to light/medium trace, then added the PT/fat mixture and hand stirred until trace again before pouring into the mold.

I heard the cooler temps really helped the PT not seize up too fast which is something I was worried about but did not experience this method. I also didn't use immersion blender for the final mix for the same fear.

Once I forced out of the mold, I let the whole loaf sit out for a few more hours before cutting which helped it harden up a bit. I cut bars, but haven't actually used as soap yet.

Maybe I was just impatient and overly anxious? Maybe I should have immersion blended the final mix instead of my band for about 5 minutes? It's still possible that although the recipe was good, the final measurements were not.

 

[Yooper]

It sounds like you did everything right, the only thing I can possibly think of is you soaped cool enough to have the tallow cause a false trace. I assume the lye/water mix was also cool when you added it to the fats?
Did it heat up in the mold, to gel?

 

[katayaga]

I did the lye/water mix outside, and surrounded my bucket with snow which helped cool it very quickly so I brought it inside after a while to keep it room temp. When I added it to the non-PT half, that fat was still technically on low heat so was a little warmer than the PT half was by the time I blended the two halves together. Honestly, I'm not sure if it heated up in the mold, and don't fully understand what gel means at that point :/

It did solidify much more when I pulled it out of the mold and cut it though. If it reached only false trace and didn't heat up in the mold, does that mean the lye didn't properly react and I might not have proper soap?

 

[Yooper]

If it’s not seeping, or separating, it’s good. It should harden up!

 

[katayaga]

Thank you so so much for your insight! It is sincerely appreciated!!