# First time problems



## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

I made my first batch of soap a couple of months ago and ran into a problem. The only oils I used were Olive Oil and Shortening. I used a lye calculator and measured everything exact. The soap set up good and hard, but when you use it it doesn't suds at all and actually feels kind of greasy.
What happened? Is it because of the oils I used? I only used them because they were cheap for a first try and they're what I had on hand.


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## Lannie (Jan 11, 2004)

I always use 20% to 25% coconut oil in my soaps to make them lather (and it gives it a nice thick creamy lather). I know olive oil doesn't lather much on its own, and I've never used shortening so I don't know how that reacts.

The greasy feel sounds like you didn't have enough lye in the mixture and you have unsaponified oil. I usually use 10% less lye than is required to fully saponify a batch of soap, so there's a little bit of oil for moisturizing, but I wouldn't say it was greasy at all. That's the only thing I can think of, but if you used a lye calculator, then I'm stumped. Maybe recheck your math? I don't know - maybe someone else will have a better suggestion. 

~Lannie


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Shortening is hydrogenated fat, and you don't really know what you are getting (soy, peanut, corn?). If you are going to go to all of the trouble to make your own soap, don't use shortening. Pure olive oil soap will give you a very silky, very fine lather, but just a little lather. It still works as soap, but Americans expect a lot of lather.

Adding coconut oil, not more than 30% of total oils, will bring up a nice lather. Castor oil is also good for improving the lather, say 10 to 15% of total.

Try another batch using the olive oil and coconut oil, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.


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## unregistered5595 (Mar 3, 2003)

Hi, I had a batch in the beginning of my soapmaking do the same type of thing. I wrote to Kathy Miller about it and we figured it out. It might be the same problem.
I used shortening, and I knew what that brand of shortening was made of, but, as you know shortening hardens at a higher temperature than liquid oils. It took a long time to trace (or what I thought was trace). What actually happened, was the shortening in it congealed before it had a chance to saponify. So it looked like trace but it was not. 
I'm not sure if I tried to reclaim it or not. If your measurements were good, on a lye calculator, and you used more shortening than olive oil, you should be able to melt it again and get the reaction to work. If it was me all over again, I'd shred it, add a small amount of water, in a slow cooker on low, and watch it carefully. 
When this happened to me, I was trying to get trace by hand and without an electric stir stick. The trace needs to happen at a temperature above the temperature of the hardening of the shortening. 
I hope this helps, let us know what happens. Thanks, ~Feather


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

Thank you all for your responses!! It's been very encouraging! I had almost given up since that one failed and I wasn't sure what I did wrong, so you were all a big help!
Feather: I think you really hit on something!! You may be right about the shortening. I did not melt it first, but rather let the lye water melt it and so it did come to trace awfully quick I thought and I suspect what was happening was really the shortening hardening up. 
Sheesh. I don't know what I didn't think of that!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Check out which oil is being used for your shortening. If you find one with cottonseed oil, grab it up for soapmaking. cottonseed oil produces a mean lather!

I know it's been touted that castor oil helps with lather - but it hasn't done it for me.


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