# Felt adventurous; kinda failed



## rvmommy (Feb 27, 2015)

I thought I would try something completely different. I saw it on youtube so it must be okay--right? NOT

I made two different soaps, both cold process, soaps I've made before, but instead of water for the lye mixture, I used Aloe Vera Juice (not jell, the kind you buy at Wally World in the gallon jug from the pharmacy area).

In the video they had very pretty soaps that popped right out of the molds...

I on the other hand had to wait two days before they even came close to being firm enough to get out of the molds (destroyed one mold in the process) and ended up with something more like modeling clay :umno:

I have them cut and "curing" on the shelf, wondering if they will ever firm up...

Do you think they will, are they a waste-- should I maybe have just cut the water with the juice instead of using all juice? I hate that I wasted all those ingredients....


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Might have been your recipe and not the aloe juice. Is your scale weighing correctly?

I've made aloe juice & raw cream soaps with no problems


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## rvmommy (Feb 27, 2015)

There might be a small issue with that part. My scale reads to 1\10 not 1/100, so when an ingredient shows to need say 4.12oz I only put in 4.1 if it shows that it needs 4.15, I put in 4.2-- do you think this could have been the problem?

Lard: 9.6oz
Coconut Oil: 6oz
Caster Oil: 1.2oz
Olive Oil: 7.2oz
Lye: 3.42oz (used 3.4)
Water: 9.12oz (used Aloe Juice @ 9.1)

At heavy trace: 1oz Cocoa Butter


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

How old are your oils?

Were you able to get the cocoa butter incorporated well?

Even if you add it at heavy trace, it may or may not end up being the oil that superfats since trace is actually an emulsification with very little saponification that has taken place.


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## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

They may just need to firm up a bit. Give it a few days and maybe they will be better.

What kind of molds do you have? Are you lining your molds? Sometimes putting the whole thing in the freezer helps to pop them out of the mold easier.


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## rvmommy (Feb 27, 2015)

All of my oils are new (purchased within the last month). They are starting to firm up more the longer they sit; still softer than other soaps made at the same time with water instead of Aloe Juice. Probably with time... 

My molds are just blue plastic ones that I bought at the dollar tree. Next time if I run into this I'll try the freezer trick. I didn't line them with anything. I had tried to line them with cellophane before and I couldn't get it to lay in there flat, so my soap came out with lots of funny shapes and wrinkles built into it, lol. Next I'll try wax paper...


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## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

Freezer paper works good. Put the shiny side up. If you have problems getting the paper to stay in place rub a little vaseline along the upper edges of the mold on the inside and the paper should stick to it and stand up straight. Some people also use plastic bags.


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