# Chalky brittle soap - Does anyone know the cause?



## used2bcool13 (Sep 24, 2007)

My last couple of batches, using approximately the same increments of oils, was very brittle and splintered when I cut it. I used 1/3 coconut, 1/3 palm and 1/3 olive oil, used the chart for lye and water increments, and added about 1 ounce or so of essential oil for fragrance.

I used a stick blender for mixing and covered the molds for 24 hours. It acted like I let it set too long in the molds before cutting. The soap ends up fine but has a horrible shape and has some lye dust (for lack of a better term) on the top that has to be washed off. 

Any ideas where I went wrong? Thank you in advance for any suggestions.


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## Tater'sPa (Jun 27, 2002)

If all your measurement are correct,
I tend to lean towards the palm oil. Was it stirred well before using? sometimes the steric acid will settle to the bottom of your container....that would cause a hard brittle soap. (stir before measuring)
Sometimes your water can effect the batch...like chemically treated or highly softened.... Also the type of essential oils sometimes can effect things.
The "lye dust" is probably nothing more than SODA ASH, a harmless white powder.


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## Step (Aug 4, 2005)

If you did not use distilled or deionized water, in all probability the minerals in your water is at least partly, if not totally responsible for the powder, and as Taters'Pa said, the powdery stuff is probably ash and harmless. Rinsing, wiping or shaving it off will work. Hopefully your fragrance oil didn't have alcohol in it! But, even if it didn't, the FO could have seized your soap. 

Hopefully you didn't throw out those batches of soap, because they can be saved. And in the future, I'd soap those oil combinations at a higher lye discount.. using more water. 

For the save... 

1) Grate up your soap or cut into thin slivers, then put it into a double boiler (one pot inside another). 

2) Add water, about 1 oz per/pound of oils.. more if the soap is older, less if you just made the batch.. or, you could add milk or coconut milk (I still prefer water). 

3) Cook covered, on a low-med. heat until it's melted (a few hours) mixing a few times while its cooking. 

4) After the soap is melted, add no more than 1 ounce of Olive Oil, pp/o, mix in well.. let it cook for another 1/2 hr. Take a spoonful of soap out of the pot and let it cool (can run cold water over it); Then test the soap to see if it's still brittle and lather it up. You should have a nice lather and the soap will be moderately warm and a little soft. If the soap is too hard or feels dry... mix in just a little more oil into your pot and you should be all set to pour into your mold.

5) The soap will be ready to cut when it's cooled and firmed up and since it's no longer caustic, the bars are ready to use immediately. However, the bars will need time for water evaporation if you're planning on giving them as gifts or selling them. 

----------> your soap has 2/3 hard oils and 1/3 soft oil.. You might have better results in the future if you calculate your oils as close to (give or take a few percentages) 50% hard oils and 50% soft oils.

I use Palm Oil all the time with the exception of when I'm making laundry or castile soap and never had an issue with it. Matter of fact, when I add Shea Butter to my formulations, which is considered a 'hard oil', I'll add a small amount of stearic acid because the % of shea butter I like to add, makes the soap not 'hard' enough.


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## Lannie (Jan 11, 2004)

This might be a long shot, but I had this happen once when I used Grapefruit essential oil. You didn't by chance use grapefruit, did you? For some reason that particular oil made my soap dry, brittle and prone to cracking, so I've never used it again (in the soap).

~Lannie


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Whenever I hear *chalky brittle soap*, I think of lye heavy ...

post your exact recipe.

did you use an electronic scale?? measuring cups?? how large was your batch??


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