Cucumber Soap Fail - Batch #9.2

This is my cucumber soap. It gave me quite the headache there for a week or so. It was meant to be a lovely facial soap with avocado oil, kaolin clay, and cucumber. I thought the whole thing through [or so I thought] I juiced the cucumber, separated the juice from the pulp, added the juice as part of my lye water, reserving the pulp for trace. This fail was a two-part-er.

1. I didn't mix the oils and lye at the temperature I should have, I usually mix at around 100°, but I didn't read the directions part of the recipe, just the percentages, and missed the part where it said this particular oil combo should be mixed at around 140° because it had cocoa butter in the mix.
2. I did NOT account for all the water STILL IN THE PULP. I just figured, okay - I juiced it, I got the juice, I got the pulp, easy-peasy! WRONG!

The whole thing took FORever to trace, I had to give my hand mixer a break twice! I even ate dinner while I was waiting. It finally seemed to trace and I was just SO relieved that I  dumped it into the mold and have a thankful sigh of gratitude.

That sigh was so not well deserved. Just a few moments after I got it into the mold the whole thing started to separate! I had two very distinct layers of oil and water. Later I learned that, when soaping with hard butters, it is best to soap at higher temps as when the hard butters start to cool they solidify and cause a sort of false trace. Obviously this is what happened to me. I was literally standing over the mold with a whisk on and off for about two hours until I finally got the whole thing to stay together. Stuck it in the fridge hoping that would help it set up and got ready for bed.


Of course I just couldn't help peeking and the above photo is what I found. I resignedly covered it with some plastic wrap [to keep out stray cat hair] and set it over in my soaping corner and went to bed, crossing my fingers that when I woke up in the morning it would be soap.


Needless to say, it wasn't. It was moist and oily and I could probably scoop it out with a spoon. Not a quality one looks for in a bar of soap! I did some research and was told to wait, maybe the oils will reabsorb, maybe it will harden up IN A FEW MONTHS, and if all else fails you can always rebatch.


So I waited.. a few days... Okay, I waited until my next day off! It was still oily to the touch so.. a rebatchin' we will go!

Normally with a rebach you grate the soap up, add some water, and apply heat - I've read crock pot, double boiler,and even in the oven. This soap was still so soft and so moist that I had to figure something else out.

Soap guacamole?

First I diced the soap [hey, I got to use my learnin's from culinary school!] It was so soft it actually felt  [and looked] like I was cutting up an avocado! Then, pretty much just because it looked fun and I wanted to know how soft the soap actually was, I mooshed it all up in my hands - hence, soap guacamole!

No extra liquid was needed, it was already going to take FORever to cure as it was, so I just set up a double boiler and let it melt

It did not take long, it was completely melted in one episode of FRIENDS on DVD [no commercials], I figured this would be a great time to do a little experimentation, it couldn't get any worse, right?

So I decided to add poppy seeds for some gentle exfoliation, it is supposed to be facial soap. To make it a bit more manageable I wanted to make it round.

 So I cut off the bottom of a Pringles can, taped the lid on, lined with parchment paper and used a canning funnel to pour the soap in, set it outside [it was pretty cold out, thought it may help it set up].

It was still really soft, normally [from what I've read] rebatch soaps can be cut same-day as they set up in a few hours. Not my rebatch. Being the impatient personality I am [could I have picked a worse hobby?] the next morning I took it out of the mold - I mean, how could the water evaporate out if it's stuck in the Pringles can? The next morning I decided to cut it, how was it supposed to dry out when it's in one big log covered in parchment?


They are by no means perfect cuts, I didn't' want to use my mitre box as they were/are still very soft and the box has grooves in it, didn't want weird indentations in my soap. Some are thin, some are very thick but only on one end, but this was never going to be a soap I was going to sell anyways. Well, not after the separation issue, and I don't think any of the people who will be getting free soap from me will mind that they are a bit crooked, because let me tell you - these soaps smell AHmazing! Just like a fresh cucumber! I didn't know if the cucumber scent would survive, so I added a bit of jasmine - and man was that just the thing to add! It's got this incredible freshness about it that just makes me want to take a bite!

And I just love how the poppy seeds kind of make it look like kiwi! Yum!

Until next time!