How to Handle Soapmaking Mishaps + the Importance of Temperature

Just a normal soapmaking day when everything starts to go wrong. Sea Salt & Kelp, a soap we've made hundreds of times, thickens up unexpectedly on camera! I walk you through what's happening live and show you what I do to try and prevent acceleration on the second layer.
One thing that's often overlooked (even by me!) is the temperature of your room when you're making soap. Not just temperature, but humidity and other climate-related variables. These can hugely impact your soapmaking as evidenced in this video. A soap made in a hot humid environment will behave very differently than a soap made in a cool dry environment. Understanding (and potentially controlling) your environment will help you make consistent batches of soap. When moving to a new soapmaking space, things often go wrong, and the usual suspect is typically temperature. Remember that soap is a science and temperature is a key part of the equation!
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Thanks for watching!
Simi & Troy

[@rose_candleco]

I loved this video and always learn something new from you. It is so encouraging to see that an expert soap maker also has those days! I typically soap cooler and had the opposite issue yesterday with soap not accelerating or reaching a full trace fast enough. After doing research online I learned that it could be the stick blender. Sure enough! It had stopped rotating!

[@muddymintsoap]

Haha! Yep! It's always when I go too fast and try to rush through things that this happens, or when I'm in an unfamiliar/new space. Gotta get back to the basics sometimes! I've definitely had issues with the stick blender, but not where it stopped completely! That's so crazy! It's better for it to not get thick than the other way around though (I think), especially if you were able to figure it out and had a spare blender on hand.

[@kw6996]

I use the exact same base recipe for all my bars and a very strong lye concentration 1:1.3. As you know, certain essential oil blends move faster than others and the only control we have is temperature. Temperature - oils, lye and environmental play an important role. There are certain essential oil blends that I know I need to be very careful with the temperature and actually change the temperature of the oil and lye solutions according to the environmental temperature. The reason for the "glumps" and the subsequent colour variations in the final cut is because of the rapid temperature increase in the batter as you are pouring. Some parts are getting hotter faster - just like gel starts from the center of a mould and moves out. This process is essentially happening real time during the pour. A recent batch of a solid colour had beautiful swirls all throughout. It looked like I had used 2 colours but it was simply because it was a large pour with a known essential oil blend that moves fast and my temperature was just a little higher than usual and it thickened rapidly as I was pouring creating the swirls. To date there has not been an issue with my bars if I get "glumping"- it is just an aesthetic issue. Environmental temperature makes a huge difference to the process. If you typically soap at say 105 degrees but the environment is a little hotter than normal, as you mix the temperature of the batter will get hotter faster due to the surrounding environmental temperature, hence, an acceleration of the batter. If you are soaping in a cooler environment, the temperature within the batter will not climb as rapidly within the batter and you will have a little more play time. It's a similar concept to using ice for milk soaps - you are trying to prevent the temperature of the batter climbing rapidly and getting too hot during the chemical reaction. I don't have a temperature controlled environment and I have noticed differences in soap behaviour in winter as opposed to summer.

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you!! This is very well explained, and I so appreciate this comment. I haven't paid too much attention to temperature, as we've been in a climate-controlled environment for years, so this was a good reminder of how important it is. It's something that is often overlooked when you're a newer soapmaker.

[@BellaRayneJewelryCo]

Love your reaction when things go wrong. Quote of the day from Simi - "it's really fun when things go wrong, haha.....not really." I had to laugh.....I already knew the soap turned out but I had to chuckle. It's been a long week for me and I needed this video today. 🙂

[@muddymintsoap]

Lol! Yes, that was a good moment. Haha! Glad you enjoyed the video. :)

[@joannaolbach-steele8004]

This video certainly hits close to home - I was making the "Woodland Mint" soap from your book yesterday and it thickened super fast. I could barely pour in it into the mold and feel it was related to temperature as well. I am really enjoying your book. Thank you!

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! At least that soap is only one color, so hopefully it worked out? Glad you're enjoying the book! :)

[@MarshaABranch]

Bet you this batch sells out faster than the previous batches you made of this soap. People love a story. They'll want the soap that went crazy while Simi was making it on camera. The soap is lovely Simi. Great tip about not cutting the ends when you have an imperfect batch. I'll be sure to remember that, as I'm making a super difficult batch tomorrow with three different accelerators in it.

[@muddymintsoap]

Haha! We ended up not selling this batch, but that's a funny thought! :) Glad you found that tip about the ends valuable.

[@carriannrose]

Thank you so very much for sharing this. I needed just this for issues I keep having and there isn’t enough videos of soaping issues happening in the moment and how to handle.

[@lyndawest8612]

By the way, your Amazon store is amazingly well organized. Thank you for this extra effort.

[@muddymintsoap]

I appreciate that! Thank you! :)

[@cathismith4497]

Guessing a combination of higher temps and the oils. I used indigo for the first time and my temps were around the same and it accelerated very quickly. I LOVE you videos. Down to earth and real

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! Yes, it was definitely a combination of high temperature of the room and of the oils. One thing that's nice about making the same soap so often is that it's easier to isolate what the problem might be!

[@sarahfoster4437]

Cool soap thanks for sharing

[@Carolyn-d5p]

Love your videos please keep them coming. Beautiful soaps

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! :)

[@dorissdaughter]

Thank you for the reminder to "step away from the stick blender". We, who are not so experienced, often have trouble putting down the power tools. :)

[@muddymintsoap]

Haha! Yep... step away from the stick blender is a good mantra! :)

[@tassiegirl1991]

Thank you Simi. It was great you went ahead and shared this video it was helpful for all who watched I hope on testing all was good. A pretty bar and as you said expensive to make a large slab.

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! We ended up deciding not to sell these bars and will be donating them instead. Glad you found the video helpful!

[@BlessedKnew]

Hi! Can you guys make a video on how to test the ph of the soap bars next? Fingers crossed your soaps are all good!🤞🏾

[@muddymintsoap]

I had a feeling someone would ask that! :) Yes, we can include this in a future video. We ended up not selling these bars, even though they weren't lye heavy. As I mentioned in the video, I tested these personally and somehow they didn't feel as great as the bar should and weren't up to my standards, so we plan to donate them to Eco Soap Bank.

[@rustic_wash]

I love your channel so inspiring, thank you from the bottom of my heart Simi x. Will you ever be doing a scrub recipe in the near future 😉

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi there and thank you! I appreciate your support. :) Do you mean a sugar scrub or a scrubby soap? We do have a sugar scrub recipe that we plan to share in the future!

[@rustic_wash]

@@muddymintsoapsugar scrub Simi x

[@muddymintsoap]

YES! Sugar scrub recipes are coming. :)

[@chsrlottetaylor5804]

As a soap maker always when my oils are more hot than I usually use,it always goes faster and I have problems,colors are really a fast trace when you think it's not ,,I think it was your color and the extra heat. Love your shows

[@muddymintsoap]

Yes, absolutely. Everything goes faster with heat! Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching! :)

[@Susan-k9q]

The timelines of this video is hilarious. 😂 I just had a batch volcano. Price we pay for all the great additives. Glad it came out okay. Pretty waves! ❤

[@muddymintsoap]

Oh gosh... I've had a volcano once and it wasn't pretty!! Hope yours turned out okay in the end!

[@Susan-k9q]

@@muddymintsoap it's not too bad. I'm probably going to cut the top off and call it. The bar itself is in decent shape.

[@hudarawas4411]

Good job handling the job

[@muddymintsoap]

Thanks! :)

[@A.l.l16]

❤❤❤ a soap making lessons thanks for showing this thanks

[@muddymintsoap]

Thanks so much for watching! :)

[@cliviascreations]

I used Lavandin eo for the first time at the beginning of this month and my plan was a beautiful two color design using plain butter and indigo with swirls and lavender and jasmine buds in top. Omg the portion with indigo got so thick while the uncolored one was very very fluid. I had to forget about designing and just spoon in the indigo butter as quickly as possible. It smells amazing and I really love Lavandin now but will keep the soap for us probably because the “ design is just not what I planned and not pretty at all. I am a room temperature soaper so Idk what went wrong, but I can just blame the indigo powder. Love your colors! Thank you

[@muddymintsoap]

That's interesting! So, the only difference between the two batters was the addition of indigo powder? That's surprising, but soapmaking is often a surprise! Haha! You'll have to try it again and see what happens next time.

[@cliviascreations]

@@muddymintsoap for sure

[@Goodbrod]

Love your videos and recipes! Have you ever made a video about clean up?

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi there and thank you! A clean up video has not been on my radar. What specifically would interest you? Just how to clean up your soapy dishes, like lye containers and soap buckets?

[@Goodbrod]

@@muddymintsoap Hi! Yeah, basically how you handle all of that. Let it saponify and then wash, or wash. How to be sure that when you wipe down, you are cleaning/deactivating lye. I do this at home so I have to be careful.

[@muddymintsoap]

Yes, those are good questions! We used to let our soap saponify and then wash it, but it got really tedious, so we make sure our buckets are quite clean (scraping them well and getting all the soap out!) and then we wash them right away. For the lye, we rinse everything in the sink with cold water and then wash as usual. I hope this helps in the meantime, but a video on this is a good idea!

[@Goodbrod]

@@muddymintsoap I was washing immediately, but it began to affect my pipes. Now I do the "let it sit and saponify" first.

[@muddymintsoap]

@@Goodbrod Yep, if it's affecting your pipes then you definitely want to wait! :)

[@natalieclause]

Great video! I love learning from you 😊! Do you run two separate batches in a calculator? Or do you split the oils and lye water equally?

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi and thank you! We just run it in two separate batches. :)

[@karenurbanski5004]

Love this video!! Did I miss you adding sea salt to the lye

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! We did a whole video on making the lye water for this soap, but we didn’t end up using it because the video got so long. We might post it separately someday.

[@karenurbanski5004]

@@muddymintsoap ok thanks. Thought I missed something

[@joannelishman204]

Brilliant video! You handled it with panache and style.and it totally didn't appear to faze you When my batter accelerates I go eeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!! and throw it all in and generally panic and make a right mess (even though I am still enjoying myself) lol. I do think my problems stem from impatience and just not waiting until lye and oils are cool enough.

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! I definitely looked more calm then I felt in my head. But, I think generally I am a go-with-the-flow kind of person. I'm definitely impatient though as well! :)

[@ChetanaBangera]

This is exactly what happened with my first batch of coconut rose soap. I added the essential oil at trace as advised but still it thickened up immediately and I had lumps in the batter. I immediately thought I should have waited for oils and lye to cool down more. I definitely need more patience 😅

[@muddymintsoap]

Yes! The temperature makes even more difference when you use accelerating essential oils, like geranium.

[@AMusingFarms]

Hello. Thank you so much for sharing this video. I have never made a brine bar but it is on my list of soaps to make. While watching this video, I was thinking the acceleration had to do with the salt. Or one of the additives. As I haven’t used any of the ones you used in this video. Thank you for being humble and sharing with us. As these things can happen. Def Trial and error. I know sometimes when I have to order from a different supplier for the same ingredient or scent, I have had some hiccups. Error. What do you recommend for usage rates for indigo? Thanks again. ❤

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi there! Salt can definitely harden bars, but as I mention in this video, I've made this soap hundreds of times and it's always been a slow mover. In fact, it's so slow that I usually try to soap warmer to speed it up. So, the acceleration was definitely due to temperature here rather than any of the ingredients. Usage rates for indigo vary on the color you want to get! I have some information about this in my book, but I'm traveling right now and don't know the numbers off hand. For most colorants I usually start with 1 teaspoon per pound of oils and then go from there.

[@deo279]

Do you ever use sodium lactate. I never hear you mention that in your videos. If you don't is there a reason why you don't use it. Also I have your book and out of all the soap making books I have this one is the best I've ever read. Enjoy all your videos and look forward to the next one.

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi there! I used it for a bit "back in the day", but I never found it to be necessary. If you reduce your water amount, I feel like it takes care of any unmolding issues. It felt like an extra ingredient in the list that many people asked about and was not necessary (for us). If you enjoy using it, definitely keep doing it though! Particularly if you find that unmolding your soap is difficult. Thank you for your kind comments about my book too!

[@tanyabonnett4174]

I use the same recipe always and my room was very warm as I had my wood fire going and my batter got very thick very quickly for me which is very unusual for, so I think room temp definitely matters.

[@muddymintsoap]

Absolutely! It's an important factor that is often overlooked. :)

[@abeirheib4871]

Looks very nice I love the colors! I am not sure why my blue color always turn into a gray color any tips?

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi! Are you putting the indigo in your lye-water? Indigo can be a variety of different shades depending on where you purchase it from and even from batch to batch, so it's not super predictable. We've been using indigo from Brambleberry and it has given us a pretty consistent blue in this soap though!

[@abeirheib4871]

I can’t remember if I put it in the lye slon. Do I have to? I tried purple Brazilian and indigo and both turned gray:(

[@muddymintsoap]

Hmmm... I typically put indigo powder in my hot lye solution, otherwise it tends to go pretty dark. For purple Brazilian clay, I'd check the supplier, as that's a pretty consistent purple, I've found.

[@abeirheib4871]

Thank you

[@aquariusbathandbody]

Lovely looking soap and well done for keeping your cool while the soap thickened so quickly...I know how panicky I would be lol. Thanks for sharing and showing how to deal with this when it happenes.

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! I was kind of panicking on the inside, but then I thought about all of you and realized this might be a learning opportunity! :) Thanks for watching.

[@aquariusbathandbody]

@@muddymintsoap it's always a learning opportunity. I've been making soap for years but I find I'm always learning something new and how to deal with situations...soap does throw us some curve balls sometimes 🤣🤣🤣

[@evelynshaw3932]

Can you use cold lye water and doe's the oil have to be heated?

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi! Good question! We've had issues with our oils/lye being too cool, but we could have cooled everything down to about 80 degrees and it would have probably behaved a lot better.

[@LetstalkaboutitwiththeLees]

Hello . Where did u get the soap mold?

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi there! We made our own. :)

[@trishapomeroy9251]

I just made a lavender peppermint soap today that seized! Turned out looking like mashed potatoes. I'll cut it tomorrow and see how it turned out. It was my first time using this peppermint. So that's what I blamed it on.

[@muddymintsoap]

Peppermint usually behaves beautifully, as does lavender! Maybe it was something else? You just never know with soap! Haha!

[@trishapomeroy9251]

@@muddymintsoap right?! I'm actually starting to think I may have an issue with my lye. I bought a different one recently and both soaps I've made with it have acted a little differently. So I bought my normal stuff again...here's to hoping it's all going to work again like it's supposed to!

[@muddymintsoap]

I hope it works out!

[@georgianasalter]

Every batch of essential oils are different so maybe this one was slightly different.

[@muddymintsoap]

Hi there! That's a good thought, but it's the same batch I used last time to make this soap. Thanks for watching! :)

[@carriannrose]

Thank you so very much for sharing this. I needed just this for issues I keep having and there isn’t enough videos of soaping issues happening in the moment and how to handle.

[@muddymintsoap]

Thank you! I'm so glad you found this video helpful. :)