soap taking longer to harden

[Suzy]

I made a batch of goat milk soap Monday morning and it still has not hardened quite enough to cut into bars, although it is getting harder every day...

I've been making goat milk soap for about three years. It has been really humid the last two days...could that be the cause?

I use only goat milk, vegetable shortening and lye and I measured the amounts just as I had been doing.

[AuntJenny]

Yes..I bet that is the problem. I used to have to be careful not to make soap on foggy days when I lived in calif. Here it is much much much drier..as long as i avoid rainy days it is okay. The humidity will affect it. I hope it finally does set up for ya!!!

[MullersLaneFarm]

Suzy, are you measuring by volume or weight? Any chance that you were distracted and added too much milk or too little lye? Did the soap go through gel? Was your soap 'normal' when you unmolded and it's just taking longer to harden?

[lsg]

This soap has Lye in it? Doesn't that burn? or do you just use it to wash hands?

All real bar soap is made with lye. With cold process soap you must wait at least four weeks for the soap to age before use. Usually a soapmaker uses a formula called supperfatting that insures there is enough fats in the soap to make it mild enough for use on skin. I always run my soap recipes through a lye calculator before trying them.
Supposedly, hot processed soap can be used right away. I have done hot process, but always aged it before use.
I use my soap on my face as well as for the bath. It has never burned us. ;)