When Good Soap Goes Bad (And Traps Your Blender Forever)
HELP! My Soap Seized and I Nearly Did Too | Soap-Making Tips for Beginners
Soap-making can be a rewarding craft, but sometimes it doesn’t go as planned. I’ve been making cold process soap for about six months now, and up until recently, it’s been pure, soapy bliss. From weighing oils to mixing lye and oils, I’ve loved every second. But last week… well, that’s when things went south.
What is Soap Seizing?
If you’re new to cold process soap-making, soap seizing happens when your soap batter thickens too quickly, often leaving you with a mess that’s impossible to mold or swirl. Seizing can happen for a number of reasons, too much heat, certain fragrance oils, or the wrong combination of additives.
My Seizing Soap Disaster
Last week, I decided to try the Heat Transfer method, which sounded brilliant at the time. This method uses the heat from sodium hydroxide (lye) to melt your hard oils and butters while mixing with water. It’s supposed to be efficient and genius, right?
Well, wrong. Very wrong.
In my excitement, I added fragrance oils, goat’s milk powder, kaolin clay, and dead sea mud powder all at once. Then I turned on the stick blender, thinking everything would be fine. But, panic set in almost immediately!
My soap batter seized so quickly it was like it had seen a ghost. One moment it was smooth, and the next, it was a thick, lumpy mess, almost like cement. My stick blender got stuck, and I had to quickly grab a spatula to try and salvage the mess. I genuinely thought I might be in a soapy chemical explosion with no exit plan! 
What Went Wrong and How I Could Have Prevented It
Looking back, there are a few things I could have done differently to prevent my soap from seizing:
-
Check the Temperature: I didn’t check the actual temperature of my oils and lye solution. Instead of “it feels warm,” I should have used a thermometer to measure more accurately.
-
Blend by Hand: Using a stick blender can cause soap to seize faster. Mixing by hand (at least initially) could have helped me avoid that issue.
-
Don’t Overload with Additives: I added every fancy powder I owned at once. Next time, I’ll try adding one ingredient at a time to see how each reacts with my soap mixture.
-
Fragrance Oils: Some fragrance oils are notorious for accelerating trace and causing seizing. I’ll experiment with a different fragrance next time to see if that was the culprit.
What I Learned About Soap-Making
Soap-making is a science, and it’s easy to forget that! Even when things go wrong, it's important to learn from your mistakes and keep experimenting. I plan to recreate the recipe, making some tweaks to avoid another seizing disaster.
Have You Ever Had Soap Seize?
If you've ever experienced seizing soap, tell me I’m not alone! What happened in your soap-making disaster? Did you manage to salvage it, or did you end up with a block of regret like me? Let me know in the comments, I could use a good laugh... or maybe even a soap-making support group.
P.S. Pictures included for your amusement!