Soap Batter Seized

Soap Batter Seized

There is a first time for everything, right? Today while making Charcoal Scrub w/Neem, the batter seized within 1 minute of adding the lye solution.

Activated charcoal can speed up the acceleration process. Which is the thickening of the batter. With the temperature of the oils and lye at 110° the chemical process went into overdrive. Tomorrow I'll soap at 95-100° which should prevent the batter from seizing.

I did pour and spoon out the batter into the mold but not sure how it will turn out, or if it will even be usable. I'll post some images tomorrow of the soap loaf.

​-Keith

Dec 18, 2025 - UPDATE - Here is the result of my mishap from yesterday. Just one big 7 pound mess. Looks like cooled lava. If I could get it to look like that and be 100% usable I would definitely call it Cooled Lava.

Dec 26, 2025 - UPDATE - Soaped at 98° and still had issues. Found out that the neem oil I was using was cut with another oil. The neem oil I use now is from a different vendor and is the real deal. Neem oil speeds up acceleration, which I did not know. I will tweak the recipe a bit and try a test batch before making another 7lbs of soap.