Making homemade soap is such a beautiful, simple skill to learn—but if you’ve ever had a batch go wrong, you know how discouraging it can feel. One minute everything looks perfect, and the next you’re in the middle of soap making troubleshooting because your soap is thickening too fast, cracked, crumbling, or just… wrong.
Here’s the good news: every soap maker has been there. Every mistake is part of the learning process, and most problems are completely fixable—or preventable next time.
This guide will walk you through the most common soap making problems, why they happen, and how to fix them using simple, practical, real-life solutions to get you on the right path.
After all, learning homemaking skills like soap making isn’t just about the end product—it’s about stewardship, patience, and building something meaningful for your home and family. Mistakes are part of learning, and every imperfect batch is still a step toward wisdom, confidence, and self-sufficiency.
Table of Contents
- Quick Soap Making FAQ
- Why Did My Soap Seize?
- Why Did My Soap Separate?
- Why Is My Soap Too Soft?
- Why Did My Soap Crack on Top?
- Why Did My Soap Change Color or Fade?
- Why Is My Soap Sweating?
- Why Doesn’t My Soap Lather Well?
- Why Are There Air Pockets or Tunnels?
- Why is My Soap Chalky and Crumbly?
- Why Does My Soap Smell Bad?
- Gentle Reminders for New Soap Makers
Soap Making Troubleshooting Quick FAQ:
Good soap making starts with great techniques and great recipes. Make sure to read my articles on both so you start with great quality.
Here are my most common questions with rapid answers up front!
Can failed soap be saved?
Yes! Most failed soap can be re-batched or hand-milled (melted and remolded). Learn how here.
What does seizing mean in soap making?
Seizing is when soap batter thickens suddenly due to high temperatures, using fragrance oils, using hot essential oils like cinnamon and clove, or over-mixing. Change to essential oils and soap at cooler temperatures.
Why does my soap get a white powder on top?
That’s soda ash. It’s harmless and can be rinsed or gently shaved off.
Why are lye pockets in my soap after curing?
If you have liquid pockets that give you that slick feeling on your fingers when you feel it, you know it’s lye. You didn’t mix enough and then poured too cool. The oils and lye water didn’t emulsify and separated, not fully saponifying. But don’t worry. As long as you know that you used the right ingredient amounts, you can hand-mill (re-batch) the soap. Learn how here.
So, lets dive into the meat of each topic to make sure you minimize problems in the future, or at least know what to do when they happen.
Soap Making Troubleshooting Guide
Why Did My Soap Seize?
What it looks like: Soap batter suddenly turns thick, grainy, and chunky, like lumpy mashed potatoes.
Common causes:
- Essential oils or fragrance oils that accelerate trace: Some essential oils are considered “hot” oils and will accelerate trace. If you’re going to make a Fall soap with cinnamon, clove, or nutmeg, then lower the temperature of your oils and lye water slightly more than usual to accommodate this issue.
- Soaping at high temperatures: When soap making temperatures are above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, soap can come to trace faster.
- Over stick blending: Using a stick blender can cause soap to come to trace a lot faster than a whisk or hand mixer. Pay close attention.
- Heavy water discounting: If you don’t use enough water in your recipe, you can have a whole host of problems. The primary issue is lye being concentrated in a way that creates lumps of saponified oil before the other oils can be mixed evenly.
Simple fix:
- Stop blending with the stick blender. Use a spoon if you need to finish mixing in scent or natural soap colorant but work as fast as you can.
- Spoon the soap into your mold as quickly as you can.
- Press firmly and texture the top for a rustic look.
How to prevent it next time:
- Don’t use Fragrance oils. Use essential oils instead.
- Soap cooler (80–100°F). If you’re using a recipe with a lot of hard oils like lard, cocoa butter, coconut oil, you have a higher likelihood of saponifying quickly.
- Hand-stir essential oils into the soap instead of stick blending if you notice it came to trace quickly.
- Always research scent behavior. There are “hot” essential oils like cinnamon and clove that will cause soap to come to trace quickly.
Why Did My Soap Separate?
What it looks like: Oil pooling, watery layers, or curdled soap batter.
Common causes:
- False trace: False trace is rare if you measured correctly and your temperatures are right. But if your soap is too cold and you don’t stir enough, you can get results that you don’t see are messed up until you try to take the soap out of the mold.
- Incorrect measurements: soap recipes are very precise. Measurements are scientific for a chemical reaction. If you measure precisely, you will have a lot less problems.
- Not enough mixing: If lye water isn’t mixed enough, the water won’t be emulsified into the oils. This will cause pockets of lye water to separate as it sits in the mold.
- Curing temperature too cold after limited mixing: If didn’t mix great, but you have warm temperatures, sometimes you can luck out and the soap turns out ok. But if you undermixed and then temperatures are too cold it’s a definite combination for lye pockets.
Simple fix:
- If you catch it before it sets up, re-blend until fully emulsified.
- If it’s already molded, don’t worry. It can be fixed. If you had a scale problem or forgot something, try to figure out what you did. You can always re-batch or hand mill the batch and add the missing ingredient to fix it. If you didn’t mix enough, hand-mill and mix well.
How to prevent it next time:
- Always weigh ingredients carefully.
- Match oil and lye temperatures to at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Blend to emulsion. Look for light trace.
Why Is My Soap Too Soft?
What it looks like: When unmolding the soap, your hand may leave fingerprints, or the soap is extremely soft or even fully liquid.
Common causes:
- Too much water: Double check your recipe and make sure the water amount is correct. It should be 32-38% of the oils.
- High olive oil content and not enough hard oils: Castile and Bastille soaps can be very soft when first unmolded.
- Superfat content too high: Too many oils compared to lye water will leave your soap slightly softer than a lower superfat content. Common amounts are 5-15%, unless you are making a salt bar recipe.
- Not cured long enough: Most of the time, the soap just needs to sit in the mold for a little longer or be cured for a few more days.
Simple fix:
- Leave it in the mold longer.
- Put it in the freezer before unmolding.
- Let it cure longer (3-4 weeks).
- Rebatch with harder oils if needed.
How to prevent it next time:
- Edit recipe in lye calculator with coconut oil, tallow, lard, or cocoa butter
- Slightly reduce water if water content is too high.
Why Did My Soap Crack on Top?
What it looks like: It looks like a crack in a river bed and the soap is a lot darker than usual. When soap overheats it darkens and cracks, as if it is boiling beneath the surface and heat has to escape somehow.
Common causes:
- Overheating due to hot essential oils or using fragrance oils.
- Heavy insulation in an already warm room.
- Sugars or milk cause overheating during saponification: Just like how soap curds can burn when added to water, it also speeds up saponification and creates heat quickly. Always keep this in mind when adding milks and sugars (honey, manuka, etc.)
Simple fix:
- Cool as soon as possible when you notice it. Place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to cool it down.
- Gently press cracks together while warm.
- Plane the top after curing.
How to prevent it next time:
- Don’t heavily insulate if the room is already in the mid 70s Fahrenheit.
- Soap at cooler temperatures if that recipe tends to harden quickly or the oils cause it to set quickly.
Why Did My Soap Change Color or Fade?
What it looks like: Soap is one color when it’s molded, but another when you unmold it. Turmeric is yellow but turns tan. Alkanet root is purple, turns blue, then turns purple again. Beet root is a beautiful pink but turns brown when added to soap.
Common causes:
- Fading or lye effected natural colorants, especially root powders and herbs.
- Gel phase: The gel phase is when soap warms to a consistent temperature and goes into gel phase which is a natural glycerin transition time during the first 24 hours of saponification. Gel phase will darken a white soap slightly but is good for coloring when trying to bring out more vibrant colors.
Simple fix:
- Embrace the natural patina. Soap colors will change based on temperature and colorant used. It’s a beautiful natural process.
- Learn what changes and how so you can change your recipe as needed for next time.
How to prevent it next time:
- Research how essential oils change colors in soap. Some will darken the soap bar a lot more than others.
- Use clays, oxides, and stable botanicals that don’t change color. Clays are pretty consistent. Rose clay, Moroccan clay, or even charcoal are some of my favorites. Check out my book for a full color description and chart of herbs and
- Control gel phase by not letting it enter gel phase (let it get warm enough for saponification, and not any warmer), or make sure it fully gels for a richer, darker color and harder finished soap.
Why Is My Soap Sweating?
What it looks like: There will be little beads of “sweat” all over the soap as it’s curing. Sometimes it’s enough that there is a pool of liquid under the soap where it sits.
Common causes:
- This is usually glycerin dew, and it’s very common in humid climates.
- You probably have a very high glycerin soap.
Simple fix:
- Store in a dry, cool space.
- Wrap fully once it’s cured to keep glycerin from beading outside the soap bar.
How to prevent it next time:
- Cure in low humidity.
- Avoid airtight curing containers. Let your soap sit out on a table for the first week at least.
Why Doesn’t My Soap Lather Well?
What it looks like: There may be tiny bubbles, but no big lather like you wanted.
Common causes:
- Too much olive oil. Olive oil or Castile bars don’t have much cleansing power and don’t create bubbles without additives.
- High superfat: If your soap recipe has a very high superfat content (20% or more), the oils can be weighed down by the extra oils available in the soap bar.
- Low bubble creating oils: Every oil in a soap recipe has a purpose. If the recipe hasn’t been put together well, it may not account for moisturizing, cleansing, or lather. Learn more about lathering oils.
- Hard water: The minerals in hard water will kill the bubbles. They also affect your hair, so keep this in mind when switching to natural shampoo bars.
Simple fix:
- Use a soap saver like this one.
- Use a water filter to soften hard water.
How to prevent it next time:
- Balance bubbly and creamy oils.
- Make sure there’s enough coconut, babassu oil, or castor oil to create a good lather.
Why Are There Air Pockets or Tunnels?
What it looks like: When you take your soap out of the mold and cut it, there are air pockets or tunnels running through your soap.
Common causes:
- Pouring at thick trace. If the soap is thick, air pockets can be trapped as you pour or scoop the soap into the mold.
- Not tapping the mold. Tapping the mold gently on a table or countertop can help bubbles escape if the soap is thin enough.
Simple fix:
- Embrace the unique bar and enjoy it!
- Hand-mill the finished bar. Your soap will still look rustic, but it won’t have the air pockets on the inside.
How to prevent it next time:
- Pour at light trace.
- Tap molds firmly to get air pockets out of the soap.
Why is My Soap Chalky and Crumbly?
What it looks like: The soap is white and chalky and crumbles in your hand. It also may be chalky only on the corners of the mold but solid in the center.
Common causes:
- Soap is lye heavy. When too much lye is used, soap can become crumbly and chalky.
- Soap was too cold when within the mold in the first 24 hours. When I’ve poured soap in the winter time, I’ve added a space heater and covered the mold with a towel and can still have the corners get crumbly. This is because the corners became too cold and there wasn’t proper saponification.
Simple fix:
- If the batch is crumbly only on the outside due to the cold while in the mold, cut those areas off and use the rest of the soap.
- If the batch was lye heavy, add the soap to a slow cooker as you would when re-batching any soap, but add oil during the process. If you have no idea how much extra lye you added, this can be a risk and you can still have lye heavy soap, but I’ve usually been able to figure out what I’ve done, or I’ve added enough oils that I know the soap is now fine for home use. If you are not sure, discard the batch.
How to prevent it next time:
- Measure everything very carefully.
- Make sure your soap is molded warm and kept warm for the first 24 hours. 75 degrees is usually a great temperature to make sure overheating, or soaping that’s too cold doesn’t occur.
Why Does My Soap Smell Bad?
What it smells like: There’s a dusty scent. Something is off.
Common causes:
- Old or rancid oils.
- Improper storage. Soap was left out in a hot and humid environment or has a lot of botanicals within it, causing it to go bad faster.
- Expired fragrance oils.
Simple fix:
- Discard the batch. There’s nothing else to do if you have rancid oils.
How to prevent it next time:
- Use fresh oils.
- Only use essential oils for an indefinite shelf life while still in the bottle.
- Store soap in a cool, dry environment and store in plastic containers if possible when cured.
Gentle Reminders for New Soap Makers
- Measure carefully. The smaller the batch, the more specific you need to be.
- Keep recipes simple until you learn more about ingredients and what they do in soap. You can learn more about soap making oils here.
- Don’t rush trace. Know what trace is and what you want for your specific recipe. Some soaps you want to pour at light trace so you have time to include colors. Others need to be thicker so you can create swirls or layers.
- Insulate for 24 hours, longer if soap is still soft. Then cure for 3 weeks so your soap is hard and lasts longer.
- Enjoy experimenting!
Soap making isn’t about perfection; it’s about learning, growing, and building a simple, natural skill for your home or small business. Every batch teaches you something new, and even the mistakes have value.
Save this guide, come back to it when something goes wrong, and remember: you’re learning a real homestead skill, and that takes time.
If you have a question that wasn’t answered, ask it here.
Leave a Reply
We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!