Anyone know what went wrong here please?

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Soapstars

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Hello soapers, made a rose and chamomile loaf yesterday. The mixture was nice and smooth at first but as the seconds ticked by it became a bit grainy looking as I poured it into the mould. What do you think went wrong here please? Smells great though! Attached a pic.

DSC05577.JPG
 
I would guess that's ricing. I only had it happen once though, so...? In my case I added FO at trace and it happened instantaneously. Tried the same FO blended with the oils and although I got crazy acceleration, no ricing! I don't know if there is delayed ricing?
 
These were the ingredients:

OLIVE OIL
DISTILLED WATER
SHEA BUTTER
COCONUT OIL
LYE
CASTOR OIL
SUGAR
SEA SALT
Rose FO
Chamomile FO
pink mica
Titanium dioxide

Thanks for your help.

Millie, that sounds like a great idea. Wonder why we are advised to add fragrance at trace and not with the oils anyway?

I suppose ricing is just a cosmetic issue and its still ok to use?
 
Yup, ricing is just cosmetic. This is actually a common issue with florals. I know when I started soaping 15 years ago (geez!) that was the "rule". That you held back your "superfatting oil" (I used 5% sweet almond) and added that and the FO at trace. That was THE RULE. Now that - and a lot of other soaping things - are more like suggestions. I think the idea was that if the fragrance caused a problem, then you could quickly put it in the mold. You can try some things to help stop or at least lessen ricing.

Soap cooler.

Try adding your FO to your oils, then adding the lye. (sometimes this works, sometimes this makes things worse.)

Blend soap until just emulsion then add FO. You might also blend the FO with a bit of carrier oil or even water, then blend that with the just-emulsified soap batter.

If none of these work:

1) Hot process
2) Tweak your recipe to use more slow tracing oils.
 
Yup, I think it's ok to use. Double check for zap just in case :) The FO that went crazy for me was Rose - florals can be troublesome! Ever since that experience I have been adding scents directly to the oils, I think that is probably why I only experienced ricing once. I also like it because I feel like I have more control when using accelerators, but other soapers like to add scents at the last second for just that reason. It all boils down to what works best for you.
P.s. wish I could smell that soap!

Oops, Dixie beat me again!
 
Yeah it sure smells good. I have the curing cabinet in my bedroom and sometimes can't get to sleep for smelling all the lovely fragrances going on! But my cat has moved out and lives in the garden now most of the time!

Thank you. Lots of good info here on ricing and suggestions to improve my soaping.
 

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