Very interesting soap fail

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evatgirl73

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Yes, I'm a beginner so this may be something you seasoned soapers have seen many times, but here goes:
This is a batch with coconut, crisco, canola, almond, walnut and castor oils. Run through soapcalc, SF 8%. So far so good, right? :)
After reading here for a few days I wanted to try something different and decided to take part of the batch aside to prevent gel and try out an oval PVC mold. I normally CPOP in silicone molds and that has been working really well for me. Most of this batch was scented with Jasmine and went in a silicone log mold, CPOPed and cut beautifully, can't wait to try it in a few weeks
soap3.jpg


The portion I set aside, I scented with a different FO (Pink Sugar from WTS) and poured into the oval PVC mold, and then topped that off with the leftovers of Jasmine after filling the log mold. The *only* difference between the two portions is the FO. I set it out in the garage (as cold as the fridge right now) and waited to see what would happen.
I unmolded it a little more than 24hrs later, it was only filled about 5" and the top part looked nice (the jasmine portion). The Pink Sugar part looked bright gold and was much softer than the jasmine part, which had also penetrated part of the PD because I was pouring it from a distance.
I cut it and set to cute.
This is what it looks like today, 2 days after making:
soapmistake.jpg

The Jasmine part looks OK, and even the parts of Jasmine that penetrated the brown look and feel fine. The part scented with Pink Sugar though.... it's still pretty soft, and it's looking like there's mold and DOS already happening. Same batch, same temperature, same everything except FO. I'm obviously throwing these oval bars away, even the Jasmine one (it has spots of the PS soap on it) but I'd love to know if anyone can figure out what happened?? Is the FO just totally not suitable for soap? Iit should be.... but another batch with it failed as well. That batch ended up with small oily bubbles and I thought it was because I superfatted a little after trace when I used a little bit of oil to add cocoa for colorant, but now I'm thinking it was the FO..??
 
Pink Sugar is notorious for discoloring CP soap - it will eventually all turn very dark brown. Unfortunately, this is normal...
 
Oh, the discoloration is nothing, I don't mind that. I have used another Pink Sugar FO and it soaped beautifully, sure the soap is tan and getting darker and of course it would be nice if it stayed creamy white so I could color it, LOL, but the discoloration is not my concern. The fact that the part of the soap with this particular PS FO is not setting like the jasmine part, and that it looks moldy and has oily/orange spots already *is*. :) I'm sorry I didn't make it clear enough. :)
 
Here's a thought. What you think might be DOS is probably just Pink Sugar FO drops discoloring the lighter soap. Why don't you rebatch that small amount? The FOs would get mixed together in the process and the texture and color (brown) would even out. Chop the soap, put it in a microwave safe dish and zap it on power level 3 until it melts. Then stir and zap again, if needed. Pour/glop into a mold. I don't think that DOS happens to new soap.

Also, oily bubbles on top of the soap usually reabsorb after awhile.
 
The mold was clean, brand new and straight out of the oven (but cooled down) after shaping into an oval. :) I also lined it with freezer paper.

I don't know if the texture would improve with rebatching (but I'll give it a try, since I intend to toss it anyways it can't hurt). The brown parts of the soap are all mushy and spongy, not at all hardening and smooth like the white parts with the different FO. What I'm describing as DOS actually looks like small spots in the brown parts that are teeny bubbles with darker discoloration around them, so possibly undissolved FO..?? They look like DOS so that's how I described them but it makes sense that new soap wouldn't get them, especially since all the same oils (with exception of the FO!) are in the whole rest of the soap as well, and brand new. The spots on the white soap I know are from the brown soap, not DOS. The white soap is fine it's only the brown that is odd.... the white part set up nicely without gelling, like I'm guessing it's supposed to. The brown soap is not setting up properly, it is still very soft and mushy, kinda with a chalky feel, not smooth. Very strange. I do know that I won't attempt making a third batch with this particular FO, it's clear to me that *something* is up with it. Is it possible for FO to be "bad" in some way? The other kinds I have used from this company soaped up fine, this one has no different specs (no low flashpoint etc) than those but yet both times I've tried to use it, that soap has not turned out. I haven't used this scent from this manufacturer before, but it smells almost burnt to me in comparison with other Pink Sugar FOs I have smelled/used... I don't know if that's just their version of it that's "off" or if there's something actually wrong with the bottle I received.
There were no oily bubbles on top of this batch, but that was a problem with the last batch I used the same FO in (and that had small oily bubbles inside as well). They have mostly absorbed during curing, and that batch still has quite a ways to cure before I'll use it. It's also softer than other batches I've made with the same recipe...
 
Dos often takes a while to develop..and not all orange spots are DOS. I had one once which was a sliver of metal going rusty...

so I have to ask, is there any possibility you got something in there ?metal, paprica, sliver of wood...anything? its just if you just made it and its still soft that is very quick for DOS. I'd keep it a little longer to see if it develops further and actually is that?
 
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