Oily sweatiness

[KerriAnne]

So, I used M&P but I also add my own extra oils to the soap to help with my families dry skin problems. I use a hemp M&P to make my boyfriend's soap but I have to make a lot because he goes thru it very quickly. I put it in a big plastic bag to store it but I've noticed that after a little while it looks like the soap is sweating but it's little beads of the oil. I'm wondering if it's because I put too much oil in it or is it from storing it? I use a recipe that I had tweaked from a blog online but I had to try to adjust it when I made it for the loaf mold I bought. I'm thinking that maybe when I made the recipe huge it caused the problem....any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[Genny]

Melt and pour soap can only hold so much extra oils and butters before it starts leaking out. Most people have found that going over 1 oz of oils/butters per lb of soap base caused oils to start leaking out. That's including the fragrance oil/essential oil in that 1 oz as well.

In my opinion, adding extra oils and butters to Melt and Pour is useless because it doesn't saponify and add the qualities that you want to the soap. Instead the extra oils just get washed down the drain when using it. I'd look for a base that already contains the oils that you want in it. Unless you'd like to try your hand at cold process or hot process soaping.

 

[lovefish]

Hi there,

My soaps have recently been sweating a lot and I've found that part of the problem has been in the way I have stored them. I now like to store my soaps in an airtight container and I now know to keep them in the right environment (not too hot and not to cold and not too damp!) I originally kept them in a cold place and then a hot place and they started to sweat really bad. I also wrap them tightly in cling wrap which helps I think?!

 

[SmallThings]

From what I understand, the "sweat" on your M&P soap is moisture drawn from the air by the glycerin in your soap. I find that my M&P soaps sweat when I heat them too hot. Whenever I accidentally boil my soap, I can count on it sweating. I'm not sure if you use your microwave or a double boiler, but I would recommend heating your soap until it is 90% melted, then take it away from the heat and allow the residual heat to melt the remaining pieces. That has really helped me. I also wrap up my soap in cling wrap and (very carefully) seal them with a heat gun. And I run a dehumidifier in the room where I store my soap. BUT I don't have experience with adding oils to soap, so I'm not sure what role that plays.

 

[blowie]

Small things is correct about the gylcerine drawing in moisture..

The recommended max melting temp for MP bases is 65C..
using too much frangrance will also cause the sweating effect..
fragrance % for soaps is between 1.5% to 5% of total weight.. in some cases..depending on the strength..
Using 5% of Sandalwood would knock your socks off..
essential oils in MP is 2.5% of toal weight.
Leaving the soaps to cool in a cold area such as a laundry or garage over nite will also cause sweating..
Allowing it to dry in the lounge area over night will help stop the sweats..
it helps if you need turn the soap over every few hours..once turned out.
hope this helps..

 

[paillo]

to reduce / prevent sweating i pack mine in plastic shoe or sweater boxes with a good amount of rice. what works for my salt shaker also works for storing m&p, and also for storing salt soaps