Pomace OO darkens soap? pics

[Elly]

Hi I was just wondering if Pomace OO will make a batch go darkish. my recipe had 45% POO, and other oils none of which are dark oils and as you can see soap looks pretty dark. GM added to oils which has never caused darkening of soap. All I can think of is the high quantity of POO which happens to be a darkish oil. Next to it is a GM soap made with 60% VOO, big differences in color. Anyone has any ideas as to why so I don't make same mistake again, don't like the color of the soap that much as it kills the swirling effect . thank you for your help :cry:

PS other ingredients: AO,CB,CO,PO,castor,oatmeal, spearmint & lavender EO. mixed at low temp.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

It's funny. I always have the opposite problem. EVOO makes my soap a bit darker and pomace makes it lighter. I would have said the GM was the culprit but you haven't had a problem before. It does depend on the temperature you're soaping at though. If you soaped a bit warmer, the GM could heat up the mix more and cause darkening. But no, you're probably right, if the pomace is dark to start with (goodness only knows what's in it), then that's probably to blame.

Try using light olive oil to keep your soaps whiter. :wink:

 

[KnowWhat]

My pomace is lighter in color than EVOO (which I don't use to soap, too expensive)

 

[xraygrl]

I always have the opposite problem. EVOO makes my soap a bit darker and pomace makes it lighter

pomace in Australia, is not the same thing as pomace in the US from what I've heard. In the US pomace is darker in color, and what we call extra light OO here, is Pomace in Australia.

So yeah, it could very well be your pomace OO that caused the darker color.

 

[Elly]

wow this is very interesting we all have different color effect when using pomace, I never paid much attention to the color of the oils and never have experienced such a dark soap, now I am like a detective trying to investigate everything, I just don't know how those people that mass produce handmade soaps control the end product so well, with me everytime my soaps behave a bit differently. Here is a pic of Pomace OO (top) & EVOO (bottom), I don't see that much of a difference in color pomace a tiny bit darker & not as translucent as the EVOO. I am beginning to think it must've been the GM & gelling that could've caused the darkening.

 

[HenleyNatural]

The Pomace OO I use is much darker than the OOs you show in the picture and makes a light tan colored soap. My hunch is that is not the Pomace OO you are using, but something else.

 

[Elly]

HenleyNatural you are probably right, I am thinking is the combination of GM + overheating and gelling, not really sure if gelling can darken the soap that much though

 

[Bama]

That was my question on another thread. A friend sent me some bars of her soap and the recipe and hers uses POO. I ordered the oil from the same place she gets hers which is Columbus. and everytime I make mine it is tan where her soap is a nice creamy white that would look great swirling. She told me to combine the lye water with oils at 110 degrees and that is what I did. I did not use vanilla fo. It was the tan color when I mixed the lye/water and oils together and the color stayed the same. Used plain olive oil last time with same result. If I could only get it the color of hers I would so happy. My swirls didn't look good with tan soap either.

 

[Elly]

Hi Bama, I know exactly what you mean, I hate the swirling result with a tan base soap it looks yuk as you can see on the pics posted at beginning of post. I used to get nice off white coloured soaps up until recently when I have began experiencing this darkening in my soaps. I think I need to lower the temp at which I am mixing the oils and lye, I just having been patient enough lately & wait for the lye water to be at room temp & have been mixing when lye was still quite warm causing the darkening in the mixture, also starting with higher temp will induce overheating in the soap which I call gelling don't know if this is what gelling is but it always gives me a darker soap. Look at this pics and see the difference in the colours, soaps on the right GM & Coconut cream, the one on the left GM which I did yesterday. As you can see the dark circle indicates partial gelling which means that it is the gelling that is causing the tan colour in my recent soaps. Well that is what I can tell from comparing the soaps, originally I thought it was the PO. The off white ones were mixed at very low temps and left uncovered to set, didn't really check if they went into gelling, I just woke up next day to nice off white soaps...... I am getting frustrated with this darker soaps. I think next time I will put mold in the freezer to avoid gelling

 

[Bama]

Elly when you say low temp do you mean under 100 degrees or less? Also unwrapped that means you dont wrap a blanket or anything around the mold once you poured the soap up?
I am wanting the light cream color too. The soap i tried with the swirls is like you said Tan with pink. doesnt' look to good. Smell good just not pretty. I was laughing watching those youtube videos of Nancy Today. It didn't look like she checked the temps on anything. Measured her oils in a cup. She can give you hope you might make it playing with your soap

 

[Elly]

Yes under 100 degrees like body temperature well at least the lye water, careful don't let the oils get too cold they will solidify but don't worry if they do just remelt, the lye water can be cool it doesn't need to be same temp as the oils. Do not wrap soap at all that will cause it to heat and go into gelling, just cover the soap with a bit of plastic to avoid ash forming on top. Watch what fragrance you use, some of them can make soap darker. I made a batch a couple of hours ago it has a green swirl. I put the mold in the freezer, it looks off white and will get lighter as it dries, it hasn't gone into gel, at the moment still a bit warm but getting cooler, a couple more hours and I'll take it out to complete setting. Nancy Today is so funny, don't know how she manages to make her soaps, they look ok, I think she is hilarious, I love watching her videos.

 

[HenleyNatural]

Elly, one idea to bring the lye temperature down quickly is to put your lye container in an ice bath.

For example, I put my Pyrx measuring cup in a sink filled with water and ice cubes. I take care not to get any water from the faucet or sink into my lye. The temperature of the lye drops pretty quickly doing this.

 

[Bama]

Elly that green swirl looks beautiful. I am going to try again as soon as I get thru this very busy week. I have had company till 9 tonite. Every nite this week is so tied up. Next week should be a fun week for me. I may have to make another batch then and try putting in the freezer.

 

[Elly]

HenleyNatural thank you for the tip, I will do that it sounds like a fantastic idea. Bama here is the end result of the swirl and the base color that remained off white. I am not that good at swirling yet, need to master the technique but I am not that dissatisfied with the look of this one. I must warn you that when the soap does not gel the soap will be softer than the gelled soap but still easy to handle. Also try Henley's tip and use some ice water under the lye container to cool it down. I have learned all of these tricks from the wonderful people here in this forum to whom I am so grateful for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us newbies, thanks guys. Good luck with your batch next week. Picture is a bit dark the soap is a lot lighter than it looks here :wink:

 

[soapbuddy]

Elly, your soap came out well!

 

[Elly]

Thank you Irena you are always so encouraging :wink:

 

[carebear]

I did an experiment with 100% Olive Oil soaps, made same day.

The pomace (from Columbus Foods) batch ended up slightly taupe, even after a good long cure.
The regular OO (Bertolli) soap ended up stark white after about a 2 week cure.

 

[Bama]

Elly that looks just like what I want to accomplish in a white color. Congrats. I am going to really look forward to making my next batch and trying a nice swirl Thanks for the tips and sharing the photo

 

[Bama]

Looks great Elly. Definitely going to try this technique

 

[carebear]

Elly, one idea to bring the lye temperature down quickly is to put your lye container in an ice bath.

For example, I put my Pyrx measuring cup in a sink filled with water and ice cubes. I take care not to get any water from the faucet or sink into my lye. The temperature of the lye drops pretty quickly doing this.

OFF TOPIC, but important: Please don't mix your lye solution in Pyrex. And please don't "mix" temperatures in Pyrex anyway. Both are very dangerous.