Soap Batch Smells Awful

[annabanana14]

Hi I need advice, I made a 5lb soap with a mix of 3 FO's . While making it, I forgot and mixed my coloring in my superfat and since I was making swirls I had one color saturated with my super fat than the other.

After gelling, my white which was not superfatted has absorbed some oil and looked grainy and yellow.

I cut it up in hopes that curing time will change the soap, but has any one gone through this before and what did you do?:?

 

[not_ally]

Could you be a bit more specific, ie; were you making HP (just guessing b/c you can't control what superfats in CP, but not sure if you meant you were doing CP and put colorants in the oils?) Also, what happened w/r/t the smell, referenced in the re line? Maybe I am just missing something here b/c I am not an HPer.

 

[Susie]

If you could share your recipe and process, including all additives and liquids, we could help more.

 

[newbie]

More info, please!

However, based on what you provided, you could have lye heavy soap, as your base soap. With time, it may end up neutral but you'd have to monitor. Your colored swirl is very very superfatted if all the extra oils ended up in a small amount of soap, so those swirls could end up being much softer than the rest. They may be more prone to DOS as well, depending on what oils you used.

Could you provide us with your recipe and everything you did?

 

[annabanana14]

My recipe CP Soap

Sorry My recipe.
30% of coconut , palm and sunflower,
10% of Castor
Total oils 56oz

superfat with saffflower, 1.5oz

FO was 2oz.

Colors

Ultramarine Blue ( used the super fat to mix)
Titanium Dioxide

In a wooden mold for 2 days. Came out nice and clean just smelled cooked or rotten.
I usually like to freeze my soap and not gel but this time I gelled my soap. Ill send my pictures as soon I get home because I am at work.

 

[annabanana14]

It's smelling a little bit better but I'm still worrying about the oily part. If you can see the white is yellow now.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

With cold process, the oil that you add in at trace will react with lye as if it was in from the start - saponification takes a long time and trace is just the beginning.

Are your oils okay in general? What was the FO mix? Have you used all the FOs in the mix together like this before?

 

[annabanana14]

Sweet pea, strike a pose, crispy pear, pikake flower and with sandalwood and a little patchouli eo.

 

[annabanana14]

All my oils are okay. I've never used these FO'S together?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Have you used each one before?

 

[not_ally]

I am still a bit confused. From the look of your soap, it is CP? I am hesitant to venture forth w/opinions b/c I am still a relative noob (only 50ish or so batches). But here are my thoughts anyway: you can't superfat w/separate oils in CP, you have to mix the oils together, add the lye to the water (with whatever additives you might be doing), and then the lye water to the mixed oils. I usually add the FO/EO/scent mix to the oils unless it is an accelerator, in which case I may wait until trace.

If I am doing swirls I pour portions of the batter into separate cups after everything is mixed, and then add color. So there would never be a need to add different amounts of oils to the batter at different points. Obviously, this is a super summarized version of the process, but I guess my basic question is are you trying to use different oils to superfat separate portions? Also, it looks as if you have glycerin rivers, did you use TD?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

............ I am hesitant to venture forth w/opinions b/c I am still a relative noob ...........you can't superfat w/separate oils in CP................

That's not an opinion, so never think twice about saying it!

 

[Obsidian]

The yellowing could be discoloration from the FO's. Have you zap tested that part? as long as its not zappy, I wouldn't worry about it. The grainy bit could be from a bit of separation or ricing and is most likely just a cosmetic issue.

 

[annabanana14]

I've used each FO and they perform well.

I said that I forgot in my earlier post about my superfat. I forgot and used it to color one part of the soap instead of adding it to the uncolored batch. I just prefer to use my super fat to mix my colors. In this case I wasn't focused, so I'm trying to find a way to redeem

Update it's not smelling foul and my be the yellowing is from the FO then.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Sounds like it.

But, again, what you add in at trace in CP is not the superfat. The superfat in CP will always be a mix of the total, not what was added in at trace.

 

[annabanana14]

Oops!! He he, now I know.

 

[not_ally]

At the risk of being over-explicit and annoying, you really cannot/should not add oils separately to different parts of the process while doing CP, at least on a more than minimal scale. I sometimes hold out a tablespoon or two of my oil mix if I know that I am using a colorant (eg, oxide) which needs to be mixed with oils when I get to the swirling/coloring part. Or even add just add that TB or two (usually olive because it seems least likely to destabilize things) to the colorants if it is a large enough batch. But trying to separate the oils into different amounts from the beginning and add them separately is not a good idea/practice and might actually be dangerous if you end up with lye heavy bits.

 

[dixiedragon]

At the risk of being over-explicit and annoying, you really cannot/should not add oils separately to different parts of the process while doing CP, at least on a more than minimal scale. I sometimes hold out a tablespoon or two of my oil mix if I know that I am using a colorant (eg, oxide) which needs to be mixed with oils when I get to the swirling/coloring part. Or even add just add that TB or two (usually olive because it seems least likely to destabilize things) to the colorants if it is a large enough batch. But trying to separate the oils into different amounts from the beginning and add them separately is not a good idea/practice and might actually be dangerous if you end up with lye heavy bits.

I strongly disagree. I have on occasional forgotten an oil (like my olive oil, which is 30%), and added after mixing the lye water and the other oils, and had no problems. When I first started, the "rule" was that your special superfat oil (usually 5%) was added at trace to "preserve" it from the lye. Now, we know adding it later doesn't "protect" that oil from the lye, but adding that 5% at trace vs with the rest of the oils doesn't do any harm, either.

 

[not_ally]

DD, I like being disagreed with/schooled by more experienced soapers. It is a good way to learn. I just was not, and still not sure, what the OP's process is, so wanted to give a heads up. I do think that for us newbies figuring out a very specific, regular, carefully tweakable process is the best way to go, though.

 

[annabanana14]

Thanks for all your responses. Thanks Dixie dragon for your response. Sometimes you can forget adding oils as being mentioned. I have always added my superfat at trace as I was taught and have never had a problem. The only issue here was because I was doing a swirl and one part of swirl was heavy with oil. Anyways, everyday as I look at my batch it looks cleaner better, and harder and does not zap so I'm confident my batch will turn out well in the end. Thanks everyone.