soap turned into brown sludge in mold

[katiee_kay]

Decided to make six new test batches of soap. I always measure carefully and double check so dont think it can be the recipe. The same basic recipe was used for all six soaps. I'd made three different batches and when i went to put the 4th in the blanket to insulate it i noticed the 3rd had turned brown and wrinkley in the middle. As i checked on this later it had spread across the soap till evnetually the whole soap was a dark brown colour (it was a light beige colour before). I carried on making my other test recipes thinking i must have done something wrong with that one. All seemed fine but when i checked on them later two more had started to turned into brown sludge. It starts from the middle then eventually spread till the entire soap is like it. Can anyone help me. Just dont know what went wrong with those 3 out of the 6.

Thanks

 

[Avalon]

It would help if you posted your recipe and any additives that you used in the different batches.

 

[katiee_kay]

basic soap recipe was:

Coconut oil 2.8oz
Palm oil 2.4 oz
Olive Oil 2.8oz
Water 3.04oz
Sodium Hydroxide 1.17oz

Recipe one - goats milk and ylang ylang e/o everything was fine

Recipe Two - English rose f/o and rose petals everything fine

Recipe three - tsp cinnamon and tsp orange e/o both added at trace. this turned brown

Recipe four - honey and oatmeal. recipe altered for beeswax etc this was fine

recipe five - 1 tsp lemon e/o, 1/2 tsp tea tree e/o and tbsp poppyseeds added at trace, this turned brown

recipe six - filter coffee made with water, allowed to completely cool before adding sodium hydrox. to this. then 1 tsp cinnamon added at trace and this one turned brown.

ive made quite a few different soaps before and never had any problems. but i am a complete beginner really. The recipe was run through a soap calculator.

hope this might offer some clues

 

[Meli]

This might be too obvious but it sounds like they are going into gel stage. Just keep them covered and check them in the morning. If that was it, they'll be back to cream color in the morning ( or in the case of the coffee one etc.. brown)

Does this help?

 

[soapbuddy]

I would say the soap is going into gel too.

 

[BakingNana]

Agree. Sounds pretty normal. Check in a day or two. You don't find cinnamon EO to be irritating?

 

[carebear]

agree as well, but perhaps overheating as well. maybe take off some of the insulation?

 

[katiee_kay]

checked and the lemon and poppyseed does seem to have a faded back to a nearly normal colour. The other two though still dark brown dont seem to be as bad as before.

Thanks everyone for your help

 

[orangeblossom]

Sounds to me like gel I'm glad that's all it was.

 

[soapbuddy]

Sounds like it will be fine.

 

[katiee_kay]

ooo thats good. it looked very drastic at the time.

As i am very new to soap making was wondering if my soap recipe sounded okay

35% coconut oil
30% Palm oil
35% Olive oil

Theres so many combinations that can be created just with those 3 oils let alone exploring any new oils. I can get a bit bewildered with it all

obviously adding to much of certain oils can have adverse effects. so far with that recipe soap have cured fine. Is it all done to personal preference????

Any advice or suggestions for improvements would be very much appreciated.

 

[BakingNana]

Coconut oil at that percentage would be too drying for most people, assuming you used in the range of 5% superfat. I don't know what your superfat % is. With 100% coconut oil, most people superfat from 18-20%, but I personally wouldn't want to do that with a multi-oil soap. I keep coconut oil to 24% or less, and usually go with 20%. Bottom line is (and just personal opinion!) I'd decrease the coconut oil and increase the olive oil. Play with it a little on a soap calculator.

 

[katiee_kay]

brilliant advice, thank you.

Love this forum, already learning and cant wait to learn loads more!!!
(i might be able to offer someone my input one day)

 

[soapbuddy]

Bottom line is (and just personal opinion!) I'd decrease the coconut oil and increase the olive oil. Play with it a little on a soap calculator.

I agree.
For me, I keep the coconut around 20% or less. I would add the difference to the olive oil.

 

[ChrissyB]

You have to make sure to measure your ingredients really really accurately with small batch sizes like that. (Less room for error)

 

[carebear]

As i am very new to soap making was wondering if my soap recipe sounded okay

35% coconut oil
30% Palm oil
35% Olive oil

actually I think the recipe looks good because of its simplicity. it's the perfect foundation for experimentation.

for example, you can make it with the standard 5-6% superfat, then try again at a higher level - say a 10% superfat (ok, lye discount).
or make it as is, then lower the coconut oil and increase the palm to see what the impact on cleansing is. do the same but increas the olive and look at how it changes the hardness, and the cleansing, and the cure time.

I personally don't think increasing the olive oil would make it a better soap. the cure period is too long, the sudzing too low, and the texture of the wet soap is off-putting - TO ME. but you need to discover this all for yourself so start simple and change one paramater at a time to see what you get.

I think this is a great starting point. But agree the batch size is iffy. I'd never go lower than a pound (16 ounces OF OILS), and actually recommend a minimum 2# batch. In a small batch, the impact of minor errors in measurement is magnified and and it's hard to judge what's going on.