Activated Charcoal or Vanilla Fragrance Oil Tracing Too Quickly?

[tanukigalpa]

Hi!
I just tried to make a tiger striped soap which requires the soap to be at thin trace. My soap uses sodium hydroxide. I mixed at room temperature lye water and oils. I separated it after emulsion into three parts.
I used 1oz total of lavender essential oil for 32 oz of oils. Then I added additional .3oz vanilla fragrance oil to one part and colored with activated charcoal. Quick pulse with the stick blender. The charcoal-vanilla part not only traced within 1-2 minutes of leaving it alone, it became solid! I had to scrape it out of the container. It was soap. It was also blazing hot - I couldn't even touch the container.
What am I doing wrong? I feel like it has to be the charcoal. How can I color the soap black while keeping it at thin trace long enough to pour stripes?

Thanks.

 

[snappyllama]

Hi, I'm going to blame your vanilla FO. I use AC fairly frequently and haven't had soap on a stick from it.

 

[KristaY]

Hi there and welcome! :wave:

What did you mix your AC in before adding to the batter? I've found when I use AC & TD mixed in water I get trace faster in that portion. Not soap on a stick but I have to work faster to get it poured. But it sounds like your AC portion went into gel phase in a couple of minutes so I'd blame that on the FO. Is there any info from the vendor on it? I always read the reviews to see how any FO/EO has behaved for others.

 

[tanukigalpa]

Hi, thanks for your replies!
I think I used waaay too much lye, and that might be the reason. Literally could unmold overnight! I also got zapped (I think... It just tasted really sharp and sour when I stuck my tongue to it)

I'll try again now, without the FO and see what's up. Thanks again!

 

[KristaY]

I don't think the lye is your problem since you said only the vanilla & AC portion traced quickly but the lavender portion didn't, right? I might have misunderstood though. But definitely run your recipe through a soap calculator to verify.

Being able to unmold over night isn't out of the normal for me either. I typically unmold and cut in under 18 hours. Some sooner, some longer. Most of that will depend on lye concentration and any other additives like sodium lactate or salt.

Also, zap isn't a taste it's a feeling. Like the electrical shock you get when you stick your tongue to a 9v battery. But honestly, if your soap is less than 24 hours old I'd expect you to get zapped since saponification is most likely still going on. I recommend cutting the bars then let them sit for a week or so, then repeat the zap. At that point it should be neg.

I hope it comes out okay in the end!