DOS for the first time! Talk me down off the ledge!

[Zing]

Soapy friends,
I have DOS for the first time and am not happy! I made this batch in September. Tonight I opened the storage box and it smelled unpleasant; Mrs. Zing says it smells "nutty." What I'm freaking out about is that I have given out several bars of soap and just tonight finished all my Christmas presents. My base recipe is
avocado oil
castor
palm
coconut
rice bran oil
shea butter
I always use 3% superfat. I purchase avocado, castor, coconut, and palm in normal sized containers from the grocery store. I store them at room temp but go through them quickly and replenish. I get 1 gallon of RBO at a time but go thru that quickly as well.

My best guess is the 7 pound bucket of shea butter I purchased December 2020 and is stored at room temperature.

Please talk me down off the edge. For this specific soap, is it safe to use if I keep it just for personal use and not give it away? For all soaps, do I tell recipients to use it right away? Should I soap at 1% superfat? Uff-da!!

Bluebirds of Happiness, my a--.!
EDIT: I meant to attach the photo

 

[Obsidian]

Yes its safe. I tend to scoop out the spots and store the bars in the freezer to slow down more spots developing.
I would tell the recipients to use it soon and explain why, tell them to toss it if it starts smelling bad.

 

[lenarenee]

Yes, it's absolutely safe to use for yourself. Do you have a planer? I'm wondering how deep or shallow the dos is; maybe the dos and nutty scent can be planed away. And if so, then I'd blame the storage conditions before the cocoa butter.

The soaps you've given away were the same recipe or same batch? All may not be doomed. I think sometimes there's something about fo's that contribute to dos. I had an entire batch of soap get extensive dos within days of unmolding, yet the same containers of oils in subsequent batches were perfectly fine.
I have freshly cured bars with 2 different fo's, same batch, but the blue ones each have dos, while there's nothing on the red ones! So don't assume all soaps made from the same cocoa butter/oils will suffer the same fate as the poor bluebirds of despair.

 

[dibbles]

Why does it have to happen on the prettiest soaps. You can use it. Do what Obsidian says!

 

[TheGecko]

From my understanding, DOS is mostly cosmetic. Shea Butter has a natural nutty smell. If the soaps were rancid, you would know it.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Eww. Sorry. The yellow in the white ”might still” be a drop swirl design, but the blue turning brown is just off.

How much RBO did you use? Since it has only avocado aside to provide the soft oil fraction, I guess it's quite a bit. And when linoleic acid levels are approaching the 20s, things tend to become awkward wrt DOS, especially if not accompanied by the tried&tested countermeasures of chelators and antioxidants.
From my own and others' experience, RBO is not the worst to catch DOS, relative to its PUFA content, but alas, all RBO might not be created equal.

There are different standards wrt edibility/rancidity between edible and cosmetic-grade ingredients. On the refined highish-linoleic sunflower bottles (57% PUFA), they mention it has a high smoke point and it's okay for frying . Dunno. It could well be the shea butter as well. Have had underperforming/overdue shea; the inherent nutty smell can hide hints of rancidity onset to the nose.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes, it's absolutely safe to use for yourself. Do you have a planer? I'm wondering how deep or shallow the dos is; maybe the dos and nutty scent can be planed away. And if so, then I'd blame the storage conditions before the cocoa butter.

The soaps you've given away were the same recipe or same batch? All may not be doomed. I think sometimes there's something about fo's that contribute to dos. I had an entire batch of soap get extensive dos within days of unmolding, yet the same containers of oils in subsequent batches were perfectly fine.
I have freshly cured bars with 2 different fo's, same batch, but the blue ones each have dos, while there's nothing on the red ones! So don't assume all soaps made from the same cocoa butter/oils will suffer the same fate as the poor bluebirds of despair.

I concur. I pretty much always use the same recipe and I've had DOS three times in as many years. I thought it was the FO too. And it developed within a matter of weeks - firstly by losing the scent altogether within three weeks, then slowly getting the crayon smell and discolouring to dull browny colour within two months.
Sorry this happened to you Zing.

 

[earlene]

Did you use a fragrance? An EO? I don't see you mentioning it, so thought I'd mention this about Lavendar EO.

If you used Lavendar EO, it can contribute to DOS, per numerous anecdotal notations for various soapmakers. I have no idea why, but it's apparently a thing worth considering if applicable.

Your swirl is gorgeous; I would be so upset to see those spots as well.

 

[Quilter99755]

What a bum deal! Beautiful soap, too. I'd be upset for sure.

I've used Dossy soap before...as one mentioned, I cut out the spots until the funky crayon smell overwhelmed my bathroom. Then I relegated it to the laundry room and turned it into spot remover...that didn't work all that well, but it was worth the try.

Lately, I have been worried about my oil storage so any that I have given away I actually tell them about the little orange spots. So far, knock wood, no one has come back with any reports of it. All were very understanding...most said they didn't care because getting my soap was worth it.. but promised to let me know.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Really Pretty Soap.. Gosh Darn It, most sorry. Did you use a chelator?
I posted a question on "Soapers not using chelators" which led to a lot of info on the the subject & DOS ( dreaded orange spots ).
If it were me I would not use it & throw it in the trash, DOS can spread to your other soap' like cancer, IMHO.
Id tell your friends not to use it either.
That so sucks.
I'd clean the area your dos soap was stored w/ a bleach & water solution. if cant be cleaned throw out container.

 

[AAShillito]

Aw I'm sorry! Pour some wine/spirits and take a deep breath! Is it too late to collect what you've given away and make them all new years soap? Ie washing away 2021 and welcoming in a new year?

 

[cmzaha]

If you just made these this past Sept I am guessing it is not DOS, but possibly fragrance oil. I find DOS and rancidity seem to be a different animal. I have had orange spots that were not sticky or off-smelling (rancid) than I blamed on the fragrance oil. On the other hand, I have some Patchouli soaps that are just showing some rancid areas that are off-smelling and sticky but they are at least 4 yrs old and the rancid area is on the outside edge of the soap which I cut off and still use the soap. The rancid cut-off part smelled off.

If your shea is natural, not bleached shea that would answer the nutty fragrance which may have overpowered the fragrance you used. I have had shea which I purchased from a destash that I know was several years old with no rancid issues. I normally purchased raw shea in 25 lb blocks 2 at a time and stored it for 2 yrs+ with no issues.

I use chelators, EDTA with Sodium Gluconate at 0.5% each in all soaps, which I will probably try upping a little when I move next year unless we get an RO system up and running on the extremely hard well water we will have.

 

[Zing]

Thanks all for weighing in -- I'm learning a lot.

My scent was lavender, rosemary, and spearmint essential oils -- EOs that I have long experience with. Bramble Berry.

My colorants were titanium dioxide (long used) and ultramarine blue for the first time.

 

[Basil]

It’s really beautiful soap Zing. I’m sorry that happened. For what it’s worth, I had that happen very soon after I made some soap and I’m sure it was the FO as I had made some other batches with the same oils and they were fine. But your soap IS beautiful and I love the name!

 

[linne1gi]

What were your Linoleic and Linolenic numbers? I really watch these plus only use distilled water and food grade lye. Industrial grade lye can have a certain percentage of metal contaminants. I can’t use any Grapeseed Oil or Rice Bran Oil, I get DOS every time. My oils are limited to Olive, Macadamia, high oldie Sunflower or Safflower, Castor & a little Avocado. I use citric acid, EDTA plus ROE always. I’m pretty sure my climate has a contributing factor, South Florida. If it happens to you again, look into chelators.

 

[Zing]

Okay, peeps, help me out again. I have one bar without dos! I poured my excess into a single cavity mold. That bar went from the curing rack into my bathroom cupboard and it looks and smells fine!

The other bars went from the curing rack into a cardboard shoebox -- and I neglected to punch air holes in the box. I also threw in silica gel packets. Could it have been the lack of air holes? It was a box I've stored other soap in -- could it have been invisible residue?

 

[dibbles]

My cardboard boxes don't have air holes so ??? I do line the bottom with a paper towel, and switch it out before putting new soap in.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Okay, peeps, help me out again. I have one bar without dos! I poured my excess into a single cavity mold. That bar went from the curing rack into my bathroom cupboard and it looks and smells fine!

The other bars went from the curing rack into a cardboard shoebox -- and I neglected to punch air holes in the box. I also threw in silica gel packets. Could it have been the lack of air holes? It was a box I've stored other soap in -- could it have been invisible residue?

Interesting! So something about the main batch contributed to DOS. What soap was in the box prior? Do you have any of that left? Was it humid at the time of storing said box with bluebird soap? Maybe it got sweaty in there?

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Did the main loaf go through gel phase (by deliberate CPOP or on its own)?

I also threw in silica gel packets.

Did you use fresh ones, and if not, did you dry them beforehand (microwave or oven)?

 

[Zing]

So many questions! Sheesh! No, super helpful, thanks @dibbles , @KiwiMoose , @ResolvableOwl

I do like the idea of lining my boxes with a paper towel.

I soap and store soap in my basement. In September we frequently had the air conditioning on. Also, I keep 1 to 2 dehumidifiers running all year long. I don't remember what was stored in the box prior.

Fresh and drying silica gel packets? That's a thing? Who knew? When my shoeboxes are empty of soap, I generally leave the packets in the box for the next batch.