Fishy smelling soap

[Allison Woodley]

My cold process soap smells like fish when it gets wet. Help!!

 

[earlene]

Allison, welcome to the forum.

So, what is your soap formula, (the exact recipe including actual amounts of every ingredient)? It is hard to help without information.

 

[shunt2011]

Your ingredients can play a big part with smells. As Earlene said if you post your recipe that would be a great help. Also include any additivies (clays, milks, etc.)

 

[DeeAnna]

And also explain how you make the soap. Temps and method are also helpful.

 

[dixiedragon]

Does it have flax seed oil or something else high in Omega 3? Those smell fishy to me. Did you use any kelp or chlorophyll for natural green color? Those smell funky to some people.

 

[IrishLass]

Did you use any kelp or chlorophyll for natural green color? Those smell funky to some people.

No kidding! A few years ago I decided to add a little powdered kelp to a batch of my usual Salty Sailor soap- about 1/8 or 1/4 tsp. ppo. For about the first 3 to 6 months of its life the bars actually smelled pretty good- adding the most perfect hint of real ocean to the saltiness of the FO. But by the time we were down to our last 2 bars of the batch, it took on a nasty low-tide fishy smell when in use. It was so stanky that I had to throw those last 2 bars out, which is really saying something because it's next to blasphemy for me to throw out soap- there's always something I can do to save it/utilize it- but not with those last 2 bars.

IrishLass

 

[MorpheusPA]

I sense you're getting inundated with good, but lots of, information.

The above, plus some fragrances just don't play well together, or with some additives. In my case, I have to be a little careful what scents I use with high-oatmeal soap as it can end up smelling really funky.

 

[Koric]

No kidding! A few years ago I decided to add a little powdered kelp to a batch of my usual Salty Sailor soap- about 1/8 or 1/4 tsp. ppo. For about the first 3 to 6 months of its life the bars actually smelled pretty good- adding the most perfect hint of real ocean to the saltiness of the FO. But by the time we were down to our last 2 bars of the batch, it took on a nasty low-tide fishy smell when in use. It was so stanky that I had to throw those last 2 bars out, which is really saying something because it's next to blasphemy for me to throw out soap- there's always something I can do to save it/utilize it- but not with those last 2 bars.

IrishLass

Mine was reversed, I used Sea Kelp (think that was the name) FO from RE. Smelled great in the bottle, but then I confused teaspoons and tablespoons when I added the powdered kelp... My wife was ready to move me and the soap into the garage. The whole house smelled like a fish market for almost a month. But I figured it would be a good time for see how the smell would morph with time. After about a year it turned into a great smelling soap. It actually sold out on me, I almost fell over.