Fragrance oil sometimes pools

[luebella]

Does this ever happen to you? I uncover from the box I put it in to gel and sometimes I see pools of fragrance. By the time I'm done cutting it, it'd almost fully re absorbed.

 

[BlackDog]

Yes! this happens to me every time I try to hand-stir the FO. Drives me crazy because even though it re-absorbs, it stains the soap.

Beautiful swirls, BTW!

 

[Lion Of Judah]

yes it happens . i only got it maybe three times but it always re-absorb back into the soap . after your soap cure it will be good to go .

ETA : lovely soap by the way , what was the fragrance used ?

 

[cmzaha]

I am not sure what you are calling pools of fragrance, all I see is gelled soap. Fragrance can seep in the form of droplets but will reasorb. If gel overheats to much it can cause seperation, volcanos, cracking, seepage etc. From your picture what I see is actually gelled soap from a quite hot gel. What I see in the middle of the soap is overheating and that is what can cause seperation. Using full water 38% water as % of oil in soapcalc will usually give you a much hotter gel which is around a 27% lye concentration. Your went into a full hot gel that liquified the soap batter, any hotter it would have starting cracking on the top.

I guess everyone's eyes are better than mine this morning. I still only see gelled soap on the top pic

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with Carolyn. I'm sure the liquid smells and tastes like FO and probably partly is FO. But I'd say this liquid -- and the base soap puffing up through the cracks between the swirls on top -- are more of an indication of general overheating. When the soap fully cools, the puffy soap shrinks back, the liquid reabsorbs, and the cracks heal at least to some degree.

I'd insulate a wee bit less or CPOP a bit cooler next time and see if you can get the soap to a good gel without the center getting quite so hot.

If you're soaping with "full water" you may want to think about soaping with slightly less water and see what that does for you. I normally use 30% to 33% lye concentration (this is not "water as % of fats") with good results.

 

[luebella]

Oops. Here is another pic. It's definitely pools of fragrance
I hand mix in my fragrance to try to not speed up trace. Maybe I need to start blending it in. OMG this is the best soap I've ever smelled. It's a mix of fragrance oils and essential oils that I mixed up. Toasted marshmallows, camp fire, smoke, cedar and pine. Smells sweet and a tad smokey woodsy

 

[cmzaha]

Again as DeeAnna also mentioned it still looks like overheated gelled soap oozing and of course it would smell like fo. Fragrance, unless you get total separation will usually be droplets and overheating can cause it to happen. Your soap definitely overheated in the center as you can see in the center of your slice. If it had become any hotter it would have formed a seeping crack or soft spot in the center of the soap. That is the beginning of alligator teeth, caverns, and volcanos. Soap that forms cracks on the top is gelling to hot.

Some fo's such as coconut are notorious for overheating and spice type EO's. I have a fo I used that I have to chill the oils and the mold then hope I get it into the freezer in time, it heats up so fast. Totally gels to complete liquid