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hmlove1218

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Way back in July, I made an experimental recipe. After an 8 week cure, I wasn't too impressed with it and didn't make it again. After several months (6-ish I believe), I noticed many of the bars were developing the first spots of DOS, so I passed the remaining bars out to family and told them to use them soon.

I actually forgot about this soap until I discovered one tiny sliver yesterday that had been stashed away in a box. I checked it over and there were no signs of DOS anywhere on it, so I said what the heck and tried it out.. OH MY GOD!! It was absolutely beautiful! Rich, creamy, fluffy, lotiony lather galore!

Now I'm considering making a batch as a birthday present to myself for next year, but I don't want to battle with DOS and lose half of the batch.. I was hoping that perhaps some of the geniuses here could help me figure out why some bars developed DOS and critique the recipe to help keep it from reoccuring.

Avocado oil - 8 oz (25%)
Castor Oil - 2.24 oz (7%)
Coconut oil - 6.4 oz (20%)
Mango butter - 6.72 oz (21%)
Shea Butter - 6.72 oz (21%)
HO Sunflower oil - 1.92 oz (6%) (+vit e)

8.78 oz aloe juice
4.32 oz lye

This particular batch used aloe vera juice as the liquid, 19 ml pink grapefruit EO, 10 ml rosemary EO, colored with rose clay and AC
 
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Hmmm... your superfat looks fine, and from the fatty acid profile on SoapCalc, I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary that would contribute to DOS, such as a high linoleic or linolenic %.....

I know that shea and avocado have a certain amount of unsaponifiables in them, but unfortunately, I don't know much about them to know whether or not they would be a contributing factor to the occurrence of DOS. Hopefully someone else will be able to chime in on that.

Some other things to consider..... How were your soaps stored, and how high is the humidity level where you live? Also- how fresh were your oils/butters?

For what it's worth, either of the following added in small quantities to one's batch, have been shown to prevent DOS, according to Dr. Kevin Dunn:

1) Tetrasodium EDTA

or

2) A combo of sodium citrate & BHT


IrishLass :)
 
Now would an antioxidant like ROE help in any way do you think?
For what it's worth, either of the following added in small quantities to one's batch, have been shown to prevent DOS, according to Dr. Kevin Dunn:

1) Tetrasodium EDTA

or

2) A combo of sodium citrate & BHT


IrishLass :)
 
Yes, it does.

ROE works pretty well by itself. EDTA works pretty well by itself.

ROE + EDTA works even better in combination according to Dunn's experiments, but not as well as BHT + citrate.

ROE + citrate didn't do well -- it didn't work any better than using no additives.
 
Some other things to consider..... How were your soaps stored, and how high is the humidity level where you live? Also- how fresh were your oils/butters?


Thanks IL! The batch was cured in the open air for the first 8 weeks before being boxed up for storage. Do you think perhaps it was too soon for this particular recipe? Maybe leaving it in the open air longer will cut down on the chance of DOS.




Now would an antioxidant like ROE help in any way do you think?


I have vitamin e added to my sunflower oil already, but I've read a few post (I think by DeeAnna) that mentioned that ROE worked better. I may need to order some and test them out.


Yes, it does.

ROE works pretty well by itself. EDTA works pretty well by itself.

ROE + EDTA works even better in combination according to Dunn's experiments, but not as well as BHT + citrate.

ROE + citrate didn't do well -- it didn't work any better than using no additives.

Thanks DeeAnna! I hadn't seen any of this before. I don't have any of those but I will probably look into ordering some ROE.

Or do you think adding some citric acid to my lye water and accounting for it by increasing my lye would help? I don't have any BHT, but I could probably order it if needed.
 

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