First of all, hello, this is my first time making soap. Now that that's out of the way, I have a couple of soap chemistry questions that I've been curious about.
1. The recipe I used had the following ingredients:
-Coconut oil
-Olive oil
-NaOH/H2O
-Lavender essential oil
-Oatmeal
I noticed that, about a day after I'd poured the soap into the mold, I noticed a moderately strong ammonia smell throughout the room. I'm just curious where the ammonia came from, and if I should pitch the batch.
2. Why is there a 3-week curing period? The soap seems ready now. What further chemistry takes place during this period?
Thanks so much!
-Michael
1. The recipe I used had the following ingredients:
-Coconut oil
-Olive oil
-NaOH/H2O
-Lavender essential oil
-Oatmeal
I noticed that, about a day after I'd poured the soap into the mold, I noticed a moderately strong ammonia smell throughout the room. I'm just curious where the ammonia came from, and if I should pitch the batch.
2. Why is there a 3-week curing period? The soap seems ready now. What further chemistry takes place during this period?
Thanks so much!
-Michael