Help needed!

[Lee_kc]

Hi all, I need some advice with where I’m going wrong with my soap. Here is my recipe….

450g Olive Oil
180g Coconut Oil
180g Shea Butter
90g Castor Oil

342g Water
122g Lye

28g EO.

Mixing at 120F.

Things start to go wrong after I add my essential oil almost every time. It kind of separates from the oils and it ends up like porridge. Think and lumpy. This seems to slightly improve if I add the EO at the very end and don’t blend, only turn it over into the soap.

Does anyone know what I’m doing wrong?

 

[Misschief]

Hi all, I need some advice with where I’m going wrong with my soap. Here is my recipe….

450g Olive Oil
180g Coconut Oil
180g Shea Butter
90g Castor Oil

342g Water
122g Lye

28g EO.

Mixing at 120F.

Things start to go wrong after I add my essential oil almost every time. It kind of separates from the oils and it ends up like porridge. Think and lumpy. This seems to slightly improve if I add the EO at the very end and don’t blend, only turn it over into the soap.

Does anyone know what I’m doing wrong?

Which essential oil(s) are you using? When I add lime, it instantly seizes so the EO can definitely affect your soap batter. From your description, you're getting ricing.

 

[mx5inpenn]

What EO are you using?

 

[AliOop]

+2 on the EO being the issue. Any EO with eugenol (cinnamon, clove, anise, nutmeg), and most floral EOs other than lavender, can cause all kinds of unwanted effects such as fast trace, separation, ricing, seizing, etc. There is at least one very helpful thread here on SMF (by @Mobjack Bay, I believe) with a great chart showing members' experiences with various EOs.

 

[Lee_kc]

Which essential oil(s) are you using? When I add lime, it instantly seizes so the EO can definitely affect your soap batter. From your description, you're getting ricin

Today was Lemongrass but I've made about 6 batches with the same outcome, the only one that came out ok was Pear & Freesia (Fragrance Oil)...

+2 on the EO being the issue. Any EO with eugenol (cinnamon, clove, anise, nutmeg), and most floral EOs other than lavender, can cause all kinds of unwanted effects such as fast trace, separation, ricing, seizing, etc. There is at least one very helpful thread here on SMF (by @Mobjack Bay, I believe) with a great chart showing members' experiences with various EOs.

I'll check that link out, thank you

 

[lsg]

What kind of olive oil are you using? Pomace olive oil can cause acceleration of trace.

 

[Lee_kc]

It’s not pomace. It’s just the light olive oil from Aldi. I’m not sure accelerated trace is the problem. It’s like it becomes unstable and the oil and the EO separate or something. I’ll take a picture next time.

 

[Georgeandstella]

Hello-Is light olive oil better (slower trace) than other olive oils?

 

[Misschief]

Here's a web link to a site (Soap Queen) that shows different things that can happen with soap. It's a pretty handy visual reference.

https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/soap-behaving-badly/

 

[Lee_kc]

Hello-Is light olive oil better (slower trace) than other olive oils?

I don’t think so. I just choose it for the lighter colour.

 

[dibbles]

Hello-Is light olive oil better (slower trace) than other olive oils?

Pomace olive oil traces faster for me. I only used it for a very short time when I first started. I use the light olive oil because it’s cheaper and I like the color better, but I haven’t noticed any difference in trace between any grades other than pomace.

 

[melinda48]

It’s not pomace. It’s just the light olive oil from Aldi. I’m not sure accelerated trace is the problem. It’s like it becomes unstable and the oil and the EO separate or something. I’ll take a picture next time.

When it comes to Olive Oil, I do not ever use light, evoo. I only use olive oil for cooking. I get mine at Sams but I know Walmart carries just plain old Olive oil as well as I used to buy it thre.

 

[AliOop]

Pomace olive oil traces faster for me. I only used it for a very short time when I first started. I use the light olive oil because it’s cheaper and I like the color better, but I haven’t noticed any difference in trace between any grades other than pomace.

Same here!

 

[AliOop]

It’s not pomace. It’s just the light olive oil from Aldi. I’m not sure accelerated trace is the problem. It’s like it becomes unstable and the oil and the EO separate or something. I’ll take a picture next time.

I agree - what you are describing is not just accelerated trace, but closer to seizing and separation. Definitely this is something to do with an additive (EOs in your case) and not just your oils.

 

[Georgeandstella]

Pomace olive oil traces faster for me. I only used it for a very short time when I first started. I use the light olive oil because it’s cheaper and I like the color better, but I haven’t noticed any difference in trace between any grades other than pomace.

Thank you!!