Help!

[candicec003]

I make pet shampoo bars. Ive been making the same recipe a few times now with no issues. One in particular Neem oil with diatomaceous earth. I made this one the other day. It turned almost a shade of orange, more orange than before, but i also used a different supplier for the neem oil, and when i cut it, it was harder than normal, almost couldnt cut through the log, it was only a couple hours past 24 hours. The bars look and feel as though they have been cured for 3 weeks or more. I also noticed they semmed to have shrunk a little i the mould. The only things i did different is use a different neem oil supplier so maybe this could explain the color difference, i made the lye water a couple days in advance, but ive read thats ok to do. As well it doesnt really smell like lemon grass, which is the essential oil i used, it smells kinda weird. Not sure if their good to use or not. Any ideas? Thanks. Another thing out of the ordinary I noticed is that when I added the lye solution it traced almost immediately, like thick in under a minute..

 

[susiefreckleface]

Hi Candice,

It could be a that it's a fresher, stronger (or even weaker) concentrated bottle of neem oil. Meaning it's really neem in a carrier and not entirely neem. Does the smell overpower you when you open the bottle?

I've made two recipes with two different dated bottles of the same brand of neem and they are different from each other. One bottle had a much older date code - and the smell would knock you out. The bars I have on the curing rack right now were made about a month ago with about 4.3% neem; with the newer dated oil, and the smell is fine. The older neem bars would knock you out - even only with 2.4%. The newer dated bottle did tickle my nose but didn't knock me over. I purchased from same market/same brand.

Maybe email you supplier and see if it is neem in a carrier or 100% neem - and what is the date of mfg.

edit - other notes: my batching notes indicate that trace was great until the EOs were added - then sped up greatly. Both were a plop and smash into the molds. neither crumbled, both were easily cut. thank you cmz your post helped me as well.

-

 

[cmzaha]

I regulary make neem soap at 20% neem in my recipe. Neem does trace fast depending on your percentage. I purchase all my neem from Soapers Choice. It is organic and very nice and will cure out quite nicely even though it is quite pungent. I am a weird one that likes neem

 

[CaraBou]

Did you use a different amount of water (i.e., lye concentration) than you did before, or a different mold? What is your full recipe?