My first batch stinks!! help?

[mbeachysoap]

Hello, I am new and I know I have alot to learn .. two days ago I made my first batch .. oh my .. it didnt harden, like a cheese block consistancy and it stinks bad .. 1. I forgot to cover it .. 2. I dont think I let it trace enough .. these I know I did wrong but I want to show you my recipe and get some input as to why it stinks so bad. Also I'm still confused about superfatting.
I used the soap calc at soapcalc.net

I used 7.14oz coconut oil (76d) which is 25%
18.6oz ex virg olive oil 65%
2.9oz corn oil 10%
water 10.9oz
lye 4oz

at the end I added my own almond butter 2oz (ground almonds with coconut oil to make it buttery)

didnt wait to buy a stick blender so I stirred with a wisk (lol) for over an hour ... it smelled so good last night but today ..omg! it smells aweful! like its rotten.
Any advise?

 

[lsg]

I think it is probably the addition of the 2 oz of almond butter. Try putting it an old crockpot and cooking until it reaches the Vaseline stage. I would try to save it before I threw it away.

 

[CaliChan]

I dont think its the recipe itself, my first thoughts is that its the ground almonds. were the ground almonds completely ground?
I dont recommend adding extra things on your first batch...

 

[mbeachysoap]

Thank you so much .. Im doing cold process and the almonds were ground to a sand like consistancy, not a smooth butter like consistancy .. it smelled so dang good before I added it and I want to make almond soap. I've been making the melt and pour (not with almonds) but wanted something from scratch. It smells to bad to keep. So what would you suggest to make almond soap?
I'm not looking to sell, I just want to make my own soap to stay away from the harsh chemicals of store bought soaps and love the almond smell. I really want to get good at this. I appreciate your taking the time to answer my questions and your advice.
One more thing .. are essential oils considered as a superfatting ingredient? I just dont get the superfatting thing to be honest.

 

[melstan775]

Essential oils are not a superfat. It's just a way to scent your soap by using a natural oil instead of a cosmetic fragrence. Superfatting means you have more oils then the lye can turn into soap. Superfatting is what makes your soap moisturizing, and it gives you some room for error. For example, if your recipe says it is 5% Superfat but the lye is too much, then some of the extra oils will turn into soap and you'll still get a balanced bar.

 

[mbeachysoap]

Ok .. so to superfat you can add some of the same oils that you put in before the lye solution? Oh my I have alot more homework to do .. watched so many you tube videos and thought I knew it all until I made this mistake lol! I guess I need almond eo and cannot grind almonds for an exfoliant .. right? I dont understand why this woman put almond butter she made herself (didnt explain how though) and hers turned out good. I watched another video on how to make almond butter (to eat, not for soap) and thought I had something. What is the best oil you can suggest for superfatting .. for moisture to the skin ... sorry for all the questions I just want to get it right :/

 

[green soap]

Your superfat needs to be a triglyceride, like a cooking fat. All the base oils we use for soaping are triglycerides. However, not all oils are. Fragrance oils and essential oils are not, so they do not saponify. Your superfatting oils will be the same oils in the same proportion that you use in your recipe if you are doing cold process. If you do hot process, you can choose any fancy oil you want and add it at the end, after your soap is done and saponified.

It is best to make 'plain' soap first, just to understand how the process works without any additives or complications.

Your best bet for an almond soap is to use sweet almond oil as part of your base oils, and then use an almond fragrance oil. There are many out there, someone might be able to recommend a good one (not my favorite scent at all so i don't use it).

 

[chicklet]

In CP, you don't get to choose which oils will superfat. I've seen a few posts lately where the poster mentions adding a special (more expensive) base oil at trace to superfat. But the lye doesn't differentiate - oil is oil and the lye will saponify whatever it will. So we figure the SF in upfront. When you run your recipe thru soapcalc you choose the amount of SF, for regular bath bars that's usually 5 to 8%. That gives you a margin of error in case you might have put a little too much lye, then whatever oils the lye does not saponify are there in your soap to provide what we usually call moisturizing qualities but really just means that if you have some extra unsaponified oil present, the soap won't strip away the natural oils in your skin. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with adding a special oil to your soap - every oil brings unique qualities to the soap. But in CP, you can't say for sure which oil is the SF oil.

 

[Clemmey]

HPing it and adding scent?

I think it is probably the addition of the 2 oz of almond butter. Try putting it an old crockpot and cooking until it reaches the Vaseline stage. I would try to save it before I threw it away.

Hey ladies, if she decides to HP it (throw it in the crockpot and let it go) could she then add EO's or FO's toward the end to improve the scent?

 

[mbeachysoap]

Hey ladies, if she decides to HP it (throw it in the crockpot and let it go) could she then add EO's or FO's toward the end to improve the scent?

Good question...but do you really think its still good reguardless of the aweful smell to do this?

 

[Scentapy]

Hey ladies, if she decides to HP it (throw it in the crockpot and let it go) could she then add EO's or FO's toward the end to improve the scent?

Yes she can..... after the cook.

 

[mbeachysoap]

Ok ... even though it stinks you think I can save it using the HP. A few more questions ... put it in the crockpot on high? .. and cook it till it is thick like vaseline .. an idea of how long it may take? and Scentapy says I can add EO or FO after the cook ... "after the cook" means after it cools a little or as soon as it stops boiling? Im headed back to you tube to watch the HP videos .. or is this considered "rebatching"?
Please don't get aggrevated with me lol

 

[paillo]

i'd let it cure for a LONG time and see if it can be salvaged. i made a goat milk soap when i was pretty new to soapmaking, and it overheated and smelled HORRIBLE. i stuck it in a box, put it in a closet and checked it every month or so. lo and behold, about a year later the scorched smell had gone away, the lavender eo had lasted, it was very hard and cured, and i wound up using it up. too ugly to sell, but it was a great bar. hard to do that when you want to have GREAT results right away, but patience will teach you sooo much

 

[Scentapy]

Well I dont see that you added any FO or EO in the batch so you can add it now. I used to do HP alot (not anymore) but I have never rebatched. I would suggest following the rebatch instuctions as well as familiarizing yourself with HP. I think with rebatching you need to add more water. I think?!?!

HP used to take me about an hour. Yes, crockpot should be off by the time u are adding FO or EO.

 

[Scentapy]

I agree w/ Paillo.... try curing it and see what happens

Sometimes when I put certain ingredients in my soap it will stink but goes away during curing.

 

[mbeachysoap]

Well wow, thank you all so much as I would have thrown it away by now .. the bad smell is fading as we speak .. guess I will wait and see what happens .. meanwhile I will start a new CP batch beginning with the basics and stay away from adding things I'm not sure of. I still have some of my melt and pour block left so I will try to make some almond scented soap with that to use while waiting for these batches to cure. I also have some M&P soap I made with clove I grounded up and it smells, looks and feels awesome! At least I can enjoy my own soap creations while learning to make it from scratch. Once again .. thank you all very much

 

[melstan775]

Well wow, thank you all so much as I would have thrown it away by now .. the bad smell is fading as we speak .. guess I will wait and see what happens .. meanwhile I will start a new CP batch beginning with the basics and stay away from adding things I'm not sure of. I still have some of my melt and pour block left so I will try to make some almond scented soap with that to use while waiting for these batches to cure. I also have some M&P soap I made with clove I grounded up and it smells, looks and feels awesome! At least I can enjoy my own soap creations while learning to make it from scratch. Once again .. thank you all very much

I think you're biggest problem is you're trying too hard to get ahead of the game. Soap making is a chemical reaction, so unless you're a chemist you should take it one step at a time. Try plain soap a few times, and maybe a castile (100% olive oil and lye), so you can watch the curing process (castile takes months to cure from what I understand). Once you have a good recipe you're happy with you can start adding exfoliants, fragrances and exotic fats.

 

[rodeogal]

When I am working on recipes, I use two different sources for lye calculators. I use Soapcalc to check the properties, and I use The Sage for the lye calculations. Then I also compare the two. The lady that taught me to make soap used The Sage, and she also soaped at 7% superfat. That is what % I soap at still. The Sage gives a range from like 5-8% (safe zone) right on the recipe. They also give you a range of liquid to use. For me, the combination of the two really boosts my confidence level when working on a recipe.

 

[green soap]

I am also of the opinion that you should let it sit and wait at least a couple of weeks. You can always rebatch, but it is a lot of work. The funky smell might very well go away.

When I make my hand scrubber soaps I use cold fresh coffee to dissolve my lye water. The soaps do smell funky for a while, then the funkiness goes away and a great soap remains.

The other day I made a honey oatmeal goat milk soap. I dissolved the lye in frozen sweetened (with honey) goat milk. It did get a little dark, maybe I was not sufficiently diligent about stirring the mix? The soap had infused cinnamon oil, but it also had a funky smell, a little burnt maybe? fortunately this went away in 2-3 weeks, and now that they are cured they just have a nice faint cinnamon scent, funkiness all gone.

I say give it a couple of weeks and tell us what happened!

 

[judymoody]

It's unclear to me why it would stink. As others have said, maybe give it some time?

Almond oil or ground almonds will not impart scent to your finished soap.

I actually don't recommend Castille as a first soap because it takes forever to cure and the lather quality is not for everybody. If you want simple and cheap, maybe try 75% OO and 25% Coconut. The latter can be bought cheaply at Walmart Super Centers (Louanna brand).

And do get yourself a stick blender! They are cheap and make soapmaking much more pleasurable!

Good luck with rebatching or waiting or whatever.