Mysterious white ring

[Calisoul]

Help please! I’m trying to figure out what is causing a white ring on the surface on the soap. I think the culprit is Polysorbate 80. Every time I add Poly 80 along with my fragrance, the mysterious ring appears. When I don’t add the Poly 80, no ring. Am I using too much? Currently, I’m using equal parts of Poly 80 and fragrance oil/ essential oil. Any thoughts on what is causing the white ring?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I’m using equal parts of Poly 80 and fragrance oil/ essential oil.

Try 3-4 parts Poly 80 to 1 part EO/FO. First add the Poly 80 to a bit of the dilution water. Stir until clear. Add fragrance. Stir until clear. If oil rises to the surface, add more poly 80. Then add to the liquid soap and stir. Some times warming the LS to about 140°F or so helps to incorporate the fragrance but it isn't always necessary.

The foam on the surface suggests you may have used a stick blender to mix it in. It will settle out eventually, but it's better to hand stir -- no aggressive agitation needed.

 

[Susie]

Unless you have a SF of > 3%, you should not need PS80 to begin with, even with use of an FO. Have you tried just skipping the PS80?

 

[DeeAnna]

My experience has been the same as Susie's -- I don't use polysorbate when I add scent to my liquid soap. I'm not saying I'll never use it, just that all the scents I've tried so far mix in fine without it, so why use it if it's not needed?

Try scenting a sample without polysorbate and see what you think.

FWIW, I use a low superfat more around 2%, sometimes 3%. I like strongly scented bar soap, but I scent my liquid soaps (and lotions) lightly -- 0.5% to 1% is plenty strong to my nose, depending on the scent.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I agree with both Susie & DeeAnna. Most of the time I don't use a polysorbate. It's only needed when an oil slick rises to the surface. When I do use it, it takes 3-4 times the amount of the EO or FO to incorporate into the batch. Warming the batch to 140°F or so when adding fragrance helps also but isn't always necessary.

 

[DeeAnna]

I want to add -- I have used PS80 to solublize EOs and FOs into products like scented room air spray. When I've done this, my experience has been similar to Zany's. I've learned to start with 3-4 times PS80 compared with the total weight of the EOs or FOs. So a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio.

If the mixture stays cloudy at that ratio, I'll continue to add more PS80 until the mixture goes clear. Some mixtures have needed as much as a 6:1 ratio.

 

[Calisoul]

@DeeAnna @Susie @Zany_in_CO I completely missed your comments. Sorry. I was reading Zany's NSCS thread. Good Stuff! I learned a lot...made my first bars yesterday.

I am going to try a new batch without the PS80 this weekend. Hopefully, there will be no white ring.

 

[Calisoul]

Update: I made two batches (feeling extra soapy this weekend). The first one I made was a huge success. I followed the advice given...no PS80, adding FO around 140 and not using a stick blender to incorporate the fragrance resulted in a beautiful clear liquid soap. No more mysterious white ring! I can’t thank you enough.