oily cold process soap

[cece_em]

what causes oily cold process soap?

i made a honey soap, and i let it sit in the mold for more than 24 hours. i did not insulate it because it was the instruction/recipe. there was a thin layer of oil on top of my soap. i blotted the oil from the soap and it's looking better, but it's still oily and slippery to the touch.

should i rebatch this? i did the tongue test by the way. there was no tingling feel on my tongue so i can say that the batch isn't lye heavy. and the soap looks uniform and well-mixed because it looks homogenous; no pockets of any kind. it is firm to the touch and it doesn't crumble.

thank you

 

[shunt2011]

It sounds like it may have overheated. It may reabsorb the oils. Just check it again once cut. You may need to rebatch. Otherwise, give it a good cure and try it out. Did you add fragrance? That may have been part of the problem as well.

 

[haksaktiawan]

I have several times got a batch with thin oily layer on the top. usually it reabsorb after 24 hours. Even when I didn't add any FO/EO it can still appear.

maybe it was because of very hot weather here, everyday so hot :sad:

When I found it still has oily layer on the top (the thin one) after 24 hrs waiting, I absorb that oil with my tissue paper

nevertheless, all my batch with thin oil layer on the top were good, no lye heavy.
IMO, that's why superfatting is very important

o ya, the 'thin oil layer', it looks like just wet soap or an oil layer so you can pour it (the oil)?

 

[Susie]

I think it is just overheating also. I would have done the same as you. And if the soap is not otherwise compromised in any way(texture, lye crystals, etc), I would just use it. If it needs fixing, rebatch.

I was thinking about elevating my molds on cooling racks to allow air flow underneath, and putting a fan on them to prevent overheating after molding. I want it to gel, just not to create further problems. Does anyone know if this will help?

 

[seven]

how much honey did you use? how big was the batch? honey can be a bit tricky, it can cause serious mysery (read: overheating) if you're not careful

 

[cece_em]

It sounds like it may have overheated. It may reabsorb the oils. Just check it again once cut. You may need to rebatch. Otherwise, give it a good cure and try it out. Did you add fragrance? That may have been part of the problem as well.

yes, i did add fragrance (before reaching trace, according to the recipe). tsk. i have suspected it's the fragrance oil. i am not very sure if it overheated, as i don't know what temperature the soap batter should be in when it's in the mold. :???: though i was sure that the lye water solution and the oil was at room temperature, and the honey was diluted with cold distilled water.


i already cut the soap and washed my hands with it, it didn't sting. it actually gave a creamy lather :clap: i wish that the "slimy feel" of the soap will go away in 6 weeks.

 

[cece_em]

I have several times got a batch with thin oily layer on the top. usually it reabsorb after 24 hours. Even when I didn't add any FO/EO it can still appear.

maybe it was because of very hot weather here, everyday so hot :sad:

When I found it still has oily layer on the top (the thin one) after 24 hrs waiting, I absorb that oil with my tissue paper

nevertheless, all my batch with thin oil layer on the top were good, no lye heavy.
IMO, that's why superfatting is very important

o ya, the 'thin oil layer', it looks like just wet soap or an oil layer so you can pour it (the oil)?

i am from the Philippines, so the hot weather may have contributed to that oily layer which is really oil that i can pour from the mold. as of the moment, most of the oil is already absorbed by all the paper i had to use.

 

[cece_em]

how much honey did you use? how big was the batch? honey can be a bit tricky, it can cause serious mysery (read: overheating) if you're not careful

i didn't really measure the weight of the honey (uh oh!).

it was a 500 gram batch, 38% liquid content + 1/8 cup honey diluted in 1/16 cup cold distilled water, 5% superfat.

when i touched the soap in the mold a few hours after i poured it, it felt warm (like around 39 degrees celsius). i didn't think of it as overheating. i thought it was normal for soap to be warm while in the mold.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

1/8 cup of honey (assuming it's the same as 1/8 cup in the US) is 2 Tbsp of honey. That's twice what's usually recommended. I would think that would heat it up quite a bit!

 

[haksaktiawan]

1/8 cup of honey (assuming it's the same as 1/8 cup in the US) is 2 Tbsp of honey. That's twice what's usually recommended. I would think that would heat it up quite a bit!

really too much honey??
When I made a batch that containing honey, I always add 50 grams. My batch is usually 1070 grams in total weight of oil and lye.

sometimes I got overheated batch, but not too bad, it just looks like a wet soap than pour-able oil layer.

I love much honey, it can treat the acne and very smooth. I also like its sweet smell, yummy! hehe...

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I wouldn't say too much as that using that much would likely make it even more prone to overheating.

 

[cece_em]

I think one reason why my honey soap was kinda oily is not much lye

Here in the Philippines, coconut oil is classified as either extra virgin, virgin, or regular. In almost all lye calculators, coconut oil is either 76 degrees, 92 degrees or fractionated. I assumed that the coconut oil i used is 76 degrees. Hey, all coconut oils here are almost always liquid. The only exceptions are when coconut oil is placed inside the refrigerator or when it's sold in the grocery store in a pouch. If it's not in a pouch (and it is sold in air conditioned groceries), it's liquid.

Will do this honey soap again, this time i will use a different lye calculator and i will classify my coconut oil as fractionated. Will give an update on this next week.

 

[haksaktiawan]

I think one reason why my honey soap was kinda oily is not much lye

Here in the Philippines, coconut oil is classified as either extra virgin, virgin, or regular. In almost all lye calculators, coconut oil is either 76 degrees, 92 degrees or fractionated. I assumed that the coconut oil i used is 76 degrees. Hey, all coconut oils here are almost always liquid. The only exceptions are when coconut oil is placed inside the refrigerator or when it's sold in the grocery store in a pouch. If it's not in a pouch (and it is sold in air conditioned groceries), it's liquid.

Will do this honey soap again, this time i will use a different lye calculator and i will classify my coconut oil as fractionated. Will give an update on this next week.

I always choose 76 degrees coconut oil in soapcalc..
76 F is equal to 24 C. So it will always liquid in room temperature in tropical countries. In most of tropical countries such as Indonesia and Philippines, regular coconut oil is used for frying, and 76 degrees CO is the best CO for frying.

How about your SF when made that oily batch?

 

[cece_em]

I always choose 76 degrees coconut oil in soapcalc..
76 F is equal to 24 C. So it will always liquid in room temperature in tropical countries. In most of tropical countries such as Indonesia and Philippines, regular coconut oil is used for frying, and 76 degrees CO is the best CO for frying.

How about your SF when made that oily batch?

The superfat was 5%.


I actually made a different kind of soap (papaya milk soap, no fragrance) after this oily honey soap, still classifying the coconut oil as 76 degrees in the lye calculator, same superfat. And the soap is also very oily.

I will update this once i have completed a different batch of honey soap, but the coconut oil will be classified as fractionated and i will use a different lye calculator

 

[FlybyStardancer]

cece_em, given the way you've described the coconut oils available to you, it's unlikely that it's fractionate coconut oil. Fractionated coconut oil is coconut oil that's been processed to remove some of the fatty acids responsible for the oil hardening (a side effect being that it stays liquid at MUCH lower temperatures). 76 is coconut oil with a melting point of 76 deg F, which is 24.4C. 92 is coconut oil that's been processed and refined so that it doesn't melt until it reaches 92 deg F, or 33.3C. You see a lot of us talking about having to melt coconut oil because most members of the forum live in countries where the average indoor temperature is below coconut oil's melting point.

How are you soaping? Are you in a warm room? Are your oils/lye warm when you mix them together? Are you insulating the soap? I'm not entirely sure what papaya milk is, but just from the name it also sounds like something that would have a lot of sugars, and thus would heat up the soap. Maybe try soaping as cool as possible and sticking the mold in a fridge to harden?

 

[cece_em]

cece_em, given the way you've described the coconut oils available to you, it's unlikely that it's fractionate coconut oil. Fractionated coconut oil is coconut oil that's been processed to remove some of the fatty acids responsible for the oil hardening (a side effect being that it stays liquid at MUCH lower temperatures). 76 is coconut oil with a melting point of 76 deg F, which is 24.4C. 92 is coconut oil that's been processed and refined so that it doesn't melt until it reaches 92 deg F, or 33.3C. You see a lot of us talking about having to melt coconut oil because most members of the forum live in countries where the average indoor temperature is below coconut oil's melting point.

How are you soaping? Are you in a warm room? Are your oils/lye warm when you mix them together? Are you insulating the soap? I'm not entirely sure what papaya milk is, but just from the name it also sounds like something that would have a lot of sugars, and thus would heat up the soap. Maybe try soaping as cool as possible and sticking the mold in a fridge to harden?

here in the Philippines, it's always warm specially this time of the year. yes, the weather was really warm when i made my honey soap and the papaya milk soap. by the way, the papaya milk soap was simply milk soap, and i added papaya puree in the milk + lye solution. the milk + lye solution was cold when i mixed the papaya to it.

i made sure that the lye + liquid solution and the oils were at room temperature - not too cool (like ice cold), and not too warm. as my oils were already melted, i had to make sure that the lye + liquid solution's temperature would be near the oils' temperature.

i did insulate the milk papaya soap, but not the honey soap.

and by the way FlybyStardancer, my third batch of soap was a clay soap. basically, the same oils and their corresponding weights were used as with my previous "oily soaps", but this time i classified my coconut oil as fractionated. so, the amount of lye was changed/adjusted. and as i used a different lye calculator, my water became 33% compared to the previous 38%. my clay soap turned out great, just like the soaps i see on the internet when they were first unmolded: not oily, not crumbly, just right. and i unmolded this soap in less than 24 hours. could this clay soap be lye heavy? i already used this clay soap on my skin, it doesn't sting or make my skin dry and itchy. i know, i should do the ph strip test, but i have no access to these as of the moment. :?:

i really appreciate everyone's advice. thank you!

 

[haksaktiawan]

if so, I don't have any idea how your batch got oily layer

looks like so complicated for your simple recipe hehe...

I live in tropical country too, even hotter here than in The Philippines. But never got that kind of thick oily layer.

Just for comparison,
I never insulating all my batches, but most of them perfectly gelled *alhamdulillah*. If I use milk, I pour it to the oils before mixing it with lye, so I don't mix milk and lye directly. For puree, I always add them at trace. I always use 33% lye solution, never use more than that because of high humidity in tropical countries.

 

[cece_em]

update: i redid the honey soap, same ingredients, same lye and water. except that i minimized the honey and i didn't stir as much. confirmed: the oily soap was due to overheating and probably false trace. this thread is now closed. thank you for your valuable advice everyone!

 

[ursulla]

what might be wrong with my bar, after using it to watch l discover an oil paticles on the top of the bar

 

[artemis]

what might be wrong with my bar, after using it to watch l discover an oil paticles on the top of the bar

It would be best to start a new thread and to include as much information as possible. We can't help if we don't know what you did.