I recently made my first batch of soap. It's made with just olive oil (and I used green tea for the water, and added tea tree oil before putting it in the mold), but it has some problems. When I mixed the lye solution into the oils, I think the oils were way too hot. Some clumps formed, but they seem to not be noticable in the bars of soap at this point. In the mold, the soap let off a lot of heat (I have since made another batch of soap that came out much better, and it did not let off nearly as much heat in the mold), and it formed a skin on the top, like a thin layer on top hardened before the rest of it. I also noticed that it got some brownish beads of liquid on the surface, but they ended up being absorbed back into the soap. I can lick the soaps without any problems, and testing out a small piece of it, I find that it's a pretty gentle soap. The only thing weird about them now is that the color is not consistent. Parts of it are darker green than the others, like maybe the tea tree oil wasn't mixed in really well? Anyway, the batch of soap I made after this came out well, so I'm not worried about fguring out what I did wrong. I am just wondering what people think I should do with the soap. Do you think it's ok to use, or should I just throw it out or something?
Problems with my first batch of soap.
- Thread starter jlw
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BakingNana
Well-Known Member
I'd be interested to know what kind of OO you used? I use a light cold-pressed in my 100% OO, and the soap is stark white and rock hard. Have to cut in within 5 hours of pouring. Looks great, tho. For the first time, I used an EVOO in a batch yesterday (50%) and it's the softest soap I think I've ever had. Looks fine, but I think it's going to take quite a bit longer to cure. Amazing how different olive oils are!
dagmar88
Well-Known Member
jlw said:
I think it'll be fine for personal use.
Laurie, thanks for the suggestion. I don't think this was the problem, though, because the soap does not have a darker ring in the middle. It just looks more like it's marbled.
Baking nana, I hope your soap turns out well. :O) I used a bottle of olive oil that just says pure olive oil, not Extra Virgin or anything. But I did add some extra virgin to it because I needed more. I can't tell you the color it would have been because I used green tea in the water, which left it a sort of herb green color. I also can't compare the hardness to other soaps since it's my first batch, but I was surprised that it traced up pretty quickly (quicker than my second batch that had coconut and other oils in it). I cut it a day after I poured it, and it was sort of soft, like I could squeeze it and feel that it was soft, but it wouldn't change the shape of the soap or anything. They are still curing and seem to be getting harder.
Dagmar, thanks for the advice. :O) I think that, since it doesn't zap me or anything, I will just use it.
Baking nana, I hope your soap turns out well. :O) I used a bottle of olive oil that just says pure olive oil, not Extra Virgin or anything. But I did add some extra virgin to it because I needed more. I can't tell you the color it would have been because I used green tea in the water, which left it a sort of herb green color. I also can't compare the hardness to other soaps since it's my first batch, but I was surprised that it traced up pretty quickly (quicker than my second batch that had coconut and other oils in it). I cut it a day after I poured it, and it was sort of soft, like I could squeeze it and feel that it was soft, but it wouldn't change the shape of the soap or anything. They are still curing and seem to be getting harder.
Dagmar, thanks for the advice. :O) I think that, since it doesn't zap me or anything, I will just use it.
velitasyjaboncitos
Active Member
At what temperature did you mixed the oils with the Lye?
I am not amateur but I believe maybe this had something to do with it..
I love tea tree, it is so fresh and I love the scent. !!
I am not amateur but I believe maybe this had something to do with it..
I love tea tree, it is so fresh and I love the scent. !!
The oil was around 160 degrees F. I didn't expect it to heat up as quickly as it did, and then I wasn't patient enough to let it cool down. Maybe that caused it to have lumps in it, and then the different colors I see in the soap are because of those lumps? I feel like it was a combination of the high temperature of the oil and the tea tree oil (which does smell nice!) not mixing in well? No matter where I test it, though, there is not any evidence of it being lye-heavy. When I did a second batch of soap using a different recipe, I made sure that both the oil and the lye were around 100 degrees F.
velitasyjaboncitos
Active Member
Well i believe that too.. The oils temperature was too high. I do also mix everything at 100 degrees too if I am not comfortable with the oils I am working with. If I use a recipe that I am very comfortable with, I try to miss the Lye and the oils at 10 degrees of difference from each other.
I will try to make a batch with tea tree and I will let you know
I will try to make a batch with tea tree and I will let you know
