Ring around the soap?

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Broondog

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Ring around the soap? Or more like "what happened"?

I went to check on the batch I made last week and I found it looking rather odd. I have been making soap for purely personal use for more than a year now, maybe two, and I have never had this happen. I even use the same recipe because it works well - 2lbs Lard, 1lb Coconut oil and 1lb Canola oil, and same brand Lye - and is good to my skin. The only usual variables are scent and coloring, which btw are from the same manufacturer all the time. This batch is Nature's Oil Buttnaked fragrance and some yellow and blue liquid coloring you get at Hobby Lobby.

My methods, utensils and molds are all the same too. Stir by hand in a stainless pot with a stainless spoon until trace, pour into plastic wrap lined metal loaf pans, plastic on top and set for 24hrs. Pop out and cut, cure 4 weeks.

There were however two things that I did slightly differently this time. I did start a little warmer, 95* vs 85*, and I laid a towel over my molds for the 24hr set up time as I have read here that many people do. It looked fine when I cut it but now a few days later it looks like this. What gives?

And its the entire batch and not just one of the three molds so I have ruled out it being an issue with the mold.

BTW, Hi Soapers! This is my first post!




 
Hey and welcome! I agree with Craig. Those liquid colors are not intended for use with CP, as the temperatures get too hot. They are strictly intended for use with MP(melt and pour). The soap should be safe for use with normal cure times, just not the appearance you were looking for.

Also, sorry for your loss.
 
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Hey and welcome! I agree with Craig. Those liquid colors are not intended for use with CP, as the temperatures get too hot. They are strictly intended for use with MP(melt and pour). The soap should be safe for use with normal cure times, just not the appearance you were looking for.

Also, sorry for your loss.

Thanks for the input folks.

I have actually been using those liquid colors for quite some time with good success with a mild swirl. I just stir them in a little bit right before I pour into the mold. This time however I screwed up and dropped in the color before I added the scent and they got completely stirred in so no swirls this time.

So I guess I will let it cure and zap test it and see what happens. Like I said this stuff is just for me so appearance really doesn't matter in the end.

And thanks for your sentiment Susie but that's just a tattered/faded flag awaiting a trip to the Boy Scouts for a proper disposal.
 
Or it could be a color shift from the soap drying out. Where the soap is driest around the outside of the loaf, the color becomes darker. As the bars continue to dry, the color will darken overall. I'm not sure this idea explains what's going on with your soap -- the darker "rind" seems more spotty and irregular than in my experience -- but just a thought to consider.
 
To me, this looks like vanilla discoloration. According to natures garden for Buttnaked:

Vanillin Content of Fragrance (In the event that a fragrance contains vanillin, it may tend to discolor bath and body products and soap. Please test thoroughly.) 4.70%

Vanilla discoloration usually starts on the edges of the soap and continues inward. Try cutting a bar in half and seeing if that "ring" is still there. If its not, or is lighter, it is probably due to the fragrance oil.

And if it is due to the fragrance oil, not to worry! Its a purely cosmetic issue.

ETA: This may also explain the darker spots and lighter spots. Darker spots would have a higher proportion of fragrance than the lighter spots. Look at these soaps:
cut.jpg


The only thing is that you usually see the color "ring" right when you cut it and it is not delayed as much. However, it wouldnt surprise me as the color gets darker over time.
 
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When I made my chocolate-scented soap, the browning was delayed by a couple days, and still took weeks to fully develop. So it's not out of the realm of possibility that it's from the vanillin in the FO. Heck, that was my first thought!
 
To me, this looks like vanilla discoloration. According to natures garden for Buttnaked:

Vanillin Content of Fragrance (In the event that a fragrance contains vanillin, it may tend to discolor bath and body products and soap. Please test thoroughly.) 4.70%

Vanilla discoloration usually starts on the edges of the soap and continues inward. Try cutting a bar in half and seeing if that "ring" is still there. If its not, or is lighter, it is probably due to the fragrance oil.

And if it is due to the fragrance oil, not to worry! Its a purely cosmetic issue.

ETA: This may also explain the darker spots and lighter spots. Darker spots would have a higher proportion of fragrance than the lighter spots. Look at these soaps:


The only thing is that you usually see the color "ring" right when you cut it and it is not delayed as much. However, it wouldnt surprise me as the color gets darker over time.

That may just be the issue as this is my first time using Buttnaked. I usually gravitate towards "oceanie" or "night/moonie" types of scents. I bought Buttnaked on a whim with my last order and finally gave it a go.

Metal loaf pans

Yes, metal loaf pans from the dollar store. I line them with a double layer of plastic wrap and fill 'em up. I get 8 bars to a loaf. lol

Remember, this is purely personal soap. I'm a guy and don't worry about all of the frilly, pretty stuff. If it cleans well and I smell decent that's all that matters to me.
 
The yellow craft store color stays true in my recipe, but the blue morphs to lilac...aka purple. Purple and yellow make brown...soooo the colorants can be doing this. And the morphing changes depending on the heat I've noticed, darker color in hotter batter :).

Add that to the fragrance oil discolor and viola! :)
 
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