Soap fails with pictures

[happymom]

Hi all -

I am a beginner - made two batches this weekend - batch #7 and #8 for me.

Fail #1 - I wanted to try Lard soap. I decided to make a 1 lb batch, test a fragrance oil, and learn how to use the lye calculator. I found a recipe for an all lard soap, so I knew it could be done, but read somewhere that it should be tempered with a little castor oil. So using the calculator (soapcalc) I came up with a simple recipe for 95% lard, 5% castor, 5% superfat, and I used a fragrance called Blue Spruce from [email protected].

My understanding is that you can't mess up to lye calculator - if something isn't right percentage wise you will get an error message - hopefully that is the case.

I know I measured right - but 24 hours later DOS appeared. I have read through the different reasons for DOS but I can't figure this one out. The oils were purchased during the previous week. Also I thought DOS tended to come on a few weeks later?

 

[happymom]

Soap fail #2

I used this recipe...

www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/pumpkin-puree-cold-process-soap-2/

The directions don't say anything about dissolving the titanium dioxide in a little bit of oil before adding to the rest of the batch so I didn't do that - I was afraid to throw in extra oil anyway. But I crushed up the lumps, stirred and stirred, and I could see there were still tiny pieces that didn't incorporate. So when I sliced it here is what it looked like.... (pic 1). It has white "meteors" all through it.

The other thing was I bought the pumpkin spice fragrance oil from WSP. I didn't like it out of the bottle - it smelled more sort of like butterscotch - nothing remotely related to pumpkin pie. I tried it anyway thinking that it might change (is this dumb?) then later on I read the description on the site which mentions maple syrup - and I thought that's what I am smelling, maple syrup. So now I have 3 lbs of maple syrup soap. Anyone know any smelly lumberjacks? One last note - I used a little measuring cup that came with my waffle iron because it had a pour spout - really thick plastic. I put the WSP oil in there and it etched right into the plastic (pic 2).

So does anyone sift titanium dioxide before adding, or have another idea? Thank you so much everyone!

 

[lizflowers42]

Hi Happymom! I'm sorry you feel like you failed-but it's all excellent practice! I think that perhaps your fragrance oil caused the spotting in your first soap-it doesn't look like DOS to me. FO can cause false trace sometimes, ricing, or seizing. I think you are right about it being too soon to be DOS. Unless your lard or water had some impurities? You should notice a rancid smell if it's going bad. When I get home from my office this evening, I will post a photo of my first batch of soap that developed DOS after 2.5 months (it was hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil only). As evidenced by your etched cup, FO oil can be powerful stuff, which is why it needs to be diluted with carrier oils--which you are doing anyway when you make soap!

Your other batch reminds me of Saturn's colors, and the white orbs are moons That's what you were going for-right? I love the brightness of the colors!

 

[Marilyna]

For the titanium dioxide, yes, you should mix it with oil or water first. The label on it should say which. But I mix all my colors in water anyway. It seems to mix better to me. I put it in a little shot type glass, add maybe a tablespoon of water, and mix like crazy with a craft stick. After I add it to my soap, I stick blend it more, to be sure it's mixed well. I've been successful with this method. I do that before adding FO, because I don't like to stickblend FO due to acceleration issues.

For FO, I only measure it into glass, because it does etch, or in the case of disposable cups, it can eat right through.

The second soap is really pretty!

 

[christinak]

Yeah, if you are using fresh ingredients and following soapcalc to a "t" I don't see why any soap would get DOS. As far as fo's and td...I put them right in at trace...I don't mix them with anything first, and I haven't had any problems yet! Hope I didn't jinx myself .__.

 

[happymom]

Thanks Lizflowers and MarilynA - I have thinking about soap fail #1 and wondering... can you superfat with animal fats? On the Manteca lard label it says Refrigerate After Opening. So if I have unsaponified fat molecules in there because I superfatted maybe they went rancid because it's supposed to be refrigerated. Although Lizflowers you said it didn't look like DOS - and it smells fine so it's probably not. I don't have any more of the FO so I can't test it - it did smell really good. Right now I have it grated up, after it's done curing I think I will add water and use it as liquid soap.

I know it's great practice! and I figured someone else may learn my from mistakes! At least lard doesn't cost much. Yes Lizflowers I was going for the galactic look with the second soap! Or accidentally.

Ok next time I will dissolve the TD in water. It didn't come with a label, it just came in a plastic bag. Maybe everyone else knows this but me, so it wasn't part of the BB recipe!

Thanks again!

 

[lizflowers42]

No problem, if it wasn't for this forum, I probably wouldn't have gotten over my fear of using lye to make soap and would still be buying melt and pour (which there is nothing wrong with, but taking ingredients and turning them into soap is WAY cool)

Right now I have it grated up, after it's done curing I think I will add water and use it as liquid soap.

I would actually advise against doing that and consider rebatching. Since it's fresh, you shouldn't need to add much liquid at all to it.

Adding water to soap shreds is a good idea in theory, but it never comes out to a nice consistency. I tried following the directions on pinterest for taking a bar of soap and making a gallon of liquid soap. Yes, you can do it, but the results are no where near what you would like. To save myself from this mess (I can't throw anything away), I put about a tablespoon of this goop into a foaming pump and topped with water. That was the only way to really get it to usable consistency!

 

[Rachelmf]

I agree that adding water to CP doesn't make very nice liquid soap. I tried it with some scraps once and ended up with the "snot" consistency that I've seen others mention. It's usable, but it's not great.

 

[pamielynn]

Just wanted to jump in and say that if you purchased the Sweet Pumpkin Spice from WSP, it has a vanilla content of 11%. That's going to turn your soap brown, along with the coloring from any puree you might put in there. The only way not to get the discoloration from the FO is to use a vanilla stabilizer. Even using titanium dioxide may not keep it from changing color.

And, BTW, it looks like soap to me - so I wouldn't call that a "fail" - just doesn't look how you imagined it. But now you'll never forget to disperse your TD before using it, right? So that's a "win" because you learned something new.

 

[mel z]

Another newbie to the forum, but want to chime in on the adding water to soap.

Please don't do it unless you can use that goo in a couple of days.

Past experience. Bacteria you can't see grow in the h2o and can cause a burning, nasty rash. Especially on those of us with already sensitive skin/allergies. I also tried watering down liquid Aveeno for the the pump thing, same thing happened.

You can rebatch or use the shredded "noodles" to add to other soaps for color and texture, or laundry detergent, and even tossing some in that Super Can (big trash can in the city) so when it rains it will make it smell better, or just make it smell better in general, lol.

 

[MaitriBB]

Welcome!

Regarding adding titanium dioxide, I either a.) portion out a small amount of my base oils and add the TD to that and incorporate back in (same way I do my micas/oxides), or b.) add the TD dry to the lye before I add it to the water. Typically I do option b.

 

[happymom]

OK, I will not make liquid soap out of my shreds! I actually did do it with half a bar of lemongrass soap - I shredded it and heated it in the microwave. It's only been in the bottle a week and I did not know bacteria could grow in it, sort of defeats the purpose of washing your hands, doesn't it.

I like the idea of using it as or with laundry soap - that is one of the reasons I wanted to try lard because I heard it made good laundry soap. But does anyone know if you use it in high-efficiency washers? Also do you have to wait until it's all the way cured?

Thanks for all the titanium dioxide chime-ins!

 

[mel z]

You can use a small amount in an H.E. washer, at least that is what I have read. I shred my soap, add borax and washing soda, and use 1/3 cup in a full load top washer. I think the amount for H.E. was a tablespoon or two, and it is said to clean without causing the sudsing/bubbling issue. Hopefully someone here has an H.E. washer to tell you a good amount.

 

[Badger]

I agree that it is not a fail, just not as you had imagined. My first soap became laundry soap. It was a learning experience for me and I have homemade laundry soap now It did not discourage me, and some of my soap since then has not turned out as I planned and has been a bit adventurous. I keep learning and also growing in confidence as I realize that if I move too slow and reach trace faster then I want to that it won't be the end of the world for me or my soap

 

[BankerJohn]

I'm new too, so keep this in mind when reading...

I recently struggled with Titanium Dioxide too. I tried mixing with water - EPIC Fail, Tried mixing with Glycerin and mixing with oil. For the TD I have, it mixed easiest with the oil at 5tsp oil:1tsp TD. Once in there I stirred the crap out of it with a plastic spoon then let it sit for 10 minutes. Came back to it and stirred again, let it sit then stirred a 3rd time plus 4th just before incorporating into the soap mixture. did I mention mixing TD with water was an EPIC fail? LOL. Tried mixing with Glycerin and it worked, but was difficult and could not get a smooth consistency. My TD mixes best with Oil, therefore, I pull off some of the il to be used for the soap batch and mix the TD with the oil in a separatecontainer. Then after being mixed, I can add this colored oil back to the mix without changing the Soapcalc oil:lye ratio.

Like you, I have had some failures too... it is all part of the learning exprience. Don't give up!

 

[mel z]

Oh happymom, wanted to say your soaps look great, not like failures to me.

Also, I got some of the TD from Brambleberry in a pigment sampler. I think hers says water soluble and oil. :crazy: Anyhow, I mixed mine with distilled water in a small bottle, added some Liquid Germall Plus in recommended amount and store in the frig. It worked wonderfully that way in the mixes so far. No spots or crackling. I just shake it up before adding. I like your Saturn moons though. Don't grate up either soap unless you like grating. They are very pretty.