Soy Milk, Oatmeal and Honey soap smells awful...why?

[margali13]

My husband is vegan, so I tried making a soy milk, oatmeal and honey soap so he could use it (rather than using the traditional goats milk). I took a basic 4 oil recipe that I have made plain before and liked, then used soy milk instead of water and added the honey and ground oatmeal at trace. I just unmolded it and cut it up and it smells terrible

I thought it would smell great with the honey and oatmeal. Did I do something stupid? I mixed the oil and soy milk/lye mixture at 95 deg F.
Here's the recipe I used?
* 6.5 oz. palm oil
* 6.5 oz. coconut oil
* 7.5 oz. olive oil (EVOO)
* 1.3 oz. castor oil
* 8 oz. soy milk (I had put it in the freezer for awhile before I used it to make it slushy, as recommended somewhere)
* 3.1 oz. lye
*1/2 cup ground oatmeal
*2.5 tbsp honey

What did I do wrong?

 

[soapbuddy]

It could be the soy milk. Leave the soaps be for about a week and it should go away.

 

[judymoody]

Wait a week or so; it may surprise you. To my nose, honey-scented soaps tend to smell funky at first but given some time, they become very nice.

Another vegan alternative to soy milk is coconut milk, either in a can (get a brand without additives like guar gum) or in powdered form (sometimes the powder has milk protein added; check ingredients first).

I bet it will turn out just fine. Happy Tofurky Day!

 

[margali13]

Thanks!!!

Ok, I will not worry about it and just let it cure for awhile, hopefully it will smell good later.

Have anyone ever done coconut milk with honey and oatmeal? For some reason that sounds weird to me, but I guess what I would eat together is not the same as what I would soap together? I'm still pretty new...this is my 4th batch, and it's my first batch with anything other than oils and lye and water. Right now we have a lot of soap in our house, but I'm giving a lot to people for Christmas...then I can make even more It is really addicting, especially at first when you get to try new stuff all the time.

I have coconut milk around because I make ice cream out of coconut milk and soy milk...it is delicious! I will have to try that next time.

Thanks so much!!! Happy Tofurky or Turkey day, whichever you celebrate

 

[judymoody]

I haven't used coconut milk with honey and oatmeal. Buttermilk powder, but that won't help you. :-(

I've used coconut milk with coffee in soap and it turned out really nicely.

I've also made pumpkin pie with coconut milk and it turned out awesomely good if you're looking for Thanksgiving ideas.

 

[Woodi]

I agree with everyone who said to wait a week. I have made soaps which smell really funky the first day, and turn out great after a week or more.

If it still smells bad after a week, I'd check the dates on your oils....maybe one of them is getting a bit old?

 

[djk17]

and it can take longer than a week. Give it a few months before you give up on it. I have had the experience of blending e.o.s according to a trusted soaping aromatherapy source and it smelled like diesel to me. Months later it was awesome. However, DH preferred the diesel smell. He loved it from the start.

 

[RockinRodeoChick]

Yep. All my batches of milk, oatmeal and honey smell... well... not good for the first few days. The first batch I made smelled really really bad to me for the first few days. I almost cried. Lol. After a few days though, it started smelling like a graham cracker. I'd just give it time. It'll probably mellow out.

 

[Bukawww]

Is hubby really ok with HONEY - it ain't vegan .

Every time I've made honey soap, it smells TERRIBLE of ammonia...and then it smells like bakery dough after it cures! YUM!

On another note, I use TONS of coconut milk (powder mostly) and love it.

 

[lsg]

In my opinion, soy milk doesn't smell good anyway. That may be the reason for the off odor. As mentioned by others, the odor may dissipate in a couple of weeks.

 

[Layne]

Soy Milk + Cucumbers = OMG put that stuff outside and soon notice neighbors packing and leaving. lol

Made some and it stunk for about a week.
Dont even like cucumbers or soy milk.
They dont even seem to like each other in soap...the combo seemed to make the soap expand while cooking :shock:
Was hoping on a cucumber smell remaining for people who like cucumber, but forget that.

However, now it has 0 % of that awful smell.
It has developed its own scent though.
Neither cucmber or soy milk. Just sort of a fresh scent. Hard to describe.
Time helps mellow even soap.
sometimes

 

[margali13]

It already smells much much better! Thanks again for all the reassurance. Why don't they mention that in the recipes online, it would save a lot of worrying?

Honey is not technically vegan, but I was only willing to go so far. He said honey would be ok

Thanks again! My next attempt will be at a salt soap with tea tree oil to try and work on my adult acne. Can't wait to try another soap!!!

 

[judymoody]

There is a great acne soap recipe on the teachsoap site. I made it for my pre-teen daughter and have given almost all of it away to her friends. It is really effective, not harsh, smells great. I just used TT oil, not the other EOs in the recipe because I didn't have them at the time. I've made it with and without the clay; both are nice.