Spearmint soap

[catikit]

Hi there,
I'm making a gorgeous spearmint soap - but for some reason everytime i make it it never fully gels. I'm using a wooden lidded mold and it enters gel stage but seems to cool down leaving what look like 'pockets' of gel-like areas - as if the oil is not fully saponifying.
I removed a batch from mold last night to find that it was actually 'wet' and caustic. This only seems to happen when i use spearmint oil - and not when i use other essential oils in the same base recipe.....
Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[JackiK]

Hmmm. Never have a problem with Spearmint. I use it in regular soap and pine tar. Are you sure you're reaching full trace before putting it in the mold?

 

[judymoody]

Could your EO possibly be adulterated?

 

[catikit]

Yes i think im reaching full trace....perhaps i could go for a heavier trace before molding.
As for EO, what does 'adulterated' mean? Im not sure i understand.
Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Soapy Gurl]

I cant offer advice on what is happening, but I CPOP my soap for full gel. I turn the oven to 170, put the soap in, leave it on for one hour and turn off. Leaving the soap in the oven overnight. I have wooden molds too.

 

[catikit]

Sorry whats CPOP?
Sounds good though - might try that in the oven.

 

[zeoplum]

I have the same problem with a lot of the FOs I use so I switched to CPOP also it works everytime. It stands for Cold Process Oven Process.

A note of caution, don't do this with recipes or ingredients that heat up a lot such as high coconut recipes or when you add milk. The results won't be pretty. Good luck!