Tallow and Honey Soap Consistency Issues

[elmtree996]

Hi! I’m trying to make a tallow based soap but I need to pour at light trace because all of the soap is going into individual molds. I can’t pour medium trace because the mold won’t fill out evenly. I have been trying various temperatures of lye and tallow, usually a range of 105 - 109 for each. However, it seems 24 hours after pouring and popping them out of the mold the consistency is strange and there are honey spots. Is this an issue of under mixing? Or should increase temperature of everything ? I’m only putting about 1oz of honey in about 88oz of tallow, and 2.7oz of vanilla essential oil. Is there a key to pouring at light trace and ensuring a thorough mix ?

I’m using 32.9 oz of lye. So a 33% lye concentration. 5% super fat. I’m adding the honey and vanilla both at the same time after mixing just the lye and tallow with an immersion blender for about 45 seconds to one minute. I mix the vanilla and honey for an additional minute and then pour. The temperature is usually 105+ to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[AliOop]

Cute molds! Are you really making 7lbs at a time? That's a lot of soap, especially if that was a new-to-you fragrance oil. BTW, there is no such thing as vanilla "essential" oil, only vanilla fragrance oil. Any seller that marks a product as "essential oil" is scamming you. Sorry

Regarding the brown spots, that's probably from the vanillin in the vanilla fragrance oil. Vanillin is known for turning soaps brown, and increasingly so over the cure. You can see that the fragrance wasn't evenly mixed because the browning isn't even. Since you are making a one-color soap, try stick-blending the honey and fragrance into the oils first. That will ensure a very even mix before you add the lye solution. Your soap will still turn tan or brown from the vanillin, but at least it will be an even color.

The white stuff is harmless soda ash that you can probably steam off if it bothers you. I do find that inexpensive silicone molds can cause some pretty severe ashing on my soaps. You can reduce this by soaping a bit hotter, using less water, and gelling the soaps on a heating pad.

 

[elmtree996]

Hi! You’re completely right regarding vanilla essential oil. We are in fact using a vanilla oleoresin which is based on on real vanilla fruit, and not synthetic vanillin. But I think the suggestion of doing fragrance and honey before the lye and incorporating it really well could be a huge help. I just typically read everywhere that you add fragrance last, but at this point it’s worth trying. Thank you!

 

[elmtree996]

Cute molds! Are you really making 7lbs at a time? That's a lot of soap, especially if that was a new-to-you fragrance oil. BTW, there is no such thing as vanilla "essential" oil, only vanilla fragrance oil. Any seller that marks a product as "essential oil" is scamming you. Sorry

Regarding the brown spots, that's probably from the vanillin in the vanilla fragrance oil. Vanillin is known for turning soaps brown, and increasingly so over the cure. You can see that the fragrance wasn't evenly mixed because the browning isn't even. Since you are making a one-color soap, try stick-blending the honey and fragrance into the oils first. That will ensure a very even mix before you add the lye solution. Your soap will still turn tan or brown from the vanillin, but at least it will be an even color.

The white stuff is harmless soda ash that you can probably steam off if it bothers you. I do find that inexpensive silicone molds can cause some pretty severe ashing on my soaps. You can reduce this by soaping a bit hotter, using less water, and gelling the soaps on a heating pad.

Cute molds! Are you really making 7lbs at a time? That's a lot of soap, especially if that was a new-to-you fragrance oil. BTW, there is no such thing as vanilla "essential" oil, only vanilla fragrance oil. Any seller that marks a product as "essential oil" is scamming you. Sorry

Regarding the brown spots, that's probably from the vanillin in the vanilla fragrance oil. Vanillin is known for turning soaps brown, and increasingly so over the cure. You can see that the fragrance wasn't evenly mixed because the browning isn't even. Since you are making a one-color soap, try stick-blending the honey and fragrance into the oils first. That will ensure a very even mix before you add the lye solution. Your soap will still turn tan or brown from the vanillin, but at least it will be an even color.

The white stuff is harmless soda ash that you can probably steam off if it bothers you. I do find that inexpensive silicone molds can cause some pretty severe ashing on my soaps. You can reduce this by soaping a bit hotter, using less water, and gelling the soaps on a heating pad.

Hi! You’re completely right regarding vanilla essential oil. We are in fact using a vanilla oleoresin which is based on on real vanilla fruit, and not synthetic vanillin. But I think the suggestion of doing fragrance and honey before the lye and incorporating it really well could be a huge help. I just typically read everywhere that you add fragrance last, but at this point it’s worth trying. Thank you!

 

[AliOop]

The recommendations to add fragrance last are because many fragrances accelerate the batter. For single color soaps, that isn't as big of an issue. In fact, adding the fragrance to the oils first will bring it to the same temperature as the oils. That can actually minimize or avoid problems with ricing, SOS, etc.

Vanilla oleoresin isn't typically an accelerator (at least, not for me), but it will definitely darken your soap over time. Still, mixing it into the oils before the lye should get you the more even color that you want.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

You might try pre-warming the silicone molds to see if that helps with the ash. I’ve done it before to help CP batter stay fluid longer, and it may work for the ash. It’s on my list of things to try.

I stick blend my oils and fragrances to make sure everything is well blended before adding my lye solution with additives. Even if a known fragrance may accelerate, I blend it with the oils at the beginning and make sure it’s compatible with the design.

 

[Iluminameluna]

Adding my bit here, if you have some yogurt in hand, doesn't matter what kind (unsweetened, unflavored), 1tsp/lb of oils can help keep soap batter fluid while mixing, & cure more quickly as well. It's the lactate acid it will become due to the lye that will do it.
Happy bubbles!