UhOhh

[mountainsparky]

Made a "kit" soap that was honey oatmeal and it warned that it may over heat so putting it into the mold, one might need to refridgerate to alleviate excessive heating.

Followed the instructions to the letter and used bubble wrap supplied but the soap has a liquid furrow right down the center top this morning about an inch and a half wide from end to end of a 5 pound wood mold.

I have now found that you can not put essential oils of orange and clove(from the "kit") in a plastic cup. They dissolved the cup and made a large mess. The house smells really good though.

I made Kentucky Bourbon fruit cakes as well yesterday and they turned out really well.

What's going on with the soap?

 

[kharmon320]

It sounds like the soap overheated causing the furrow in the middle. I've had a couple of soaps with honey that overheat like crazy (especially if I've added milk as well). I sometimes end up with a weird texture to the soap if it's overheated, but it is perfectly usable soap.

I usually measure my FOs/EOs into a stainless steel measuring cup. Sorry you had such a big mess.

 

[fiddletree]

Ditto on the 'sounds like overheating'. Did you insulate?

I found out the hard way as well to not put any essential oils (or plants with high EO content like lavender) in anything made of plastic. After drying lavender from my garden, I put the buds in a big plastic salad bowl, and about a thousand little cracks formed! It's still usable just crazy ugly now, as the plastic was really thick. Lavender has a pretty high EO content and but it didn't occur to me before that it could still be corrosive before it is extracted. Now I know better!

And clove eo is one of the more corrosive ones, as you discovered, so be careful! Orange less so, but it won't usually stick around in CP soap, especially if it is a heater. I measure out my EOs in little stainless steel measuring bowls that I got from a lotion making supply store online and don't have any problems.

 

[ericllucas]

Orange less so, but it won't usually stick around in CP soap, especially if it is a heater.

How do you get a bar of soap that smells like Oranges? I can't imagine it would be any better in HP soap. Whats the secret?

 

[carebear]

Aroma Haven's Satsuma Guava FO will get you an amazing orange scent in soap. Juicy and yummy!

And I agree - the crack down the middle is indicative of overheating. Just let it rest and blot up any liquid. Double check for zap when you cut it, but it should be fine.

Oh, and don't put FOs into plastic either. I have little stainless votive holders that I used to use, and of course glass is good.

 

[Hazel]

I found stainless steel condiment cups at WalMart. They're packaged 4 for about 99 cents. However, they only hold slightly over 1 oz but they work well for me since I generally make small batches.

 

[mountainsparky]

Thanks for all of your responses. You have to crawl before you can walk. How long should I wait to blot up the center slush?

 

[fiddletree]

Orange less so, but it won't usually stick around in CP soap, especially if it is a heater.

How do you get a bar of soap that smells like Oranges? I can't imagine it would be any better in HP soap. Whats the secret?

I've not had much luck with any citrus EOs staying around in CP soap, although I've found that it helps to anchor with litsea. And I LOVE the gingerbread spice EO blend on rainbow meadows, which has a lot of sweet orange EO. I've used folded orange EO for rebatched soap and that sticks a bit better...but if you want a strong citrus smell you should probably use FO.

 

[Hazel]

Aroma Haven's Satsuma Guava FO will get you an amazing orange scent in soap. Juicy and yummy!

Aroma Haven or Scent Works?

 

[newbie]

BrambleBerry's Orange Peel FO is really good too.

 

[judymoody]

Thanks for all of your responses. You have to crawl before you can walk. How long should I wait to blot up the center slush?

I'd wait a couple of days before blotting.

If upon unmolding, your soap has little cavities oozing liquid, it may have experienced separation. In that case, save everything, including the oozy liquid and seek advice about rebatching.

Hopefully it's limited to the crack.

 

[carebear]

Aroma Haven's Satsuma Guava FO will get you an amazing orange scent in soap. Juicy and yummy!

Aroma Haven or Scent Works?[/quotes]
sorry, not the guava part - satsuma http://rusticescentuals.com/Satsuma-Body-Shop-type.html

 

[carebear]

Aroma Haven's Satsuma Guava FO will get you an amazing orange scent in soap. Juicy and yummy!

Aroma Haven or Scent Works?

sorry, not the guava part - satsuma http://rusticescentuals.com/Satsuma-Body-Shop-type.html

 

[mountainsparky]

Soap is still oily after over a week and still in the mold. How do I rebatch? Slowly please.

 

[ericllucas]

Soap is still oily after over a week and still in the mold. How do I rebatch? Slowly please.

There are a number of reasonable websites that describe the process. I think I may have seen a video on YouTube once.

This might be a good place to start: http://www.millersoap.com/re.html

Welcome to the Legion of Rebatching Soapmakers!

 

[mountainsparky]

Well, still waiting and that batch ( #2 ) still looks horrid. Will either discard or re-batch someday.

Onward and upward. Our third batch ever.

Just took our fourth batch out, pics to follow.

 

[ericllucas]

Hey that is some attractive soap! I'd let it age a bit and then see how it is.

Not bad at all, I'd say!

 

[Hazel]

Very pretty! I think you did a great job.

 

[youreapima2]

I think they look pretty. I would hold on to these and let them cure. You can definitely tell they are "Hand made", which is what you want.

You might be a bit hard on yourself, as they didn't turn out the way you originally thought, but they do look very nice

 

[mountainsparky]

I like this batch, it was another that turned out really wrong. We have done another since this blue batch, it turned out well too. Making molds this weekend, one mold is just not enough