What is going on???

[Rachel Anderton]

Hi, am a beginner (just started last month!) and I’ve been looking for an answer about what I’m doing wrong. The last two batches of soap I’ve made have turned out with brownish greenish spots on all the bars, straight out of the mold. I thought it was DOS, but then I read it was too soon for that to appear. So I thought maybe it was an FO problem, but I used completely different fragrances for those batches (one was an essential oil, the other was a fragrance oil, both new from Brambleberry). I was using pretty basic beginner recipes for both of them. I did use oils freshly bought from the grocery store. I noticed with both batches that they started out perfectly smooth and creamy, and then when I mixed in the colors and fragrances they accelerated and even riced a little. I stick blended them out and they seemed ok until I poured them in the molds. I noticed some green spots appearing, and then the spots turned brown. Is it the oils causing the spots? I’m so confused! I also added a tiny bit of lanolin to the second batch, but I followed instructions on using lanolin pretty carefully. Where am I going wrong?

 

[Obsidian]

What FO and where did you get it? I suspect its causing the issues.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

would a colorant not designed for cp cause this?

 

[shunt2011]

Of you post your recipe and process as well as additives it would help. As would a photo. Fo and colorant can cause issues.

 

[cmzaha]

And what type mold you are using.

 

[lsg]

My quest was the same as cmzaha's. Maybe your mold is bleeding color into the soap.

 

[Rachel Anderton]

Thanks for the replies! So here were the two recipes I used.
For the green bar: Olive Oil – 40% Coconut Oil – 30% Palm Oil – 20% Sweet Almond Oil – 5% Castor Oil – 5% Superfat – 5%
The spots have now faded from green to that weird yellow. Also, they used to be more all over the bars, but some have faded? I had originally thought that the green spots might be the olive oil I was using, so I swapped it for canola oil in the next recipe.
White bars: 8 oz coconut, 7 oz canola, 1 oz castor, 7 oz palm oil, less than 1 oz lanolin, superfat 5%.
My scent for the green batch was Litsea EO from Brambleberry, my FO for the white was Cashmere, also from Brambleberry. My colorants for the green were green chrome oxide, TD, and black oxide. And some bronze cosmetic glitter. I only used TD for the white.
My mold is a cheap silicone one from amazon, but then I also put some of the white ones into a white silicone mold from Brambleberry.
I'm wondering if the problems with the batches are unrelated.

 

[Rachel Anderton]

Sorry the pictures are huge. And just to clarify, the bronze glitter is in between the layers of the green soap.

 

[earlene]

Frankly, the green discoloration spot baffles me. Can you reproduce the same results and get a photo of the green spots? Has it happened with any of your non-colored and fragrance-free soaps? If you haven't made any fragrance and colorant-free soaps, I suggest you test a small batch to see if it happens there too, making sure to use the same oils.

Did you read any reviews on how your fragrances perform in soap? I believe Cashmere discolors. Not sure about BB's litsea EO.

How clear are your oils when you start adding the lye? Is the lye cool or warm (or hot) when you add it to the oils? Pourly melted hard oils (palm or CO?) and cold lye can lead to problems.

Have you zap tested either soap?

 

[Rachel Anderton]

Thanks for the help and advice! Yes, I will definitely try a non-colored fragrance free batch, as well as that batch over again to see if it happens. And after looking it up you are right, Cashmere does definitely discolor. The oils were clear, but I'm realizing that I might have accidentally put in too much of the olive oil. Would that create this problem, maybe? I haven't zap tested, can you tell me more about that?
I did make a batch today and had no trouble with ricing or discoloration at all, using all the same oils except the palm oil. So I'm guessing it was either my process that was to blame, or the colorants or FO. I'm praying it was a fluke and I'm going to try again!

 

[Dawni]

Zap test

It's a sticky in the lye based section

 

[KiwiMoose]

Did you say you were using the lye water to melt the oils? Or were you melting the hard oils fully before adding the soft oils?

 

[Rachel Anderton]

Hi, sorry I wasn't able to respond in forever! I did make some more practice batches to see if there was something in my process I was doing wrong, and even though I was melting the oils before hand, I think I was trying to soap at way too hot temperatures. I'm still not 100% sure what's wrong with the green batch, but I think it must have been a fluke, because I've never experienced that again. The white batch definitely did have a FO problem, and although the spots are gone, it's discolored completely now to brown. Zap tested both (thanks for the explanation, that is awesome!), and they seem ok. Green spots have faded on the green colored batch until they are not very noticeable! Weird! Thanks for the help.

 

[TheGecko]

Do you wash your mold after or before you use it for each batch? Until I got my Rolling Kitchen Island and had a place to store my soaping supplies and equipment, I got into the habit of washing and drying before I used them in case the got contaminated sitting on the kitchen counter.