What is this red stuff?

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spenny92

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I've made this exact soap several times now, and have never had this problem occur. I cut it yesterday and moved it upstairs (on a baking paper lined baking tray, as I usually do) and I checked on it today to find this. It's a brown/red liquid on the tops of the soap. There are also little droplets of it that I can wipe off, but the top is still stained brown/red - these parts were an olive green colour yesterday. My immediate reaction was that it must have been a reaction with the baking tray, but I had them sat with only the bottoms touching the tray, and the brown/red substance has only formed on the tops of the soap - which were not touching anything.

I wonder if it could maybe be some EO oozing out? I used a blend of pine, wintergreen, cedarwood, eucalyptus and tea tree. I recall the wintergreen EO being a red colour... But, like I said, I've made this batch several times before with no problems - and no changes to the recipe/method/EOs. Any thoughts?

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It looks like EO to me too. Check it out using Susie's method.

Is it hotter today? I've had EO/FOs make a run for it when my kitchen was pretty warm.
 
Soak a bit in a tissue, then leave the room with it. Sniff the tissue. What does it smell like? If no scent, zap test.

It smells very slightly of wintergreen EO. I zap tested the stained surface and it tasted a little sweet, no zap and no zap on the actual face of the soap, either. I assume it's EO weeping out and will see if it reabsorbs.

Thanks Susie.

It looks like EO to me too. Check it out using Susie's method.

Is it hotter today? I've had EO/FOs make a run for it when my kitchen was pretty warm.

It's actually gotten a bit cooler today with rain (maybe that has contributed to it?). I had the soap upstairs, where the windows have been open overnight so it shouldn't have been warm. Interesting, though - thanks snappy.
 
Thanks everyone. I trimmed the top off as I didn't like the way it had discoloured red/brown, and it looks good as new. It turns out it was pretty humid here today, so I think that contributed to the problem.
 

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