What turned my soap yellow?

[Ugeauxgirl]

I made a Bastille yesterday, with Zany's faux seawater in place of regular water for the lye solution. It was 75% olive oil, 8% castor oil, 10% coconut and 7% unrefined shea. Any ideas what could have caused it to turn yellow? It actually looks pretty good in this bar, but I'm trying to isolate the problem for next time.

 

[Obsidian]

Possibly the unrefined shea but what kind of olive do you use? Extra virgin can make your soap a greenish or yellow color.
If you want a very white soap, use the lightest color oil you can. Refined shea and regular OO.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

Oh, that's probably it! I have two bottles of olive oil, one light colored and one evoo. I might have grabbed the wrong one. Thanks!

 

[KiwiMoose]

It might lighten up over time - my OO ones are almost white now.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

Thanks. I don't know why I thought soap making was going to be easy. I haven't had a single batch turn out as expected. Lessons so far- you only need a LITTLE turmeric if you're going for light yellow, steeping teas for too long makes brown soap. Vanilla makes brown soap, do not cut too soon, stirring too much makes white spots, check fragrance usage rates and reviews before ordering, be sure whatever you're ordering is not just good for soap, it's good for your PROCESS of soap...
Despite all the "learning opportunities" I LOVE making soap!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Oh it is easy, but you just have to change your expectations of how the soap turns out. It's rarely as planned, but nobody knows that, so act as if that was your intention . "Look at these lovely little yellow spots i made here...."

 

[TheGecko]

I don't know why I thought soap making was going to be easy.

It IS easy...take some vegetable oil or rendered animal fat, mix well with lye dissolved in water. Pour into a box...let sit over night. Soap. Cut into chunks, let it sit for a few weeks. Toss in the shower and enjoy.

Where is gets difficult...is when you want to play around with it. Make it pretty with colorants. Make it smell nice. Have multiple colors and swirly design. Add extra stuff.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

Oh it is easy, but you just have to change your expectations of how the soap turns out. It's rarely as planned, but nobody knows that, so act as if that was your intention . "Look at these lovely little yellow spots i made here...."

You're exactly right. A friend came over and just loved my yellow and pink soap- that was supposed to be white and lavender. She told me to tell everybody I meant for it to look that way. And could she have a bar please?

 

[rdc1978]

It might lighten up over time - my OO ones are almost white now.

Totally, I made zany's no slime castile with mostly darker EVOO. The bar is pretty white now, which was an unexpected surprise.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Possibly the unrefined shea

I agree. My unrefined shea bar is yellow so it's a possible culprit.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I just wanted to add that if you want to do more than one color in your soap and use FO's in your soap, you might want to consider a different recipe than you have now.

With that much OO it is going to be difficult to get a color that you want and you will have a longer unmolding time and an increased cure time.

You need a recipe that will give you a white or close to white batter along with slow moving oils that will give you enough time to mix your colors and create your designs. You will also need to get you some vanillin color stabilizer to prevent your FO's from turning your soap into brown or yellow. You can find a homemade recipe if you search for ZCS on this forum or you can by some VCS from a retailer. If you want a slow moving recipe I will be glad to share mine with you.

 

[dibbles]

Fragrance oils can discolor to yellow - did you use one?

 

[Arimara]

I use unrefined shea butter sometimes. If you use the yellow type, the soap will be yellow. If it is lighter, it should not. That said, I don't think it is the shea butter unless it was yellow.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I just wanted to add that if you want to do more than one color in your soap and use FO's in your soap, you might want to consider a different recipe than you have now.

With that much OO it is going to be difficult to get a color that you want and you will have a longer unmolding time and an increased cure time.

You need a recipe that will give you a white or close to white batter along with slow moving oils that will give you enough time to mix your colors and create your designs. You will also need to get you some vanillin color stabilizer to prevent your FO's from turning your soap into brown or yellow. You can find a homemade recipe if you search for ZCS on this forum or you can by some VCS from a retailer. If you want a slow moving recipe I will be glad to share mine with you.

I would love a recipe, thanks!

I use unrefined shea butter sometimes. If you use the yellow type, the soap will be yellow. If it is lighter, it should not. That said, I don't think it is the shea butter unless it was yellow.

Yes, I did. Didn't think about that, I'll go look that up. Thanks!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I just wanted to add that if you want to do more than one color in your soap and use FO's in your soap, you might want to consider a different recipe than you have now.

With that much OO it is going to be difficult to get a color that you want and you will have a longer unmolding time and an increased cure time.

You need a recipe that will give you a white or close to white batter along with slow moving oils that will give you enough time to mix your colors and create your designs. You will also need to get you some vanillin color stabilizer to prevent your FO's from turning your soap into brown or yellow. You can find a homemade recipe if you search for ZCS on this forum or you can by some VCS from a retailer. If you want a slow moving recipe I will be glad to share mine with you.

my 85% OO soap is white! No TD added:

 

[Arimara]

my 85% OO soap is white! No TD added:
View attachment 53632

Been a while since I've seen white soap like that. Still aesthetically pleasing too.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

my 85% OO soap is white! No TD added:
View attachment 53632

I have never had an OO over 50% turn out white but I don't use OO a lot. They look great.