What went wrong with my pumpkin soap?

[starfire]

It really could’ve been anything but it looks like my soap riced and partial gelled pretty badly.

my recipe was 25% coconut oil, 25% olive oil, 18% pumpkin seed oil, Shea butter 10%, cocoa butter 10%, castor oil 10%, and 2% beeswax.

I used frozen goats milk for the water at 33% of oil weight instead of my usual 38% because I’ve been having bad issues with partial gel in my soaps.

I blended some pumpkin purée into the oils at 1/3 of the water, then added the milk lye, and used tomato powder, turmeric, and TD to color it.
I used the pumpkin spice fragrance oil from crafters choice with a vanilla stabilizer at 1:2 parts.

I put it in the freezer after pouring and took it out 14 hours later. It immediately started sweating oil but slowly is absorbing back into the soap throughout the day. When I cut it though it looks really bad in the middle

Does anyone have any feedback for my recipe and how to battle partial gel with goat milk soaps? And I guess I’ll have to rebatch this, right?

 

[TheGecko]

I make GMS, but I keep it simple: Olive, Coconut, Palm and Castor Oils, and Shea Butter. My additives are Sodium Lactate and Kaolin Clay. Scent, no colorants.

I use frozen goat milk in an ice bath with a bit of salt and don’t let it get above 70F. I use a 35% Lye Concentration. I keep my oil/butter temps low, watch for false trace and cover and refrigerate. No gel.

You got a partial gel because the outside was cooler than the inside. I would say that the oil and odd inside is from your soap overheating.

I personally would not put raw food products in a soap that isn’t going to ‘gel’ because I would worry that there is insufficient heat to kill off the bacteria that could later form that could lead to DOS and/or rancidity.

Get rid of the pumpkin purée, you don’t need it except for perhaps label appeal. Use a Lye Concentration (33-35%) instead of percentage of whatever. When you make your GM Lye Solution, keep the temp under 70F...takes a little longer, but you get a creamy result (no need for TD).

 

[lenarenee]

Did you see ricing while stick blending?

Considering all of the sugars in the milk and pumpkin, along with a spice fo (many of them cause overheating), I think the soap got too hot and had some separation. I would expect a crack on the top - but maybe the freezer prevented that.

 

[The_Phoenix]

Congratulations on taking some big risks! It takes guts (and curiosity) to push the envelope. I mean that sincerely.

The middle scorched/overheated. I made pumpkin soap a few weeks ago and it came very close to becoming volcanic (I had also added honey). The pumpkin spice FO also contributes a significant thermal effect. Throw goat's milk in there and you've got quite an inferno. I've found that it's better to use ice packs to keep really hot down than the freezer (your hot soap will heat the interior of the freezer, limiting the potential to offer a cooling effect).

To prevent over-heating, I put a layer of ice packs on the bottom of a cooler, put the soap mold on top of that, add a few ice packs around the sides, and put a lid on the cooler but NOT on the soap. I only do this if I'm pretty certain that the soap will get really hot. And definitely check on it periodically. As the soap cools, remove the ice packs on the sides. Check on it again. If it's cooled off a lot, remove the ice packs completely. Put some sort of lid on it and leave it on top of the cooler. Let it continue to cool overnight just like that. You'll find that it got hot enough to gel, not too hot that you had a hot mess (LOL), doesn't crack on top, and begins to safely do it's thing.

 

[starfire]

I make GMS, but I keep it simple: Olive, Coconut, Palm and Castor Oils, and Shea Butter. My additives are Sodium Lactate and Kaolin Clay. Scent, no colorants.

I use frozen goat milk in an ice bath with a bit of salt and don’t let it get above 70F. I use a 35% Lye Concentration. I keep my oil/butter temps low, watch for false trace and cover and refrigerate. No gel.

You got a partial gel because the outside was cooler than the inside. I would say that the oil and odd inside is from your soap overheating.

I personally would not put raw food products in a soap that isn’t going to ‘gel’ because I would worry that there is insufficient heat to kill off the bacteria that could later form that could lead to DOS and/or rancidity.

Get rid of the pumpkin purée, you don’t need it except for perhaps label appeal. Use a Lye Concentration (33-35%) instead of percentage of whatever. When you make your GM Lye Solution, keep the temp under 70F...takes a little longer, but you get a creamy result (no need for TD).

Wow I learned so much from your response. it makes a lot of sense, I’m going to try again and see the difference without the pumpkin purée. Thank you !

Did you see ricing while stick blending?

Considering all of the sugars in the milk and pumpkin, along with a spice fo (many of them cause overheating), I think the soap got too hot and had some separation. I would expect a crack on the top - but maybe the freezer prevented that.

I didn’t, it looked Fine until I took it out the freezer. I think you’re right though

Congratulations on taking some big risks! It takes guts (and curiosity) to push the envelope. I mean that sincerely.

The middle scorched/overheated. I made pumpkin soap a few weeks ago and it came very close to becoming volcanic (I had also added honey). The pumpkin spice FO also contributes a significant thermal effect. Throw goat's milk in there and you've got quite an inferno. I've found that it's better to use ice packs to keep really hot down than the freezer (your hot soap will heat the interior of the freezer, limiting the potential to offer a cooling effect).

To prevent over-heating, I put a layer of ice packs on the bottom of a cooler, put the soap mold on top of that, add a few ice packs around the sides, and put a lid on the cooler but NOT on the soap. I only do this if I'm pretty certain that the soap will get really hot. And definitely check on it periodically. As the soap cools, remove the ice packs on the sides. Check on it again. If it's cooled off a lot, remove the ice packs completely. Put some sort of lid on it and leave it on top of the cooler. Let it continue to cool overnight just like that. You'll find that it got hot enough to gel, not too hot that you had a hot mess (LOL), doesn't crack on top, and begins to safely do it's thing.

This is a great suggestion, I’ve never thought about that. I’m definitely going to try it! I used the fragrance at 0.7% so maybe I’ll use less next time. You guys are giving me a lot to think about that I didn’t consider! Also thank you for saying that lol I have so much to learn I feel like I’m always doing too much haha

 

[The_Phoenix]

This is a great suggestion, I’ve never thought about that. I’m definitely going to try it! I used the fragrance at 0.7% so maybe I’ll use less next time. You guys are giving me a lot to think about that I didn’t consider! Also thank you for saying that lol I have so much to learn I feel like I’m always doing too much haha

Right there with you. No risk, no reward.

 

[shunt2011]

I make all milk soaps. Generally coconut milk. I never stop gel. I encourage it. Your soap looks like it overheated. It's got all the markings of overheating. The sugars in the milk and pumpkin probably caused it. I always watch my soap when using ingredients I don't use often.

 

[linne1gi]

It really could’ve been anything but it looks like my soap riced and partial gelled pretty badly.

my recipe was 25% coconut oil, 25% olive oil, 18% pumpkin seed oil, Shea butter 10%, cocoa butter 10%, castor oil 10%, and 2% beeswax.

I used frozen goats milk for the water at 33% of oil weight instead of my usual 38% because I’ve been having bad issues with partial gel in my soaps.

I blended some pumpkin purée into the oils at 1/3 of the water, then added the milk lye, and used tomato powder, turmeric, and TD to color it.
I used the pumpkin spice fragrance oil from crafters choice with a vanilla stabilizer at 1:2 parts.

I put it in the freezer after pouring and took it out 14 hours later. It immediately started sweating oil but slowly is absorbing back into the soap throughout the day. When I cut it though it looks really bad in the middle

Does anyone have any feedback for my recipe and how to battle partial gel with goat milk soaps? And I guess I’ll have to rebatch this, right?

This is not meant in any way to disrespect you - but I don't really care for your recipe. First you have too much water = your lye concentration is about 29%, your cleansing # is pretty high (20), and pumpkin seed oil has a lot of linoleic acid, which makes it prone to DOS. I also am not a fan of using beeswax, because it makes the soap feel draggy, not smooth on the skin. I suggest using a 2:1 water to lye ratio. Say you need 4 ounce of lye - you would then use 8 ounces of water. To make this even easier, you can dissolve your 4 ounces of lye in 4 ounces of water and add an additional 4 ounces of something besides water - (goat milk, aloe juice, pumpkin puree, whatever). Then I would lower the coconut oil - coconut oil really strips the oils from the skin - much more than any other oil (except maybe Babassu). Instead increase either your Shea Butter or Cocoa Butter or add Lard. Lard makes a very nice creamy soap.

 

[starfire]

This is not meant in any way to disrespect you - but I don't really care for your recipe. First you have too much water = your lye concentration is about 29%, your cleansing # is pretty high (20), and pumpkin seed oil has a lot of linoleic acid, which makes it prone to DOS. I also am not a fan of using beeswax, because it makes the soap feel draggy, not smooth on the skin. I suggest using a 2:1 water to lye ratio. Say you need 4 ounce of lye - you would then use 8 ounces of water. To make this even easier, you can dissolve your 4 ounces of lye in 4 ounces of water and add an additional 4 ounces of something besides water - (goat milk, aloe juice, pumpkin puree, whatever). Then I would lower the coconut oil - coconut oil really strips the oils from the skin - much more than any other oil (except maybe Babassu). Instead increase either your Shea Butter or Cocoa Butter or add Lard. Lard makes a very nice creamy soap.

I really needed this kind of feedback! I never even knew that about pumpkin oil, I’m definitely going to review my recipe. I think I will experiment with some lard or beef tallow...thank you so much for your response!

 

[Arimara]

If you're making CP soap, I'd steer clear of using the Percentage of oils setting. You will almost always make your recipe with more liquid than you'd want in a soap, you are more likely to get less consistent results, and you're more likely to have a soap gel on you, especially when you don't want it too. You also may have to wait longer to cure out the extra water, which tends to lead to a softer soap.

The oil % of water setting is better suited for liquid soap or HP (more HP since you don't need to cook LS).