Whats wrong with this picture?

[DeeAnna]

From post #6: "...the person who bought it has contacted the seller. she only said to follow directions given on the instruction paper. no explanation, no nothing about how the end product looked to be...."

 

[seven]

this is a pretty big, well known seller over here. sells a lot of stuff from ls paste, soap, shampoo bar, etc. i don't think many ppl here understand that a liquid soap shouldn't look milky and separated as pictured. maybe they thought it's normal. the market here needs A LOT of education.

 

[Susie]

On the guide it says, dilute with distilled water 1:3. It came out runny, white/milky stuff on top, and pretty milky altogether. The paste zaps! Looks like it hasnt finished cooking.

I am going to have to presume this is at least a mostly olive oil liquid soap. I have no other idea what is going on, whether it was scented with an EO or any other details. Seems to me that the student/buyer of the paste bought it to be liquid soap, and diluted correctly.

Without the recipe, I have no idea how else to troubleshoot this. But unsaponifiables in the oils(EVOO, jojoba, lard, tallow, etc) will cause the milky appearance. The cloudy top is oils...whatever the cause, it has to be. I have no idea how it could have zapped. Even paste I barely got to emulsification this morning before the power went out turned into zapless paste by the time the power got back on.

 

[seven]

could it be that the paste maker had too much sf (re: milky appearance)?

my student had let the soap sit for days, and nothing changed during that period. i told her to just forget it. she was buying the paste to make ls and sell it. she had not add any scent or anything else to it when she took the photo. i guess nobody would buy a ls that looks like the pic, lol

 

[Mellifera]

From post #6: "...the person who bought it has contacted the seller. she only said to follow directions given on the instruction paper. no explanation, no nothing about how the end product looked to be...."

Yeah, but has the seller been contacted with the information that it isn't directions that are needed, but that there is a problem, that it's lye heavy, etc.?
ETA I guess I'm saying: if you contacted the seller with, "Hey this looks weird," it's time to contact again and say, "It more than weird, it's wrong. How are you going to make this right?"

 

[Susie]

could it be that the paste maker had too much sf (re: milky appearance)?

my student had let the soap sit for days, and nothing changed during that period. i told her to just forget it. she was buying the paste to make ls and sell it. she had not add any scent or anything else to it when she took the photo. i guess nobody would buy a ls that looks like the pic, lol

You can't have zap and superfat at the same time. One is lye heavy, the other oil heavy. That is why I am leaning towards too many unsaponifiables in the oils used.

Zap is unmistakable. Superfat is not. Many things cause milkiness.

But, milkiness is not unsafe. Zap is unsafe. Thus my concern that the student has safe soap to use.

If I were that student, however, I would be filing a complaint with the BBB at the very least for unsafe product, and poor customer service.

 

[Saponista]

I have found essential oils to cause milkiness and separation in my liquid soap, especially sweet orange and lavender.

 

[Susie]

could it be that the paste maker had too much sf (re: milky appearance)?

my student had let the soap sit for days, and nothing changed during that period. i told her to just forget it. she was buying the paste to make ls and sell it. she had not add any scent or anything else to it when she took the photo. i guess nobody would buy a ls that looks like the pic, lol

Therefore, not an EO causing separation.

With a process of elimination, it has to be unsaponifiables in the paste.

It zaps, so that eliminates superfat.

It did not have ANY scent whatsoever, so that eliminates EO problems.

It is definitely a layer of oils on the top. It is not undiluted paste that would be in globs.(Also seven has enough soaping sense to rule that out on the front end.)

There may be another cause for the milkiness and separation, but I am at the end of my knowledge, so, without having the paste/soap in front of me with a list of ingredients, it has to be unsaponifiables. There's nothing left. I am going to guess it is probably Jojoba or EVOO that is the culprit, as it lacks the "snowflakes" appearance in there that lard gives(and lots of people would never think of using lard in liquid soap).

 

[seven]

whatever it is, it is beyond me to sells such a paste that would produce a soap like that. even my beginner student knew there was something wrong with the soap just by looking at it. it didn't feel good on her skin too, runny and weird she said.

 

[Susie]

I keep thinking that it is my age and upbringing that keeps me from comprehending how some people could act the way they do...like selling not zap tested soap and not responding to a request from a customer. I just don't get it. Maybe it is not just me, maybe that seller really is that....well, I have no polite words for it, so I will just stop there.

 

[Saponista]

It is beyond my comprehension too Susie. If I was running a company and a customer complained, especially for a reason that could be a safety issue, I would do my utmost to resolve the problem for them and definitely not sell any more product from that batch!

 

[cmzaha]

I would try cooking down the paste and see if it quits zapping. I still superfat at -10-13 without ending up with a zappy paste

 

[Susie]

I would cook the paste with some extra oils to try to unzap it, also. But this is a new soaper, so I think seven took the correct course of action. She recommended the student not use unsafe soap, and sold her some safe soap.

 

[Luckyone80]

"...is this paste used to make liquid soap?..."

Yes, you're right about that.
This question is in the cream and liquid soap forum, FWIW.

Whoops, sorry about that, didn't even see where it was posted at. I just found this post on the quick links on the right side of the page under "Newest Threads" and didn't pay attention to where it was posted, sorry about that.

 

[seven]

here in my country, it is not the norm to complain and demand things, even when it's our right to do so (like in this case: my student). she told the seller the problem, seller answered, period. my student ended up just accepting and forgetting, plus that would be the last time she spend her money with that seller.

 

[DeeAnna]

Lucky -- Been guilty of that myself so I totally understand!

Seven -- That's how I was taught too. If it's not a matter of life and death, my goal is to politely say what needs to be said and move on.