Teach Soap

So I have a batch of moisturizing soap in oven. With 1/3 of batch, added .5 oz infused oil with annato seed to color a swirl. Checked at 40 minutes and I have oil at top of mold. Like a big old inch of oil on top. What do I do? I am currently trying to fork it back into rest of batch. Temp is 175 like normal. What gives? Do I throw this out?

Lisa

OMGosh! Literally it hot processed in my wood loaf mold. All gelantinous and goopy. Swirl is gone but by golly. ....will this soap by okay because I am awful impressed I could hot process in a wood mold.

Was the canola infused annato seed the culprit OR BB's gingerpear scent? I've done this recipe now 4 times over the past weekend so it isn't heat, operator error or anything but the two new variables. I question if .5 oz annato seed infused oil would spoil at 41 oz recipe.

Lisa

The oil might soak back in. I'm leaning more toward the scent being a problem rather then the infused oil.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I think I may have mismeasured trying to finish so I could watch a tv program given the whole loaf is coated with oil! I stirred it a lot last night so I think I incorporated everything.

Cut soap today and it all looks great except it was soooo oily. Not pockets or anything but just a general coating of oil on every single slice. I washed my hand with a slice and it doesn't lather like normal, but it does lather. Very very fragrant, though, with the oil.

I think it is useable, but will it go rancid pretty quick?

Since you mismeasured, it could be super duper fatted. If that's the case, it can go rancid or develop DOS. Have you checked for zap in the oily residue? Did you incorporate all the ingredients thoroughly? At what temp did you soap at? How big was your batch? If it was small and you added another 0.5 oz. of oil it could have been too much. If none of the above apply, as a last resort, you can try to rebatch.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Mismeasurement: It doesn't have DOS but then again, the soap is orange! No zap in oily residue. I imagine I was a goof and just messed it up, but there are a couple of weird points in the story.

I temped really cool, like 85-90 degrees with a 41 oz oil batch (Anne Marie's moisturizing recipe). I heated up the solids then added the soft oils before I mixed in the lye. Never did that before either but was trying to combat the heat.

I did incorporate everything evenly but I couldn't get the batch to trace to save my life, so I think that may be the problem? Can you soap too cool to get trace? After 10 minutes of off and on stick blending, I poured in the scent, separated some, and added the annato oil.

Finally, talking to Spotted Cat this am, I think there could be a problem with the shea I used. I bought from a local company and it felt way more "creamy" or "petroleum" than the one I got from BB. But I put that in fridge today and will do a comparison of the BB shea I still have vs. the local company shea and see if I feel a difference. I called the local co and asked if they do anything or add anything to their shea and they just said, "Well, ours is ultra refined." But I think if they were a bad supplier, they might cut their shea with vaseline or something.

So, now you know the whole story, what do you think it is, Soapbuddy?

When you soap that cool, some of the oils might have resolidified. Try soaping at around 100 degrees if you want to soap cool. As far as the shea, here is one thing that you can do. Take a small piece and rub it into the palm of your hand. Put some liquid soap into your hand and wash with it. It should come out clean. If you get an oily residue that doesn't wash off, you might have an inferior quality shea.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Oh! Cool trick. Will try that tonight!

Thank you, soapbuddy!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

HA HA! Its the shea! I rubbed the local shea on one hand and the bb shea on the other and the local companies actually turned white on my hand (vs melting in) and was difficult to rub in!


Thanks so much soapbuddy! I really hope this company gives me a refund as their product stinks!

Lisa

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I didn't, but am going to PM you their answer. Hoping you can help me figure out how I could actually use this stuff! Thanks!

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.