Teach Soap

Hi. I need some help. I have been using a bath fizzy basic recipe consisting on sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, epsom salts, cornstarch, fragance or essencial oils and almond oil. I have tried water and witch hazel as the binder. Its very close to the one that appears as moisture rich bath fizzy in Teach Soap

My fizzies harden just ok, some crumbles falling apart when I get them out of the mold is that normal? But they are hard and maintain their form.
I put them in a closed ziploc bag and saw that there were some gases inflating the bag. So I opened the bag and closed it again. I used another time a cylinder plastic container with lid.

Both times the fizzies just change their color and soften, they appear as if they were getting bad. They are not hard anymore.

I have other fizzies without container in a table and they are just ok. The place where I live is close to 100% humidity and very hot (I live in Panama, Central America). So I am like... ???. Shouldn't be better to store my fizzies in airtight containers than in contact with air? Why are they getting soft and getting a strange color, like if they were old or "rancid". Guess I need your help

Thanks,

Melina

If your oil amount is too high you can get that softness. If the humidity is high, and I'd say 100% is pretty well up there, lol, you can get that softness too, from the moisture. And then that moisture can lead to mold growth.
Water should never be used as a binder either. Because it was used, it is hard to determine if the odd smell is mold growing or rancid ingredients, but I would guess that it is mold.
Given the high humidity I would think that an airtight container would be the best shot at keeping everything good and dry. Not using water will also help to keep mold from sprouting. Use alcohol or witch hazel instead of water. Also, limit the oil you use to the lowest amount possible to get the same effect you want. Good luck!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Hi Tammy. Thanks so much for your reply. I am attaching a picture to these message of how they look. Look at that brown spots in the fizzy and also my print in the center. Also the grainy look. I also thought of the mold thing. Couldnt be the cornstarch getting rancid???

These were fabricated 4 days ago. They were done using just witch hazel as the binder. The recipe was:
2 tz Baking Soda
½ tz Cornstarch
½ tz Epsom Salts
1 tz Citric Acid
5 tbs Almond Oil
3 tsp Essential Oil
WItch Hazel

After I took them out of the mold like 6 hours from being fabricated I put them in a ziploc bag. I saw the bag inflated like 3 times and opened it to release the gas inside.

The weird thing is that the ones sitting free without container are ok, the ones in an airtight container are getting bad

Well I always let mine sit longer to cure before placing them in a container. I think that is part of it. I do not see cornstarch getting rancid, so no, I don't think that is it. I really think it is the moisture. So allow them to cure longer or even put them into a low temp oven, 170 F/warm setting and get them really dry before putting into your containers. Do stay away from the water though, that is never good for anything without a preservative.

Also, I think that is a LOT of oil for such a small batch of bath bombs. I would cut back on that too, but that is your choice of course. Try just curing them longer and see how that does before tinkering with your recipe.

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Hi Tammy, thanks so much for your help.
I know it´s a lot of oil in it, but the luxurious feeling in the skin when you get out of the tub is just wonderful
I will try first to let them dry more time before getting them in a container.
Let me try one more time and I will tell you it goes with your recommendations. Hope this solves my problem

Melina

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

I made another small batch, with witch hazel only and let them dry through the night. They got out of the mold beautiful. In the morning they had brown spots again and looking weird I really think the oils are the problem here with this high temperatures and high humidity.

I thought of something else..... Thanks so much Linda for the help on this. I made some small bath melts. I included a piece in the center of my bath fizzy. I used the basic fizzy recipe, without added oils, just the basic stuff. They oils go inside in the solid melt. Lets see how this goes They came out rock hard from the molds, harder that my other batches with oils. Lets see if they get brown spots tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help Tammy and Linda, I really appreciate it.

Melina

Good luck! I hope the browns spots have been banished.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

Yes, it is entirely possible that you are just using way too much oil for your humidity level. I like your ingenuity in mixing the two products. I hope it works for you! Good luck!! If not, you may just want to make them separate and use both in one bath. More than one way to skin a cat, as they say!

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

The brown spots are probably due to the fragrance oil u are using. If there is a high vanilla content it can start turning brown.