Teach Soap

I just cut my 2nd batch of soap today!! I scented this one with ylang-ylang, vanilla, lavender and a tish of lemon essential oils. I also ground dried red clover into a powder and added that at trace. I chopped a little up for the top too.

So my question is this...my first batch did not gell. Same recipe...different fragrances. Everything else I did exactly the same except the 1st batch I added lye to oils at 100 degrees and 2nd batch at 110.
Does that 10 degrees make the difference between gelling and no gelling? Or do you think the frangrance was to blame??

Here's a bar from the 2nd batch.

10 degrees should not make a difference. Ambient room temp can effect soap and so can different molds. Some molds hold heat better then others. If you used different fragrances, then yes, that could also be the culprit.

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

Could be either the fragrance as Ylang ylang is a floral but that is VERY pretty soap regardless.

I don't usually pay much attention to if my soaps gel or not. Some do and some don't. I just watch for signs of overheating in the ones that have spicy, very sweet or floral scents as those are the ones that tend heat up. If it looks like they are moving fast I put them in the freezer to avoid a mess on the counter. Congrats, that's beautiful soap!

Thank you!! I'm really starting to get hooked!

Sounds like it must have been the frangrance. The room temp and the molds were the same for both batches. This one gelled and the top cracked just a little so next time I might stick them right into the freezer. Although watching the gell process was pretty cool too.

There is certainly nothing wrong with gelling. I prefer the coloring of it myself. Anyway, the cracking means that it began to overheat. If you have your mold insulated and it begins to overheat, usually it just takes uncovering it. If you didn't have it covered or insulated, then you can move it to a cooler room, put it in the fridge or the freezer.

Certainly some eo's and fo's heat more than others, just like some accelerate trace. It doesn't make them unusable, it just means that you have to be a little more cautious when using them. Speaking of which, I hope that you are being careful and double checking the usage rates of your scents (eo's/fo's).

Not sure about how much vanilla you used, but it will probably change the color of your soap, at least to some degree. So make sure to take pictures of this soap every week so that you can see what amount of vanilla does what. It is pretty interesting.

Your soap looks great, congrats and welcome to the addiction!

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

Tammy

Thanks Tammy!

It started to gell at about 2 hours and as soon as I saw it was starting to crack I uninsulated it and turned fan on over it. So I caught it before it got too bad I think.
Are there any advantages to gelling other than appearance?

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

Do some each way and see what you like best. I actually do some each way, but I do most gelled, as that is my favorite. It is all experimentation and personal preference.
Enjoy the journey~

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

Tammy