Teach Soap

Just want to make sure I have this right. I can count on anything with vanilla to discolor to brown. Is this true for ANY quantity of vanilla, or just a certain percentage? Any other EOs that cause definite browning? I'm in love with the Amber FO from Brambleberry. It has 3.2% vanilla and discolors to dark brown. Amazing that such a small amount of vanilla can cause so much browning, but I don't care. It's awesome!

I understand floral EOs accelerate trace, sometimes to the point of seizing. I think I read that lavender is the exception to that rule, but are there other florals that are well-behaved? How about florals that a newbie should avoid? For now, the slower-moving the fragrance, the better off I'll be.

Personally, I like spicy fragrances and it doesn't appear that they're particularly fussy to work with other than discoloration issues. Have I got that right?

I'm mostly sticking with EOs for now since they seem to be the easiest for a noob like me to work with. Many thanks to Brambleberry for testing EOs and FOs and making the results available online. That's been a huge help.

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Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

Any FO with vanillin in it has the possibility of discoloring anywhere from just an ivory to a dark chocolate brown. Some EO's that are brown will cause your soap to brown as well.

Floral EO's and FO's tend to seize, sometimes rice. Lavender & Rosemary are in the herbal family. Herbals usually play nicely in CP.

Spicy EO's/FO's can accelerate trace and cause overheating.

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Genny

I find the spicy EOs to be the hardest to deal with! I've had way more of them seize than I have forals. I've had seizing, ricing, separation, over heating and volcanoes with spice based EOs. But I've never had one behave well and give me no problems LOL

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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Genny

Ditto that. Cassia (cinnamon) and clove are hard to work with--I often hot process anything with those. One soap I did for a long time as a rebatch, just so I wouldn't have to deal with it.

Lavender tends to cause ash in my recipes.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

Ouch! Glad I asked. Figures my spicy favorites would end up being problem children. So how does adding fragrance straight away to the base oils make a difference in how it behaves? I was thinking florals might do better adding right before molding to get a little extra design time. Does that reasoning not apply to spicy EO/FOs as well?

Another dumb question. When soap seizes, does that mean it's going through gel phase right under the blender or just that it's setting up so fast that you can't play with it? Does it warn you by heating up before it seizes? No doubt I'll get to experience that joy myself soon enough, but I want to understand what's going on and what to look for. I'm worse than a two-year-old. I have to know WHY.

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Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

I add any scent to my cooled off oils, then stick blend. This gives a better chance that you won't end up with fragrance pockets. When a soap seizes, it turns into a soap on a stick. That's not gelling, that's setting up super duper quick. If that's the case, it is best to either let it gel right in the pot or hot process it. You don't want to end up with lye pockets.

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

And no matter how much prep you do ahead of time, you will always be shocked and stumped when it does seize. It's not fun but it is workable.

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Haven

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist