Teach Soap

Hello. I guess I'm just curious what other people out there think about this..
I recently bought a Blooming Tulips FO that according to the seller was a breeze to CP soap with and supposedly had rave reviews. Well, a while back I tried some of it in a GM soap and it went terribly wrong and curdled the soap immediately. Well since I'm still somewhat new to soap I thought maybe it was just because of it being a GM soap with a floral FO. So, I wanted to try it again in one of my tried and true shea butter veggie oil recipes. I have never had any problems with either of these recipes, and sure enough with this second attempt, the soap curdled up with small white lumps immediately after adding the FO. As soon as it hit the soap it turned ugly and lumpy.

So, I know that I'm not going to give this horrible FO any more tries. It has already costs me two batches of soap. After the first bad experience I sent a polite email to the seller and simply asked about the FO. I was basically blown off which bothered me considering that I have spent several hundred dollars at this store. I'm not sure if I should bother contacting the seller again or not. If nothing else I just want people to be aware that it may be a tricky FO to use.
Any thoughts on this? Should I expect anything at all from the seller? Is it safe to use the soap as is with the whitish lumps?
I appreciate all of your input. Thank you

I'd say email the company one more time, saying you gave it another chance. Referencing the other time you tried to get info, but were blown off. After you're older and wiser, tried it again giving them the benefit of the doubt, and you still have the same problem. With a recipe that you KNOW is solid, and has not reacted in that way with other FO from other companies. And unfortunately, you can't recommend their business with confidence to fellow soapers.

And then, you PM me so I can avoid them!

(just kidding on that last part...kind of...)

I just made a batch yesterday and had the same problem with a FO that I ordered from another company other than Brambleberry. It too caused quick clumping after trace. I glopped it into the mold. Is this okay soap or is it toast? I'll stick to Brambleberry from now on, I haven't had any problems with any of their fragrances.

Try soaping at room temp, add the FO to your oils before adding the lye water. That might help. If not, try adding 1 tsp. of lecithin for each lb. of oils.

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

I agree with Vinca - give the company the benefit of the doubt and try contacting them again. Surely, they wouldn't want this to happen to other soaping customers.

And, PM me, too. I'm curious about the vendor.

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

thanks for all of the replies so far...i think I am going to send another email to the seller to see what they say. I'm hoping it goes well, but I'm kinda pessimistic about that.
spottedcat...i am also kind of confused about what to do with the lumpy soap....I just unmolded and cut this blooming tulips batch this afternoon and you can see lumps and there is some very minor, barely noticable seepage coming from them. The soap overall is purple in color but you can still see some of the whiteish lumps. It doesn't really look too bad, just a bit unusual in areas. I ph tested several areas of the bars and even tried putting the ph strips directly on the seepage areas. Everything read 9.0 ...
does this mean it's okay to use? just not something to hand out to others perhaps?

soapbuddy, thanks for the idea...is that something you do with most of your floral FOs?

If it's lumpy, it could be solidified oils or undissolved lye. For safety sake, I would rebatch. I would not hand this out to anyone.
I just looked to see where this FO came from. That company is not always prompt about replying to emails.
PH strips don't always tell you the whole story. That seepage could be the fragrance and you would still get a PH of around 9.

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

hi sheep - i'm new to soapmaking, only do this for a hobby. I'll cut mine tomorrow and check it out. I have no idea if you can use this soap or not? anyone?

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

thank you soapbuddy...so if I rebatch soap that has curdled it should be fine afterwards? I've never rebatched anything before. Will the soap look the same after rebatching? Or will everyone go..".eww rebatched soap".....? LOL I appreciate all of your help

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

that lumping/clumping from the FO is called ricing.

Sometimes the ricing is minimal, just tiny little granules. Sometimes it turns the FO into a solid mass.

There are several ways to deal with this..... or atleast, this is how I, personally, deal with ricing, depending on the severity.

You can frontload your fo.......add it to the oils and fix it in real good before adding your lye water. This will greatly lessen the shock to the FO when the lye water hit hits it because it's been "diluted".

If it's an FO that does not cause acceleration, you can hit it with the stick blender and the lumps will blend right on out.

Your batch, yes, it can be rebatched!! I avoid having to do that at all costs, but what's the alternative? throwing it out? You cant throw out soap, that's like sacriledge or something.....lol

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Steph
www.cajuncauldron.com

thank you all so much...soapbuddy..I will be trying to rebatch this batch for sure..
naturescauldron..thank you so much for the helpful info..I wasnt completely sure what you call it when the soap lumps up like that...I've just been saying what it looked like...lol..like curdled cottage cheese...yuck.
I dont know that I have any willingness left to try this FO a 3rd time , but I do like the idea of adding it to the oils first... I'm just regretting buying this FO in the larger 4 oz bottle. I dont know why I did that without trying it first...GRR.. I know better than that...

I sent an email to the seller and am just waiting to see if they respond.

Some sellers have a customer base that is more focused on M&P or candles, so you might very well find a fragrance that doesn't work in soap. I've had hit-or-miss results with that particular supplier.

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http://www.magichandsworkshop.com
http://www.magichands.etsy.com
http://www.magichandsworkshop.blogspot.com

okay...sorry but I have a rant to share for anyone interested .....here is the update on my last email.. I got an email response soon afterwards that said to call them at their warehouse. Before I could even call I got a voice message from the companys owner, which shocked me. When I got that message I was so happy to see the follow through on their part but then when I called her back it was almost as if she was upset that I actually called her back. It was a very awkward, uncomfortable experience that ended up leaving me feeling somewhat like a scorned child.
When she left a message for me she seemed happy and eagar to talk to me, even willing to talk about my recipes but then when I called she kept saying kind of rude things about how I must be inexperienced and no one else is having problems ect ect. She said she didnt know what I was doing wrong and that she just simply did not know what to tell me. This was only about 2 minutes into the conversation so I offered to share my recipe because I thought, based on her voicemail, that the intent was to actually talk to me about my recipes. She made an audible sigh over the phone and was like ..okay ..go ahead i guess. I started listing the ingredients in grams and she was like..ugh..i dont know what to do.. ..I dont do my recipes in grams...
I was very polite all the way through and told her that I was not trying to make any accusations or anything like that, but I was just excited and appreciative of her willingness to talk to me. I explained that I was just trying to figure out what was going on and asked her how she would reccommend using her floral FOs. She didnt really tell me anything useful. I could tell she was trying very hard to be nice, but in the end she did not come across well AT ALL and I'm not a very happy customer thats for sure.