Teach Soap

Hello everyone,

I’m new to soap making. So far I have made 3 types of soap using the CP, each one successful but all with the same problem – strange smell. The recipes are as follows (I used online calculator):

Soap 1:
Refined pork lard – 1.2 kg.
Lye water – 25% - 600 gr. – I buy premixed lye water which is primary used for cleaning the home piping.
Synthetic EO – 20 gr.
Result: fast hardening, hard bars, good cleansing qualities, very strange smell like old fat. I did melt it again and add some extra EO but now you can scent both smells strong.
Possible reason – the soap was drying in a very hot room.

Soap 2:
Palm oil – 300 gr.
Olive oil – 100 gr.
Sunflower oil – 50 gr.
Castor oil – 40 gr.
Almond oil – 30 gr.
Lye water – 12% - 600 gr. (I couldn’t find 25% solution, which resulted in very slow hardening)
Eau de perfume – 20 ml.
I tried some natural colorants which changed their color from red to brown.
Result: slow hardening, soft bars little bit oily, good cleansing qualities, smells like cookies.
The room for this soap was not so hot but still exposed at summer temperatures.

Soap 3:
Palm oil – 350 gr.
Olive oil – 100 gr.
Castor oil – 40 gr.
Almond oil – 20 gr.
Lye water – 25% - 270 gr.
Lemon grass EO – 5%
Food colorants, synthetic – no change in color during CP.
Result: this one is my best, fast hardening, thick consistency, bars with medium hardness, good cleansing qualities, it’s foaming nice, but again problem with the smell.
During the drying the smell of lemon grass was very strong, but when the bars were ready the lemon grass smell was weakened and now you can scent a strange smell of something like oil.

What do you think is the problem here – high temperatures in the drying room, types of fat/oils I used, not enough EO, too much extra fat (I calculated at 5%) or something else?
I’m wondering what would be the smell of the unscented soap?

Thanks

I've never used premixed lye solution, because usually the stuff available here in the U.S. contains other chemicals in it and the bottles don't say exactly how much lye & how much water are in them, so they'd be hard to run through a soap calculator.

Was the pork lard from recipe 1, fresh? If so then you should be okay there. I don't use lard, but I've heard people say that after 4 weeks of cure there is no fat smell. Is synthetic EO the same as fragrance oil?

Recipe # 2's long time to harden, soft soap and oiliness was most likely because there wasn't enough lye water, which created a very high superfat. That one may go rancid.

Recipe #3: EO's tend to fade. At what point in making that batch did you add the EO?

If all the soaps have the same similar strange smell even though they have different ingredients, then most likely the cause is the lye solution.

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Genny

Hi Genny,

Thank you for your answer.

The lye solution I’m buying contains only lye and water, it has now color and smell, although most supermarkets sell products containing lye and bunch of other ingredients – I don’t use these. So far I’m getting trace with no problem.

The lard I bought from supermarket was refined and packaged with snow white color and slight smell of fat. “Rancid” is the right word for the smell of the soap and it’s very strong. On the other hand the bars are very hard and not oily, strange…Synthetic EO I believe is the same as fragrance oil, there was nothing left from it in the final product.

In Recipe #3 I added the EO after trace.

Every soap has different smell. In Recipe #2 and Recipe #3 it’s not so bad but strange. It’s difficult to explain but when you use it you can scent something like oil smell.

Maybe the castor oil and almond oil has something to do with it, they have strange smell.
Or maybe the shortening, I used only palm oil, no coconut butter?

Hi Memo!
I use lard in about half of the soaps I make and it has very little smell at all.
I agree with Genny that your problem may be the lye solution. Is there a way for you to get some lye and mix your own solution? Does the premixed state the lye concentration on the container?

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

Hi Linda,
the lye concentration is written on the container. Do you suppose that if the concentration is not right may be there is extra superfat leading to this smell?
I will buy lye concentrate and try mix it myself, it's just easier if its premixed.
I keep thinking of my last soap, everything went great - trace, coloring, saponification, the aroma after pouring, and after 4 weeks strange smell appeared.
I still have doubts about the hight temperature in the room and the oils I added.
How does the unscented soap smell, or does it smell at all?

Does your soap have any yellowish-orange spots on them?

_________________
Genny

Yes Genny, the first soap has such spots, even inside and the third has some yellow shade at the bottom.

_________________
Genny

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

That's a great hint Genny! After I read about DOS I'm pretty sure that this is the problem I'm facing. One point to avoid DOS is undergoing the soap-curing process in an area with minimal heat and light exposure. All soaps had cured in rooms with high temperature. Another possible reason is more then 5% superfat and not using distilled water (i'm not sure about the water in the solution). Next time I will try to avoid it, 10x for your time on this

Some helpful info I found:

I live in the hot desert. There is no way to avoid higher temps when my soaps cure. I believe humidity plays a factor with DOS. That and using older oils or ones past their expiration date. Some people add anti-oxidants to their oils as soon as they recieve them. You can use Vit E or ROE (Rosemary oleoresin extract) and add one or the other.

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

10x Irena, I will give a try. I also read that coconut soaps don't suffer DOS as much as others, but coconut butter here is sold in small packages at high price and I think it's purpose is direct use on the skin.