KrazeKelly Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Hi All!! I took lots of photos of this batch so I could show you how to deal with separation when you experience it. This particular fragrance is Harvest Ale from WSP. I love the fragrance and so does the Brewery I make this soap for, so I have learned to work with it. This is a beer soap and has ground simcoe hops added. In the end it is much like hot process but with out the crockpot. You just have to be patient. It took nearly an hour for it all to come together. I split off a portion and colored with activated charcoal before it started separating. So don't freak out if this happens to you or run toss it in the crockpot. (unless of course you want too This is the first soap I made using this fragrance. I did not know it separated until I cut the loaf. The oil on top of the loaf should have been my first clue. This is actually the first time I've ever had this happen in 5 yrs. I knew the fragrance misbehaved by reading the reviews but I didn't have any issues. I mixed and poured the bottom portion quickly and left the top portion unscented. Even as I was adding the top portion, the separation was not occurring yet. So I thought I had this one beat. NOT!! This is what separation looks like: I continued stick blending and stirring. Alternating and then letting it rest. This is about 15 mins into it and its starting to get hot. Another 15 or 20s later. I stick blend for a bit and let it sit for a bit. Patience!!! The black started coming together quicker than the uncolored portion. But its not ready yet! Now after a lot of stick blending and stirring and waiting, you start to get to the gel stage, like hot process, and the oils stay blended. Once you get to this part and your oils stay blended, you can start molding. Here it is in the mold and the finished cut bars. I really like the way they turn out in the end. I did two gold mica lines on either side of the black portion. I was afraid it would break apart since it was a pretty heavy mica line but it didn't thankfully!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 What a stinker! have you tried lecithin to help lessen the degree of reaction? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazeKelly Posted October 5, 2016 Author Share Posted October 5, 2016 No I've never heard of using that ! How does it work?? I have a big bottle of it. ? Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Boy you really went after this one. I have had at least one batch that would not come together on me at any point, but it tricked me too. To think it was a mere pumpkin attempt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 1 hour ago, KrazeKelly said: No I've never heard of using that ! How does it work?? I have a big bottle of it. ? Kelly I use lecithin by mixing right with the FO/EO. I whip it, and whip it good, then whip into the liquid oils. It seems to slow many of the chemical reactions down to reasonable levels. Works like a dream With spices and florals for me and one particularly nasty vanilla oak. I started experimenting at 10% lecithin by weight of the FO (1 oz FO X 10% to get lecithin amount.) some I need to go higher with the lecithin (like to 20-25%). I've also had decent luck using egg yolk to slow weird FO. Lecithin is in egg yolk, but the egg yolk also provides extra oomph to lather for non-vegans :). Then an if all else fails, pumpkin purée. I have to stick blend the heck out of my spicy soap made with pumpkin! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazeKelly Posted October 5, 2016 Author Share Posted October 5, 2016 59 minutes ago, TallTayl said: I use lecithin by mixing right with the FO/EO. I whip it, and whip it good, then whip into the liquid oils. It seems to slow many of the chemical reactions down to reasonable levels. Works like a dream With spices and florals for me and one particularly nasty vanilla oak. I started experimenting at 10% lecithin by weight of the FO (1 oz FO X 10% to get lecithin amount.) some I need to go higher with the lecithin (like to 20-25%). I've also had decent luck using egg yolk to slow weird FO. Lecithin is in egg yolk, but the egg yolk also provides extra oomph to lather for non-vegans :). Then an if all else fails, pumpkin purée. I have to stick blend the heck out of my spicy soap made with pumpkin! Awesome! I will try that next time. And I never knew that about egg yolks either. Thank you for that info!! I used fresh pumpkin purée in a few soaps recently but didn't have any issues with them. But I'll definitely keep this info in mind. Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonstar Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 1 hour ago, TallTayl said: I use lecithin by mixing right with the FO/EO. I whip it, and whip it good, then whip into the liquid oils. It seems to slow many of the chemical reactions down to reasonable levels. Works like a dream With spices and florals for me and one particularly nasty vanilla oak. I started experimenting at 10% lecithin by weight of the FO (1 oz FO X 10% to get lecithin amount.) some I need to go higher with the lecithin (like to 20-25%). I've also had decent luck using egg yolk to slow weird FO. Lecithin is in egg yolk, but the egg yolk also provides extra oomph to lather for non-vegans :). Then an if all else fails, pumpkin purée. I have to stick blend the heck out of my spicy soap made with pumpkin! You amaze me !!! How do you know ALL of this stuff - really ! Im always afraid to ask you something for fear of sounding like a total idiot lol ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonstar Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 I bet the Brewery will be super happy ! Gorgeous as usual 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 3 minutes ago, Moonstar said: You amaze me !!! How do you know ALL of this stuff - really ! Im always afraid to ask you something for fear of sounding like a total idiot lol ! Lots and lot of mistakes.... never fear i have probably made the mistake before. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartsong Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Wow, thank you for the info and photos! For some odd reason this has never happened to me before...so the F/O would always be the culprit? The separation appears like greasy applesauce or mashed potatoes...everything was okay until the addition of the F/O? I'm very curious about the egg yolk, too...its a lather booster? Since I make a lot of lard soap, the addition of eggs certainly won't freak out my customers. Exactly how do you incorporated the egg into the batter? Stick blend into F/O, then add to batter? How do you avoid the lye making it into, like scrambled eggs? I must lead a very sheltered life... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazeKelly Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 15 minutes ago, heartsong said: Wow, thank you for the info and photos! For some odd reason this has never happened to me before...so the F/O would always be the culprit? The separation appears like greasy applesauce or mashed potatoes...everything was okay until the addition of the F/O? I'm very curious about the egg yolk, too...its a lather booster? Since I make a lot of lard soap, the addition of eggs certainly won't freak out my customers. Exactly how do you incorporated the egg into the batter? Stick blend into F/O, then add to batter? How do you avoid the lye making it into, like scrambled eggs? I must lead a very sheltered life... Thank you! Yes, normally, it will always be the fragrance oil. And yes, the soap was fine until I added the fragrance. Talltayl will have to help you with the rest. ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 34 minutes ago, heartsong said: Wow, thank you for the info and photos! For some odd reason this has never happened to me before...so the F/O would always be the culprit? The separation appears like greasy applesauce or mashed potatoes...everything was okay until the addition of the F/O? I'm very curious about the egg yolk, too...its a lather booster? Since I make a lot of lard soap, the addition of eggs certainly won't freak out my customers. Exactly how do you incorporated the egg into the batter? Stick blend into F/O, then add to batter? How do you avoid the lye making it into, like scrambled eggs? I must lead a very sheltered life... yep a bit of a lather boost with the fats and proteins in the yolk. I separated the yolk from the white, beat it well, ran it through a sieve to get out any stringy bits. Trying to remember the better method I found. It's been a while. I think I beat it we'll into the liquid oils that were blended with the fragrance. Then added to the pot. the other method was to temper it like making custard using a little of the soap 'batter' at very light trace, whisking to incorporate then adding it back to the main pot. In this case I would have blended the yolk with the fragrance first. I always keep a plastic sieve handy to run e traced soap through for bits that might clump. Note that the first couple of days the soap might have a greenish hue and odd scent. Both fade over a couple of days. Since I figured out the lecithin trick I stopped the yolk. I make mostly vegan soap, but might try the egg one again for funsies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartsong Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 Bless your hearts! Thank you, my dears for all the info! This was a wonderful post, and I love learning new things! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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