guppygirl Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 So I had to try GM in my basic cp recipe... and not adding powdered at trace, noooooo, that would have been too easy. Had to go to the store & buy fresh, then freeze. Well, I wanted to use 1/2 GM for the water, so I mixed up the lye with 1/2 the water amount. I'm thinking it didn't mix in all the way?? Maybe? I know I saw a thread about a film on lye solution, but this was beyond film - there was sediment on the bottom. I swear I mixed and mixed and for a change of pace, mixed some more! Still, I plodded on... strained the lye solution with cheesecloth & poured over the frozen GM. Stayed a nice creamy white. Mixed with my oils - great, little white floaties - wtf are those?? ... still a beautiful creamy white. I didn't bother insulating as I didn't want gelling to discolor it, but still in the back of my mind I'm thinking "make sure it gels, you never know with that funky lye mixture!" 12hrs later after it's nice & cool (still white), I think, "let's stick it in the oven & see what happens." Why? Why did I put on my thinking cap tonight?So here's what happened (no, nothing horrible, just not quite so pretty anymore)It's much more ivory now, though it's tough to see with the flash. It is discolored all around the edges, kinda like it's gelling from the outside in. It's kinda dry on top too where the darker areas are. Gee, can't wait to zap test this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michi Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 Ok after reading all of that, I'm not sure what's wrong???? From the pic. it looks fine to ME, maybe just needs to be cleaned up on the top a bit, but I'm definitely not seeing a problem with it. ????Is it scented? Every time someone talks about using milk in their soaps, I think, "oooh I bet that's sooo creamy" so is it??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenniejr Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 Ok after reading all of that, I'm not sure what's wrong???? From the pic. it looks fine to ME, maybe just needs to be cleaned up on the top a bit, but I'm definitely not seeing a problem with it. ????Is it scented? Every time someone talks about using milk in their soaps, I think, "oooh I bet that's sooo creamy" so is it???I agree w/ Michi. I don't see anything wrong .... just needs cleaned up a bit.I used goats milk in a batch I did and it turned out soooo creamy. Did yours turn out really creamy? I think you did a fine job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted February 25, 2006 Author Share Posted February 25, 2006 Well, the super discolored parts seem to have gone away & it's really creamy know. I was just whining (and going through wine withdrawal)... I'm just a bit concerned about how the lye solution acted. I just unmolded it & will post pics after I cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CranberryGirl Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Can't wait!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystical_angel1219 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Sounds yummy. Can't wait to see the cut pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaybee23 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 I think it should look fine, so where are the cut pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Girl Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 It looks great to me! Where are the pics? Humm??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted February 26, 2006 Author Share Posted February 26, 2006 Here are cut pics - I'm seeing a handful of orange spots (circled in pic) and there are more that just didn't come out in the pic. Any ideas on what it could be? These were just cut yesterday and still slightly soft since I didn't do a water discount. I used fresh/frozen gm - thought it might be undisolved gm? Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 I think it looks good too but don't know what those spots are. I'm curious to hear what the pros will say. I haven't had any of my GM batches turn out so creamy white as yours. Mine always go dark but I usually use full strenght gm and don't sub out part of it for the water- and one even turned orange because I got in too much of a hurry when adding the gm and it curdeled. It still was a nice soap though. Good job:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Those spots could either be DOS or they could be little bits of burned GM. I think they look really good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaybee23 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 They still look very nice and very creamy, can't help with the orange spots. I am thinking also maybe undisolved goats milk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted February 26, 2006 Author Share Posted February 26, 2006 I was thinking undisolved GM bits since I thought I had heard the DOS occurs later than just 24hrs. It's much more ivory than the pics show. If I hadn't thrown it in the oven it would still be a creamy white. Oh well, on to GM batch #2 now that I've gotten this one under my belt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janis Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 I think it's scorched gm. If you are doing a partial water/gm batch again, try mixing the lye water hours ahead of time so that it is room temp when you add the frozen gm. I think you did a great job for your first gm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystical_angel1219 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Oh it looks so creamy. Great work for your first GM CP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted February 26, 2006 Author Share Posted February 26, 2006 I think I'm gonna do it - full GM! Gotta see what happens. Thanks for all the comments guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Do the good old tongue test to make sure it's not lye. It wouldn't be DOS at this early stage, or it could be the milk!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 When mixing the milk and lye, put the milk into an ice bath, and keep it as cool as possible, adding the lye in small amounts, and very slowly, making sure that it has all disolved before adding more lye. Stiring, stiring, stiring. When finished, leave in the ice bath, as it will continue to heat up. The little white same dots could be the milk cream that has saponified. Not that noticable with goats milk, but very noticable with whole milk. I agree, the orange dots could be the cream that has burnt.The cooler and creamier you can keep your milk/lye solution, the lighter and creamier the colour of the soap. I have put milk soaps in the fridge to gel, and they have turned out beautifully.Most milk soaps though, will darken to a antique cream over time.HTHTracey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 When mixing the milk and lye, put the milk into an ice bath, and keep it as cool as possible, adding the lye in small amounts, and very slowly, making sure that it has all disolved before adding more lye. Stiring, stiring, stiring. When finished, leave in the ice bath, as it will continue to heat up. The little white same dots could be the milk cream that has saponified. Not that noticable with goats milk, but very noticable with whole milk. I agree, the orange dots could be the cream that has burnt.The cooler and creamier you can keep your milk/lye solution, the lighter and creamier the colour of the soap. I have put milk soaps in the fridge to gel, and they have turned out beautifully.Most milk soaps though, will darken to a antique cream over time.HTHTraceyThat helps a lot Tracey - thanks! I was wondering about using an ice bath. Now I'm definitely going to do this one... um, of course I just found a great recipe for goat's milk w/honey & ground oats... it's calling to me LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Don't forget that the combination of both milk and honey, will super heat the soap. Soap as cool as possible, make sure that the honey is well incorporated, other the soap will sweat brown honey droplets, or separate during gel. Don't insulate the soap, and even consider putting in the fridge for a few days and let gel there.Should be a good soap.Let us know how it turns out.Tracey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppygirl Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Don't forget that the combination of both milk and honey, will super heat the soap. Soap as cool as possible, make sure that the honey is well incorporated, other the soap will sweat brown honey droplets, or separate during gel. Don't insulate the soap, and even consider putting in the fridge for a few days and let gel there.Should be a good soap.Let us know how it turns out.TraceyThanks for the tips - I did end up doing all GM w/honey and threw it in the fridge for a few hours after I poured it. Put the GM in an ice bath before I added the lye too. There are pics right under this post (CP oatmeal, GM & honey) to show how it turned out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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