What the...? Funky soap

[donna4909]

Was playing with a new recipe, and a new FO, and had some weird problems come up. When I cut it yesterday, I noticed the funky little white specks. The today I looked at it again, it's developed some nasty looking brown swirlies in it. I didn't use any colorant, but the FO is a light orange color. It was mixed very thoroughly.

The FO I used was Blueberry/Mulberry, and I didn't think it had vanilla in it. Here is the recipe I was using:

Lard 39%

Coconut Oil 20%

Peanut Oil 30%

Shea Butter 5%

Cocoa Butter 5%

Stearic Acid 1%

I'm guessing the white flecks could be because of too much stearic, but I have no clue on the brown swirls. They only developed after the soap was cut. So anyway, here's the pic... some pretty nasty looking soap:

[Carrie]

Was it at a thick trace when you poured it. I get some wierd swirls in my soap when I pour at thick trace.

Sorry, that's my only guess.

[donna4909]

Nope, I stir by hand, so I never even see a thick trace. This was poured at thin trace.

I keep meaning to buy a stick blender, but never seem to have the cash... :undecided

[Crafty1_AJ]

Wow, it makes me sad to think that you don't have a stick blender! LOL I tried hand-stirring a batch or two and about killed myself bringing it to trace. Decided sb's were worth their weight in gold to soapmakers.

I would say you'll have an easier time getting a smoother emulsion with a sb, and less color variation too. But I think your soap will be fine if you just make sure it doesn't zap!

Happy soaping!

Edited to add: I've heard some soapers get a steal of a deal on sb's at garage sales. Also sometimes after Christmas clearance sales can yield some good deals on them. I think I paid full price for mine though, and it was about $12 at Wal-Mart if memory serves. HTH

[tootie04]

I bought mine from the GoodWill for 5.00 .

Patricia

[SheilaW]

And when you buy one you really should buy a back up also:p

Nothing like getting in the middle of a batch of soap and it dies on you:shocked2:

[Crafty1_AJ]

Ummmm....I have *two* back up sb's. Yes, I'm twisted ... I know.

Oh yeah, forgot about Goodwill or other thrift shops. A lot of times you find them there still in the package, brand new, unused!

[slow-burn]

Wally world has one for 9.99 Not sure how to help ya on the soap....maybe the cocoa butter?

[donna4909]

I would say you'll have an easier time getting a smoother emulsion with a sb, and less color variation too.

Well, I normally do fine with my whisk (it just takes forever) and sometimes I use the hand mixer. I've never had a color variation like this. It was perfectly mixed when poured and cut. I'm thinking it might just be the FO acting up. I hope so, because I really like this recipe. I am going leave out the stearic next time though.

I've killed my "hobby" budget for the week, but I always seem to do that. I got several new FOs and some Select Shades to play with. Maybe I'll get a stickblender next week. I kinda like doing soap by hand though. I always have plenty of time to work with it, and I've never had soap on a stick.

[Bunny]

Check out the ketchen section of the goodwill. I picked up 2 for 1.99 each! Very easy on the budget. I still refuse to use my kitchen aid stickblender.. It's all clean and still in the box!

[Suzanne]

Check out the ketchen section of the goodwill. I picked up 2 for 1.99 each! Very easy on the budget. I still refuse to use my kitchen aid stickblender.. It's all clean and still in the box!

Send the kitchen aid stickblender this way!!! I'm wearing out stickblenders like crazy (just 3). LOL They held up fine with smaller batches, but the larger batches are really strainin them.

Donna: I think your soaps look fine. They have that "homemade" look to them that people like.

[Bunny]

I can't do that! She's my unused pride and joy!

I think I'm a stickblender freak, here's my favorite one. It's superpowerful though, not for small batches at all. It'll bring it to trace in less than 1 minute, as compared to 10-15 minutes with my normal stickblender. And the attachments rock too!

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2443178

[Suzanne]

I can't do that! She's my unused pride and joy!

I think I'm a stickblender freak, here's my favorite one. It's superpowerful though, not for small batches at all. It'll bring it to trace in less than 1 minute, as compared to 10-15 minutes with my normal stickblender. And the attachments rock too!

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2443178

Yes!! Now this one is more negotiable with dh. LOL!! Thank you!!

[donna4909]

They have that "homemade" look to them that people like.

But I don't like that look. *lol* I want them to look smooth and somewhat even like my last batch.

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13751

[Suzanne]

I see what ya mean Donna. Those other soaps of yours are very pretty too. Maybe, if you wanted to sell them with the rest of your soaps, package them uniquely. I've seen, in the gallery, some really cute wrapping/packaging people have done to their soaps that make them look entirely different.

[Crafty1_AJ]

Donna, forgive me for not going back and reading your original post, but did you mention whether or not the soap gelled? Could it have possibly overheated in the mold? I get some funny looking soap sometimes when it's gone bonkers HOT in the mold.

[Rebecca_IA]

Donna, what about the temps of the oils and lye solution when you mixed them? Sorry if you've posted this already and I missed it.

[Rebecca_IA]

I'm guessing here, because I don't know all the facts (and if I don't answer now, I'm going to forget).

I've never seen too much stearic alone cause a problem like this. You only added 1% of the stearic acid and overall you have 11% stearic fatty acid in this batch. I've used much higher SA and had much higher overall SFA %'s in my recipe and not gotten this effect.

#1 - Did you discount your water at all? Too steep of a discount and your lye might not all dissolve. If it zaps after a week, and you are sure you used the correct numbers, rebatch it and it'll be fine.

#2 - This is what I think happened. The temps of your melted oils/butters were too low and some of the solid oils started to solidify. If your oils/butters are on the cooler side and your lye solution is still hot enough, you are usually okay. But if both are too cool, sometimes you don't get a good enough blending of the oils/butters and lye solution and end up with spots exactly like this (because there isn't enough heat produced when mixing the two together to "remelt" the butters that started to solidify). For the butters in this batch, I would soap it around 105 and definitely no lower than 95 degrees with my lye being within 5-10 degrees. Plus, if this batch didn't gel, the problem will be more apparent.

Test it in a week and make sure there is not bite to it and it should be fine.

[donna4909]

*lol* I zap tested yesterday, yes a little to soon, but I needed to know if the lye was a problem. No zap whatsoever.

My water was 9.5 oz, and lye was 4.2 oz. I had 30 oz of oils.

I did this just as regular CP, which I've never done before. I always do CPOP to ensure gel, but I did this batch in a pringles can wrapped in a towel. I don't know if it gelled or not because you can't really "peek" in a pringles can so I just left it alone. I know it was extremely soft when I unmolded it the next day.

I didn't check the temp when I mixed the oils/lye water, but I'm almost positive that the oils were cooler than the lye. I usually check my temps, but I didn't on this one because I was in somewhat of a rush... Both the oils and lye were probably too hot for standard soaping range.

The scent is also morphing somewhat. It has a weird kinda icky smell underneath the berry scent, and the brown swirls are still spreading. I'm beginning to think it might have overheated and burned the oils or FO. It almost smells like rotten fruit... ick! Off to the trash it goes.

Oh, I'll take some more pics before I throw it away.

Here is how it looks today:

Nasty, huh?