Does CP smell bad?

[kdmorgan]

OK..I made my first CP soap today and I think it smells strange (I used candlescience honeydew melon). I can smell the FO but I can also smell what the oil/lye mixture smelled like before the FO was added. I hope that made sense.

[Jcandleattic]

Wait until the it completely cures, and that oily lye smell should dissapate and you should just be able to smell the FO scent.

[kdmorgan]

Wait until the it completely cures, and that oily lye smell should dissapate and you should just be able to smell the FO scent.

So it is normal to have this strange smell to it or did I do something wrong?

[CareBear]

Sometimes I get a strange odor - and the odor can vary, I've even several times noticed an "over-ripe" fishy note. It goes away.

[Carriegsxr6]

It depends on what type of oils you use. Some have a stronger scent than others, plus shea butter can be stinky too.

[doris]

If it smells "bad" as opposed to just having a smell, maybe one of your oils went bad.

[thecandlespastore]

It could also be that you 1. Did not use enough FO per pound of oils, or you did not make the soap correctly. Give it a few days and see how it smells then.

[Meridith]

It could also be the FO. Some FOs will morph on you and end up smelling horrible in the soap. Sometimes the scent can come back but some FOs just don't like CP.

[heirloomoriginals]

Lard is another stinky oil.

Steph

[kdmorgan]

Thanks you for all of your replies. I really appreciate the help.

Carebear...It IS a fishy smell! I hope it goes away. It's been around 28 hrs since I poured it. How long does it usually take?

Doris...I don't think the oils are bad because I just bought them but I've never bought oils before so if they came that way I wouldn't know. They don't have a "bad" smell in the bottle.

Candlespa LOL...Not making it right is probably what happened but I hope not .

Meredith...I don't know if it morphed or not, it's my first but I can still smell the FO separate from the fishy smell so I hope that's a good sign.

I added 1oz/pp of FO and the oils were Palm/coconut/apricot kernal/castor

Thanks again everyone!!!

[eugenia]

If oils are bad they smell like stinky socks; you would know, LOL.

[CareBear]

The smell goes away in a couple of days. If your oils were bad you would have figured that out when you were measuring them out - ewww!

[kdmorgan]

I wanted to post a picture so you could see it. I had someone ask me if it was ricing but I didn't notice anything strange when I poured it. Is this something you would see before or after your pour.

[CareBear]

Could be, but it could also be small bubbles...? My SB used to do that till I put the Evil Oster to rest and got a Braun...

Full scale ricing is hard to miss, though sometimes I catch it starting as I'm pouring into the mold and my soap gets "grainy" like very fine applesauce. Even then I typically get a good soap albeit with a slightly odd appearance.

[Michi]

I think what it may be is that FO you used just may be a lighter scent, so therefore you are still smelling the oils through it. If you try that FO again, maybe up it just a bit-1/4 ounce??

I've had some FO's where I know I could have upped the amount used-even after curing I could smell the FO but could still smell that "cp oil scent".

Since you can still smell the true scent of the FO, we know it didn't morph (I've had this happen and boy did it change the scent!).

And since you didn't smell anything stinky about your oils/butters beforehand, you can be pretty sure there is nothing wrong with them.

Doesn't look like it riced on you, as it seems to be pretty smooth all over.

Overall, it looks like a very good bar of soap!

You should be proud of that baby!!

[tychels]

Some of mine smell that was at first and some have that "fishy" smell but it goes away..

Sharon

[Crafty1_AJ]

Yup, give it a bit of time. Fresh soap and cured soap are two different animals sometimes (scent-wise). Congrats on your soap!

[kdmorgan]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. I really appreciate it :highfive: . It still smells fishy but at least I know theres still hope!

[topofmurrayhill]

Lately I noticed a strange odor thing going on with my second soap.

If you handle the center of the bar where more of the moisture is evaporating out, you get a faint film on your fingers that smells slightly acrid, especially after a minute or so. All the oils that went into the batch smelled fine 2 or 3 weeks ago. There's no zap, the bars themselves smell awesome and the shavings work great.

Based on this thread, maybe it's not a cause for concern. Hopefully it'll cure out over time...?

[Peachdream]

I can still remember my first batch. It was HP and the oil smell was quite prominent which freaked me out a bit too. I find particularly soaps high in olive smell the strangest to me. Just as everyone else has said, it goes away in the following weeks as it cures. Welcome to the addiction!

[Crafty1_AJ]

Yes, you've got some serious chemical reactions happening in there, particularly in the first few days after you pour. Hang tough; reserve judgment until it's been curing a few weeks.

However, having said that -- if it still smells weird after a couple months, you may have a stinker of a morphing fo on your hands. Or perhaps your nose is just sensitive to certain soapy smells? Some folks' noses pick up on things that others can't even smell. So I'd check with a few other people who will give you an honest opinion about what they smell.