Need Help - M&P soap has water beads

[LynnCo]

Hi everyone! I'm sort of new, been a lurker for quite some time. :wave:

I have been making melt & pour soap for a few years now. I have an idea of what might be causing this problem, but I would like some expert advice.

After my soap sits around a couple of weeks some of my soap (not all) starts to get water beads on it. It's like peach fuzz all over the soap. It seems to happen to the clear soap that I use. I'm not sure I ever saw it happen to the white. I use Life of the Party base. I think it might be one of 2 things.

1 - The soap base has too much water in it. I went to their site and it says that this may happen because glycerin soap has a high water content. (well they should fix their base if this may spontaneously happen!)

OR

2 - I added too much fragrance. How much should i be adding? I asked Life of the Party and they say it is a personal preference, they like to add "a lot" so no help there. They are horrible!

Like I said it doesn't happen all the time. I am beginning to sell my soap and am so afraid that this might happen after I ship them out to one of my customers.

Please help. Maybe I should switch bases???

[prairieannie]

Hi everyone! I'm sort of new, been a lurker for quite some time. :wave:

I have been making melt & pour soap for a few years now. I have an idea of what might be causing this problem, but I would like some expert advice.

After my soap sits around a couple of weeks some of my soap (not all) starts to get water beads on it. It's like peach fuzz all over the soap. It seems to happen to the clear soap that I use. I'm not sure I ever saw it happen to the white. I use Life of the Party base. I think it might be one of 2 things.

1 - The soap base has too much water in it. I went to their site and it says that this may happen because glycerin soap has a high water content. (well they should fix their base if this may spontaneously happen!)

OR

2 - I added too much fragrance. How much should i be adding? I asked Life of the Party and they say it is a personal preference, they like to add "a lot" so no help there. They are horrible!

Like I said it doesn't happen all the time. I am beginning to sell my soap and am so afraid that this might happen after I ship them out to one of my customers.

Please help. Maybe I should switch bases???

I've used that base waaaaaaay back when. They used to sell it at JoAnn's don't know if they still do or not. Anyway, it sounds like your soap is sweating. Probably a humidity issue, but none of us can agree completely on what exactly causes it. My best suggestion is for you to try a low sweat base. They sell SFIC low sweat bases in both clear and white at Peak's. www.peakcandle.com It's goood stuff if you have the sweating problems which a lot of people seem to encounter especially during the this time of year, although it can happen anytime if the humidity is high I think. Don't know where you live, but there is another company that sells my absolute favorite MP soap base and it's here: www.essentialsbycatalina.com. They are in California. I have never had a single problem with their soap base sweating on me.. but it's pretty non humid around here for the most part.

The other thing you can do is sit them out on a table and put a fan by them allowing them to get good and aired out. You can wipe the water beads off with a paper towel too, it shouldn't hurt anything. Once they are aired out, be sure you store them in a very cool and dry place if there is one available.

[LovelyLathers]

Welcome to CT, Glad you came out of lurkdom! I found that wrapping them as soon as they are set up helped a lot with them sweating. I used deli wrap that you pull tight, I found that to work the best.

[Di_in_AZ]

I got this suggestion off another board and it works great--DampRid. I take a plastic container and layer my soap in there, separated by wax paper but not completely covering each layer--and put a containter of DampRid in there. It is usually around $2.75, I know it is available at Walgreens. It sucks up the humidity and keeps the bars dry.

We are in monsoon season here and have extremely high humidity some days and this has worked a charm for me.

[MochaMama]

Lynn:

Not sure if I can add anything to these wonderfully thorough responses, but I recommend the wrapping.

As for the FO, it depends on what FO you are using. WSP recommends @ 1-2% while Bittercreek % is a little higher.

So it would help if you checked out the FO manufacturer.

PrairieAnne - I am totally going to check out Catalina's bases. I thought I was a SFIC gal for life, but now I've gotta check out that base!!

[LynnCo]

Thanks guys for all of your input. It is greatly appreciated. I guess we will never know exactly what causes this, I may have to change soap bases.

I'm in New Jersey, does anyone recommend someone on the east coast for Melt & Pour base? I order fragrances from Peak, but they are kind of far away to order soap. Shipping would be crazy.

[MochaMama]

Thanks guys for all of your input. It is greatly appreciated. I guess we will never know exactly what causes this, I may have to change soap bases.

I'm in New Jersey, does anyone recommend someone on the east coast for Melt & Pour base? I order fragrances from Peak, but they are kind of far away to order soap. Shipping would be crazy.

Hi Lynn,

I am in NJ also and there is http://www.kycandlewaxsupply.com/, which is in Kentucky. They sell SFIC bases. The Chemistry Store (www.chemistrystore.com) sells Stephenson bases. I have ordered from KY candle supply, but I've found that if I buy more than 50 lbs, it's worth it to buy from www.wisterialane.com even though they are in CA. Wisteria Lane sells SFIC bases. (I have not yet ordered from them, but they give you speedy responses on the email.)

Good luck - it seems like my fav. suppliers are on the other coast!

[DosGardenias23]

PrairieAnnie, do you have an ingredient list for the goats milk base from Essentials by Catalina? I can't find ingredients on the site, and I emailed to ask them but haven't heard back yet. I've been using SFIC, which I like, but I'd like to check this other base out too...

Sarah

[prairieannie]

PrairieAnnie, do you have an ingredient list for the goats milk base from Essentials by Catalina? I can't find ingredients on the site, and I emailed to ask them but haven't heard back yet. I've been using SFIC, which I like, but I'd like to check this other base out too...

Sarah

I don't! I don't use the goat milk base.. I add fresh goat milk to their regular white base!

I don't think at the moment I even have an ingredient list for their regular base.. I always take it out and cut it up as soon as I get it so I can store it for easy access. I use SFIC sometimes too. Still like my EBC best, but SFIC is good base.

[MochaMama]

Lynn:

I just discovered something this morning. My mp soap has lots of water beads also, which it did not have when I made some other soap three weeks ago. It is so humid here in Jersey and the glycerin content of the soap just loves that humidity!

I am going to take di's suggestion on using Damp rid as well as crank up the dehumidifier in my basement. Other than that, we can just wait till this hurricane season breaks.

[LynnCo]

Out of curiosity, was it a clear or opaque soap that it happend to? It seems that only my clear base does it and I was wondering if was the same for you.

I'm trying to use a fan on some new soaps that I poured. Hopefully that helps. Fall is coming soon, so things should get better.

Lynn:

I just discovered something this morning. My mp soap has lots of water beads also, which it did not have when I made some other soap three weeks ago. It is so humid here in Jersey and the glycerin content of the soap just loves that humidity!

I am going to take di's suggestion on using Damp rid as well as crank up the dehumidifier in my basement. Other than that, we can just wait till this hurricane season breaks.