Crystala25 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Someone sent the soap fairies to me and they caused a bunch of trouble over the weekend. I made 7 batches of soap of which only 3 came out right. I've made these soaps before, same recipes, same scents and I have no idea what happened.1st - Sandalwood Vanilla (bb), it riced.2nd - Blue Sugar (js), went crumbly.3rd - Mango Papaya (peaks), after I unmolded and cut it, there were lye pockets inside.4th - Mojito Cocktail (js), I had green swirls inside, but the rest turned a poop yellow color, with a slight red tint on top?Asian Spice, Lavender Vanilla and Yuzu came out perfect!I'm wondering, besides the soap fairies messing around, if the cold weather has anything to do with my soaping. I usually only make my soap on warmer days, but even with the cold this weekend decided to soap anyways. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Well my theory is fairies lol, who will return to the outdoors when it gets warmer. A few things actually ... did you look for reviews on those scents? Take any kind of water discount and maybe shouldn't have? Are you using colorant for soap as there's some stuff out there that's just funky. Sounds like the Mango Papaya did a false trace on you. The ricing ... was always told to beat through it to tame the beast. The JS stuff? Can't answer that as I don't use her stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystala25 Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 I agree, I think the soap fairies are to blame, there's no other explanation, lol. I did search for reviews and those were scents that were reviewed as good in cp. I've soaped all of them before with no problems. As for water discount, my discount is always at 5%, I never change it.The colorants I use are micas from brambleberry, there the only ones I use. I did try to use a hand mixer to beat through the seizing of the sandalwood vanilla, but I think I made it worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Have you had any problems with your scale, or did you measure your lye differently in any way (like directly into the water?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Have you had any problems with your scale, or did you measure your lye differently in any way (like directly into the water?).Why would measuring the lye directly into the water make a difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Why would measuring the lye directly into the water make a difference?Sounded like just possibly too much lye could have gotten into these batches so I was thinking about a scale problem I've seen that could cause it to happen.Some scales try to give you more a stable reading by interpreting very small changes in weight as "noise" and canceling it out. So if you did something different that required pouring lye more slowly, it could fail to register all the weight and make you to put in too much. In a case like this where the soaper has a good handle on what they're doing, I figure maybe look for something tricky that you wouldn't suspect.Otherwise it doesn't matter which way you do it. Weighing lye dry can make you underweigh a little because it gets heavier as you work with it. Weighing it into the water can make you overweigh a little because the solution is losing weight to the air as you pour. Either way it's not enough to throw you off by much. But a cranky scale can throw you off by a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystala25 Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Same scale, it's been working fine for everything else. I measure my lye dry, then add it to the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Fairies. I don't use a hand mixer, so I'm thinking that's incorporating air into the mix. How about a stick blender? I hate rice (except to eat lol), so I know it's not fun to work through. If you're familiar with the scents and colorant, I'm stumped. Maybe add that 5% water back in on the batch that rices (when/if you make it again.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystala25 Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Scented, it is a stick blender, I just call it a hand mixer, just a habit. Thanks for trying to help me out everyone. Not sure what happened. I think I might try rebatching, although rebatching and me is a whole other story, lol. The mojito cocktail isn't bad just ugly, so I'll keep that batch for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Why is it I think Eugenia soaped Mango Papaya? You might check with her just in case and she might have some help to offer if she has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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