lovemylabs Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 We've been getting our Safflower at local stores (LouAna) and we just finished off our supply of the Unrefined Shea Butter we ordered from one of the co-ops. So, we decided to order from Columbus Foods since we're producing more soap. (We HP and use Quiet Girls recipe, which is awesome. We've always had wonderful results with this recipe and no problems.) Suddenly, our soap is softer. We haven't changed anything about our process; temps, other ingredients...nothing. The only change is the Safflower and Shea Butter from Columbus Foods. We are questioning EVERYTHING. I'm am so confused by this. I did research and it appears there shouldn't be any difference in the Safflower or the Shea and the results should be the same. Has anyone else experience any issues? Any ideas what it could possibly be? I'm goin' crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I have experienced differences in one brand compared to another. Just had this happen with Manteca lard. I usually get mine at Walmart but this past week bought a tub from Giant and it was definitely different. In this case the lard was softer and grainier. But so far I have not noticed any changes in the soap quality.If the soap is soft just wait for it to harden up. I have some soaps that take 2-3 weeks to get hard enough they won't leave finger imprints. If thats all you have to worry about its not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemylabs Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Some of these soaps have been sitting for about three weeks now. I can press my finger into some pretty easily. Never had that happen before after sitting for so long. I wasn't sure if there was some difference in the Unrefined Shea Butter (as Cols Foods Shea Butter looks very fine and the Shea from the board I believe was the Agbanga Karite). Or, if the Safflower was funky. So now I'm looking at the fragrance oils we used on the batches that came out on the soft side. They look and smell amazing though. So maybe I just need to be more patient. Thanks Candybee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwantItgreen Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Did you get the reg safflower or the High Oleic Safflower from Columbus? I believe Walmart's Safflower is HO. The HO will be comparable to olive when you look at the sat & polyunsat. % on the label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Full gel or no gel? Give it some more time and make sure and cure in a dry enviroment, what percentage of water do you use and or do you use milk and what % SF? Sometimes butters make my soap go kinda wonky for some reason. HTHSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemylabs Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 (edited) @ IwantItgreen - we got the High Oleic Safflower from Columbus Foods. @ chuck_35550 We HP, the loaves are always stored in a dry environment and when cut, put on metal "cookie" racks so the air can circulate around them. We use 38% water and 25% Safflower. We have "gone by the booK" as far as Quiet Girls recipe. We have always had wonderful results. I'm going crazy; double checking scales/batteries...eveverything. On the last few batches, we decided to go back to LouAna. They still aren't as hard as they use to be. Today, we decided to cut the fragrance oil down to 2 oz/3 lb loaf. We were using 2.50-2.75 oz/3 lb loaf. I'm just trying to take it step by step to analyze everything. We have a "production tracking" sheet that we document everything on. This chart tells us what time we started the batch, what time we took it off, how much each loaf weighs (each crockpot will yield two loaves), we document the fragrance/essential oils add and how much, as well as color/dye and from which supplier. Everything seems normal. I'm probably overlooking something. Thanks so much guys for your help. Edited March 14, 2012 by lovemylabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NNK Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 It is possible that Agbanga Karite Shea produces a harder bar. I had experience with both, AK shea always appeared more dense. That's one of the reasons. I can't say anything about safflower from columbus foods (I only bought their sunflower), but just by simple logic I'd think that High Oleic safflower has totally different fatty acid profile than regular safflower from the store. yes, hardness in the same according to the calculator, but somehow in the recipe it perhaps reacts differently with other oils, thus producing softer bar in the end. So, my guess would be your problem is the combination of two (especially since you say the bar was still softer when you moved back to the store bought safflower).I'm not familiar with the Quiet Girl recipe, so I can't analyze it further I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NNK Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I believe Walmart's Safflower is HO. Where did you obtain this information? Does it say on the bottle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwantItgreen Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Where did you obtain this information? Does it say on the bottle?I have a bottle right here: The poly is 2g and the Mono is 10g. Compared to olive oil, they are close. I think there have been other posts here confirming it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NNK Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I have a bottle right here: The poly is 2g and the Mono is 10g. Compared to olive oil, they are close. I think there have been other posts here confirming it as well. Ah, cool! I was off the boards for a while, must have missed it. another "useful" oil that can be found locally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemylabs Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 We did several batches yesterday with our same recipe (and used LouAna Safflower and Cols Foods Unrefined Shea). The only thing we changed was the amount of fragrance oil or essential oil we put in. We used 2 ounces instead of 2.50-2.75. We also cooked the soap a tad bit longer on one of the batches. That particular batch was perfect. Obviously the fragrance is a little weaker...but overall they appear to be normal. So today, we're going to do a batch, using CF's SO (besides we still have alot left since we ordered the 35 lb box), we'll also cook just a tad bit longer. We always believe "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". That was great until something broke. But when we do this next batch and demold tomorrow, that will tell us for sure if it's the CF's SO. And it may be exactly what Candybee said...just may take awhile to get hard. Thanks for the help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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