My soap smells kind of rancid

[Ruthiemae]

It's my first batch of cold process soap
And I just unfolded it and cut it and it smells spoiled. I add oatmeal to it and used lavender, bergamot, and franisence essential oils to sent it. It's also really greasy feeling

 

[SaltedFig]

It's my first batch of cold process soap
And I just unfolded it and cut it and it smells spoiled. I add oatmeal to it and used lavender, bergamot, and franisence essential oils to sent it. It's also really greasy feeling

That's a shame Ruthiemae, but unfortunately if it smells spoiled and is greasy, it is not going to be nice to wash with (the scent will linger, and there's nothing that can be done to reverse the spoilage).

If you post your recipe here, there are plenty of people who can help work out what went wrong (there are quite a few causes of spoilage, the most common one is starting with older oils).

I hope this hasn't been too upsetting - you will find your soapmaking skills will improve rapidly with practice, so please do not despair (but do make small batches to begin with - 400grams of oils is a good amount, if you have scales that are accurate to at least one decimal point)

 

[Ruthiemae]

This is a picture of the recipe I used. And the oils I used were all freshly opened

 

[SaltedFig]

I've converted this to soapcalc - the lye concentration and superfat are just fine.

Looking at your recipe, the grapeseed oil will likely be the problem. This oil, while quite lovely, is notoriously short lived, and doesn't hold up well when used in high amounts in soaps.

The numbers that are important to look at, to check whether you have exceeded the suggested percentage of short-lived soft oils, is the combined Linoleic and Linolenic fatty acids. The long-established total is suggested to remain below about 14%, with the Linolenic being the more problematic of the two.

It is also possible that the lavender could have acted as an oxidization trigger (this can happen with lavender and mint EO's - they can oxidize in an unopened bottle if they are old, or heated in storage, or exposed to sunlight etc.). The combination of the high grapeseed oil content and lavender Essential Oil increases the risk of rancidity.

I would suggest lowering the grapeseed oil, and perhaps contemplate leaving the lavender out as well, until you are happy with the way your recipe works.

 

[newbie]

Checks out in Soapcalc with SF at 5%. If you made a measuring error, that could be a problem but let's assume you did not. That said, see if you can double check that all measurement were good and the scale is also calibrated.

If you just made and cut this, I would not worry at all. The rancid smell could be a different smell from the oatmeal, or it could be your FO/EO blend in your new soap. Everyone's sense of smell is different, so what oatmeal soap smells like to someone else might not be what it smells like to you. I also wouldn't worry about the feel. This is your first batch and you aren't used to the feel of CP soap yet. It will be soft to start and feel different now than it will in a few day and in a few weeks.

Soap is a sit and wait kind of thing. It sounds like a good start! Just hold the course, friend.

 

[SaltedFig]

And what newbie has said!

How old is the soap?

 

[newbie]

I agree on the whole with Ms Figgy. I personally would not use so much grapeseed in a recipe but that is a personal choice. It is more likely to develop DOS (little rancid spots) with that high of a level of grapeseed oil. However, you may like the soap and if you use it fairly quickly and pay attention to how you store it, it may be just fine.

She said she just unmolded and cut it, so it is freshly made, SF.

 

[Ruthiemae]

I made it 24 hours ago

I just made this soap yesterday

 

[SaltedFig]

Oh ... then save what I said, but it's not relevant ... your soap is too fresh for any of this to have occurred yet!

(Thanks newbie, I did miss that vital point! ... I suspect I'm a bit too tired to be commenting)

Ruthiemae, the soap hasn't finished changing ... it will give off some interesting odors - each oil gives a distinct odor, and the essential oils will not have finished becoming their final scent either.

Likely the greasy feeling is because the soap is not fully saponified yet - it will remain a little caustic and greasy feeling for a few days yet, especially if you have not gelled it - the soft oils take a bit longer to convert to soap.

As newbie said - let it cure

Note: Because this soap will be a little sensitive to contaminants, make sure you don't let it sit on metal, and that it is kept out of the sun and in a breezy spot as it cures. Oatmeal sometimes smells a little funny when it's hot, but all of those smells will calm down during the cure.

 

[newbie]

Yes, don't worry about your soap! Just let it cure in a cool, dark, dry spot and try it every now and then to see what you think. Cure is 4-6 weeks.

 

[Ruthiemae]

Thanks so much guys. This is what my soap looks like at tge moment.

 

[SaltedFig]

Nice!

(I actually like the bulleye effect ... the colours will mellow a little during the cure as well ... that green should fade off to a creamy colour in a few months too).

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto to all the above. For so many reasons, never judge a soap fresh out of the mold. It needs to cure first before any real-world, meaningful judgment can be ascertained. Fresh soap can exhibit all kinds of weird smells, from an ammonia smell, to a really bad doggie-breath smell, to a 'permanent wave' smell, etc., etc...., all of which I've experienced with my own soap, but they all cured out great and went on to be awesome soap.

As the others have said, a 4-6 weeks cure is a must. So much activity goes on in soap at the microscopic level during cure to bring all its qualities to full maturity. Waiting it out is hard, but it will reveal the true mettle of ones soap formula.

IrishLass

 

[Ruthiemae]

Thanks everyone who has commented. My soap has been curing for a few weeks now and it no longer has the funky smell to it. It is actually turned into a nice lavender smell like I wanted. But next time i definitely will be using less grapeseed oil. I think that my soap is too soft.

 

[Meena]

A few weeks, if you mean about 3 weeks, is only halfway into the cure. It should be a lot firmer in another 3 - 5 weeks. If it is still soft-ish at the 6 week mark, keep curing it, since some oils do take a little longer if in high proportion to the recipe. So glad the smell has gone away for you!

 

[Hendejm]

Lavender EO smells awful to me when soap is first cut. It mellows with time I have found. That’s been my experience anyway

 

[KiwiMoose]

I also find that oatmeal smells a bit yuk straight after unmolding and can take a couple of weeks before it starts to smell like soap.

Interestingly i see you have used a PVC tube as a mold? The one time I used one of those my soap didn't smell very nice either - and it still doesn't some 7 weeks later. It smells like - soap. Which is ok I guess - but it was supposed to smell like gardenias.

 

[vasq82]

I've converted this to soapcalc - the lye concentration and superfat are just fine.

Looking at your recipe, the grapeseed oil will likely be the problem. This oil, while quite lovely, is notoriously short lived, and doesn't hold up well when used in high amounts in soaps.

The numbers that are important to look at, to check whether you have exceeded the suggested percentage of short-lived soft oils, is the combined Linoleic and Linolenic fatty acids. The long-established total is suggested to remain below about 14%, with the Linolenic being the more problematic of the two.

It is also possible that the lavender could have acted as an oxidization trigger (this can happen with lavender and mint EO's - they can oxidize in an unopened bottle if they are old, or heated in storage, or exposed to sunlight etc.). The combination of the high grapeseed oil content and lavender Essential Oil increases the risk of rancidity.

I would suggest lowering the grapeseed oil, and perhaps contemplate leaving the lavender out as well, until you are happy with the way your recipe works.

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Hello, i had the same rancid smell on my olive oil soap where i just added a bit salt to harden the bar. I assume it's because i used old oil, or the problem is another?