# Oven Smells Like Soap!



## GreenScene (Feb 6, 2011)

Uh-oh. I don't usually gel my soap, but I have the last couple of times. I usually soap cool, so I use the oven to force gel. Both times, I've set it to 170 and taken the soap out as soon as the gel was complete. Still, the next day, the oven still smells pretty strongly of the soap FOs. Not only that, but when I cooked biscuits 24 hrs. after taking the soap out of the oven, the biscuits taste like the soap. Ack! Anyone have this problem? Do I just need to leave the oven open for an hour or so after I take the soap out? I had just been leaving it open to air out for ten minutes or so, but apparently, that's not nearly long enough. Let me tell you..."Pomegranate Noir" flavored biscuits don't go over very well.


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## krissy (Feb 6, 2011)

wow! i have been soaping in my oven for more than a year and have never had a smell linger or infuse itself into my food. i wonder why it does it to you but not me? strange...

FO flavored biscuits are gross though!


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## newbie (Feb 6, 2011)

My son complains that everything tastes like soap even though I use only certain things for soaping. I will let everything sit for a day or two to saponify and then soak my utensils and then put them through the dishwasher, but he says he still gets the smell of FO's on spoons etc... 

Not to impune your cleanliness, Greenscene, but is your oven a little dirty or does it have some baked-on spills? Maybe any leftovers in the oven are absorbing some of the scent and then when the oven gets hot again they smell more, imparting the scent to the food. This is purely theoretical. I don't know if this could happen this way. Just a thought.

And the only reason my oven doesn't have baked-on stuff is that I don't cook a lot!


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## cleanwater (Feb 6, 2011)

Two ideas:
1) After you take out your soap put a box of baking soda in the cool oven.  It works on bad smells, stands to reason it should work on good smells too.
or 
2) After you take out your soap turn the oven up to 300-350 for a while to bake it out.
Idea 1 seems more economical, not sure which would work better.


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## my2scents (Feb 7, 2011)

I usually preheat my oven for whatever food is going in after having used the oven for soap & then waft open & close the oven door a few times  & then let it heat up to temp again & it seems fine, never had a problem


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## Bubbles Galore (Feb 7, 2011)

Just don't cook. Problem solved.


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## soapbuddy (Feb 7, 2011)

Bubbles Galore said:
			
		

> Just don't cook. Problem solved.


What she says.  I made lasagna once that smelled like lavender (from soap).


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## Lynnz (Feb 7, 2011)

Newbie I have a double dishwasher draw and the bottom one has been claimed as my soaping draw it smells good too LOL
Bubbles great advice how I would love to give up cooking :0) Wouldn't it be great if we could order in home cooked meals for the week at the cost of what we spend on groceries :0)


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## GreenScene (Feb 7, 2011)

Maybe I'll get some oven cleaner, just in case. I don't think that's the problem, but it is a really old oven, and I don't know that it's possible to get it super-squeaky-clean. I'll try the baking soda, too. I hadn't thought about that, but it might work! Thanks, guys.


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## Tabitha (Feb 7, 2011)

My husband would cut my head off if I used the oven for soap  . I use the microwave for M&P & that makes him nuts. He thinks it makes everything taste like the fo.


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## newbie (Feb 7, 2011)

Ha! I suppose that's one advantage to not having a husband- I can stick soap in the oven anytime and keep my head!!

Lyn, I have a double drawer dishwasher too (as well as a conventional one- I REALLY hate doing dishes) but I hadn't considered reserving one of the drawers for soaping stuff. I hope my son doesn't read this- I'd never hear the end of it for not doing what you do!


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## Dennis (Feb 7, 2011)

newbie said:
			
		

> Ha! I suppose that's one advantage to not having a husband- I can stick soap in the oven anytime and keep my head!!
> 
> Lyn, I have a double drawer dishwasher too (as well as a conventional one- I REALLY hate doing dishes) but I hadn't considered reserving one of the drawers for soaping stuff. I hope my son doesn't read this- I'd never hear the end of it for not doing what you do!



You mean those ovens are made for something other than frozen pizza? :shock:


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## honor435 (Feb 8, 2011)

my hubby also said no soap in oven! I use a heating pad to force gel, works fine.


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## FloridaSoaper (Feb 9, 2011)

I tried to force gel in 170 oven only once with some lemongrass eo...and I'll never make that mistake again!!! I didn't even try to cook food in there because the smell was sooo strong that I didn't trust putting food in there. So we ran the self-cleaning function on the oven and the fumes ran us out of the house. Advantage to this...we got to eat out that night!    But seriously, I will never use oven for soap again! Now I use a styrofoam cooler. I really want to try the heating pad method though...but I don't have a heating pad yet.


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## GreenScene (Feb 9, 2011)

I have a heating pad, and that's definitely what I'll use the next time I want my soap to gel. No more oven soaping for me!


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## FloridaSoaper (Feb 9, 2011)

Yah, it's just nice to keep the oven for food only, and soap stuff for soap only, ha! It's funny because a lot of ppl on the forum say not to use food equipment for soaping, to always keep it separate, yet they will use their microwave or oven for soap, ha! Hey, I'm all for "to each her own", but I just think it's kinda funny.  :wink:


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