# Post you ugly soap pics here - Troubleshooting thread



## seven

To all the forgotten soaps out there..

Please don't be shy!

(1st 2 pictures) - Pencil line disasters:
early batches. ditched the sieve and decided to do a hand pencil line instead, coz hey.. i knew it all! so, pencil line = sieve = a must.

(last picture) - Zombie teeth:
jasmine FO, stupid me didn't put the mold in the freezer first and just left it there. no fan, no nothing. it was a mild case that happened only to these 2 bars out of 10. 
some floral FOs can behave like a naughty kid, prone to overheating, ricing, etc. make sure you check the temp of your mold by hand to look for overheating signs.

i will dig some more..

another case of zombie teeth - the soap with a hole

don't soap when you're half tipsy. you just forgot everything, including your common sense. it's better to sleep it off till the next day 

too much honey plus a heater FO = deadly combo! the whole loaf was a mess, with a partial gel to boot.


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## KristaY

Excellent idea, Seven! Love this thread. I'll start snapping pics to share later.....


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## jules92207

Love this idea too, great pics seven!

I am happy to submit some doozies.


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## scotsman

I love that you started this thread. I think it will be very helpful, especially to newcomers. Maybe somebody could make this a stickie. I've got some serious uglies to post. I'm in the middle of fixing a dryer right now but I'll take some pics and post them later this evening.


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## seven

don't be shy guys!


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## newbie

Didn't SB enough. Poured and then it separated in the mold because it wasn't at emulsion yet. Decided to put the stick blender into the mold and just stir it all back together right there because, you know, of course you would. Why dirty another bowl? Because then you don't get a soap that look like a sinus infection, that's why.


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## cmzaha

newbie said:


> Didn't SB enough. Poured and then it separated in the mold because it wasn't at emulsion yet. Decided to put the stick blender into the mold and just stir it all back together right there because, you know, of course you would. Why dirty another bowl? Because then you don't get a soap that look like a sinus infection, that's why.


Yup that is Ugly . Had a few of those myself over the years, but never tried sb'ing in the mold... I always dump it back in the bucket and re-mix


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## KristaY

Here are my oddballs. First pic is glycerin rivers. 2nd is the soda ash I battle when the humidity drops really low. 3rd is zombie teeth from me trying to outsmart clove EO. Once I won the wrestling match getting it into the mold I thought I could dress it up by dripping a bit of purple color on top (since I wasn't able to do the beautiful swirl I envisioned!) That made it look worse, lol. Smells good though....:lolno:


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## Obsidian

Orange bits overheated from carrot juice. Had to rebatch





Brown specks from burnt powdered milk that didn't mix in





Cracked tops. maybe from using too steep water discount





Discolored rose petals


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## fuzz-juzz

Great thread!  
I laughed out loud at zombie teeth and sinus infection (I had plenty of those so I know what they mean lol).
I don't have any pics as all fails are rebatched the next day but I should try and take photos sometimes. 
My last fail was super oozy, I'm guessing it's mixture of FO and measuring one of the oils twice. It's rebatched but still oily.


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## seven

^^
make sure your fails are properly documented from now on for all the world to see  

the following are pretty ordinary, but might be useful to a newbie:

Picture 1, first row, left: partial gel
Picture 2, first row, right: this overheated honey soap is quite bizarre. i tried to poke at the zombie teeth and the soap was pretty crumbly. you can dig a hole there easily. this soap is more than a month old.
Picture 3, 2nd row, left: glorious ash!
Picture 4, 2nd row, right: glycerin rivers caused by overheated TD and a heater FO.


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## froggybean37

My very first attempt at cp resulted in alien brains. Was a beer soap I decided to try and cpop


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## seven

^^^
LOL! i have a castile exactly like that  i didn't cpop mine, it was heavily insulated in hot and humid weather which was an overkill.

i think it looks kinda cool!


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## CanaDawn

Tripe soap!


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## shunt2011

Bummer, last week I had two rice at the same time and fought them both after trying like heck to stickblend them had to put them on the heat just to bring them together.  Wish I had taken pictures of that **** show.....Haven't had that happen in ages.


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## Second Impression

What my beer soap (with clove eo!) usually looks like:



What my restock of said beer soap did last week:


I've never had this recipe move fast, nevermind the fastest seize I've ever seen. It was gelling in the pot right after I took this picture. My one and only encounter with Soap on a Stick :-( I blame the supermarket lard I was subbing for lack of locally pastured lard, must've been a bad bucket.


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## froggybean37

CanaDawn said:


> Tripe soap!



ohhhhh it is!!! hahaha the perfect gross description!


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## CanaDawn

Second Impression said:


> What my beer soap (with clove eo!) usually looks like:
> 
> 
> What my restock of said beer soap did last week:



yes, yes...if I squint at the monitor and hold my head a little to the left, I can see the difference.


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## Jaccart789

This is some of the PRETTIEST ugly soap I have ever seen!

This soap my friend tells me looks like bacon when it shrunk in size.


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## dixiedragon

I have always wanted to make alien brains soap! Is there a way to do that and be sure (or pretty sure) you won't get separation instead? Or is it just a crap shoot?


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## CanaDawn

dixiedragon said:


> I have always wanted to make alien brains soap! Is there a way to do that and be sure (or pretty sure) you won't get separation instead? Or is it just a crap shoot?



:think:*I* would pipe the top with a plain round tip, at a fairly firm, but not stiff trace (so it settles slightly), and just randomly and thickly squeeze soap onto your bar.

All the brains with none of the crapshoot.


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## Kansas Farm Girl

Seven, I love this statement: "don't soap when you're half tipsy. you just forgot everything, including  your common sense. it's better to sleep it off till the next day :grin:"
It is SOOO true and so "me". Mind if I borrow it? 

I don't seem to have a pix of my latest failures, but I can tell you they were UGLY. I had to glop the batter into the mold and I ended up rebatching a soon as I could


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## jules92207

You asked for it... 

This one is an attempt to use some of the rose embeds I had left after a rose fo seized on me. I wanted to do a lavender rose but when I put the purple colorant in (actually it was blue but had morphed to purple before so I thought it would be perfect) the color turned pink so I decided to not swirl cause I thought the little rose embeds wouldn't stand out. Next morning it turned purple. Argh!


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## summerflyy

It was a mistake to put it on uneven surface and to cover with cling wrap. So many mistakes in this batch !!!


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## MzMolly65

ooo I think I win with 

partial gel + OP + chocolate espresso FO + not paying attention to temperature = exploding coffee MUFFIN TOPS

HP in crock returned them to bars but they've never been the same since.  They look like molded dog turds and are dry, hard, nasty soaps ... but they still smell good enough to eat and they lather .. so who cares!


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## seven

LOL! Yes MzMolly you won so far! those exploding muffins, i remember them!


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## fuzz-juzz

Seven, I have some accelerated ones that look lumpy and spiky and some ugly rebatches.  I will try and get a photo on the weekend. 
Those muffins are great.


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## Dorymae

I don't take pictures of my fuglies. However I name my worst fugly loaves.  So far I've had :

Only a maker could love

The loaf forsaken

Devil's advocate (Cause that one was a demon from start to rebatch even the rebatch wouldn't behave!)

and the Crummy Crumbler

Of course we use these sad loaves, they are just butt ugly.


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## summerflyy

Dorymae said:


> I don't take pictures of my fuglies. However I name my worst fugly loaves.  So far I've had :
> 
> Only a maker could love
> 
> The loaf forsaken
> 
> Devil's advocate (Cause that one was a demon from start to rebatch even the rebatch wouldn't behave!)
> 
> and the Crummy Crumbler
> 
> Of course we use these sad loaves, they are just butt ugly.




I LOVE YOUR NAMES LOL ! Especially devil's advocate ! It really sounds like a soapmaker's nightmare !!!!


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## TVivian

I had a batch go bad last night! Everything looked good on the outside until I cut just now. Crumbly, gel ring, way overheated haha.. What a waste! I got too generous with the honey!!


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## seven

^^^
those look awfully similar to my overheated honey batch.


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## dixiedragon

I actually really like the muffins! It would be cool if the soap had actually hardened in those shapes!


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## Jeanea

Scented in butt naked. Forgot about the vanilla, so it turned brown. I was going for a tiger stripe


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## LunaSkye

@Jeanea: I actually like the way the soap looks.


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## jules92207

Tried a tilted tiger swirl with spirulina and a yellow colorant and the spirulina turned beigey and now you can hardly see it.


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## green soap

Avocado soap with avocado pulp.  It separated so I had to mix it right in the mold.  Ugliest soap ever made, plus it took about a year to harden up.  After that it was a pretty good soap.  Went into the sales basket right away.  It had its fans as ugly as it was.  I learned a couple of lessons from that one.


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## summerflyy

green soap said:


> Avocado soap with avocado pulp.  It separated so I had to mix it right in the mold.  Ugliest soap ever made, plus it took about a year to harden up.  After that it was a pretty good soap.  Went into the sales basket right away.  It had its fans as ugly as it was.  I learned a couple of lessons from that one.




A year to harden up ?!?! That's so long ! You have such patience !


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## PrairieLights

Well, peeps, I think many of these soaps are pretty darn cool looking! I know people who would have been all over those soaps - buying them up right out of your unhappy hands! :crazy:
Do you think we are sometimes too hard on ourselves? (I am. I am looking at 2 of my line and wanting to dump them and start from scratch - but my testers say no.)


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## Todd_in_Minnesota

*FrankenSoap*

This is a brilliant thread!
I don't feel nearly so bad now that I can proudly post my most recent fail-soap.
(I had to fish it out of the trash)

I took all my accumulated shavings, heated them slowly in a microwave until they began to bubble, then mushed them into a PVC pipe mold.
shavings.jpg
The result is FrankenSoap... 
FrankenSoap.jpg
Doesn't look good, doesn't smell good, doesn't cut very well and crumbles at the touch.
It cleans OK...you can see the one bar we're using.
Enjoy
Todd


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## LunaSkye

@green soap: your soap has a childlike charm to it imo. it reminds me of a more subtle version of a finger painting & i know i certainly had fun making those.


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## Kansas Farm Girl

Your FrankenSoap looks a lot like the first time I ever rebatched, and it was all the shavings and left overs too. I did it in the crockpot, added too much water and mangled it into a pan. I have 1 bar left sitting on the utility room sink, and that was 4+ yrs ago. It is the ugliest soap I ever made, and one of the best actually. It is still almost pliable, you can squeeze it. I have just always referred to it as Ugly Soap.


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## CanaDawn

Kansas Farm Girl.... for my vote, you are in the lead at this point for flat out Ugly Soap!    That's disgustingly awesome!  And of course, probably impossible to replicate, and naturally, ends up being one of your best.


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## Be Love

Wow! Kansas Farm Girl,  that looks like some kind of wound infection! IMO you win so far!


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## scotsman

Ok, I was able to dig up three fails and snap pictures of them. The first is  a failed beer soap. Came out with ugly whitish spots on it. Almost looked diseased. Turned out to be a really nice soap from a technical standpoint...just really ugly. 

The second was my first attempt at a goat milk soap. I wanted to keep a creamy color and was concerned about it overheating and turning brown so I used the goat milk as half my water amount and added it at trace. I immediately put the mold in a super cold freezer and left it there for 24 hours. Then I let it come up to room temperature on the counter before I cut it. Even so it went through a partial gel. The outer edges were the color I was looking for. The partial gel in the center, not so much. It actually turned out to be a great soap. Wonderful on the skin and smells heavenly, just a bit of an ugly duckling. 
The third was my first attempt at a mantra swirl. This batch was a bugger from start to finish. The colors behaved badly and morphed on me, the scent all but completely disappeared, and it traced so quickly that by the time I got it in the mold and removed the divider there was a large gap left where the divider had been. Foolishly I attempted to do the swirl anyway(because I'm stubborn) and it was like trying to cut a semi-soft cheese. I managed to smoosh everything back together for the most part, insulated it like crazy, and prayed that a nice hot gel would at least mesh everything back together so it wouldn't be a total loss, which it did. It feels great on the skin but has virtually no scent and looks like hell.


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## Serenity

Ah, this is just what I needed ... a good laugh! I feel like I make more bad soap than good sometimes. Here's today's disaster - I'm still trying to figure out what happened so if someone can tell me that would be great. I used the same recipe yesterday and it was fine. The temp was 37C/100F. It's only the top half of the soap (coloured with mica) that is crumbly on the edges and sort of ashy all the way through. It cracked a little on top so I can only guess that it was hot in the middle and it got too cold on the outside. I'm not sure about why the colour has gone whiteish.


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## jules92207

I don't know what is going on there but seriously I think its cool looking. I like it!


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## jules92207

My newest ugly duckling - here is the aloe and cucumber soap that seperated on me so I rebatched it in the crockpot and now what is left is a hardish layer and that vaseline like muck that won't set. Its the ugliest mess I have made yet.


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## CraftyRedhead

Was trying to remake my chocolate peppermint brownie soap.. fail!


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## Natural20

I think I just made my ugliest soap last night.... turmeric and sage.... what a sick color. It was a chocolate colored rebatch and I thought the dark color would hide it. I was wrong. I just thought the spices smelled earthy and would go with tea tree nicely. Now I have soap the color of a baby diaper. Icky!


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## seven

Natural20 said:


> I think I just made my ugliest soap last night.... turmeric and sage.... what a sick color. It was a chocolate colored rebatch and I thought the dark color would hide it. I was wrong. I just thought the spices smelled earthy and would go with tea tree nicely. Now I have soap the color of a baby diaper. Icky!




pics???


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## Natural20

Soon.  I wrestled it out of the mold last night. Of course I added to much liquid during the rebatch. Ugh. I'll poke it a little after work. ..


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## Jeanea

This is scented in bite me. This was before I knew about vanilla stabilizer. Of course it's totally brown....lol


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## seven

^^ nooooo  all the pretty layers...


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## seven

Pine tar gone bad: extreme case of zombie teeth. Stupid me did not sb the pt to the oils like usual. Stupid me poured hot lye to rt oils (with the pt not mixed properly). Another case of: don't soap when you're..... 


Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making


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## Seawolfe

_/me runs away screaming in terror_


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## katsntx

eewww... looks like Sewer soap!  LOL:shock:


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## seven

ROTFLMAO!!!    they are pretty scary in real life...


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## Sinful7

Wow! Now those are some zombie teeth! Lol


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## neeners

Seven....those look AMAZING for Halloween!!!!


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## cgawlik

Well obviously I'm  missing something. How does one upload a picture?


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## Seawolfe

cgawlik said:


> Well obviously I'm  missing something. How does one upload a picture?


When you go to reply, see the section under the box you type in that says Attach files with "Manage Attachments" button? Click that button. From there you can upload a picture.


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## DiddlyO

Rice pudding.







With glycerin rivers


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## jules92207

Wow, is that the same soap? Looks pretty cool cut!


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## goji_fries

CanaDawn said:


> Tripe soap!



LOL, tru tho


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## goji_fries

Kansas Farm Girl said:


> Your FrankenSoap looks a lot like the first time I ever rebatched, and it was all the shavings and left overs too. I did it in the crockpot, added too much water and mangled it into a pan. I have 1 bar left sitting on the utility room sink, and that was 4+ yrs ago. It is the ugliest soap I ever made, and one of the best actually. It is still almost pliable, you can squeeze it. I have just always referred to it as Ugly Soap.



Cinnamon buns!


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## goji_fries

MzMolly65 said:


> ooo I think I win with
> 
> partial gel + OP + chocolate espresso FO + not paying attention to temperature = exploding coffee MUFFIN TOPS
> 
> HP in crock returned them to bars but they've never been the same since.  They look like molded dog turds and are dry, hard, nasty soaps ... but they still smell good enough to eat and they lather .. so who cares!



I dont know why but I cant stop laughing at the muffin tops


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## Earthen_Step

seven said:


> Pine tar gone bad: extreme case of zombie teeth. Stupid me did not sb the pt to the oils like usual. Stupid me poured hot lye to rt oils (with the pt not mixed properly). Another case of: don't soap when you're.....



That is the scariest soap I have ever seen!  Thanks for the awesome pictures.


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## seven

^^^

i am scared myself! those soaps are still sitting on their tray, on the lowest shelf of my curing rack. out of sight. i just don't want to see them, don't want to deal with them. i think they belong in the trash. soon... real soon...


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## goji_fries

seven said:


> ^^^
> 
> i am scared myself! those soaps are still sitting on their tray, on the lowest shelf of my curing rack. out of sight. i just don't want to see them, don't want to deal with them. i think they belong in the trash. soon... real soon...



You make amazing creations seven. Don't throw away, rebatch plz


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## seven

goji_fries said:


> You make amazing creations seven. Don't throw away, rebatch plz




hmmm... it's not that i wasn't thinking of rebatching, but... the damage is pretty heavy, oils and gaping teeth everywhere. but you were right, maybe i will rebatch this one and just use it for my personal use. hate wasting ingredients anyway.


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## Momof5

I've never heard of rebatching. God so much to learn.
My aunt just called in a panic she miscalculated the oils in her just made batch and is 8ozs short of olive oil. She used 3.99 lye. I'm so green idk what to tell her


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## herackonchiasa

Slowly melt the batch, add the oils , stick blend so lye can react. Plop it back in the mold.


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## Jencat

seven said:


> View attachment 9211
> 
> View attachment 9212
> 
> 
> Pine tar gone bad: extreme case of zombie teeth. Stupid me did not sb the pt to the oils like usual. Stupid me poured hot lye to rt oils (with the pt not mixed properly). Another case of: don't soap when you're.....
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making



Sorry Seven.  This one is going to give me nightmares!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## seven

Jencat said:


> Sorry Seven.  This one is going to give me nightmares!
> http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/



Glad to hear it


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## MzMolly65

Kansas Farm Girl said:


> I have just always referred to it as Ugly Soap.




Oh my .. sorry but that looks like something my Dog left in the yard .. glad it's at least a good soap, even if it's not *attractive* _cough cough_


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## herackonchiasa

Bee pollen hibiscus wheatgrass charcoal hahaha


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## jules92207

Wow. That one is crazy looking!


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## herackonchiasa

Hahaha yea. The dents are from me pressing my fingers into it and not thinking to take a picture until after. Had the soap been fully cured and that color, I would have been amazed. Because it kinda looked like a galaxy. But I had a hibiscus acidity mishap and . . . Yea .. oil was trapped at the BOTTOM of the mold ! Hahaha


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## herackonchiasa

I DID however rebatch this log and it turned out a rustic charcoal color. Havent tested the lather yet but its curing like normal soap as we speak. And smells like fresh wheatgrass. Guess it won out.


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## Earthen_Step

herackonchiasa said:


> Bee pollen hibiscus wheatgrass charcoal hahaha



Lol, that's a good one.  Thanks for the pics!


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## herackonchiasa

Now its charcoal and slight metallic bronze with purple tints ! I was at the studio today and took pics of the rebatch version of this monster. Ill post some in a bit. I also found out the CULPRIT of this mishap ! Poor hibiscus, I blamed it for naught ! It was rancid HEMP OIL that Is GUILTY ! & thanks yea it tickled me too.


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## KatieShephard

My first tallow soap.  I used a new FO...Neopolitan Ice Cream from WSP...which smells yummy, but I knew it was going to turn a dark brown, so I thought I'd mix a bit of the batter with TD.  The swirl attempt was a failure!  I guess it was too thick.  Good learning experience though, because now I know that if my batter is too thick to try something different.

Also, not too thrilled about the crackled TD.  And look at how dark the top and edges are!  Oh my...this is going to be even uglier when the brown really kicks in.


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## katsntx

I was going to use this strawberry FO to pipe ice cream.  Pic #1 shows it before it put the petal to the metal and acceleratored like a teenage boy in a new porche. Pic #2 shows it scooped out of the piping bag and stuffed into a mold.  #3 show how horribly this FO discolored and it really doesn't smell good either so at this point, it got chunked into the trash where it sat for almost a week.  So tonight, I pull it out of the trash and decide to photograph it for this ugly thread and then cut into it.  #4 shows that it wouldn't be that bad if it would only stay pink inside!  But we all know that won't happen.  This was one of the most disappointing FO's I ever purchased.  And right after I purchased it, they discontinued it.  Sure wish I could get my money back!  This one wasn't cheap!


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## DebiB

katsntx said:


> I was going to use this strawberry FO to pipe ice cream.  Pic #1 shows it before it put the petal to the metal and acceleratored like a teenage boy in a new porche. Pic #2 shows it scooped out of the piping bag and stuffed into a mold.  #3 show how horribly this FO discolored and it really doesn't smell good either so at this point, it got chunked into the trash where it sat for almost a week.  So tonight, I pull it out of the trash and decide to photograph it for this ugly thread and then cut into it.  #4 shows that it wouldn't be that bad if it would only stay pink inside!  But we all know that won't happen.  This was one of the most disappointing FO's I ever purchased.  And right after I purchased it, they discontinued it.  Sure wish I could get my money back!  This one wasn't cheap!



Wouldn't it be cool if it world stay like this!  Cherry chocolate for the holidays.


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## El_Granado_Loco

What a pity for the FO and what a pity they won't stay like that, they sure look great now..!
Does it smell that bad? If not, maybe you could use it in one part of the batch and the rest could stay pink, it would altogether smell like strawberry (hopefully?) but would be with chocolate! Yaeee!!!!


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## Susie

Or if it is still usable soap, how about donating it to Clean the World or a local shelter or food bank?


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## katsntx

I have added it to my basket of donations.  I have a friend who frequently gathered friends to make sandwhiches to hand out to the homeless.  Sad though, the city made her stop doing it because she doesn't have a food permit.  Sometimes life just doesn't make sense.  I'm going to call another friend who has an "in" with a local women's shelter.  There are children there too, so I think I will throw in some pretty ones from my kid's line.


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## Bubli

Here's mine! Top that! I'm almost ashamed to share it. If couldn't blame it on the silicone mold and cpop'ing, I'd probably say someone else made it. I'm kidding. No one is perfect and I am queen of imperfection  . And of owning it, good and bad. I actually had no idea what the heck happened to my soap, though I had a suspicion and a few of you here confirmed that it wasn't TOTALLY my fault (this time).  Needless to say, I may never cpop in a silicone mold  EVER again.


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## Bubli

froggybean37 said:


> My very first attempt at cp resulted in alien brains. Was a beer soap I decided to try and cpop



What does it mean she the soap looks wrinkled like that on top? I had on do that but it turned out fine. I thought it looked kind of neat.


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## froggybean37

Bubli said:


> What does it mean she the soap looks wrinkled like that on top? I had on do that but it turned out fine. I thought it looked kind of neat.



Sometimes when soap overheats this happens. It's not bad or unsafe, just not the look I was going for


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## sillysoaper

OH… OH… Separated!! It’s hard to tell in the photo, but there is about ½ an inch of oil on top of the soap. It is an unscented batch with pink, white kaolin clay and activated charcoal for the swirls. It went to a false trace. So disappointed… more so because I hate to rebatch! It was a big recipe, and seemed BIGGER because I had to rebatch it. The total weight was 17 lbs. all together. I don’t have a photo of the rebatched soap, but it turned an UGLY gray.


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## rainwater

I'm laughing out loud looking at this soap it's sort of a dog poop diarrhea soap. I think you win with this one. If I made this I would save it for Christmas stocking stuffers just to see everyone expression when they saw it.


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## rainwater

This soap freaks me out too funny. I can't stop looking at it but I don't want to loom at it. But I can't stop.


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## rainwater

What the heck is that?  I can't stop laughing. As soon as I think I like one soap as the ugliest I see an even crazier one.


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## Bubli

sillysoaper said:


> OH… OH… Separated!! It’s hard to tell in the photo, but there is about ½ an inch of oil on top of the soap. It is an unscented batch with pink, white kaolin clay and activated charcoal for the swirls. It went to a false trace. So disappointed… more so because I hate to rebatch! It was a big recipe, and seemed BIGGER because I had to rebatch it. The total weight was 17 lbs. all together. I don’t have a photo of the rebatched soap, but it turned an UGLY gray.



Well thankfully you could rebatch it. That's an awful thought to waste 17 pounds worth or soap, expensive. Looks kind of Halloween-ish (like Halloween, my b-day  ) So when it separated, you think maybe it wasn't mixed well enough? I keep my fingers crossed with every batch.  I'm lucky so far, I haven't had this happen yet(I shouldn't say yet because that's me acknowledging that it is inevitable and WILL happen). What do you do just remix and let it set up? Is that what happens after you get a false trace and then pour it in the mold. Or does something else cause it?


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## sillysoaper

Rainwater, Too funny… It was a bit frightening and it did look like runny dog poo.


  Bubli, I actually made this batch last winter. I mixed my lye/water outside and left it sitting in the snow to cool down. I am not sure what happened.

  I was able to swirl the soap without a problem. The soap set up fine in the mold. I covered it up really well and it went into a gel stage quickly. The first time I checked it to make sure it wasn’t overheating, it looked alright. After about 24 hours when I took the blanket off and checked again, I found the running dog poo soap. I always try to double check my oils, water and lye when I am weighing them out, but maybe I didn’t weigh something correctly.


  Years ago I made a small 2 lb. batch that actually went to a false thick trace, then went completely liquid in the mold. This batch wasn’t anything like it. It just had ½ inch of oil on top.


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## CaraBou

sillysoaper, that was a gorgeous soap!  I'm not sure what rainwater was calling dog poo -- it couldn't possibly be that one!


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## herackonchiasa

CaraBou said:


> sillysoaper, that was a gorgeous soap!  I'm not sure what rainwater was calling dog poo -- it couldn't possibly be that one!



Maybe mine.


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## goji_fries

katsntx said:


> I was going to use this strawberry FO to pipe ice cream.  Pic #1 shows it before it put the petal to the metal and acceleratored like a teenage boy in a new porche. Pic #2 shows it scooped out of the piping bag and stuffed into a mold.  #3 show how horribly this FO discolored and it really doesn't smell good either so at this point, it got chunked into the trash where it sat for almost a week.  So tonight, I pull it out of the trash and decide to photograph it for this ugly thread and then cut into it.  #4 shows that it wouldn't be that bad if it would only stay pink inside!  But we all know that won't happen.  This was one of the most disappointing FO's I ever purchased.  And right after I purchased it, they discontinued it.  Sure wish I could get my money back!  This one wasn't cheap!



WOW, I actually like it though. NIIIICE!



Bubli said:


> View attachment 10075
> 
> 
> Here's mine! Top that! I'm almost ashamed to share it. If couldn't blame it on the silicone mold and cpop'ing, I'd probably say someone else made it. I'm kidding. No one is perfect and I am queen of imperfection  . And of owning it, good and bad. I actually had no idea what the heck happened to my soap, though I had a suspicion and a few of you here confirmed that it wasn't TOTALLY my fault (this time).  Needless to say, I may never cpop in a silicone mold  EVER again.



That looks crazy :crazy: I made one like that though


----------



## boyago

seven said:


> View attachment 9211
> 
> View attachment 9212
> 
> 
> Pine tar gone bad: extreme case of zombie teeth. Stupid me did not sb the pt to the oils like usual. Stupid me poured hot lye to rt oils (with the pt not mixed properly). Another case of: don't soap when you're.....
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making



Dear god! kill it! Kill it with fire!

This is why you SB in your goats blood before coloring with earth from a virgins grave.  What ever you made there is seriously unholy.


----------



## seven

boyago said:


> Dear god! kill it! Kill it with fire!
> 
> This is why you SB in your goats blood before coloring with earth from a virgins grave.  What ever you made there is seriously unholy.




LOLLLLL!!!  

i still have them, sitting there on the lowest part of my curing rack. out of sight. one of these days i am going to throw them out.


----------



## boyago

seven said:


> LOLLLLL!!!
> 
> i still have them, sitting there on the lowest part of my curing rack. out of sight. one of these days i am going to throw them out.



nah, at the very least keep if for posterity. Or to scare the kids/burgalars away from your soaping stuff.  The pics at the very least are useful for a trouble shooting demo.  I'd never seen something quite like that in any of the books.


----------



## seven

^^^

yeah.. it's the perfect example of zombie teeth on all its glory


----------



## Spice

katsntx said:


> I was going to use this strawberry FO to pipe ice cream.  Pic #1 shows it before it put the petal to the metal and acceleratored like a teenage boy in a new porche. Pic #2 shows it scooped out of the piping bag and stuffed into a mold.  #3 show how horribly this FO discolored and it really doesn't smell good either so at this point, it got chunked into the trash where it sat for almost a week.  So tonight, I pull it out of the trash and decide to photograph it for this ugly thread and then cut into it.  #4 shows that it wouldn't be that bad if it would only stay pink inside!  But we all know that won't happen.  This was one of the most disappointing FO's I ever purchased.  And right after I purchased it, they discontinued it.  Sure wish I could get my money back!  This one wasn't cheap!


It looks nice, even though its not what you wanted. How did you get the soap to do two different looks. You mentioned piping, what is that?


----------



## AutismArtisan

Another to add.... 

Glad I found this thread.... Very helpful 






Almond Milk, Honey & Oat Soap, which overheated! 

Current PH 9-10

Zap test - Didn't Zap

Has strong smell of Ammonia, but isn't burnt on inside




My beautiful honeycomb embeds melted

It's now chopped into chunks waiting for Kitty Litter (hubby promised to pick up today). 

Local council advised to dispose of in regular trash?  

How does anyone else dispose of their bad batches? 

Making Bath Bombs for next few days, 'til I get my Soapy Mojo back.


----------



## Obsidian

If its not zappy, just toss it in the trash. Soap is biodegradable.


----------



## Saponista

I just put mine in the brown wheelie bin to go off with the landfill waste.


----------



## DWinMadison

I will say, it has all the makings of a very nice soap.  It was a solid design concept and well executed from a "technique" standpoint.  If you could just call in the Exxon Valdez clean-up team....


----------



## grumpy_owl

Open dictionary, turn to "partial gel." Oh look! It's my mulberry soap!


----------



## Obsidian

Whoa, that is intense partial gel. I actually really like it.


----------



## DWinMadison

Whoa. I'd claim that one as "Oh yeah, planned it."


----------



## jules92207

Seriously that is a pretty cool looking partial gel.


----------



## AutismArtisan

Fingers crossed used COOL SOAPING technique, frozen milk, honey etc.




Not such an 'Ugly Soap' 




Yeah


----------



## seven

^^ yay! looks good so far. i'm pretty sure the new batch doesn't belong in the ugly thread


----------



## AutismArtisan

its better than my other on here. Lol


----------



## Saponista

You should put your new soap into the picture gallery section of the forum. I'm sure we'd all love to see what it looks like when you've cut it.


----------



## RhondaJ

grumpy_owl said:


> Open dictionary, turn to "partial gel." Oh look! It's my mulberry soap!



I would so claim that I tried do this on purpose! I think it looks really neat!


----------



## choco_soap

I've deleted mine.


----------



## Sonya-m

Latest (3rd) batch. Was gonna try in the pot swirls but it traced very quickly


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman

Also not an ugly soap! Might not be what was planned, but it is still pretty


----------



## Saponista

Did you use fragrance oil Sonia? That may have been what caused your soap to trace so quickly. I love the colour though!


----------



## jules92207

It is still beautiful, what cool colors. I bet once you cut it will be gorgeous inside!


----------



## Sonya-m

I did use FO, sugar plum. For my next batch I'm gonna research for a no acceleration FO from one of the recommended suppliers in the UK suppliers thread. I WILL get a swirly soap. 

Here it is cut


----------



## Saponista

Sensoryperfection sell fairly good value fragrance oils and they tell you in the description whether they can be used with cold process soap.


----------



## shunt2011

That turned out nice.  Like the pink variations.


----------



## fuzz-juzz

This was supposed to be facial bar with lard and OO. It was hot and I was lazy so I just poured it into silicone muffin cups. 4h later they were separating and still consistency of a sour cream. Here are they, after HP, seriously ugly, but lovely white colour and they smell wonderful, they have no colour or fragrance, just plain soap smell.
One that did set was the last one to pour and I wanted to test new FO so added it in. It was fine and hardened nicely after 1h. So I'm not really sure what happened with the first soaps, same batter, same time of the pour, just no FO. :Kitten Love:


----------



## Cindy2428

*Cammoflauge Anyone?*

I am so close to finding my "it" recipe. I HP'd this with 100% coconut milk sub. Way, way overcooked - even venting at 20 minutes I never saw it gel. So at 90 minutes I stirred and way overdone. Bound and determined I let it cool for my EO/FO and still added my colors. Even though the color is a total FAIL, it smells great and I love the soap. Can't wait for it to finish curing.


----------



## AMyers

Cindy, Your soap looks like river rocks under the water!


----------



## snappyllama

I like how the cut soap came out, but the tops do look a little, umm, "Mommy thinks all her kids are beautiful".


----------



## IrishLass

I like how your soap came out, too, Cindy (well, except for the tops, that is)! They look like marble!

 IrishLass


----------



## jules92207

Cindy, those look awesome!


----------



## Cindy2428

Thanks guys - all of my soaps to date no color, just EO/FO.  Still have a lot of learning to do. Did some color testing today and some shopping at Nurture Soap Supplies


----------



## RhondaJ

Cindy2428 said:


> I am so close to finding my "it" recipe. I HP'd this with 100% coconut milk sub. Way, way overcooked - even venting at 20 minutes I never saw it gel. So at 90 minutes I stirred and way overdone. Bound and determined I let it cool for my EO/FO and still added my colors. Even though the color is a total FAIL, it smells great and I love the soap. Can't wait for it to finish curing.



I'd be trimming those tops off and proclaiming SUCCESS! I love the way they look


----------



## JustBeachy

Cindy after looking at those soaps, I'm thinking I may need to start over cooking all my soaps and breaking out a planer. Great looking soap. You ought to try to reproduce it while cutting back on the cook. I think it's a winner.


----------



## lpstephy85

Well throwing this one on here  Eucalyptus soap. I had added ground up green Indian tea and added for a light exfoliant. I knew ahead of time that a lot of herbs added brown, but I didn't expect the to brown and expand. You can see the mica line and the bottom was a light green and above the line was uncolored. The hubby loved them and said anyone who buys this would think this was on purpose. He said it smelled so good no one was going to care.


----------



## Saponista

Curdled vomit wasn't exactly the design I was going for unfortunately! It was supposed to be an orange and white swirl to compliment the orange and clove scent. It still smells lovely, but I don't think I'll be gifting this to anyone for Christmas. Are the weird patches glycerin rivers? Wonder what caused them as I've not had them before.


----------



## Cindy2428

Holy glycerin rivers Batman! - I'll let the experts chime in but that's exactly what I think those are. I think that's the best picture of glycerin rivers that I have ever seen. Is the orange and clove EO or FO? I love the combination too, but Clove oil has been problematic for me even at very small amounts. In one of my favorite articles, http://roberttisserand.com/2011/06/essential-oils-in-soap-interview-with-kevin-dunn/ my conclusion (short version) was that since Clove oil has such a high boiling point, most of it's properties will be retained in soap, hence the risk for weird stuff. I think the soap looks cool!


----------



## Saponista

It was EO but I only used a small amount of clove 0.5%. I used 4% orange. It did get very hot but I unwrapped it when I realised and let it cool. It was weirdly soft as well, I used my usual soap recipe which normally pops out of the mould without a problem but this was more like dough. I will have a read of that article, looks really interesting. Thanks


----------



## JustBeachy

Saponista said:


> It was EO but I only used a small amount of clove 0.5%. I used 4% orange. It did get very hot but I unwrapped it when I realised and let it cool. It was weirdly soft as well, I used my usual soap recipe which normally pops out of the mould without a problem but this was more like dough. I will have a read of that article, looks really interesting. Thanks



Overheating and then uneven cooling can cause some pretty definitive glycerin rivers. Clove can heat things up a bit. From your description it sounds like it was a temperature thing.  There's also been some tests done that say that water heavy batters, tend to be more prone to rivers. 

That said, I don't think it looks as horrible as you described it. Let it set and see how it cures out.


----------



## Saponista

I splashed in 10g extra water too but thought such a small amount wouldn't make a difference. I bet it was the extra water and the overheating that contributed to the crazy rivers!


----------



## JustBeachy

Could be. Still, it's just aesthetic and I really don't think it looks that bad. I bet if you show it to people who didn't make soap, they'd be in awe of your creative design.


----------



## Saponista

Haha, maybe I'll try to Palm some off on my mom


----------



## grumpy_owl

Is this a case of lye pockets? It's my Dirty Hippie soap. Neroli & Shea Blossom, Amber, and Honey Beeswax. Smells great and feels fine. But what are those crystal flaky things?


----------



## Obsidian

I don't see any crystals, can you get a better picture?


----------



## grumpy_owl

Not really. How's this? Those crystal thingies on the sides? What gives? It is otherwise totally normal soap.


----------



## Obsidian

I see what you are talking about, my soap gets that too sometimes. I'm not sure what causes it but if they don't zap, then don't worry about it.
Look at my pumpkin soap, see the large pale spots on the sides? Its the same thing but in large form.


----------



## Dorymae

Looks like ash beginning to form to me, I don't think it is lye.  Zap test to be sure of course but if it is ash you can just wait a few weeks into cure then wash it off.  Some people steam it, some water dunk it, some spray it with alcohol and wipe it off.... whatever works for you.


----------



## grumpy_owl

Thanks, folks! What a great relief! It's not ash. My artsy pictures don't show it too well but the gunk is not on the surface; it's all the way through. It doesn't zap and feels normal, not gritty.


----------



## JustBeachy

It could be just some bits of stearic or something to do with your fragrance. I've seen certain FO's that did something really similar. Seemed to bind with the oils and harden into the little flakes.


----------



## lionprincess00

Hey! Do they look like small white gel bits, like silicone beads out of a diaper or small round pieces of curdled milk that aren't only on the surface, but run throughout the entire soap? Not a great explanation, but it's the best I could think of. That happened to me with bb black Amber lavender. I didn't use palm, and these white speckled spots were throughout the soap. The soap darkened to dark brown, and the spots turned darker, like freckles! No zap, so I assumed maybe me soaping cooler and the fo bonded to the fats that may have become slightly solid?? Either way, it was just aesthetics, and it looked similar to yours.


----------



## Captain_Potbelly

This thread is great! I love ugly soap. I'd like to contribute!

First picture: This *could happen* if one were to spritz the soap with alcohol immediately after pouring. 

Second picture: This is what happens when one is trying to be clever and use a re-inforced milk carton with the printed side up. _(This has happened twice)_

Third picture: This could happen if you cover your soap and leave it on the kitchen counter. _My cat's official seal of approval_.


----------



## Cindy2428

I think you should have an up-charge for your cat's autograph - just his way of saying instead of soap, you should be paying attention to me.


----------



## JustBeachy

I like the second one. Gives a abstract feel to the soap.    But I love the third one!  Best soap stamp I've ever seen. Might have to take the cat on as a partner if you go into business, cause I'm pretty sure that paw is copyrighted.


----------



## jules92207

^^^These are awesome!!! Love the cat print!


----------



## vuladams

I'm so sad!!! My Lavender Poppy soap got spots!


----------



## boyago

Stupid failure, hurts my feelings and makes me sad.


The one on the left was about what I was going for and what cam out of my little sample I poor with every batch.  The right was the best out of 2kg worth of molds.


----------



## smeetree

boyago said:


> Stupid failure, hurts my feelings and makes me sad.
> View attachment 11191
> 
> The one on the left was about what I was going for and what cam out of my little sample I poor with every batch.  The right was the best out of 2kg worth of molds.



The one on the left is awesome, and the one on the right isn't that bad.


----------



## Saponista

Did the colour fade or did it just not mix in the way you intended?


----------



## boyago

smeetree said:


> The one on the left is awesome, and the one on the right isn't that bad.





Saponista said:


> Did the colour fade or did it just not mix in the way you intended?



It was a spoon drop through an AC pencil line.  I was paranoid I'd use too much AC and come out with grey bubbles but I think I used way too little and maybe should have used smaller drops.


----------



## smeetree

I really dislike this bar. So the story was that my brother contacted me on short notice and said he wanted a lavender loaf for Christmas. I made a recipe real quick and figured I'd use alkanet root for the color, as it worked excellent on past lavender bars. What I forgot to do was infuse it. So about an hour into the process and right at the time for color, I panicked and just started adding powder to the batter. To the center divider I added woad powder. I tried to do some kind of swirl (mantra? I forget). Then, I was unfamiliar with the mold. This was a new one and the first time I used it, so after I poured all 3 batters into their dividers I realized it didn't go to the top, so the bar was only 2" or so. lol. So I added the rest of the batter on top. This is why there's a shelf. Also, the tops look weird. Is that ash? They almost look burned (the color is brownish).

The positive is it smells amazing. It's the best lavender scent I've produced. It should be a good bar if not too scratchy. But I can't stand looking at it.


----------



## Obsidian

Yes, thats ash and maybe a bit of light discoloration. Personally, I think its a nice looking bar. I bet if you got a planer and cleaned all the edges up you would like it more.


----------



## smeetree

Obsidian said:


> Yes, thats ash



That's the first time I've seen ash form. And this was the first time I didn't use saran wrap over the top. I just put a wood slab over it. This could be coincidence, but it's frustrating because one reason I purchased a new mold was that I didn't want to wrap the loafs anymore (the saran was distorting/flattening the tops)

Does the ash form from heat reflecting off the wood? It almost looks burned and brown, like it took color from the wood.

I think I read on the forum that ash is random.


----------



## navigator9

I love that shade of blue/purple! Not ugly at all.


----------



## smeetree

navigator9 said:


> View attachment 11198
> I love that shade of blue/purple! Not ugly at all.



Wow, thanks.
Maybe part of the disappointment is I wanted to give these as gifts. So I wanted them perfect. The clumped up alkanet root, the "shelf", forgetting to infuse, the ash...it's a bastardized version of what I was going for and super disappointing. 

ps. If you want to create that shade of purple, use alkanet root in a greater quantity than is recommended on most sites. I forget what I used exactly, but it was quite a bit. Probably double the norm. Alkanet is sensitive to pH, too, which will vary it a bit. I used distilled water, which is usually a 6 pH. The blue in the center is woad powder.


----------



## JustBeachy

Far from being an ugly soap Smee. Like Obsidian said, just plane the edges and it'll be a fine looking Lavender soap. I like the subtle color difference from the woad.


----------



## Cindy2428

Yup for ash and I like the little Yoda in the middle!


----------



## smeetree

Cindy2428 said:


> Yoda





hahaha


----------



## Saponista

You braved the thread, well done Smee  it's nowhere near as bad as you made out lol.


----------



## hud

I agree , this is not an ugly soap it's nice but didn't meet your expectations.


----------



## newbie

Last week, I came out of my room to find my cat curled up in my slab of gelling soap. It was covered but he smushed it, although I was able to squish it back into shape and save most of it. Being an idiot, I did not learn my lesson and I came out this am to see how my beer soap from last night came out. I uncovered this. Needless to say, my current soaps are sitting in the oven.


----------



## jules92207

Lol that is awesome!


----------



## boyago

And my second attempt for this soap was worse than the first.  Going for this:


Round two turned out like this:


The AC seems to be only really collecting on the sides of the mold.  


This time I used what I thought was more than enough.  Also the base recipe was the same but I used different EOs and it looks like the color morphed to not nearly as cool.  I can't figure out how I got it to work in a yogurt cup but can't in the mold.  Anybody got any ideas?

btw that round two pic was the very best out of twelve.


----------



## smeetree

newbie said:


> Last week, I came out of my room to find my cat curled up in my slab of gelling soap. It was covered but he smushed it, although I was able to squish it back into shape and save most of it. Being an idiot, I did not learn my lesson and I came out this am to see how my beer soap from last night came out. I uncovered this. Needless to say, my current soaps are sitting in the oven.



Woh, that looks like ham


----------



## jessieh

I'm still a very newbie, but having a great time experimenting.  I love the scent of this soap (jasmine and vanilla) but was was unprepared at the ugliness of it.  I know vanilla turns brown, but yuck! 
May I present  "It's not Vomit"


----------



## seven

boyago said:


> It was a spoon drop through an AC pencil line.  I was paranoid I'd use too much AC and come out with grey bubbles but I think I used way too little and maybe should have used smaller drops.



please help me understand this technique more.. so, you did the ac pencil line first, and then gently dropping swirls, hoping for a curve-ish effect with the pencil line... right? never thought of this technique, it's pretty awesome in paper, i feel like giving it a try..

wait a minute, i just realized they are round soaps! how did you do it? i simply cannot wrap my head around this! if you can make it in a yogurt cup, maybe keep using it?


----------



## biarine

My odd looking colour rebatched, when my CP turn horrible I did rebatch the soap and turn this colour.


----------



## Luckyone80

biarine said:


> My odd looking colour rebatched, when my CP turn horrible I did rebatch the soap and turn this colour. View attachment 11920



I like it, looks like granite.


----------



## Luckyone80

Here is my ugly rebatch, looks like Spam.


----------



## rainycityjen

Wow, that Spam soap. Would probably sell like hotcakes in Hawaii? 

My pinks have a tendency to turn out ham- or American cheese-colored. Has made for some interesting bars.


----------



## boyago

seven said:


> please help me understand this technique more.. so, you did the ac pencil line first, and then gently dropping swirls, hoping for a curve-ish effect with the pencil line... right? never thought of this technique, it's pretty awesome in paper, i feel like giving it a try..
> 
> wait a minute, i just realized they are round soaps! how did you do it? i simply cannot wrap my head around this! if you can make it in a yogurt cup, maybe keep using it?



Easy-Peasy. You take your batter to thick trace, the thicker the trace the more defined your lines will be.  Thinner batter will make a fainter wispyer effect.  Then take a spoon and drop a few spoon fulls into the mold, shake some AC (or whatever) then spoon in more soap, shake more AC,  repeat... Since these were done in vertical type molds you wind up cutting on the same plane that you are putting you lines into the soap which is what I think gives it a cool 3d depth where as you use the soap the lines thicken and thin out and change patterns.  
I was kind of brain storming why they would work in the cup but not the PVC and was reminded of how when sand is run over PVC it makes a strong static charge.  I think what's happening is that the PVC has a charge that is pulling the AC into the walls (which at lubed with mineral oil) and hardly any AC is getting to the wet batter.  Not sure if I could ground it out or just find a silicone column mold but I think I'll try that.
btw Here is what they look like when you do them with a two tone batter instead of lines (I split the batter and colored half with powdered kelp):


And same same on HP NY Castile:


This one is a loaf mold with the cuts at 90 to the AC, which I find a little more boring.


----------



## biarine

Luckyone80 said:


> I like it, looks like granite.




Thank you


----------



## KristaY

*Problematic Plumeria*

This is Plumeria from AH/RE. It had no CP info except to say there's no vanillin, it's bath and body safe, and FP >200. No reviews either. OOB it smells just like my daughter's favorite B&BW scent when she was young so I thought she'd get a kick out of it. Boy did it accelerate! I used the SB to very light trace, poured off 1/4 of the batter to color, then went back to the larger amount. By then it was almost soap on a stick so I had to cram it in the mold by hand. It crumbled when I cut today at about 18 hours old. Luckily I only did a 1 lb test batch. Amazingly ugly soap, lol! :x


----------



## claireobell

What else would make soap crumble like this? I made one the other day that did this after 72 hours! I stopped cutting after 2 failed slices in hope it will harden! I used pomace olive, coconut , grapeseed,  Shea and cocoa butter,  coconut milk (part of subbed water added at trace) and eo of amryis, neroli, Mandarin and jasmine. I'm too scared to cut the next slice coz it's so pretty! How long should I wait? Or is it broken?


----------



## MarisaJensen

Luckyone80 said:


> Here is my ugly rebatch, looks like Spam.



Like Raincityjen said, it might be a hot seller. ;-)

I remember a long time ago a local vendor selling meatloaf soap. LOL Yep, it looked like meatloaf. I never got to smell it but I saw a picture and it was definitely interesting. It would have made for a funny gift.


----------



## Bubli

So I finally did it and it looks terrible!100%Evoo castile soap1T sugar ppo,1.5t salt ppo,1% citric acid(with lye adjust  up to compinsate),water discounted to about 1.75 x amount of lye,hand stirred/wisked. Soaped at 125*F,Took FOREVER TO REACH MEDIUM TRACE,PLUS A FEW OIL/LYE SEPARATIONS.kind of crumbled where I cut it,play dough concistancy and still zapping at 24 hours.
K, there's the jist of my issue, here's my questions.....is all the above normal for this soap and the way I made it. I'm not used to my soap behaving like this. I actually though it was a failed batch and decided to give one more 2hr long stir and it finally took right at the 24 hour mark of beginning the soap.
I'm thinking cuz of the steep water discount it will zap longer than normal and I don't think it gelled.and  I'm thinking cuz it's all olive that it will be softer for a while. Would it be best you think to use individual molds rather than have to cut and crumble?
I can see why this soap is said to be avoided by beginners! Any advice?


----------



## Obsidian

I've never had any trouble getting castile to reach trace but I've never hand stirred it, why didn't you use a stick blender? Castile is a odd soap, it can either take days days to set up enough to cut or it goes rock hard in just a few hours. I've found that EVOO seems to stay soft longer while my pomace castile sets up hard in about 24 hours.
I used individual molds last time, I like how the soaps turned out. I'm thinking you cut yours too soon and thats why it crumbled.


----------



## JuneP

*Crumbling*

My notes on the cocoa butter says too much can cause the soap to crack. They also give a limit of 15% on both cocoa butter and shea butter. I think some members have recommended in other posts to keep the total butters around 8% or less. 



claireobell said:


> What else would make soap crumble like this? I made one the other day that did this after 72 hours! I stopped cutting after 2 failed slices in hope it will harden! I used pomace olive, coconut , grapeseed,  Shea and cocoa butter,  coconut milk (part of subbed water added at trace) and eo of amryis, neroli, Mandarin and jasmine. I'm too scared to cut the next slice coz it's so pretty! How long should I wait? Or is it broken?


----------



## biarine

Bubli said:


> View attachment 11976
> 
> So I finally did it and it looks terrible!100%Evoo castile soap1T sugar ppo,1.5t salt ppo,1% citric acid(with lye adjust  up to compinsate),water discounted to about 1.75 x amount of lye,hand stirred/wisked. Soaped at 125*F,Took FOREVER TO REACH MEDIUM TRACE,PLUS A FEW OIL/LYE SEPARATIONS.kind of crumbled where I cut it,play dough concistancy and still zapping at 24 hours.
> K, there's the jist of my issue, here's my questions.....is all the above normal for this soap and the way I made it. I'm not used to my soap behaving like this. I actually though it was a failed batch and decided to give one more 2hr long stir and it finally took right at the 24 hour mark of beginning the soap.
> I'm thinking cuz of the steep water discount it will zap longer than normal and I don't think it gelled.and  I'm thinking cuz it's all olive that it will be softer for a while. Would it be best you think to use individual molds rather than have to cut and crumble?
> I can see why this soap is said to be avoided by beginners! Any advice?




I did castile too 100% olive oil I used 1000 grams of light olive oil, 35 water discount 5 sf with 1 teaspoon sugar + 1/2 teaspoon table salt. I used HP when I cut my soap also quite crumbly but I tried small slice is very good more bubbles and no slime.


----------



## Bubli

Maybe too steep a water discount for cutting, or cutting wrong time....Idk. Next batch I'll go with individual cavity molds also. 

I hand stirred just cuz I always do with my other soaps,they trace so fast that a blender would just be pointless, one more pain in the rear to clean. BUT, you can bet that if I do another EVOO castile at 100%.....I WILL have a d$&@ good blender in my hand and running!
So after 3 day,zap free YAY! But I wish so so badly that I had molded individual bars. We all know the soap is good no matter how bad it looks but if feels better when it's pretty too.
I also wish it had turned out that emerald green, I know alit of people don't like it, but I do."Grassy"green or any natural green color/shade is my favorite color. Any tips on retaining that green?


----------



## Rowan

As far as I am aware you don't tend to retain the lovely green colour of the extra virgin olive oil.  Some people have managed it with Laurel Berry Oil (Aleppo soap), but it must depend on where you source it because others say they get brown soap with it. Someone posted the most amazing picture of a deep green Aleppo soap. It would be  amazing to recreate it!


----------



## Obsidian

Yeah, OO won't make a pretty green soap. My EVOO castile is a putrid chartreuse.


----------



## SplendorSoaps

Had to share my ugly soap - my husband tells me that it looks like egg casserole with ham!  LOL

I wanted this one to turn out like a pretty sea glass soap.  I had lemongrass green tea soap (that looked really cool, but had too much green tea butter in it for my liking) and some rebatched lavender rose soap (without much fragrance) just sitting around.  I cut them into cubes, and added them to a plain batch of an old standby recipe.  

Here's where things got interesting...  I decided that I needed to add some fragrance to it, so I used Lemon Eucalyptus EO (thinking it would go well with the lemongrass green tea scent), and what the hell!, just threw some grapefruit EO in there with it (because, it's all pretty much citrus, right?).  I could not have been more wrong!!!  Not only does the soap look like...I'm just going to say it...VOMIT!, it ended up smelling so strongly of citronella that it could repel bugs (and probably humans, too) from miles away.  I don't think I can even rebatch this into anything useful.  The bummer is that it's actually a nice soap to USE, but stinks to high heaven and is ugly as can be.


----------



## jules92207

I don't find that ugly actually. Kinda cool. I don't have scratch and sniff though so I will have to take your word on the scent.


----------



## SplendorSoaps

Thanks, jules92207.  I think I wouldn't have been bothered by the look so much if my husband hadn't mentioned it looking like chunks of ham.  Now every time I see it, ham is all I can see!  LOL


----------



## Cactuslily

Unless you're seeing something in person that isn't coming through on camera, I think this is lovely. As for the smell, maybe it'll mellow out a bit in time? If not, can you rebatch a rebatch?


----------



## ariella42

I was so excited to finally try a wine soap! I even bought a wine FO and some merlot mica for the occasion. Unfortunately, it didn't go quite as planned colorant-wise. First of all, I knew the FO accelerated trace, so I decided just to do a simple two color in the pot swirl, with a bit of a mica oil swirl on top. I didn't expect to not even have time for that. I ended up glooping the purple into the pot, kind of folding it in, and throwing it all in the mold. The purple pigment I used hardly colored at all, so I quickly mixed some more to add, and the only part of the purple that came through was in a couple of undissolved bits. The mica was supposed to make a rich red, and it looks good in the oil swirl, but even though I added it at almost twice the amount listed (and it was listed as safe for CP), it faded out to a weird mauve after gel. Of course, I thought the top looked nice, at least...until my cat decided to nap out on top of it while it was gelling. I can't wait to get a cat-free soaping zone!


----------



## snappyllama

My first attempt at HP was going so smoothly. Everything was according to plan. I had my soap molded up... yellow with pink marbling.  It looked so smooth and perfect. Scented with Daystar Goldilocks. I was really impressed with myself.

Then I realized I left out the SF... grr... plopped out of mold and combined the best I could.  Once it was back in the mold... I realized I made awesome scented canned corned beef soap complete with those ribbons of yellow spam fat. 

Oh well.


----------



## Saponista

That is the most realistic looking corned beef soap I have ever seen snappy! It sucks when things don't go to plan, I always manage to leave something out. At least it still smells nice and is useable


----------



## Sonya-m

Here's my latest beast! Thanks to the baby powder FO seizing on me. Now it's weeping lye water has white crystals forming on top and really isn't the drop swirl I intended!!




The crystals



I don't mind the inside


----------



## Saponista

Does it zap?


----------



## Sonya-m

Saponista said:


> Does it zap?




Yep


----------



## biarine

I like the colour combination


----------



## snappyllama

That's too bad, Sonya. Your colors were really nice on it.


----------



## RhondaJ

What a shame, I love those colors!!! Beautiful soap


----------



## Saponista

Oh dear, looks like a rebatch then


----------



## grumpy_owl

Ballerina soap fail, part deux. The pink turned the muddy rose-ochre of bad ham and the tops look like hard yellow rinds of fat. Fatty ham soaps! Not the delicate satin slipper color I imagined. No, I haven't had the heart to do a third try.


----------



## grumpy_owl

Made lemonade from pork-fat lemons. Meet Boudoir, girly-smelling sexy dark rose soaps with a copper fleur de lis. No fatty residue!


----------



## newbie

Nice save!


----------



## grumpy_owl

Thank you, *newbie*. I'm extremely frugal--okay, cheap--and hate to waste soap. Also, this may be my favorite scent combination ever. It really reminds me of my dancing youth--the rosin and rose and sweat and general perfumyness of young ladies.


----------



## jules92207

Oh wow, best save ever in my humble opinion. Nice job, and now I want smell o vision!


----------



## jules92207

grumpy_owl said:


> Thank you, *newbie*. I'm extremely frugal--okay, cheap--and hate to waste soap. Also, this may be my favorite scent combination ever. It really reminds me of my dancing youth--the rosin and rose and sweat and general perfumyness of young ladies.



Got your message but it says your inbox is full so thanks for sharing! Will definitely check that out.


----------



## kdaniels8811

How is this for ugly?  I tried to dip my loofahs and they were a lot bigger than expected once I soaked them so I just went ahead and made them.  They are about 6" across so may be cutting in half once they are cured.  Or just call them "manly" soaps as my son loves them and asked me to make BIG bars for him and his brother.  Sure!


----------



## janzo

kdaniels8811 said:


> How is this for ugly?  I tried to dip my loofahs and they were a lot bigger than expected once I soaked them so I just went ahead and made them.  They are about 6" across so may be cutting in half once they are cured.  Or just call them "manly" soaps as my son loves them and asked me to make BIG bars for him and his brother.  Sure!




Be careful about cutting them in half, I did this to my loofahs and they were very sharp to use.


----------



## kdaniels8811

Thanks for the heads up.  I will leave them as they are.  I ordered "normal" size loofas, the ones 3-4" wide.  Will try again!  I used Bamboo fragrance and it set up fast so they are nowhere near as smooth as I would of liked.  Learn and grow.


----------



## MorpheusPA

I just had a minor one.  I made honey shampoo bars and the honey settled a bit in the molds.  There's an eighth inch of soap that's white as the driven snow, with the rest of the bar the nice golden-brown honey color.

It's minor, nothing zaps, but it looks a little strange.  Next time, I'll stick blend to medium trace instead of light.  Fortunately, these are just for us and it was only a pound.


----------



## biarine

My 3 months old soap that I scented it with Peru balsam not really much about 17 ml but it discoloured like when you use vanilla FO.


----------



## seven

grumpy_owl said:


> Made lemonade from pork-fat lemons. Meet Boudoir, girly-smelling sexy dark rose soaps with a copper fleur de lis. No fatty residue!



i loveee that fleur de lis stamp!


----------



## hlee

Over heating and poor FO blending I think. 
I cut the top off the one on the left. It didn't help much.


----------



## Little-Bits-N-Pieces

I made Applejack Peel from BB, what a wreck! LOL. Everything was going smoothly (soaped at 110 degrees), left it for 15 seconds came back and the FO separated from the batter, then riced REALLY badly, got it beat smooth, then poured it off for the colors. Got the colors in, it riced AGAIN. Then seized, and turned into playdoh. I was done with it at that point so I squashed it into the mold, and it was heating up. I let it gel, then the FO started oozing out the top... argh!
Waiting to unmold it now, see how it is in the middle....


----------



## Rowan

hlee said:


> Over heating and poor FO blending I think.
> I cut the top off the one on the left. It didn't help much.



I really like the effect on the top of your soap. It gives it texture


----------



## hlee

This was so not the soap I had in my head. It's prettier in the pic than in rl.


----------



## jules92207

I get that, but this is so not an ugly soap.


----------



## corrine025

*ok here is my ugly soap*

Amber romance soap with callendula leaves...they turned green.


----------



## hmlove1218

My first batch of soap for the Liquid Sub Swap. Naughty FO caused it to seize and it never fully smoothed back out


----------



## jules92207

Looks like brownies with walnuts!


----------



## rainwater

I actually like the second one.


----------



## soapswirl

A badly behaved fragrance oil caused separation and a scarily lye heavy soap (picture 1). So i rebatched it and now it looks like minced beef! (picture 2). Despite looking horrible it smells quite nice so may still get use out of it.


----------



## cgirard4

Made my third batch tonight and split it. The first half I used FO and mica for a strawberry champagne. 
Took the other half and added leathe FO and mica and got this beautiful hot mess. The bottom layer gelled and I had to scoop it in. The top layer well you see it. Lol


----------



## HerbalEarthling

Bringing this thread out in the sunlight again.  I had a beautiful pumpkin soap that broke at the pencil line so I hot processed most of it, and was able to salvage some of the original pieces that didn't separate, so I shoved those down into the hot process.  Kinda looks like some kind of weird toast popping out of something.


----------



## jules92207

Lol - it does look a little like toast. Still looks pretty.


----------



## HerbalEarthling

jules92207 said:


> Lol - it does look a little like toast. Still looks pretty.



Thanks!  I haven't even attempted to use it.  I don't know why really, it smells delish!  I'm putting some in my shower right now for tomorrow morning.  Who knows, maybe it'll be the next best seller!


----------



## Obsidian

For some reason, I see sponge bobs teeth:shock:


----------



## Stacyspy

Obsidian said:


> For some reason, I see sponge bobs teeth:shock:



I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Spongebob...lol...:grin:


----------



## Obsidian

Severe partial gel, this was stopped just before it overheated badly.


----------



## skayc1

yes this soap is truly ugly...the daffodil scent morphed on me & smells like a cow patty...yes I used heavy cream (I have in all my soaps) I also used brambleberry's vanilla color stabilizer, which I also used on my first batch & it morphed to smell like nair, then went back to the scent it was supposed to be. This still smells like poop.  Oh and I did not let this soap gel, I kept a fan on it so it wouldn't overheat.


----------



## galaxyMLP

HerbalEarthling said:


> Bringing this thread out in the sunlight again.  I had a beautiful pumpkin soap that broke at the pencil line so I hot processed most of it, and was able to salvage some of the original pieces that didn't separate, so I shoved those down into the hot process.  Kinda looks like some kind of weird toast popping out of something.




It reminds me of the french toast cereal that used to be available. Now I want some and I can't have any. Thank you! [emoji20] lol

Obsidian, I think your soap actually looks really cool. I'd buy it as a customer and think that was intentional! Its round and perfectly centered. 

Skay, I think your soap looks pretty! Its a shame it smells like a cow patty. That certainly can't be helped... [emoji17]


----------



## snappyllama

skayc1 said:


> yes this soap is truly ugly...the daffodil scent morphed on me & smells like a cow patty...yes I used heavy cream (I have in all my soaps) I also used brambleberry's vanilla color stabilizer, which I also used on my first batch & it morphed to smell like nair, then went back to the scent it was supposed to be. This still smells like poop.  Oh and I did not let this soap gel, I kept a fan on it so it wouldn't overheat.



I'd give it some more cure time.  I don't like to use vanilla stabilizer, but have noticed a horrific smell that fades away after a week or so.  Maybe it will sort itself out.


----------



## santimar

those glycerin rivers.....rebatch, at least its smell delicious!!!


----------



## Obsidian

I actually like the rebatch better then the original, looks all stormy.


----------



## skayc1

snappyllama said:


> I'd give it some more cure time.  I don't like to use vanilla stabilizer, but have noticed a horrific smell that fades away after a week or so.  Maybe it will sort itself out.



I hope it sorts itself out! I loved the smell in the beginning!


----------



## santimar

Thank you!!!


----------



## Rowan

Obsidian said:


> Severe partial gel, this was stopped just before it overheated badly.



Well caught!


----------



## Rowan

santimar said:


> those glycerin rivers.....rebatch, at least its smell delicious!!!



That's a lovely looking rebatch!


----------



## santimar

Thanks!


----------



## vmakkers

It started off ok with the swirls until I decided it just wasn't pretty enough and I got out of bed and took a spoon to it. Should have walked away the first time


----------



## Obsidian

Thats the exact reason I no longer try to texture tops if there are multiple colors. I can never leave well enough alone and over do it until  the colors are muddled.


----------



## vmakkers

Obsidian said:


> Thats the exact reason I no longer try to texture tops if there are multiple colors. I can never leave well enough alone and over do it until  the colors are muddled.



Lesson learned. I gotta start applying the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" approach.


----------



## skayc1

Oil keeps seeping out of my soap that's still in the mold... help, is it going to have glycerine rivers?


----------



## grumpy_owl

Not a troubleshooting issue, just an admission of massive failure. Fourth of July soaps using a new MP technique. Haaaaate.


----------



## galaxyMLP

Grumpy, I actually think they look cool but... I'm not sure what you were originally going for. I think that look cool even if its not what you intended.


----------



## grumpy_owl

Thank you , Galaxy. I like the way they look and LOVE the way they smell (Wasabi and Eucalyptus) but I was going for red "fireworks" curls in the clear base, and these are...not great. My boyfriend told me to take them off Facebook, they were that bad.


----------



## jules92207

Ahhh- I see it now. It's not THAT bad!! They are kinda cute.


----------



## newbie

I was trying to do the same pattern as the black/gray/white soap but in yellow orange and pink with a thread of black. FUGLY! no troubleshooting needed- my FO accelerated and chunked up. FUGLY FUGLY!


----------



## not_ally

A, where did you get Wasabi and Eucalyptus (or did you blend it?)  That sounds lovely.  Does it stick well?  You might like NG's Cucumber, Wasabi, Cilantro, it is one of my favorites.

Newbie, I hate to say it, but I like it when you expert-y types have a mishap.  It makes me feel all warm and not so alone inside


----------



## newbie

Ha! I have tons of mishaps. I just don't always show them, like my Troll Boogers soap.


----------



## galaxyMLP

Troll boogers?? I wanna see! I think it could be popular in a Harry Potter soap line. Eh? Yea? Ehhhhh???? 

Anyway, here's my awful soap... 





The second pic is where I cut the top maybe 1/8th to 1/4 inch off. Still looks gross. Think this is going into the rebatch pot!!


----------



## grumpy_owl

Galaxy, it looks great cut! Kinda like pixie barf in the pan but the cut bars are really nice. I think this one is salvagable, but then again, I'd say anything to get out of rebatching.

@not_ally, I used Wasabi in the colored bits and Eucalyptus in the clear, because BB's Wasabi goes yellowish. I gave on each to the air conditioner repair guys. Pretty soon, all of Orleans Parish will smell delicious thanks to the confused and grateful workmen who were "gifted" with my ugly soap.

And newbie, I love ya, but... yeah, so.... Your hair looks really shiny today!


----------



## galaxyMLP

grumpy_owl said:


> Galaxy, it looks great cut! Kinda like pixie barf in the pan but the cut bars are really nice. I think this one is salvagable, but then again, I'd say anything to get out of rebatching.
> 
> @not_ally, I used Wasabi in the colored bits and Eucalyptus in the clear, because BB's Wasabi goes yellowish. I gave on each to the air conditioner repair guys. Pretty soon, all of Orleans Parish will smell delicious thanks to the confused and grateful workmen who were "gifted" with my ugly soap.
> 
> And newbie, I love ya, but... yeah, so.... Your hair looks really shiny today!




Was your ac broken? Mine was too. 3 day heat wave of 95+ kinda did it in. 2 buildings at work and then my home. Not a great week for ac... 

And, you're too kind. Lol, pixie barf. I should call it that!


----------



## not_ally

Newbie, I want to see the troll boogers too!  That's a sentence I never thought I would utter in my pre-soaping life (along with "I'd like a 50lb box of lard, please").  

Galaxy, I agree with G_O, I like it too.  I vote against a rebatch.


----------



## newbie

You need to slice just a little more off. Look at what's underneath there! It looks good!

Okay, I admit to being lost. WTH are you talking about, Grumps? about my hair?? Perhaps I'm just old or not getting a cultural reference. So sad to be an old fart.

Voila le Troll Boogers. The first pic is a bar I squeezed hard in a fit of pique and the second is a set of trolls at the bottom and another stupid rebatch on top of them. I do hope they make you feel very warm and fuzzy.  Why are they sideways? They certainly don't look any better that way.


----------



## not_ally

I am not feeling at all warm and fuzzy, there is no boogerishness about those at all.  They look like pieces of Bit-O-Honey.  I am very disappointed in the general lack of slime/ugliness.


----------



## newbie

Hahahahahaha! Oh if only you could hold one. Not all boogers are slimey, you know. These are murky brown and look and feel like modeling clay. I can't even foist them off on anyone because they are just gross. They don't look like Bit-O-Honey in real life, that's for certain. If I offered one of these to a child, they would back away slowly, wide-eyed and then run for their life.


----------



## doriettefarm

Sorry newbie but those are fugly with a capital F!  I've made several batches that looked similar but without the cool modeling clay consistency.  I think grumpy was just trying to deflect with the shiny hair comment


----------



## newbie

THANK YOU, Doriette, for acknowledging their ugliness! Sometimes we need recognition for how dreadful something is. See, Not_ally? You are looking at the world through rose colored glasses. (teasing)


----------



## not_ally

I'm sticking with the Bit-O-Honey prism   I tend to think that most all doggies, homemade soaps and babies are pretty much nice/fun to look at, although I have seen some exceptions.  I admit, Newbie that does sound a bit PollyAnna-ish, but I feel much less so about adult humans ....


----------



## newbie

I have a lot of fun looking at ugly soap as well as pretty as well, but I just don't know how you can think my troll bars are not ugly. Fun to laugh at, yes, but like candy? Agreed on the adults, 100%.


----------



## sugar_soap

Wicked Witch - scary looking rebatched soap with a smell to match...the glitter was my (sad) attempt to liven it up


----------



## not_ally

Yes, I pretty much only reach for the glitter when I have made a mess of the top by overswirling it.  It never helps, but I can never resist   I have one of those waiting to cut right now, I hope the inside is better than the outside!


----------



## sugar_soap

This one started out as white soap with a pretty black swirl with orange so & banana and coconut eo. Charcoal soap riced up, I overheated the soap wrapped in towels and it just oozed out all the fo's & eo. Then a pretty bad rebatch...


----------



## not_ally

Oh, no.  Confetti time!  Here's a link to a really nice confetti technique that mintle posted recently:  https://thesoapmine.wordpress.com/tag/confetti/

I bet it would be really pretty, you'd have your black and white soap, plus you could add the FO/EO to your new batter/non-confetti base mix.


----------



## sugar_soap

That's really neat will check out how it looks after cutting as it's starting to smell quite sweet and coconutish now. If it's good I'll keep it for Halloween markets


----------



## not_ally

Oh, good!  If the coconut sticks, be sure to let us all know, everyone is always looking for a good coconut.  They all seem to fade so much ....


----------



## pau-rosa

This is my lavanda-lemongrass soap that fell down to the floor ( whole butch), when I was cutting it... Also a trace was very thick so secret swirl turned out not really nice. But I already have some ideas of confetti soap!


----------



## Sonya-m

That ugly brown was a gorgeous blue when it went in - it's been rebatched but I feel that may be uglier still!!


----------



## Saponista

Oh sonya, I still think they looked really nice as they were! The tan colour goes well with the blue!


----------



## newbie

I have to say I wouldn't have rebatched because the blended colors tend to look sickening. It's odd but not terrible, although I would have been very peeved about the morphing blue. Whose and which color was it? I have one particular design fail that I still shake my head at, but heck if I was rebatching and ending up with more modeling clay soap! I'm slowly getting rid of it, telling people they have to take an ugly along with the good.


----------



## TheDragonGirl

I think both of the last two soaps actually look really good, honestly


----------



## not_ally

sugar_soap said:


> That's really neat will check out how it looks after cutting as it's starting to smell quite sweet and coconutish now. If it's good I'll keep it for Halloween markets



Sugar_soap, how did yours come out, was it beautiful after all?  I did that confetti technique and quite liked it, b/t/w.


----------



## Sonya-m

Here's the rebatch


----------



## sugar_soap

Well....it's spongy & smells sickly sweet. Think it's going in the bin


----------



## jadelilly

Sonya-m said:


> Here's the rebatch
> 
> View attachment 14659



That looks like camo! My son would love that


----------



## not_ally

Oh no,  don't bin it, try the confetti thing first.  You might think it  is awful, but it is worth a try and a chance to check out something new.   The one I confetti'd was a hideous ombre, messed up the colors and  layers, the layers were separating, it was an ugly mess, much better in  confetti.  I will post the before/after pics here - they will be awful, I  am terrible at that, but hopefully it will nudge you to try.

OK, I totally suck at this.  Tried a bunch of times to reload the pic the right way up and load the "before" pic, failed at both.  I give up, sorry for making you nauseated by having to look at the darn thing sideways.  Just imagine a hideous ombre for the other.


----------



## sugar_soap

That's really beautiful - reminds me not those delicate China plates ☺ I'll keep it for another week maybe it will harden, then see what happens


----------



## TVivian

I don't even know what happened here or what I could name this soap to make it seem acceptable that the soap has freckles.. Or measles.


----------



## nsmar4211

Hrm I thought it was on purpose....what's the scent?


----------



## Stacyspy

I thought it was on purpose also...lol.. It's lovely


----------



## TVivian

The scent is a mix of coconut and tropical scent samples I'd collected. It smells sweet and sorta foodie. Oddly enough it smells like bananas, but not enough so that I'd call it banana bread. I still don't know what caused the spots. I'm thinking maybe one of the scents had crystallized.


----------



## biarine

TVivian said:


> View attachment 14839
> 
> 
> I don't even know what happened here or what I could name this soap to make it seem acceptable that the soap has freckles.. Or measles.




Sometimes the goodness of soap isn't base on looks but base on what you feel in your skin. There's a lot of beautiful looking soap but when you use it makes your skin itchy and dry. I love the look


----------



## lrachel

Ugly doesn't even come close.

Blue colorant clearly failed.  I dumped it in my bar mold.  I then thought to myself "perhaps if I drip some mica on the top I can swirl it and save it".  Needless to say, that also failed.  I didn't even save this for rebatch.


----------



## jules92207

I've had discolor that came back after cure, did you keep it around long enough to see?


----------



## jules92207

My new ugly. Moonlight Pomegrante turns my batter yellow. Didn't expect that...


----------



## jenneelk

This ones from around 2 years ago and no idea why I still have it. This is after being steamed an the whole bar being shaved.. It weeped dark brown all over. 
It's still insane ugly but smells ok.. Blueberry crumble..but holy heck it has a lot of vanilla in it with all the brown I got. Used a stabilizer that clearly didn't work.


----------



## Sonya-m

No way does that belong in here! It's gorgeous!!


----------



## jules92207

Agreed. Just aged. Its like old books, aged to perfection.

That second down on the left looks like a peacock.


----------



## grumpy_owl

I gotta say, y'all got some high standards. These last few (and many previous) are prettier than soaps I consider my beauties. This thread is as much an inspiration to me as the photo thread.


----------



## jenneelk

Not sure if those replies were for mine but if so..
Up close it's yuk. Ha.
The peacock swirl turned out nice with 2-3 colors
I look to have used, but the brown is just blah over it. Looks like dirt. Haha


----------



## TheDragonGirl

tbh I like the brown peacock swirl too


----------



## lrachel

jules92207 said:


> I've had discolor that came back after cure, did you keep it around long enough to see?



No, I tossed it.  It was a small test batch and I don't have much storage room.  Had I not put the mica on top, I might have kept for rebatch, but that was the deal breaker.


----------



## not_ally

Jules and Jen, you guys are crazy.  Those are some pretty soaps.


----------



## Dana89

@TVivian- That is a really cool looking soap. I would have no Idea that is was accedental.


----------



## makes_scents

I don't need troubleshooting...I know what went wrong...Rose FO caused massive acceleration and morphed my pretty red to a gross color...lesson learned...I would call this Avocado soap accept there is none of the above in it...colored with Chrome green oxide and Paprika

I was going to attempt a swirl, but it go so thick I kinda had to plop it in the mold (stainless steel - no aluminum) and then it got even thicker so I kinda just mixed it.


----------



## umeali

I need a suggestion too I made my first 500 g batch soap few days back ,It was jelly like after 24 hours and even 5th day it was the same ,first picture is showing the first look.
after 5 days I tried to cut it and found the bottom part is perfectly done .so I cut them to remove the jelly like substance  as shown in picture but last picture is showing when I cleaned it ,I need a suggestion what should I do now ?re batch it ?As I tried to make it for gift but uneven cutting  or something wrong in recipe made it ruin .I need a process of re batching .


----------



## Obsidian

umeali, it needs to be rebatched. Chop it all into small pieces, place it in a slow cooker and heat it until its like mashed potatoes. Make sure you stir it really well then smash it into a mold. It won't be pretty but it will be safe and usable.


----------



## umeali

Obsidian thanks a lot ,yes I did it and now waiting for unmold ..


----------



## TwystedPryncess

Failed mica line. My first time, so I'll probably have more to post as I go along.

 Although I was happy it stuck together, it still wasn't straight. One step accomplished, anyway. Positiveness!

Everything else I was pretty happy with. I should probably figure out a better way to embed the hearts, as my three male bosses at work made fun of the in-the-mold pic and said they looked like little butts sticking up out of the soap.  (They took it back really quick when I said I planned on gifting them three of the bars, and said they were super duper cool with having Sandalwood Butt Soap. Whatever. See what I got to put up with? LOL.)

They are also starting to soda ash anyway, guess I should keep them covered the whole cure time? How do you guys prevent soda ash after the first few days? I remembered to spritz alcohol and cover, left it in the mold a day and a half (I had to work).  It will come off so no biggie.


I tried to use a design that would work with a discoloring FO. The soap should darken over time, top and bottom. I will watch and see if it splotches and I should re-do the next and swirl or...what.

I have way uglier ones to post later, I just haven't got them photo'd yet (i.e. the soap from my soap mistake story.)

Thanks for looking at my Mica Fail Sandalwood Butt Soap!


----------



## Obsidian

I really like the uneven mica lines, looks more natural somehow to me. Love the little butts lol.


----------



## makes_scents

I must say I agree about uneven Mica Lines...I think they look for handmade and not manufactured.


----------



## TheDragonGirl

I actually break my mica lines up on purpose because I think they look better that way! the soaps look lovely


----------



## TwystedPryncess

Thanks guys!  I just want to learn to do it even though!  They are still plenty usable.  Anyone have suggestions on how to embed heart tops and not get howls of laughter and butt jokes?  (Some were worse, I won't include them,  my bosses may get that soap thrown at them.)


----------



## kumudini

TwystedPryncess said:


> Thanks guys! I just want to learn to do it even though! They are still plenty usable. Anyone have suggestions on how to embed heart tops and not get howls of laughter and butt jokes? (Some were worse, I won't include them, my bosses may get that soap thrown at them.)


 
Sorry Pryncess that you had to endure those jokes. I kind of could see the hearts, but I think they have a likeness to ....butt, because of their roundness. Guess you made them in individual cavity molds. I think better would be to invest in a tubular heart mold as they will have sharp edges once you cut them out otherwise you could split the hearts lengthwise so they have a defined heart shape on one side.


----------



## TwystedPryncess

Oh,  I laughed too.  I can see it myself.  I did use individuals.  And also I thought embedding them very lightly on the side to make sure the points are visible would help.  Won't be using that mold for that again..... Hahhaha.


----------



## grumpy_owl

I have a knack for making Scabby Wound soaps in an attractive Band-Aid color. It's kinda my specialty. The latest—failed wine soaps. I forgot to add the coconut oil, portioned out the white part, SB'd both the Inner Organ Pink and the white to trace, remembered the coconut oil, ADDED TO THE RED PART ONLY (that's the trick to a really grainy separation; take note), then poured it anyway because I can't throw it away until it hardens.
My first toss-the-whole-loaf failure.


----------



## Obsidian

Lol, band aid color :clap: thats awesome. I wouldn't toss it, rebatch and color the whole batch either darker pink or purple


----------



## snappyllama

I'm in the middle of rebatching some pine tar soap I made last weekend when I over poured OO.  I was hoping it would do okay and knew I ought to figure it out then, but I made the cardinal sin of soaping while crazy overflowed the house.

 It looked and cut up just like fudge before being chunked in the crockpot.


----------



## kumudini

*Beeswax failure*

Thought I would get it over with, this is the beeswax soap I made yesterday. It was the first time I used beeswax in soap, I was aware of the high soaping temps required, fast tracing and that I was using a new FO, I still wanted to do an orange and green ITP swirl. Well, by the time I started mixing my colors in, it was very thick pudding. It took quite a bit of elbow grease to mix. There was no way I could do any kind of swirling. So I just glopped them in to the mold, banged the heck out of it on the counter then covered with plastic wrap and tried to smooth out the top. The result, not only NOT what I wanted but positively ugly soaps. When I try to think of something that might remotely resemble this, nothing, absolutely nothing comes to mind. So, there you have it, ugliest soap I ever made.

ETA: oh, that light yellowish color is from the red Palm oil in the recipe at 20%, that was the un colored section, except for the small amount of bentonite clay in the batter.


----------



## afbrat

Vkumudini- This reminds me of war paint or maybe camouflage. Something manly. I don't think they are ugly at all


----------



## kumudini

afbrat said:


> Vkumudini- This reminds me of war paint or maybe camouflage. Something manly. I don't think they are ugly at all



Thank you for the kind words .


----------



## whitewitchbeauty

My blob, just posting to show it in its ugliness. The whole thing was a booboo!


----------



## kumudini

whitewitchbeauty said:


> My blob, just posting to show it in its ugliness. The whole thing was a booboo!View attachment 16577



When you posted this pic the first time without any comment, I thought it was a dessert, something I make with rice, mung dal, jaggery and ghee with some toasted nuts thrown in, it's called pongal. It might harden up and be fine to use though, let me look at your recipe in the other thread.

ETA: I saw that you mentioned throwing it out, a missed learning op I must say. Had you kept it, you could have seen what that would be like with a long cure. Even with the substitution of palm oil with cocoa butter, the lye calculations are not very different, with 2 oz lye, it was giving you a 5 SF. And people make soap burgers with HP pot scrapings all the time, that's what yours was looking like at the worst.


----------



## galaxyMLP

Vkumudini said:


> When I try to think of something that might remotely resemble this, nothing, absolutely nothing comes to mind. So, there you have it, ugliest soap I ever made.



It reminds me alot of the university of south florida's logo. Here's a pic below:






Their colors are gold and green but, I think the orange complements it very well.


----------



## hopalongkat

Soda ash is killing me! Fortunately I haven't had too many other complete disasters or weird things but I ALWAYS have soda ash...I'm guessing that's what that is anyway! Any hints or tips for preventing? I soap around 120 degrees and spray with alcohol and cover and insulate!


----------



## nsmar4211

I was doing a bunch of reading and there were some convincing experiments showing that less water in the recipe reduces soda ash. Haven't tried it myself. What's the water content of your recipe?


----------



## hopalongkat

Mmm, I don't know percentage, but it was 4.6 oz lye and 11.22oz water...how might I determine just how much water to take out?


----------



## Sonya-m

We'd need your full recipe to determine your water %. Did you use soapcalc? My guess is you used full water - the default in soapcalc is 38%. You can use the settings in soapcalc to reduce your water %, a lot of soapers use the lye concentration setting instead though - full water tends to give me around a 26.5% lye concentration. A pretty common setting is 33% lye concentration. 

I too have heard that lower water soaps get less ash.


----------



## hopalongkat

I just use the lye calculator on bramble berry. Just unmolded and cut and found gelling which has never happened to me before  maybe next time...


----------



## Obsidian

I like the two tone purple, its pretty.


----------



## rparrny

Went to do a wall pour in my slab mold but it traced way too fast and screwed up every thing.  I did use castor oil at 15% along with shea and kokum butter, but my last batch with this combo did well.  Wondering if it was the EOs...lavender/cedarwood and a touch of ylang ylang.  I'll see how it is after it dries but I'm pretty sure it's heading to the food bank...


----------



## hopalongkat

Sonya-m said:


> We'd need your full recipe to determine your water %. Did you use soapcalc? My guess is you used full water - the default in soapcalc is 38%. You can use the settings in soapcalc to reduce your water %, a lot of soapers use the lye concentration setting instead though - full water tends to give me around a 26.5% lye concentration. A pretty common setting is 33% lye concentration.
> 
> I too have heard that lower water soaps get less ash.



Sonya-m and everyone else, here was my full recipe:
17.5% Olive Oil =   5.95 oz
15%   Coconut =    5.10 oz
12.5% Avocado =   4.25 oz
20%   Sunflower =  6.80 oz
25%   Rice Bran =   8.50 oz
10%   Cocoa Butter = 3.4 oz
Lye: 4.60 oz
Water: 11.22 oz
Superfatted by 3%

I used Bramble Berry's Lye Calculator; haven't worked with Soap Calc yet. I soaped around 120. There was also lavender FO, 2.5 oz...maybe that caused it to heat up as well? This was my first time using this many different oils (pretty much used everything I had)! A partial gel happened and it is still REALLY soft, almost mushy. Now that I'm looking at the recipe I'm wondering if I needed more hard oils? Honestly, I really don't have a good understanding on all this water/lye percentage and superfatting business. I kind of learned to start with percentages of oils and go from there so it's just me throwing things together ha! If anyone could explain that better, or might have an idea as to why I experienced partial gel, I'd be greatly appreciative! And let me know what you think of the recipe in general, please


----------



## grumpy_owl

This is the second time I've had BB's Merlot Sparkle Mica, which used to be very well behaved, separate on me and make an oily, grainy batter. At least, I think it's the mica. Scent is NG's Applejack Peel and the green part came out nicely, but I have these translucent jelly pockets and cracks on the top. You can see in the pics--they look yellowish. What is this and why did the soap gods turn on me?


----------



## Obsidian

I have no idea what that could be, I've never seen such a thing. Was the batter possibly not mixed enough? I use merlot mica and its never given me any trouble.


----------



## grumpy_owl

Maybe, Obsidian. But as I said, the green part, which is the bulk of the loaf, is smooth and pretty. No zap. The reddish parts are kind of crumbly, like old mortar. Recipe was one you'll recognize: 40 tallow/40 lard/20 coconut oil.
I just ordered NG's Tomato Red mica so I'm hoping not to fool with trying to get a decent red anymore. It's worked exactly once for me--same mica, same recipe. <throws up hands and rolls eyes>


----------



## newbie

Ummmm yeah. Part of the batter was fine and the other part separated. Looks a bit like soap mixed with puke spots. It has a j'ne sais qua to me, actually, but it's hard to explain.

PS. I've had TKB's Colorona Bordeaux do exactly that separating grainy thing on me, too. I think for me it was a quantity issue but if you want to get a deep red, it seem like you have to put in a fair amount. My soap never liked it when I used a lot.


----------



## RogueRose

These were actually really nice soaps when they first came out of the moulds about a year ago but this is what they have turned into for some reason.  They almost look like sweet potatoes or yams.  This is one of the reasons I was hesitant to give soaps to people b/c there is no real explanation that I can come up with as to why this happened to them.  I used the same recipe as other batches and used oils from the same bottles so I'm clueless as to why this may have happened.


----------



## kumudini

Rose, your pics just made me so sad, for you and for the soap. I'm thinking that it might be an FO issue. One of the swap soaps I received has this rusty liquid oozing out while all the other soaps sitting right next to it in their own cups are fine. So it's not my basement or any other environment factor.


----------



## Misschief

Ok, let's talk ugly. This first picture is what I was attempting to make...looks lovely. Rosemary and Peppermint soap. 



img_8041 by Ev Skae, on Flickr

How mine turned out...



001 by Ev Skae, on Flickr

It took forever to firm up, for one thing. I even had to throw some out; I couldn't get it out of my silicone mold (oops.. it was a plastic mold) and it started to go rancid (in the mold) after almost two weeks. As you can see, I have ash; and the brown spots? Those are mint leaves. Yeah, never again. 

I'm holding on to the batch for now, until I decide the best course of action. For now, apart from smelling very minty, it's a Pinterest fail.


----------



## RogueRose

Vkumudini said:


> Rose, your pics just made me so sad, for you and for the soap. I'm thinking that it might be an FO issue. One of the swap soaps I received has this rusty liquid oozing out while all the other soaps sitting right next to it in their own cups are fine. So it's not my basement or any other environment factor.



I think it was an old lavander & rosemary FO I had as that was to only thing that was common across the soaps - both FO's were from the same company.  I just wonder what could have been in the FO to make it seep out?


----------



## KristaMarie

Misschief, what was your recipe? I can't imagine why a batch would go rancid so quickly, unless the oils used were really old. Did you get dreaded orange spots?

Ash happens. I get it on most batches and Do. Not. Care. That can be easily removed!


----------



## Misschief

Krista, trust me, it went bad. It didn't get hard in the molds and I left it in for quite some time (more than a week because it was too soft to get unmold). I know what rancid oil smells like. Even over the overwhelming mint scent, I could tell. I think part of the problem was that plastic molds don't breathe; there's no air circulation. And the ash? Yeah, no big deal. On one of my soaps (double chocolate), I actually like it; it adds to the aesthetic.

The rest of the batch is still soft, after 4 weeks, but I'm rebatching 2 bars... seems to be going well from what I can see. Tomorrow will tell.


----------



## nsmar4211

Misschief, if the next batch won't unmold after a few days and you think it'll go rancid due to air stagnation, have you considered freezing it just so you can unmold it? . I'm a little curious why staying in the mold would make it go rancid if it was mixed properly, I've had to leave soaps in the cavity M&P molds (I was doing CP) for over a week just to unmold them but no rancidity that I can tell... *scratches head*


----------



## rparrny

newbie said:


> Ummmm yeah. Part of the batter was fine and the other part separated. Looks a bit like soap mixed with puke spots. It has a j'ne sais qua to me, actually, but it's hard to explain.
> 
> PS. I've had TKB's Colorona Bordeaux do exactly that separating grainy thing on me, too. I think for me it was a quantity issue but if you want to get a deep red, it seem like you have to put in a fair amount. My soap never liked it when I used a lot.


I realize it's not what you were going for, but I really like it!  It looks like natural stone to me.


----------



## houseofwool

rparrny said:


> Went to do a wall pour in my slab mold but it traced way too fast and screwed up every thing.  I did use castor oil at 15% along with shea and kokum butter, but my last batch with this combo did well.  Wondering if it was the EOs...lavender/cedarwood and a touch of ylang ylang.  I'll see how it is after it dries but I'm pretty sure it's heading to the food bank...




Ylang-ylang accelerates like crazy!  I've found I need to soap at room temp and bring to a bare emulsification then hand stir.


----------



## houseofwool

hopalongkat said:


> Soda ash is killing me! Fortunately I haven't had too many other complete disasters or weird things but I ALWAYS have soda ash...I'm guessing that's what that is anyway! Any hints or tips for preventing? I soap around 120 degrees and spray with alcohol and cover and insulate! View attachment 16875




Did you scent with lavender EO?  I find that there is almost no way to prevent ash entirely when I use lavender. 

The last time, I rand the entire loaf under running water after molding and wiped away the ash. Quick and easy.


----------



## Misschief

nsmar4211 said:


> Misschief, if the next batch won't unmold after a few days and you think it'll go rancid due to air stagnation, have you considered freezing it just so you can unmold it? . I'm a little curious why staying in the mold would make it go rancid if it was mixed properly, I've had to leave soaps in the cavity M&P molds (I was doing CP) for over a week just to unmold them but no rancidity that I can tell... *scratches head*



The only reason I could come up with is that there was too much of the mint (leaves) in the soap and, being so moist for so long, the tea leaves started to decompose. As for freezing it, I tried that, too. It wasn't pretty. The mold started cracking when I tried to get the soap out (plastic, not silicone).

I didn't toss out the entire batch; there were only 3 soaps in that particular mold. I still have the rest and it was a fairly large batch.

This morning, I unmolded my confetti soap and I can report that it is a definite success. Looks good, smells amazing. Yup, I'm happy I decided to go that route. Now, I'll have Peppermint Soap for a long time to come. This batch only used three of the small ugly soaps. I still have 6 of the rounds and 9 bars of the stuff.

On the top of the pile - the ugly soap



005 by Ev Skae, on Flickr



002 by Ev Skae, on Flickr



004 by Ev Skae, on Flickr


----------



## Punkin2x74

This soap as pretty as it is in the loaf this one was actually Cotton Candy the base was supposed to be blue and the top pink.  Also I was using parchment paper and I unmolded it to soon. It ended up widening out in the middle and looking like a old wooden boat.  Oh well we live and we learn.


----------



## sugar_soap

And here it is - the Spaghetti Puke Soap.


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman

sugar_soap said:


> And here it is - the Spaghetti Puke Soap.




What happened?


----------



## sugar_soap

I miscalculated and this was left-over mixture. The spaghetti was supposed to go on Christmas muffins to look like tinsel but it looked like a muffin out of Elm Street so I just piped it on the mixture randomly.


----------



## penelopejane

Punkin2x74 said:


> This soap as pretty as it is in the loaf this one was actually Cotton Candy the base was supposed to be blue and the top pink.  Also I was using parchment paper and I unmolded it to soon. It ended up widening out in the middle and looking like a old wooden boat.  Oh well we live and we learn.




Pink and blue?


----------



## Steve85569

I was trying for the December challenge. With a trusted well behaved FO. 
Everything was going according to plan until the FO hit the batter. Ever see a batch go to "soap on a stick"? It was close but I got it into the mold before it seized. Whatever happened is a mystery to me because everything with the FO went not just the high or low water.


----------



## Steve85569

Next attempt was closer but still not there.
Looks like the bottom overheated for some reason. This is the only time - so far - that I have had this happen.


----------



## penelopejane

How did you force it to gel?


----------



## Steve85569

The second soap was CPOP'ed but I didn't think it had gelled properly so I applied some heat to the bottom. That's where I went wrong. I know the recipe I'm using and should have known that I had gel even if the top of the loaf didn't look like some of the others. It's what the inside looks like after the process that counts.

It's still soap so after a month of cure time we'll see how bad it is.


----------



## CaraBou

Hey!  I can see your progress for the challenge!  So the first one has the colored CO in it, but not the second?  Did you give up on it for the challenge?


----------



## penelopejane

Steve85569 said:


> The second soap was CPOP'ed but I didn't think it had gelled properly so I applied some heat to the bottom. That's where I went wrong. I know the recipe I'm using and should have known that I had gel even if the top of the loaf didn't look like some of the others. It's what the inside looks like after the process that counts.
> 
> It's still soap so after a month of cure time we'll see how bad it is.




I know there are a few ways to CPOP but I preheat the oven to 100 F and have started putting a pizza stone a few shelves below my soap.  Then I make my soap, put it in a cardboard box and wrap it in a blanket and put it in the oven and turn off the oven straight away and leave it over night. This seems to work well, even with my fan forced oven which clears the hot air out of the oven when it is turned off.

Your soap looks great though. Maybe if you trimmed off the overheated bit at the bottom no one will even know!


----------



## Steve85569

"Hey!  I can see your progress for the challenge!  So the first one has  the colored CO in it, but not the second?  Did you give up on it for the  challenge?"

No I have not given up on the challenge. I have done another batch that I will submit and I just batched lye and water for a late attempt for perfection. I am thinking that I may want to use different water ratios more often after this challenge and what I have learned ( so far).


"I know there are a few ways to CPOP but I preheat the oven to 100 F and  have started putting a pizza stone a few shelves below my soap."

I have been scheming on getting my "Chunk 'o Iron" that I used to use in the ovens at work and using it to help stabilize the oven temperature when I CPOP. It's a 30" x 8" x 1" mass that once heated stays at temperature quite well. I think I'll go out and get it from the shop since you tipped me on the pizza stone.  

Thank you both!!


----------



## CaraBou

No no Steve, I didn't mean give up on the challenge, I meant give up on the colored CO for the challenge.  I said that because the soap you posted had no orange in it. I knew you had struck your gold and I am dying to see it!  Here I go, waiting again...:roll:


----------



## Steve85569

CaraBou said:


> No no Steve, I didn't mean give up on the challenge, I meant give up on the colored CO for the challenge.  I said that because the soap you posted had no orange in it. I knew you had struck your gold and I am dying to see it!  Here I go, waiting again...:roll:



No I did not give up on the colored oil.
I just had to try one without just to see what I could come up with . I still had a couple of bugs to work out of my procedure when I did that one. Got 'em fixed and I can now repeat the process with reasonable results. Just a few more days and I will post the pictures.


----------



## amd

I have made a few trial batches of salt soap before using Shari's recipe and thought I would take a stab at a big batch. I started with a 2lb recipe but realized I didn't have enough coconut oil so cut it in half and stuck a divider in my log mold. I stuck it in a warmed oven for 3 hours as my house was cold. When I took it out of the oven it was a huge oily mess. I let it sit for another 3-4 hours to see if it would absorb but no luck so I cut it. It is a new FO for me so I don't have a history with it. I can only guess that either I miscalculated when I cut the recipe in half and maybe didn't have enough lye or it false traced and separated in the oven. Any thoughts?


----------



## houseofwool

It looks like it overheated to me. Was the oven on for the full 3 hours?


----------



## galaxyMLP

That's the recipe with 80% CO and 20% Avocado oil w/ 20% SF, right?

The only batch I've ever had separate and overheat like your picture was a 100% CO 20% SF soap that I tried to CPOP. Looks like it overheated from the high CO (prob. not the FO).


----------



## Steve85569

I can CPOP salt bars?


----------



## amd

houseofwool said:


> It looks like it overheated to me. Was the oven on for the full 3 hours?



No. I heated the oven to 170F and turned it off before putting the soap in.


----------



## amd

galaxyMLP said:


> That's the recipe with 80% CO and 20% Avocado oil w/ 20% SF, right?
> 
> The only batch I've ever had separate and overheat like your picture was a 100% CO 20% SF soap that I tried to CPOP. Looks like it overheated from the high CO (prob. not the FO).



I have CPOP my last 3 batches without problems, I didn't know that higher co would add to the heat. When I get more co I think I'll give it another shot without cpop now that I know that! Thanks 

I did a lather test on a scrap piece today and it did lather and no zap. I think it will be OK to use but not gift worthy. Its super greasy still so I don't know how these will cure out.


----------



## noob

*Purple in my Lard soap?*

Hello all! Figured I would add here instead of starting my own thread.

I semi-recently (Nov 30th) made a lard-based bar of soap and like many, I didn't wait until the full 4 - 6 weeks to test it out.

Was going fine for a few days, when I noticed there was some color in it, which looked like purple (but as you will see, the pictures don't really look purple, but that's the color I thought I originally saw). Now, this color didn't appear on the outside, and doesn't on any of the bars I made. They are all a very white color. This was a surprise color in the middle of the bar.

There is no coloring in the batch at all.

Recipe:
Lard 54% (8.64oz)
Olive Oil 20% (3.2oz)
Coconut Oil, 78deg 8% (1.28oz)
Palm Oil 8% (1.28oz)
Castor Oil 5% (0.8oz)
Shea Butter 5% (0.8oz)
Tobacco Bay Leaf Fragrance from BB 0.5oz
Distilled water: 6.08oz
Lye: 2.16oz

I made a small 1lb batch to put in a mold that makes 8 individual bars.

I did not document what temperature I did everything at. If I had to guess, I would say around 120F. I added the fragrance to the oils. I did nothing to promote gel phase, and simply left it out in the corner of my room and took around 5 minutes to do what I assumed was trace.

If I had to guess, it could be from the fragrance, which according to the BB site will discolor slightly, but not to the color that I saw. The other thing I thought was maybe some sort of additive to the Lard. It is Armor brand that I purchased from Wal-Mart.

Other than that, the bar seems to function just fine, and can't really complain about it for any real reason, but I don't like mystery colors in the middle of my soap lol. Any help or ideas are appreciated!


----------



## Seawolfe

Do the purple patches smell any different? DOS usually smells bad.

The only thing I can think of is strange stories of DOS caused by implements that weren't good quality stainless steel, and the metals caused some discoloration. But that would be weird if it only colored the inside and not the out. Plus DOS isnt often purple is it?


----------



## snappyllama

If it's just on the newly exposed surface, could your tested bar have been propped against something that would have discolored it? It doesn't look like DOS to me.


Possibly, it's FO discoloring from the FO not being entirely blended in. I've gotten odd mauve colors (especially from masculine scents).


----------



## fuzz-juzz

Yeah, it might be the FO. I also had some of them change white soaps to muave/pink colour.
And since they were individual bars, sometimes they might slightly gel in the middle even without promoting gel.
That's what could have brought on the colour of FO, or just not enough mixing as snappyllama said.


----------



## paillo

sugar_soap said:


> And here it is - the Spaghetti Puke Soap.



In response to the Spaghetti Puke Soap:

Ahhh, haaaah, haaaah, LOL, you've given me a much-needed laugh! Looks like something I would make. It looks perfect for your local organic gardening or hunting/fishing supply store. Maybe with a clever fishing description. Worms and worm holes in soil looks not like a mistake, but brilliance! And hopefully you've scented with something earthy?


----------



## noob

Seawolfe said:


> Do the purple patches smell any different? DOS usually smells bad.
> 
> The only thing I can think of is strange stories of DOS caused by implements that weren't good quality stainless steel, and the metals caused some discoloration. But that would be weird if it only colored the inside and not the out. Plus DOS isnt often purple is it?



I notice no additional odor from the bar. As for crappy stainless, I did use a butter knife I purchased for around $0.50 or so from Target. I've used it in other batches I made and I didn't notice any issues with them, but I will keep it out next time.

and yeah, I am very confused about it only being on the inside of the soap. Maybe due to partial gel that was pointed out in another comment? Still, doesn't really look like a partial gel to me, but I can only go by pictures on the net.

I am waiting a bit longer to try any of the other bars.



snappyllama said:


> If it's just on the newly exposed surface, could your tested bar have been propped against something that would have discolored it? It doesn't look like DOS to me.
> 
> 
> Possibly, it's FO discoloring from the FO not being entirely blended in. I've gotten odd mauve colors (especially from masculine scents).



I added the FO to the oils, and it being mostly lard, it took quite a while to get to what I called trace. I'd like to think the FO was fully mixed in 



fuzz-juzz said:


> Yeah, it might be the FO. I also had some of them change white soaps to muave/pink colour.
> And since they were individual bars, sometimes they might slightly gel in the middle even without promoting gel.
> That's what could have brought on the colour of FO, or just not enough mixing as snappyllama said.



I think this makes the most sense. Will have to see what the other bars have inside. I will continue to use this bar and see if it gets more colored or not, lol.


----------



## penelopejane

amd said:


> No. I heated the oven to 170F and turned it off before putting the soap in.




Maybe that was a little hot. I put it into a 100 F oven and turn it off straight away. I wrap it in a blanket and leave it overnight. Ok, ok I sneak a peak every so often [emoji2]


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## houseofwool

amd said:


> No. I heated the oven to 170F and turned it off before putting the soap in.




If this is a primarily coconut soap, it was too hot. 

When I make 100% CO laundry soap with 0% SF, it gels on the counter without wrapping it up in any way.


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## amd

houseofwool said:


> If this is a primarily coconut soap, it was too hot.
> 
> When I make 100% CO laundry soap with 0% SF, it gels on the counter without wrapping it up in any way.



Thanks Houseofwool and PenelopeJane! I'll skip the OP for the next try at his bars.


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## shunt2011

I too have no problem withmy salt bars gelling.  Though I do cover them lightly with a towel.  I tried to OP them once and ended up with an oily mess as well.   I need to make more soon.  Stock is dangerously low.


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## allinalather

I have found this thread fascinating.  Not dipped my toe in the water with CP yet, maybe in the New Year.  First price has to go to Seven, I had no idea soap could look like road kill, that poor hedgehog. (Page 6)


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## amd

shunt2011 said:


> I too have no problem withmy salt bars gelling.  Though I do cover them lightly with a towel.  I tried to OP them once and ended up with an oily mess as well.   I need to make more soon.  Stock is dangerously low.



See... That's what happens when I read the internetz instead of checking here first! Silly me.

ETA: Shari, if batch #2 fails I may send the FO to you and commission to have the bars done lol.


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## Shakti

*Ugly Colour*

I haven't taken pics of the ugliest soaps I have made but this one is my most recent - ugly based on colour...was supposed to be a lovely purple and soft green and it came out electric fuchsia and army green...and my swirls got flattened when I stamped the mold down so it looks like weird morse code in army green :???:


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## shunt2011

amd said:


> See... That's what happens when I read the internetz instead of checking here first! Silly me.
> 
> ETA: Shari, if batch #2 fails I may send the FO to you and commission to have the bars done lol.


 
  Sorry I missed this somehow.   I would be happy to try. No guarantees though.  I'ave had a couple give me fits.


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## Chrys

*Ugly but good!*

I sell exotic oils and butter from the Brazilian Amazon so I had to try my products in a soap.
My first soap (or 2 since the brown pieces was from my first soap and the yellow is my second), turned out ugly but wonderful to use! Even as a shampoo!

So far I have made 7 soaps, they all ugly but awesome! I am ok with that! If I want a pretty soap I will buy it from one of the many amazing professional soapmakers out here.


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## amd

shunt2011 said:


> Sorry I missed this somehow. I would be happy to try. No guarantees though. I'ave had a couple give me fits.


 
Thanks, Shari, but I did get a batch to turn out very nicely once I skipped the oven and let it do its own thing. They are so lovely looking, I'm fighting the urge to keep them for myself and getting him something else for his birthday, lol. I still have two months think about this


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## shunt2011

amd said:


> Thanks, Shari, but I did get a batch to turn out very nicely once I skipped the oven and let it do its own thing. They are so lovely looking, I'm fighting the urge to keep them for myself and getting him something else for his birthday, lol. I still have two months think about this


 
I have no luck using the oven.  I'm so glad they turned out.  You are rocking it girl!


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## MySoapyHeart

Is is strange how people think their soaps are failures, when all I see is something that reminds me of delishous foods / chocolates / desserts...

It might have something to do with the fact that I am on a diet though... 

_Crawling back to my cup of tea with no sugar, no milk, no taste. Yum..._


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## Rodica

glycerin rivers caused by overheated (((( my second attempt


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## shunt2011

Rodica said:


> glycerin rivers caused by overheated (((( my second attempt



Hello and welcome!  If you start a new thread and post your recipe and process we can help you troubleshoot.  Also, stop by the introduction forum and tell us a little about yourself.   Glycerin rivers are cosmetic and won't affect the use of the soap


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## DWinMadison

Chrys said:


> *Ugly but good!*
> 
> I sell exotic oils and butter from the Brazilian Amazon so I had to try my products in a soap.
> My first soap (or 2 since the brown pieces was from my first soap and the yellow is my second), turned out ugly but wonderful to use! Even as a shampoo!
> 
> So far I have made 7 soaps, they all ugly but awesome! I am ok with that! If I want a pretty soap I will buy it from one of the many amazing professional soapmakers out here.
> 
> View attachment 18879
> 
> 
> View attachment 18880
> 
> 
> View attachment 18881



Hmmm...I’m having trouble finding these oils at my local Kroger.  Suggestions?


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