# Failing flaxseed-oil soap



## engblom (Jun 29, 2013)

What did I do wrong? I have made several batches of castile and mostly olive oil soaps by now, and decided to try to make a flaxseed-oil soap (just flaxseed-oil, nothing else). It became really terrible looking. Look at the picture! It is having a thin skin that is slightly hard and then really soft beneath. Some terrible valleys that have apeared


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## dagmar88 (Jun 29, 2013)

engblom said:


> What did I do wrong?



Going for 100% flaxseed. If you really, really insist to use it, don't go over 5%.
It gets rancid in no time.
Have you checked your recipe on soapcalc? You'll see the cleansing number is 0, bubbly 0 and the harness only 9. This is not going to be nice soap.
If you're just starting out making your own formulations, you might want to ask for advise with each one.
It's never nice to waste anything :sad:

What did you do exactly? Looks like it might have been overheated.


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## Kersten (Jun 29, 2013)

It kind of looks like a big ravioli! Im not sure what happened, but flaxsed oil is high in Linolenic acid and even in lower percentages will often go rancid in soap leaving dreaded orange spots eventually, just for future reference. I hope someone can be more helpful; I'm curious to hear what others think it might have caused that reaction. How long has this been in the mold?


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## engblom (Jun 29, 2013)

I used soapcalc. The same calc also claims castile oil is not washing, not bubbly etc. That is clearly false. All of my castile soaps are very good. I know there are commercial 100% flaxseed-oil liquad soap and it is washing. I wanted to make a solid soap myself and ended up with this failing.

I more looking for information on what I did wrong. Should I have reduced the amount of water in the same way as with castile soap? With castile soap I use 32% water, not the 38% soapcalc is using as default. This failure had 38%. Should I not have been keeping it warm (insulating wooden form in about 110F/45C room)?


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## dagmar88 (Jun 29, 2013)

engblom said:


> I used soapcalc. *The same calc also claims castile oil is not washing, not bubbly etc. That is clearly false.* All of my castile soaps are very good. I know there are commercial 100% flaxseed-oil liquad soap and it is washing. I wanted to make a solid soap myself and ended up with this failing.
> 
> I more looking for information on what I did wrong. Should I have reduced the amount of water in the same way as with castile soap? With castile soap I use 32% water, not the 38% soapcalc is using as default. This failure had 38%. Should I not have been keeping it warm (insulating wooden form in about 110F/45C room)?




Olive oil is the one exemption to the rule.
There's nothing you could have done to make it work.


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## engblom (Jun 29, 2013)

Kersten said:


> How long has this been in the mold?



3 days


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## engblom (Jun 29, 2013)

dagmar88 said:


> Olive oil is the one exemption to the rule.
> There's nothing you could have done to make it work.



There are more ways the calc is wrong. In the Nordic countries flaxseed-oil was used for a long time in soap making because it was the oil plants growing here. It is washing very well.

The same calc also claims castor oil is both bubbly and lathering. A 100% castor oil soap would neither be bubbly nor lathering. Castor oil is only making the lather more stable that comes from other oils.

I am sure it is possible to make a 100% flaxseed-soap as it has been the traditional soap in my areas. It is just that it might require some knowledge that is not needed for other kind of soaps.


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## pamielynn (Jun 29, 2013)

Using a single oil is not going to work the same as if you added it to a balanced recipe. 

You also need to be looking at the fatty acids - not just the numbers at the top left side of soapcalc; those numbers are ranges and estimations. I agree that you wouldn't have been able to make this work -that oil just can't handle being on it's own


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## bodhi (Jun 29, 2013)

Try making a smaller batch and reducing the water a lot, a lot, and then a lot more-and put salt in it.

Added:  i like the way it looks though.  Kinda like brains, lol.


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## DeeAnna (Jun 29, 2013)

Pure flaxseed (linseed) oil soap will not make a hard bar soap. All of my old references from the late 1800s and early 1900s talk about it making a soft soap, even with "soda lye" (NaOH).

The traditional soap making method from those times (and earlier) was a boiled process using a moderate excess of lye, either KOH or a mixture of KOH and NaOH depending on the source of the lye. The soap was "salted" to separate it from most of the excess lye and to convert some of the KOH soap to harder NaOH soap. The finished soap was a soft paste or a liquid, not a hard bar. 

Further research might help you better understand the traditional use of this oil in soap.


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## Dr.J (Jul 1, 2013)

I've seen a similar failure reported as "alien brains" here:

http://www.millersoap.com/botched.html

Scroll down a little bit, and there is a pic.

They attributed the defect to overheating.  Scroll down some more on that page and there is more discussion (e-mail message) titled:

*Subject: "alien brain" and the saturn rings effect*"


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## MissChris (Apr 7, 2018)

engblom said:


> What did I do wrong? I have made several batches of castile and mostly olive oil soaps by now, and decided to try to make a flaxseed-oil soap (just flaxseed-oil, nothing else). It became really terrible looking. Look at the picture! It is having a thin skin that is slightly hard and then really soft beneath. Some terrible valleys that have apeared
> 
> View attachment 2871


wondering if you ever figured this out. i am working on same thing, determined to define and make it effective.  it is number one priority for me right now for major reasons. if anyone has found things that help, let me know too. Thanks


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## MissChris (Apr 7, 2018)

engblom said:


> There are more ways the calc is wrong. In the Nordic countries flaxseed-oil was used for a long time in soap making because it was the oil plants growing here. It is washing very well.
> 
> The same calc also claims castor oil is both bubbly and lathering. A 100% castor oil soap would neither be bubbly nor lathering. Castor oil is only making the lather more stable that comes from other oils.
> 
> I am sure it is possible to make a 100% flaxseed-soap as it has been the traditional soap in my areas. It is just that it might require some knowledge that is not needed for other kind of soaps.


i totally agree.  trying to find all i can on this for very good reasons.  if you find out anything, let me know.  NOT accepting what new technical soap makers say on this. Its expensive and many just do not want to keep pushing it because it is not something so simple, and not really as easy to deal with, clearly very sensitive with its processing as well.


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## shunt2011 (Apr 7, 2018)

MissChris said:


> i totally agree.  trying to find all i can on this for very good reasons.  if you find out anything, let me know.  NOT accepting what new technical soap makers say on this. Its expensive and many just do not want to keep pushing it because it is not something so simple, and not really as easy to deal with, clearly very sensitive with its processing as well.



This post is 5 years old. The OP hasn’t been here in quite some time so not likely to get a response.


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