# Does lemongrass EO overheat easy?



## Obsidian (Oct 29, 2013)

I made a 2 lb batch with 1 oz of lemongrass EO. Put it in a 170* oven so it would gel completely. Just checked and the oil is starting to rise and the top of the loaf of rounding. 
Put it in the freezer to stop it, hopefully its not too late and there won't be any caverns.
Is this a problem with the scent or? My recipe is mainly OO with some PKO, lard, castor and coconut. Last time I gelled it, I had no issues with it but I didn't use the oven.
No additives and I used annatto seeds for color.


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## cmzaha (Oct 29, 2013)

I use a lot of lemongrass and never had it overheat as far as I know, but I do not gel my soaps. Almost all go in the freezer for a couple of hrs


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## Obsidian (Oct 29, 2013)

I'm done with gelling, this was the last straw for me. Everything goes in the freezer for now on. My soap is cooling off and the rounded top has flattened back down, cross your fingers that all is well on the inside and that the oil absorbs back in.


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## Lizteria (Oct 29, 2013)

I too have used lemongrass essential oil, and have also put my soap into the oven. I didn't have any problems with it. My soap had palm oil, olive oil, and coconut oil. I'll look out for any probs next time I use it.


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## judymoody (Oct 29, 2013)

I have never had a problem with lemongrass EO.

I have had problems with my attempts at CPOP.  Here's what I now do: I put the mold in a preheated oven so it's nice and toasty (wood log mold with silicone liner).  I pour my soap and then insulate well (not in the oven).  Generally I get full gel with this method without overheating.  If I need a boost, I use a plant seedling mat underneath which effectively raises the ambient temperature by about 20 degrees.


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## Obsidian (Oct 29, 2013)

Maybe I heated it up too fast. whatever happened, it must have been user error this time. I really nervous to cut this tomorrow, this batch if for someone else to give for x-mas presents:-(


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## kazmi (Oct 29, 2013)

I have my fingers crossed for you!  I've used Lemongrass a few times (in a blend though) and haven't had a problem.  But I typically avoid gell.


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## Obsidian (Oct 29, 2013)

I cut one bar and so far so good. Its a little wet yet so I'll finish cutting tomorrow.


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## paillo (Oct 29, 2013)

Lemongrass is one of my staples, and I've never had a problem with it. I always gel, and CPOP when I can. The only problem I ever had with it was unrelated to the EO- I added too much sodium lactate to the lye water, and learned my lesson.


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## Obsidian (Oct 29, 2013)

I couldn't stand it, I had to finish cutting the loaf. All is well, no pockets or weirdness in the bars. A couple are some what oily but I expect that to clear up in a day or so.


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## cmzaha (Oct 30, 2013)

paillo said:


> Lemongrass is one of my staples, and I've never had a problem with it. I always gel, and CPOP when I can. The only problem I ever had with it was unrelated to the EO- I added too much sodium lactate to the lye water, and learned my lesson.


 
It is also one of my staples. I just cannot live without lemongrass! Some find lavender soothing, I find lemongrass soothing. I actually spray my pillow at night with a lemongrass fabric freshner. I just finished up 15 lbs of lemongrass soap with no problems.


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## My Mountain Soaps (Oct 30, 2013)

i'm glad it worked out for you. I am still learning, is what you have done concidered hot process, since you put it in the oven? and what does CPOP stand for? thanks for putting up with someone who is still learning!


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## Obsidian (Oct 30, 2013)

I really like the finished scent but when I was soaping, it gave me a headache. It turned out a nice light shade of yellow with a good transparent-ish look, just what I was going for.
CPOP stands for cold process, oven process. Its CP soap placed in a warm over to force gel, I guess it could be considered a cross between CP and HP since basically you are cooking it.


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## Tienne (Oct 30, 2013)

Obsidian, have you ever checked that when you set your oven to 170, that the temp IS in fact at 170? Like scales, some ovens just aren't that precise when you get down into the lower numbers. If your oven heats up more than you think, then so will the soap of course and maybe that is what could be causing what sounds to me like, your soap gets too hot in the oven.

I have an old oven in the basement I use exclusively for CPOP'ing and with that old thing it's the opposite. I actually have to set it on 100C to get 75C.

 I feel bad for you giving up on CPOP'ing. Maybe check that your oven's true temp is what you really want it to be? Just a thought.


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## shunt2011 (Oct 30, 2013)

I make lemongrass all the time as well, last night I decided to make salt bars in lemongrass and since I do it in a slab decided to put it in the oven for a bit to help make it gel...some of the oils did rise a bit but I took it out and all was well.  I've not tried CPOP with it before with just plain CP and don't think I will, might jinx myself.  I love the scent too.  Much more than lavender.


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## grayceworks (Oct 31, 2013)

I have had this happen with lemongrass EO too just recently... same soap recipe both times, it  happened when i let it gel and it got pretty hot when i insulated it.

Can you tell if this is what is happening to you also? I'd love to get to the bottom of it! 

 I did the same recipe with different EO's and let it gel with no problem, ( a tad moist when first unmolded) and the same recipe without gel, and it was fine, but took a day longer to firm up. (I've been doing this recipe a LOT to practice, since it is slow to trace and doesn't usually get too hot, so I'm trying to learn swirls.)

But when this recipe gels with the lemongrass for some reason, it gets a layer of oil or something  on top afterward. The oily stuff is mostly flavorless, no zap, a tad sweet with the barest tiniest hint of the lemongrass, but i might as well be tasting grapeseed oil, that's the consistency and feel of it, except there's nothing like that in the recipe.  

The soap is fine, firm enough to cut, no zap, etc. The first time i wiped it off, the second time i left the oils sit on the parchment and left the cut bars sit on it, and the next day the bars had reabsorbed most of the oils. It was weird. 

Should i just wipe it off when that happens? Let it soak back in? SF less? This was 7% SF, and like above, it was a simple mostly OO recipe, with some castor and coconut oils, full water. Madder root color in half, and plain no-color in the other half, .5oz lemongrass ppo. 

I am seriously curious about this! The soap is turning out fine, feels nice when I lather it up, not drying, not sticky... let a co-worker try some, he has eczema same as me, and he loved it also. So it doesn't seem to be hurting anything other than being annoying and messy. But i could do without that lol. 

The finished scent is very strong, (which i love) even at .5oz ppo and even with it leaking out like that... could I still be using too much? Could this be glycerin? It is a tad sweet. I haven't tried HP yet but i read that when it cooks you have to stir the glycerin back in? 


ETA - i also used the lemongrass EO in a batch that was mostly lard, and i got a thin coating of the same oily stuff all over the loaf after gel, which reabsorbed within a few hours after unmolding and cutting. That batch had no OO and only 5% SF. Same level of EO's. 

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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/


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## grayceworks (Oct 31, 2013)

Just found this link. Looks exactly like what mine did. 
http://thesoapbar.blogspot.com/2010/12/epic-fail.html

Theirs did overheat, but not from lemongrass. I think after reading that it is a coincidence, and that i've just managed to overheat them during gel phase.   But! Once i either wipe them and let them sit to dry out, or let them reabsorb and sit to dry even longer, they seem to make very nice soaps, if not the prettiest ones. Maybe i'll make this recipe that way on purpose from now on and call them 'ugly soaps' lol. My luck, that name will already be in use. 

I guess my posts aren't very helpful, aside from commiserating about similar issues, since i'm very new at this, and am just passing along what i've read, not experienced, but thanks for listening anyhow! 
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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/


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## Obsidian (Oct 31, 2013)

I don't think the soaps from that link are ugly, just a bit oily. For the most part, I leave mine to soak the oils back in unless there are pockets or caverns, then I rebatch. I've only had two batches over heat that bad, for the most part I just get a bit of oil on top and if that happens, immediately put it in the freezer.

If you are having troubles with it separating, play around with how you insulate. My worst experiences was when I wrapped my wooden molds in towels, that caused some serious overheating really quickly. I'll try CPOP again, its worked in the past so I'll get it to work again. I do really like the finished gelled soaps. Any recipe that has excess sugars or additives that heat up will go in the freezer though, as will batches with a lot of TD.

This was my last batch that overheated and got pockets. I ended up rebatching which made me sad since it was such a pretty swirl but the finished bars are really nice. Only the yellow parts overheated and the consensus is the carrot puree I added was the cause.


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## grayceworks (Oct 31, 2013)

No, the ones in that link are pretty -- it's MY overheated soaps that are ugly lol. But, they work nice and my coworker likes them too, so i'm not going to rebatch em, i guess, even though there's a few pockets. 

Yes, i was insulating with towels! I guess i need less, huh? Lol

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My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/


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## nframe (Nov 14, 2013)

paillo said:


> Lemongrass is one of my staples, and I've never had a problem with it. I always gel, and CPOP when I can. The only problem I ever had with it was unrelated to the EO- I added too much sodium lactate to the lye water, and learned my lesson.



What happened when you used too much sodium lactate?  Maybe we can benefit from your experience...


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## cmzaha (Nov 15, 2013)

This was my last batch that overheated and got pockets. I ended up rebatching which made me sad since it was such a pretty swirl but the finished bars are really nice. Only the yellow parts overheated and the consensus is the carrot puree I added was the cause.






[/QUOTE]
I cannot be sure what is overheating for you, but I have never had carrot overhear. One soap I make is carrot juice, puree and carrot infused sunflower oil. Btw if you add in some litsea to your lemongrass it will help anchor the lemongrass in your soap and the fragrance will last much longer. Bergamot will also help anchor it, but I prefer the litsea. Can't live without either!


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## dixiedragon (Nov 15, 2013)

I've never had problems with lemongrass. I think perhaps the temp on your oven was too high? Usually I just insulate and don't have to put the soap in the oven. When I do, I turn the oven on to the lowest setting, put in the soap and turn the oven off. You don't want to "cook" the soap (unless you are doing OP), you just want your oven to be toasty warm. Like if you are letting bread dough rise.


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## Lindy (Nov 20, 2013)

I've never had trouble with Lemongrass EO either...


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