# Help- soapy potatoes!



## SoapySouter (Apr 28, 2014)

Hi, looking for some help. I made liquid soap for the second time yesterday. Last time it went cloudy and runny when I added the fragrance, but was acceptable for home use. 

This time, I went for 5% excess KOH (with citric acid as back up) and got a lovely thick, clear soap. I then added the fragrance to the thickly diluted soap, after heating the soap back up and the whole thing turned back into soapy mashed POTATOES! 

I'm letting it cools and it's separating...

Can anyone advise- can this soap be saved?

Is it because it's lye heavy and it's saponifying the fragrance oil perhaps

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

(I used 50/50 water/glycerine method)


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## SoapySouter (Apr 28, 2014)

Looks like this...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/karenadamson/14030494146/




image by Karen Adamson, on Flickr


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## FGOriold (Apr 28, 2014)

If you post your formula and the FO used, it would be easier to help you figure this out.  Fragrance oils and Essential oils can do strange things to you soap.  It is always best to test these in a small amount of soap first instead of an entire batch.


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## SoapySouter (Apr 28, 2014)

Hi, thank you, it probably is the fragrance. The recipe is:




image by Karen Adamson, on Flickr

The fragrance is Sherbet Lemon from Scenty Mental:

http://www.scentymental.co.uk/ourshop/prod_3230782-Sherbet-Lemon-Price-from.html


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## SoapySouter (Apr 28, 2014)

Oh and I used the method from the Alaiyna B website!


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## FGOriold (Apr 28, 2014)

Those oils should give you a clear soap.  It is a bit lye heavy.  It really looks like it needs more water to dilute it.  Did you let it cool after it looked diluted to make sure that it was fully diluted - if it was really thick while hot, it may not be fully diluted as it can change as it cools (skin on top for starters)?  I would add more distilled water to it.  What fragrance oil did you use?


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## SoapySouter (Apr 28, 2014)

Yeah I let it cool, after diluting overnight, then reheated to add fragrance, it went a but cloudy when heated but consistency was the same, like nice liquid soap until I added the fragrance. I might leave it overnight and try diluting more to see what happens.

The fragrance is sherbet lemon from scenty mental.

Thanks for your help so far.


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## FGOriold (Apr 28, 2014)

Were you able to test your ph after you diluted the soap since you do have a lye excess?  Except for that (since I do not know what your ph is), it sounds like you did everything right so I would tend to think it was the fragrance too.


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## cmzaha (Apr 28, 2014)

I know nothing about the glycerine, but I can tell you that I -13 superfat  with 80% water to oil weight when I make liquid soap. How much glycerin was added in? I really do not think it is the superfat issueand I am of the understanding fo does not saponify. Try rediluting a small portion and see what happens.


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## SoapySouter (Apr 29, 2014)

I'm re-diluting now so I'll let u know what happens, it's super frothy cos of the air in the mashed potatoes!

Ph was fine I think, I only have the paper strips, which I know are not accurate, but it looked between 8 and9.

I used about 19% water and 19% glycerin, I went over with the water a bit.

I wonder why fragrance doesn't saponify in a lye heavy solution, since it is an oil...


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## FlybyStardancer (Apr 29, 2014)

Lye reacts with fatty acids to form soap. Fragrance oils (and essential oils) are not composed of fatty acids the way base oils are, and thus cannot be saponified.


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## SoapySouter (May 5, 2014)

It went really frothy, i think because of the air in it. The froth didn't go back down so i had to bin it all - ah well.


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