Bad batch - soap smells like yeast, help!

[Beccah]

I have just totally screwed up a batch of soap and I'm not sure what I can do to salvage it or if I need to just toss it.

It was my second attempt at a goats milk, oat, and honey bar. My first batch turned out well, except that I used a fragrance oil and allowed it to get too hot, so it is fairly dark. Otherwise, it lathers nicely, smells great, and makes my skin feel wonderful.

My second batch, I used the exact same recipe as the first, but opted out of the fragrance oil as my aunt (who wants a bar) is allergic to scents. I mixed my oils and lye at the same temperature, but it took much longer to come to trace. At trace, I added my goats milk, finely ground steel cut oats, and honey. I mixed it all up, poured it in my mold and set it aside to cure overnight.

Here's the problem. When I unmolded the soap today, it smells just like bread. It's a light orange color, which I understand to mean the goats milk got too hot. But, I'm most alarmed by the bread smell, as it isn't just oats, but also a yeasty type smell. Not to sound like a total newbie, but does this mean that something has fermented in my soap? Is it possible for yeast to form in soap? And if so, does that make it unsafe for use?

Any help in this would be really appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[IrishLass]

At this point, I wouldn't be alarmed. Soap- especially one made with additives such as goat milk, oats, and honey- will gas off different weird smells when first unmolded, and even up to a few weeks or more of cure. Because of that, I make it a point to never judge a soap, especially one with additives such as you used, until about 4 weeks have gone by.

IrishLass

 

[green soap]

Yeasts grow and reproduce in a neutral or mildly acidic environment, so there is no way they could grow in curing soap, which has pH of 9 or 10 or more (alkaline).

When I made my unscented GM soap it only colored minimally (a cream color) so it did not burn. The soap smells like dried milk to me. I think what you might be smelling is probably due to slight heating of the sugars and maybe other components of the goat milk (protein?). If this is all that happened, your soap should be fine.

Give it a few days and see what happens.

 

[Beccah]

Thank you, I will give it some weeks to cure and then see what happens. My first thought was that it wouldn't be too bad if it smells like bread, but then I realized that it's the yeast which gives bread it's distinctive smell and all I could think of was getting yeast infections from the soap.

 

[BakingNana]

New milk soap stinks. The stink will completely cure out over time, and the soap will have just the very faintest "fresh milk" smell or no smell at all (if no scent has been used of course!).

You should smell orange ginger fragranced goat's milk soap when it's fresh. OMG. Talk about stink. It takes a good 6-8 weeks or more for that one to cure out. Then it's positively wonderful.