Batter flashing green? Weird...

[Mariash]

OK, so this is not an issue, because it went away, but this had never happened to me. I am a beginner with about dozen batches. I make some soaps for a couple of days every year, or every six months.

Yesterday I made this CP soap recipe, with Shea Butter. Batter was pretty buttery "vanilla pudding" color from the get go. This morning, I used the same recipe, but replaced the Shea Butter with Sunflower Oil (having checked properties were similar and running through Soapcalc first). Except, after adding the lye water to the oils, when I started mixing (hand mixing at first and then with stick blender), batter became a leafy green (gradually but quickly)! It stayed green for maybe a couple of minutes before gradually it went away and batter became the "vanilla pudding color" again, but it was weird! (I didn't think to take a pic of it!) Soap came out fine, but it stuck a bit to the container (I make my soaps in empty milk cartons).

Has this happened to anyone? Was it because of the Sunflower Oil?

Oils :: Olive 45%, Coconut 30%, Cocoa Butter 12%, Sunflower Oil 10%, Castor Oil 3%...
Lye :: 25% (1.77:1 water to lye)...
Mixing :: Lye was 75deg, Oils 72deg
FO/EO :: none
Sodium lactate :: 1 tsp per pound (about 2.75 tsp)

 

[AliOop]

I've never had sunflower oil turn my batter green; usually it is the olive oil that does that, especially if I use extra virgin OO, or pomace, OO, both which are quite green. Did you perhaps use another brand of OO that was greener? Whatever it was, it sounded like something reacted with the alkalinity of the lye solution. Thankfully it didn't last!

As an aside, did you have a specific goal in mind when using such a high amount of water? For CP soaps, a 33% lye concentration is more typical. Your soap will firm up faster and stick less to the sides of the molds.

 

[Mariash]

Oh my! You're right! In the soap calc I put 25% of water as percentage of oils weight. I played around with a few recipes and forgot to check the water:lye ratio. You're right that it's quite high! Will adjust for next time.

I did use another brand of OO! It looks very pale in the bottle, but maybe it's of less quality? Will see in next batch. I will adjust the lye concentration and also keep the phone ready and make a video that I will upload to this thread, if it flashes green again!

Thank you so much!!

 

[Mariash]

OK went back to Soapcalc, but in fact my water was just too low... right? 25% water as percent of oil weight (ration 1 lye for 1.77 water) was probably to low? If I put it at 32%, my ratio becomes 2.2665:1.

 

[melinda48]

OK went back to Soapcalc, but in fact my water was just too low... right? 25% water as percent of oil weight (ration 1 lye for 1.77 water) was probably to low? If I put it at 32%, my ratio becomes 2.2665:1.

When using Soapcalc, I don’’t put in percentages for my lye/water; I enter the ration of water to lye (i.e. 1.7:1). I understand that way better and it works for me.