Brown spots in cold process soap?

[Tracy von Elling]

Hi again,

So the cold process soap I made yesterday has brown spots right through the batch.

I had been told to add polysorbate to my neons (which I now know was a mistake), and I did this along with added kaolin clay that I think wasn't mixed well enough, as I added it and mixed it in by hand because my recipe was tracing too fast.

I wanted to upload a pic but can't seem to figure out how to do that. I'd appreciate any thoughts on this!

Thank you!!

 

[snappyllama]

Without a picture, I'm guessing it might be fragrance oil that clung onto your clay.

 

[Tracy von Elling]

I am trying to get a pic uploaded. I used spearmint EO.

 

[Obsidian]

Its not the EO or the clay so I would guess its the polysorbate. I've never seen it used in soap before, could just be a weird reaction.

I would zap test one of the orange spots, if zapless, I would consider it safe to use.

 

[Tracy von Elling]

Its not the EO or the clay so I would guess its the polysorbate. I've never seen it used in soap before, could just be a weird reaction.

I would zap test one of the orange spots, if zapless, I would consider it safe to use.

I will zap test it. Thanks for the reminder of doing that.
I forgot. I also added honey and I think maybe I hand stirred in the honey so maybe it didn't evenly disburse and also I placed it on a heating pad for an hour. Not sure if this could have made a difference either.

 

[Obsidian]

Oh, honey changes everything. I bet its the honey, its known to make spots when not stirred in enough. I bet your spots will be sweet.

 

[Deborah Long]

@Tracy von Elling - Wow - cool looking soap, though! I hope it zaps okay! Might be your honey? Heating pad shouldn't have made any difference, in my newbie opinion...

 

[Tracy von Elling]

Oh, honey changes everything. I bet its the honey, its known to make spots when not stirred in enough. I bet your spots will be sweet.

Okay good to know.
I may add sugar next time instead as it seems to give as good bubbles as honey and seems less tenprmental

Oh, honey changes everything. I bet its the honey, its known to make spots when not stirred in enough. I bet your spots will be sweet.

Okay thank you. I think I'll add sugar next time we it seems less can go wrong with sugar in the lye water.
I appreciate all the feedback. There is so much to consider

Okay good to know.
I may add sugar next time instead as it seems to give as good bubbles as honey and seems less tenprmental


Argh seems it posted twice lol. I'm all thumbs on my phone!!

Okay thank you. I think I'll add sugar next time we it seems less can go wrong with sugar in the lye water.
I appreciate all the feedback. There is so much to consider

@Tracy von Elling - Wow - cool looking soap, though! I hope it zaps okay! Might be your honey? Heating pad shouldn't have made any difference, in my newbie opinion...

Thanks, Deborah
I think it's the honey. I wasn't sure because the kaolin clay and heating pad were new too. Maybe I should only do one new thing at a time )
I'm way too enthusiastic about making soap!

 

[Deborah Long]

@Tracy von Elling - Me too! I have to try everything at once! LOL It's okay, you'll work it out!

 

[Obsidian]

If you want to keep using honey, you can. Next time add a little hot water to it so its thinned down some and add it to the oils before the lye and blend the heck out of it or you can dissolve it in the recipe water before adding the lye.

 

[Tracy von Elling]

@Tracy von Elling - Me too! I have to try everything at once! LOL It's okay, you'll work it out!

Yes

If you want to keep using honey, you can. Next time add a little hot water to it so its thinned down some and add it to the oils before the lye and blend the heck out of it or you can dissolve it in the recipe water before adding the lye.

I will try this or add to the lye water. So far I have a hard time with the soap not tracing too fast so I don't know if I'll manage to blend it well if I add it at trace. Never thought of mixing a little water with it. Thanks.

 

[IrishLass]

When I soap with honey I first blend it with a little water to thin it out, then add it to my cooled-off lye solution before pouring into my oils. Fair warning so you know what to expect when you add honey in this way..... the honey will heat up the cooled-off lye solution and turn it to a burnt-orange color, but not to worry- it'll soap perfectly fine without causing any overheating issues or 'honey spot' issues, although the soap will end up with an overall honey-type color like this, which I personally don't see as being a negative, but that's just me:

IrishLass

 

[Tracy von Elling]

When I soap with honey I first blend it with a little water to thin it out, then add it to my cooled-off lye solution before pouring into my oils. Fair warning so you know what to expect when you add honey in this way..... the honey will heat up the cooled-off lye solution and turn it to a burnt-orange color, but not to worry- it'll soap perfectly fine without causing any overheating issues or 'honey spot' issues, although the soap will end up with an overall honey-type color like this, which I personally don't see as being a negative, but that's just me:

View attachment 38313


IrishLass

This is helpful. I was wondering why my soap is brown even with TD. I thought the kaolin clay made it that colour but now I'm realizing it's probably the honey! I never knew I could add it this way so thank you!
Such helpful iinfo. I've made 9 batches of soap but am still so new to this and even though I feel like I've made these batches and I should know more, I know there's still SO much to learn