Exploding soap

[Karen81]

I am soap about 2 hours ago and it looked really good. Just checked on it now and it looks like it's exploded! It's poured out over my loaf tray and into the towels and looks all foamy. :-(
I used a simple recipe of olive oil, Palm oil and coconut oil with pink mika swirls and sweet orange essential oil and the correct amount of lye. Does anyone know how this could have happened?

 

[Saponista]

Could it have overheated?

 

[Susie]

Overheating. Next time don't insulate it, and strongly consider putting it into the freezer or refrigerator to prevent gel altogether.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree....it sounds like it overheated. Going forward if you want to gel your soap and insulate it you need to keep an eye on it. Some recipes heat much quicker than others.

 

[Karen81]

Thank you very much everyone.

 

[Susie]

I soap hot, have sugar added for bubbles, and like fully gelled soaps. Those are risky behaviors, LOL. I generally insulate my soaps IF I am going to be at home, and able to baby-sit it. I check it every 30 minutes for the first 3-4 hours. I make sure I have space in the fridge or freezer in case I need to stick the mold in there in a hurry. What I watch for is a small crack in the top of the soap. If I see that, I know it is over heating. I stick it in the freezer if that happens.

 

[Rowan]

Lol Susie, I almost choked on my dinner. That is living dangerously, sounds great though.

Karen81, were you able to save any of the soap?

 

[Confused_Penguin]

Yes, unfortunately your soap overheated. The top of the soap probably hardened up fast, keeping a lot of the heat inside of the soap which was too hot and had no where to go so your soap topped over. What temperature do you usually work in? I personally keep mine between 80-90 Degrees F, for it's safe for most fragrance.

Were you able to salvage any of the soap?

 

[Karen81]

I've never had soap overheat before so I think I became a bit lazy in checking on it. I was hoping to still keep some of it as the bottom half of the mould still looked fine but it smelt really awful
I ended up getting a bit paranoid yesterday when I made oatmeal and honey and was checking it every 5 mins

 

[Karen81]

Yes, unfortunately your soap overheated. The top of the soap probably hardened up fast, keeping a lot of the heat inside of the soap which was too hot and had no where to go so your soap topped over. What temperature do you usually work in? I personally keep mine between 80-90 Degrees F, for it's safe for most fragrance.

Were you able to salvage any of the soap?

I usually work between 100 and 125F but I think I'm going to try working slightly cooler as I have been finding since I move to Saudi, the soap hasnt been keeping its scent like it did when I was back in the UK so its probably getting too hot.

 

[Lion Of Judah]

your soap overheated , and it did what is called the "volcano effect" where is bubble up / grows out of the mold. here is a link to a few overheating problems >>> http://www.lovinsoap.com/troubleshooting/

 

[Confused_Penguin]

I usually work between 100 and 125F but I think I'm going to try working slightly cooler as I have been finding since I move to Saudi, the soap hasnt been keeping its scent like it did when I was back in the UK so its probably getting too hot.

Soaping in that temperature is a bit too high I think. In my experience, the cooler the temperature, the more time you have to work with your soap. If you are using full liquid, you can wait till both of your oils and lye water are room temperature. If you are using some solid oils like coconut oil or shea butter, maybe working between 80-95 degrees F will be better. Also always check the flash point-- 80-95F is a safe range for most fragrances.

Also, adding any additional sugars (such as honey) to your soap will cause it to heat up fast. Also use it sparingly-- you dont want your soap to separate or some honey droplets migrating to the top. Everytime you make a new batch of soap and experimenting you can always try checking it every half our or so to make sure everything is okay.

Example-- I put some sugar beads on top of my soap. I learned from my mistake in the past-- last time I insulated my soap and i when I took it out the sugars caramalized on the top since it went into gel phase haha.

Don't worry sometimes these things happen and we learn from it. Just don't give up