first CP soap, medicinal smell?

[scraver]

Hello,

I'm a brand new to soap making. I completed my first batch a week ago, using a slight variation on Soap Queen's basic recipe using coconut, palm, olive oil, cocoa butter and shea butter. I ran it through the soap calculator and it seemed to come out really well.

It has cured for a week, and I noticed a, not so appealing, medicinal smell. Any one know what causes this? And will it dissipate with time as the soap cures?

Thanks!!!

 

[pamielynn]

Did you use anything for the liquid other than water? All I can think of is an herbal infusion or milk giving off a weird smell like that. If you just used water then I'm not sure. Let it cure out a bit more and see if it dissipates.

 

[savonierre]

Were all your oils fresh? Sometimes it just takes a bit of a cure for the soap to smell like just soap, if there is no FO, EO, milk or herbal anything added.

 

[scraver]

All of my oils were only a few months old from Essential Depot. I did infuse the olive oil with calendula, chamomile, and comfrey for 2 months before using it.

Only used water for the liquid. T he hardness, appearance, lather are seem fine.

must have been the herbs?

 

[pamielynn]

Hmmm... You know what I do when I'm not sure if I like the smell of a soap? Let a couple of other people smell it and see what they think. Sometimes, I hate a scent (naturally occurring or scented on purpose) and everybody else loves it or vise versa. I still think you should give it a few more weeks and see if it still smells.

 

[scraver]

I think it's the cocoa butter

The medicinal smell of my soap has lessened with 2 weeks cure. When I smell it now, I pick up the distinct scent of cocoa butter.

Maybe my cocoa butter WAS old, as some have suggested.

 

[dagmar88]

Maybe my cocoa butter WAS old, as some have suggested.

Shouldn't be any problem; cocoa butter has a very long shelf life.

 

[tkine]

Have you made other batches with the same recipe yet? If you can wait, why not wait until the full cure time to see how it does cure out. Maybe the scent will dissipate when it is fully cured.

 

[Robert]

All of my oils were only a few months old from Essential Depot. I did infuse the olive oil with calendula, chamomile, and comfrey for 2 months before using it.

Only used water for the liquid. T he hardness, appearance, lather are seem fine.

must have been the herbs?

"Medicinal" might mean different things to different people. I tend to think "old fashioned pharmacy", and the terpenoids in those flowers could easily smell like that. Have you made anything else with those infused oils before or since? Now that it's been a month, any of the oil left over that you could sniff?