FO acceleration

[Todd Ziegler]

I want to do a cotton candy FO soap. The FO has vanillin in it, so I use a color stabilizer and that causes some acceleration.

I thought I would just use the FO in the blue color, pour it first, since it will be thick and add the unscented pink on top. Then do any swirling if I decide to.

This is going to be my biggest batch to date, 150 ounces total.

Any suggestions or thoughts/tips?

 

[jcandleattic]

Who's VS are you using? I use VS in almost every soap i make, an I never get acceleration due to the VS (due to certain scents, yes, but never the VS itself)

Not sure how warm you soap, but maybe soaping a bit cooler will help with the acceleration as well. If you are already soaping at RT, I'm not sure what advice to give, but your plan sounds feasible.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I use VS from aztec candle. I have only had an acceleration problem once and it was with this FO. I have used this FO twice. First time without VS no acceleration, second time with VS and it moved to thick but pourable with just a couple of pulses of the SB.

When I am trying something new or different, I like to get some reassurance on my plan. Someone might have a suggestion that would be helpful. That's all, nothing specific.

I always soap at RT.

 

[IrishLass]

The color/FO layering looks to be a good plan. Sounds like the stabilizer mixed with this particular FO is a tricky mix. Other than what jcandleattic recommended, adding a little bit more water can help. For example, if you normally use a 33% lye concentration, consider bringing it down to 30% or 31%. Also- hand stirring, instead of using the stickblender will help, too.

I use the same VS as jcandleattic (Bitter Creek's). I can't recommend it highly enough. Great stuff!


IrishLass

 

[Todd Ziegler]

The color/FO layering looks to be a good plan. Sounds like the stabilizer mixed with this particular FO is a tricky mix. Other than what jcandleattic recommended, adding a little bit more water can help. For example, if you normally use a 33% lye concentration, consider bringing it down to 30% or 31%. Also- hand stirring, instead of using the stickblender will help, too.

I use the same VS as jcandleattic (Bitter Creek's). I can't recommend it highly enough. Great stuff!


IrishLass

Thanks, I will try the hand blending. I use the aztec because of the price and it has been affective so far. I have some soap at 6 months old and no discoloring so far.

I guess I just needed reassurance that my plan was sound if I experienced a problem. Thanks a lot.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

The color/FO layering looks to be a good plan. Sounds like the stabilizer mixed with this particular FO is a tricky mix. Other than what jcandleattic recommended, adding a little bit more water can help. For example, if you normally use a 33% lye concentration, consider bringing it down to 30% or 31%. Also- hand stirring, instead of using the stickblender will help, too.

I use the same VS as jcandleattic (Bitter Creek's). I can't recommend it highly enough. Great stuff!


IrishLass

How much VS do you use. I still have not figured out what the best amount is?

 

[jcandleattic]

How much VS do you use. I still have not figured out what the best amount is?

Most stabilizers recommend a 1:1 ratio of FO to VS.
If it doesn't say the recommended amount on the bottle itself, look on Aztec's website, or call them.

 

[IrishLass]

I always use a 1:1 ratio.


IrishLass

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Most stabilizers recommend a 1:1 ratio of FO to VS.
If it doesn't say the recommended amount on the bottle itself, look on Aztec's website, or call them.

I always use a 1:1 ratio.


IrishLass

I asked aztec and they gave me a range of numbers, nothing exact. I did read where someone said to use the same percentage as the vanillin. For example, if it has 3% vanillin and your using 4oz, you would use 3% of 4.5oz = 0.14oz of VS. I think I will go with the 1:1 ratio.