Forgot which oil I used to infuse... help!

Spitfiress · Dec 2, 2016

Hi all, my first post ever!
So a few weeks ago I gathered together some natural colorants to infuse, the colors look great in the bottles, some woad, annatto seed, madder root, alkanet, the problem is - I didn't write down if I used olive oil or sweet almond oil. I know both oils have some simular properties, any suggestions to how/ if I could still use these? I don't want to start all over again! Help!

earlene · Dec 2, 2016

Well, that's a bit of a bummer. Lesson learned, right? But I wouldn't start all over again. I'd use them and be careful to label in the future.

If you check SoapCalc, the NaOH SAP values are so close (0.139 for AO vs. 0.134 for OO) that I doubt a small amount is going to make much difference as far as your lye amount needed is concerned. If you use a lot of it, the soap might end up a bit softer is all, but not by much. I wouldn't even bother adjusting the SF for such a small difference of SAP value, but you could if you want.

cmzaha · Dec 2, 2016

Usually color infused oils are used as colorants not figured in as your soaping oils.

DeeAnna · Dec 3, 2016

I have used annatto infused oil at a high enough rate that I did feel I needed to include it in my lye calculations. I suppose if it was just a small amount in proportion to the rest of my oils, I might not.

As far as telling which oil you used for infusing, smell it. Open the two containers of plain oils -- olive and almond. Open the containers of infused oil. Compare the smell and texture of all. Olive can have a heavier and more fruity smell depending on what type of olive it is. Almond is almost odorless in my experience. Compare the viscosity (thickness) and skin feeling. Almond can have a lighter feeling than olive.

Spitfiress · Dec 4, 2016

Thank you for all the suggestions!
I played around with the olive/almond numbers on soap calc and saw that it really wasn't going to change much if I used one instead of the other. I made the soap and it turned out better than I expected it to. I ended up just going with three colorants annatto seed, woad and alkanet , adding 1 oz of infused oils (a 2lb batch) after dividing the batter up into three parts, I cut the soap today and the annatto seed gave me no color at all, the woad just a bit gray, and the alkanet was almost a black purple, mixed some shimmery white mica to lighten it and got the most amazing purple I've ever got with a natural or artificial colorant!! I'm wondering if natural colirants detrtiorate during gel phase maybeyou?

earlene · Dec 5, 2016

A few months ago, I made some soap using alkanet root and was disappointed that the color was grey. It was a pretty design, but the grey was not what I expected. The unused bars still look grey and white. But the used bar that is in the bathroom shows purple and white, so I am pleased after all. I don't know why that is, but it's good to know.