Fragrance oil seperation

[Justwrite80]

Please help. I've tried finding the answer here and elsewhere and havent come up w much.

I have worked on two batches now with the same fragrance oil blend from two different suppliers, and my fragrance is separating from the batch each time!

I am using a lavender and lilac fragrance oil blend. I 50/50 master batch my lye and then add additional distilled water to the batch.

I use a general recipe of the Trinity plus 5% Castor and 5% sweet almond oil.

I have no idea why this is happening but it happened yesterday and I figured it was fragrance oil since I got it from a new supplier, Aztec soap and candle.

Then today I remade a new batch with the same blend - lilac fragrance from nurture soap and a lavender fragrance from candle science, both of which are skin safe.

And after putting in the mold my fragrance oil separated again! I took it out of the mold this time, blended her up and plopped it back in. I think it will work this time but of course it's really rustic looking & without my swirls.

What on Earth am I doing wrong here?

I thought maybe I got false trace the first time, and so I blended my fragrance oils extra well this time and it still happened. I'm dumbfounded.

This is also the first time using a master batch lye solution w added water. So could it be that?

Thanks guys.

Confused new soapmaker. (On my 17th - ish batch of soap.)

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Please post your complete recipe, including amount of fragrance oil, and temp when soaping.
Off the top of my head it sounds like you're adding more fragrance load than your recipe can handle.

 

[Justwrite80]

Please post your complete recipe, including amount of fragrance oil, and temp when soaping.
Off the top of my head it sounds like you're adding more fragrance load than your recipe can handle.

Thank you for reply!

31 oz of oils

25% coconut
20% palm
5% sweet almond 5% castor
15% sunflower 15% olive 15% canola
1.5 oz fragrance oil
5% superfat

Soaped around 90F

I also added:
1 teaspoon salt to lye solution
1 tsp coconut milk powder to liquid oils
1 tsp Kaolin Clay to liquid oils

I also CPOP at 170 in oven (turned off w oven light on).

I'm wondering if sudden change in temp could've affected things.

Thank you for reply!

31 oz of oils

25% coconut
20% palm
5% sweet almond 5% castor
15% sunflower 15% olive 15% canola
1.5 oz fragrance oil
5% superfat

Soaped around 90F

I also added:
1 teaspoon salt to lye solution
1 tsp coconut milk powder to liquid oils
1 tsp Kaolin Clay to liquid oils

I also CPOP at 170 in oven (turned off w oven light on).

I'm wondering if sudden change in temp could've affected things.

Please post your complete recipe, including amount of fragrance oil, and temp when soaping.
Off the top of my head it sounds like you're adding more fragrance load than your recipe can handle.

Also my second batch I thought might've been fixed w the blending and remolding is soft soft soft too soft I know it won't set up.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Also my second batch I thought might've been fixed w the blending and remolding is soft soft soft too soft I know it won't set up.

Need 2 more details- amount of lye and liquid used.

 

[DeeAnna]

Even though we're still guessing here without a complete recipe, I can say for certain that it's not ~just~ the fragrance oil that's separating from the solid soap. It's more likely a complex mixture of glycerin, water, salt, etc. as well as fragrance oil.

Weeping liquid is often a sign of overheating, and your use of CPOP increases the likelihood that the soap was overheated.

It's been my observation that CPOP often causes problems like this. This is especially likely when the oven is preheated to 170F, even if the oven is turned off after the preheat. I tried CPOP early on in my soap making misadventures and decided it was more trouble than it's worth.

Try making soap without CPOP -- just cover the top of the mold with a light towel to encourage the upper surface of the soap to remain warm enough. See how that goes.

If you feel you must use CPOP, preheat to 140-150F instead and experiment with leaving the oven light off. You only need sufficient warmth for an hour or two, not long term.

 

[cmzaha]

As DeeAnna mentioned overheating is the most likely answer. Also if you are using Lavender FO it could contribute to heating and the same with Lilac. Floral FO's are notorious for accelerating and can overheating. Coconut FO's are one of the worst when it comes to overheating. I also never had any luck using the CPOP method. I use crates and heat pads and keep a close eye on my soaps for overheating issues.

 

[Zuleika]

Weeping liquid is often a sign of overheating

My takeaway for the day. I never understood why some of my FO soaps tended towards being "sweaty". Now I know.

 

[DeeAnna]

My takeaway for the day. I never understood why some of my FO soaps tended towards being "sweaty". Now I know.

This doesn't happen to me a lot, but it happens sometimes. I don't do CPOP anymore, but summers here in Iowa can get very warm. I associate "weepy soap" with hot weather.

It's annoying, isn't it!

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

So happy to find this thread because I just had first time ever weeping of an oily mixture in my CPOP loaf. Yes, I think the oven stayed a little too warm overnight, but the loaf showed no sign of overheating (like a cracked top). in fact, the top is perfect with no ash. The oven was max 150 degrees F and then turned off, no hotter than other times I’ve soaped during the last 25 years.

I used OT Mysore Sandalwood fragrance for the first time. Is it possible that some FOs are more prone to the oily separation than others?

Can I expect the soap to be lye heavy, @DeeAnna? ( I will test.) I’m wondering about overall soap properties in a weepy loaf.

 

[Ford]

Hi, I gave it 24 hours. And it re-absorbed. When it happened to me. Read that somewhere. Didn’t have any issues. With it being lye heavy. I just used less. Next time around. Used to much and i knew it. Good luck.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I gave it 24 hours. And it re-absorbed. When it happened to me.

I would have done that, but the liquid leaked out of the seams of my acrylic mold.

 

[DeeAnna]

...the liquid leaked out of the seams of my acrylic mold.

I doubt it will be lye heavy. If anything, the loss of liquid might mean the superfat is higher in the remaining soap.