Greetings

[mcleod13]

Just wanted to stop in and say hi!! Wife and I are new to soap making and attempted our first batch on Sunday.......ummmmmm.... didn't turn out so well..

Tried it in the crockpot method and ummm... I have grayish bars that smell terrible... Probably a little caustic too... It turned out bad.. LOL.. Oh well, you live and you learn right?

Anyway, I hope to learn a lot from everyone here!

 

[Hazel]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear your batch turned ugly on you. I'm sure your next one will be fantastic.

 

[mcleod13]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear your batch turned ugly on you. I'm sure your next one will be fantastic.

lol... ugly isn't the word... lol.... I wish I could explain it, but words can't explain it.

 

[Hazel]

A picture is worth a thousand words. :wink:

 

[soapbuddy]

Welcome!
I hope that you can post pics.

 

[mcleod13]

Here is a pic that I took. I'll try to take more later. Not exactly sure what went wrong. Maybe we left it in the crock pot too long? Too much coffee?

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Sunny]

well, welcome!

yep it ain't pretty LOL.
I've had one turn gray like that with coffee before too.

does it zap?

 

[mcleod13]

Not sure if it zaps.. A little weary of putting tongue to it..

 

[mcleod13]

What can cause soap to turn gray like that?

 

[Hazel]

Did you use a colorant?

I used a purple colorant in a salt batch and it turned gray. At first, I was upset and disappointed. Then after I started using a bar, I realized it was actually rather cool looking. It looked just like a polished river rock. I kept notes so next time I can duplicate this look since it seemed to go really well with the Celestial Mist FO and I think it makes a nice masculine type bar.

 

[mcleod13]

Nope. I didn't use any colorant. I used brewed coffee, lye, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, olive oil and shea butter.

 

[Hazel]

I'm guessing but it might have been the coffee. I made a kitchen soap with lots of coffee grounds and it turned a funky gray/brown color. It was a very ugly color.

edited to correct typo

 

[IrishLass]

Hello and welcome!

From your pic, it looks like it's leaking liquid.....could be caustic. If it were me, I would put it back in the crockpot and add some oil a teaspoon at a time every ten minutes or so (stirring well after each addition) until it was clear of all zap.

As for the smell- well, since it was a coffee batch, the awful smell you are smelling comes with the coffee soap territory. Not to worry, though- it all cures out. I remember my first coffee batch- holy Toledo- I thought I'd done something wrong, for my whole house smelled strongly of really bad doggie breath. It was nasty, to say the least. Turns out that initial yucky smell is pretty common with coffee soap if you take a poll of soapers, but it all cures out in the end.

IrishLass

 

[mcleod13]

I think the liquid that you see is the pam my wife insisted we spray the mold with. lol.. My only problem I am having now is I did phenol drops and there are spots that are pink and spots that are clear on the same bar. It's weird.

 

[IrishLass]

I just posted a comment to your thread on your use of pheno in the CP soaping section.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=29155

IrishLass