How do I stop the clear gel?

[flikka]

Hi there! Long time reader, first time poster :-D. Just wondering if I could get your opinion and help to prevent a problem. I've made several different recipes and some recipes leak clear gel, which I'm guessing is glycerin. I don't mean in the mould or when it's curing; I mean after it's been used for the first time. It's wet from use and when I pick it up it's covered in gel and stuck to the soapdish. I guess the soap has loads of glycerin and it's attracted to the water.

I made:
100% olive oil - seeped gel
Olive, sweet almond and rice bran - seeped gel
100% rapeseed - seeped gel
Rapeseed and olive - seeped only a little

BUT I made a rapeseed and olive one with goats milk and honey, and it doesn't seep ANY gel!

Anyone else had this problem? I've tried to come up with recipes/additives to prevent it but thought I'd ask you guys for your experience! How do I stop it? I like rapeseed so I'd prefer to work around it rather than just using a completely different recipe.

Thanks!

 

[AZ Soaper]

I have never had it release gel but my high olive oil soap gets slimey feeling after use. I don't know if this is what you are talking about but with oilve oil it is the nature of the beast. A lot of people don not use any olive oil for that very reason. Some people have described it as snot. Do a search there have been lots of posting about this.

 

[flikka]

Thanks for your reply. I don't think it's the same as the olive oil problem-I've had the snotty lather but this is more definitely a gel. To be fair to the olive oil, too, it didn't seep as much gel as the rapeseed. The problem was also worse in a soft water area than a hard.

Perhaps it's the softness of the oils I'm using? The goatsmilk and honey one didn't leak at all, but also had a more restricted lather, so perhaps something to toughen it up might work?

Has anyone else had a similar problem or am I unique?:-D

 

[busymakinsoap!]

I think I know what you are talking about....

I don't think the oils used determine the amount of glycerine in a CP bar? not that I have read or experienced anyway. So I doubt it is due to the glycerine

It is more likely to be due to the softness of your bar, all of the oils you are using are soft, which means you are going to need a good cure to ensure the bar is ready for use.

How long are you curing for?

If you dont want to wait forever for it to cure, you could try adding some hard oils to speed up the cure process.

 

[IrishLass]

The oleic acid from the olive oil is the culprit. When soaps with a high % of olive oil get wet, they tend to form a colloidal suspension on the surface of the soap. It appears like clockwork on my own 100% Castile's when wet. If I take my finger and press it down on my wet Castile soap right after showering and then slowly lift my finger away from the soap, strands of slimy, egg white-like goo come up with my finger. It does not matter how long my 100% Castiles cure either (I cure them for a year). It still forms the slimy gel when wet. Here's a thread with a good discussion regarding the infamous Castile slime:


http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... =colloidal


IrishLass

 

[honor435]

ive never made 100% oo, but I did read up on rapeseed, thats some bad stuff, google that once.
"Canola is genically engeneered rapeseed. Rapeseed contains high levels of erucic acid which makes oils go rancid quickly" it is poisonious to animals.

 

[ToniD]

Soap dish and humidity conditions make a lot of difference, and perhaps the water type you have. I never really understood what people were talking about with their castile soaps--till I took a bar to my Moms. her house is more humid than mine and the soap dish does not let the soap dry between uses, so the soap is really slimy, while at my house I never noticed that.

So, keep soap dry between uses with a well drained soap dish.