How to use F.O. in CP soaps and a slow tracing recipe

[jolenesing]

Hi there,

I have been making soaps for more than a year now and have been relatively successful with them. I used e.o. in the past and a couple of f.o. and never had any issues. I have been asked to make one with coconut and pineapple soap and I have tried making it three times and still can't say that I am successful.

The first one simply seized on me and became a bubbly mess while in the pot (I added sweet coconut f.o and mango madness f.o. after adding lye.) I had shea butter and palm oil in this recipe and that could have resulted in the fast trace and seize.

The second one was ok and I could pour it into the mold...but it hardened so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to do anything interesting (texture) to the top. I used lime and the same sweet coconut f.o. and added the f.o. after adding lye.

My third try was two days ago. This time, I added the f.o. to the oils and then added lye. I used coconut cream and manchurian dragon f.o. from new directions. I had enough time to add the soap to 3 different micas..but it traced so fast that I didn't even have to use the stick blender. I mixed the oils and lye at 80 degrees F. I cut it today and it looks pretty good except that I saw some pink spots in some places...I am wondering if that's the lye...and that I didn't mix it quite enough. Is the soap still usable?? The recipe for the last one is as follows:

Olive Oil 35%
Coconut Oil 25%
Castor Oil, Avocado Oil 5% each
Soybean Oil 15%
Canola Oil 15%
Lye 6.192 oz
Distilled Water 14.85 oz
30 grams/1 oz of each f.o.

HELP!!! I need a good and inexpensive recipe that I can use for F.O. that may cause the soaps to seize as I am getting lots of requests for pineapple, coconut and vanilla kind of scents in the soaps.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[osso]

Did you read any reviews for the fragrances before soaping them? I use palm and shea in almost every soap and have not ever had a soap seize, but I stay away from fragrances with a bad rep. It sounds like the fragrances are the issue.

I have used coconut only in blends. I don't have a great rec for that fragrance, but I'm sure someone here does!

Also soapscentreview.obisoap.ca is a great resource. You must register to browse.

 

[jolenesing]

Hi Osso,
Thank you for your reply. There wasn't any review of the f.o. from the site that I bought the coconut f.o. from. The ones I used for the 3rd recipe has and everyone said that they move fast. That is why I decided to add the f.o. to the oils first before adding lye as many sites say that will help slow the trace. I am pretty sure it is the f.o. but I would like to know if there is a fool proof recipe out there for most f.o. I honestly hate working with fo...but people are requesting....

 

[lsg]

You might try using these fast tracing fragrances in hot process soap, after the cook.

 

[Obsidian]

I would do away with the canola and soy, increasing the OO to make up the difference. OO usually traces a bit slower, so does lard but if a FO causes acceleration, the recipe would really change much.
When I'm working with FO's that accelerate, I generally do either one color or a simple two color in the pot swirl.

 

[jolenesing]

Thanks Lsg. I have never tried hot process and I also don't have a crock pot..although I should get one in the near future. Maybe I should just use it for other stuff I make for now.

Obsidian - thanks! I read that Canola and Soybean slows trace, which is the reason why I added them. I will try your recipe and make up the difference with OO and see if I have better luck.

What do the pink spots in my soaps mean? They are only in some areas and not everywhere...

 

[cmzaha]

I wish you all the luck in the world with coconut fo's. My experience is, from the ones I have tried, they all overheat and need to be hp'ed. I have a wonderful coconut fo that overheats in the freezer. Pineapples I have tried accelerate. Super Cranky fo's just work better as a single color in hp. Olive oil and lard will slow trace but not a great help for overheaters and accelerators. I always do a 4 oz test soap for these type of fo's. I know if they overheat in my 4 oz round silicone cavity it would be total failure in my 5 lb hdpe mold. Florals are great fragrances to give "soap-on-a-stick"

 

[jolenesing]

Thank you cmzaha. F.O.s are terrible..especially the coconut! I'll just use coconut milk in my cp soaps next time and leave it at that instead of trying to use the f.o. I have tried pumpkin and a coffee one before and didn't have any issues...so the coconut and pineapple ones were a shocker. I try to keep to e.o. anyway...and I think that would be the way to go for me for now. Thank you again.

 

[dixiedragon]

You can also try bumping up your water a little. If you are using soapcalc, you'll notice that the default is 38%. I bump mine up to 40%.

 

[jolenesing]

Thank you dixiedragon. I use the lye calculator from Bramberry. Not sure what it is set at...I will check! Thank you for your suggestion!

 

[judymoody]

Your recipe looks fine. I'd bet you anything it's your FO. I mostly use EO but I tried a lot of FO before I came to that conclusion. Some are good but you have to do a lot of testing and/or read a lot of reviews to find ones that work for you.

I second the advice on the Soap Scent Review Board. Here's the link:

http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/index.php

You could also try FO vendors that post reviews for use in CP soap to help you to avoid the misbehaving ones.

What is your batch size? Extrapolating from your lye and water amounts, I'd say about 3 lbs? If that's the case, 2 oz of FO is not overdoing it.

If you want a well-behaving tropical fruity FO, try Jamaica Me Crazy from Candle Science. Their Fresh Coffee is also really good. Do confirm that they are skin safe because they had to reformulate some of their scents within the last year.

For coconut, none are great and all will discolor to tan. The best of the lot, IMO, are Peak Candle's Coconut Milk (their Pina Colada and Coconut Lime Verbena are alright too) and WSP's Caribbean Coconut. The Peak Coconut Milk should be used at 1 oz PPO as it's kind of light but doesn't smell like plastic.

You won't get any scent from coconut milk in your soap.

 

[jolenesing]

Thank you Judymoody. I appreciate your comments. I believe it is the F.O. as well. I am doing my best to only use E.O.s but sometimes customers ask for certain scents that are simply not available and that's where F.O.s come in. I do know that coconut milk will not give me any scent...but it has some label appeal (to me at least) and adding lime will make it a lime coconut soap.
I will check out the sites you recommended and check out their F.O. Thank you so much for the links!
Have a great day!