I am such a dummy.... PIC ADDED

[AshleyR]

Colours FRUSTRATE THE HECK OUT OF ME! LOL, I'm almost ready to give up and never colour another soap again.

So last night I go to make a chocolate mint soap with my new super yummy FO. I decide that the bottom half of the soap will be dark chocolate brown (I figured the FO would turn it, but I added some extra cocoa powder just to be sure!) and the top would be a light minty green.

So... I get everything ready, and FORGET to take out 1/3 of the soap to colour green before I add the cocoa powder. So now the whole batch is brown.

I have a dual-log mold, so I decide to just make two loaves of this soap (poured the brown in half of each mold), and start making a second batch to colour green, and pour on top.

Everything is going fine and dandy, the colour came out so nice and perfect.... I was so excited to check on it this morning. When I did - my nice minty green was turning a muddy sage green. I think to myself "Argh!! What went wrong?" when I realized I added FO to the green part too - and my FO turns soap brown.

UGH! So, I wasted my time making the second batch of "green", because my nice "chocolate mint" soap looks even WORSE than being all dark brown now - now it's dark brown and diahhrea green.

LOL. Sheesh. I need to stop being so "out to lunch" when I make soap. Sometimes I get a little too confident and don't pay as much as attention as I shoud be. Then things like this happen! I also used 10oz of cocoa butter in this soap ($$$!!). The soap turned out, it's just really ugly. (And I have 30 bars of it because I made the second log after screwing up the first batch!) Grrr. I had high hopes for this soap.... oh well!

I had to vent! Thanks for listening. :roll:

 

[dagmar88]

Hey Asley,
Maybe you could post a pic of your soaps?
When they don't turn out as you expect you probalby are much more jugmental about them as anyone else :wink:
And what did you use to color the green part with?

 

[cdwinsby]

Don't feel alone in this!! I'm usually shocked to see a soap come out the color I was hoping for when using new ingredients.

Drives me crazy. Just used a new fragrance that was supposed to turn the soap an orange/yellow.....nope! Butter colored is more like it. :roll:

 

[MikeInPdx]

I feel your pain....everyone has soaping days like that.

Here's a "recipe" I came up with.....just so you know you aren't alone.

Toasted Canola Laundry Soap

1 lb Canola Oil that needs to be used up before rancidity sets in
Lye and Water According to SoapCalc for 0% Superfat
! oz lemon fragrance oil
A Butt Load of Borax and Washing Soda
More Than a Touch of Inexperience

Mix lye into water and set aside. Pour into oil, and blend to false trace. Add borax and washing soda at this point and blend together.

Pour into mold and cook in 170 degree oven until separation occurs. Swear, turn off oven and decide to deal with it the next day.

Next morning, pour soap glop into pot for rebatching, cook over low direct heat until mixture sticks and starts to burn in places.

Swear, add water to the pot and set aside. Deal with it later, and vow never to use canola in soap again!

 

[Lindy]

Mike when your soap separates like that continue to cook it in the oven and hand-mix it every now and again - it will come back together nicely....

 

[MikeInPdx]

Mike when your soap separates like that continue to cook it in the oven and hand-mix it every now and again - it will come back together nicely....

Yeah....I learned that with experience.....that was one of my very first batches, and what a batch it was!

 

[AshleyR]

The colour is not tooooooo too bad right now, but I have a feeling the green is going to darken even more with time and end up really super ugly.

It could have been so nice!

LOL, argh...

I have it in the freezer now to unmold and cut in a little bit... so... pics soon!

 

[starduster]

Ashley and Mike

You are not alone.
Thankyou for sharing Ashley and Mike.
:? :? :? :? :? :? :?
"mother should have told us there would be days like that."
Me too ,I have done my share of whoopsies
:wink:

 

[topcat]

Ashley....I can relate to your frustration! Just think how wonderful it smells though - it will truly be a magical soaping experience in the shower

You could give it an interesting name and keep people guessing....?

Or rebatch....imagine all those lovely choc minty smelling brown/greenish flecks in a stark white bar of soap.....that would be gorgeous!

Tanya

 

[AshleyR]

Okay, so I'm a little embarrassed.... LOL. I swear, it looked NOTHING like this before I cut and trimmed it.

:shock:

I'm really happy with it (now), although I'm expecting the green to darken like it had on the outside, within a few days. I wish it'd stay just like this! Chances are....?

Anyway, my itty bit of luck did not last long. While I had the chocolate mint in the freezer before unmolding, I decided to make another batch.... coconut cream, with 1/2 of my water as coconut milk. I was just a wee bit short of grapeseed oil, and subbed safflower oil in a pinch... without changing the recipe (I really didn't expect it to go SO wrong!!) All looked fine, but about 1 minute after I poured it into the mold, it separated like crazy. Not sure if it was an issue with the coconut milk (I've never used it before) or the safflower oil in place of about 1/2 the grapeseed in the recipe. Any ideas?

 

[topcat]

That is gorgeous soap! Truly lovely and if the green darkens somewhat it will still be lovely - so congratulations!!! You definitely are your own worst critic (along with most of us )

I don't think regular safflower would be too different, high oleic could be very different though....how much weight did you sub? Maybe run your new oils through soapcalc to check? I have soaped with coconut milk powder rehydrated in aloe juice and added at trace with no problems. Perhaps you had a false trace? I stir my trace 'down' gently and then repeat the drip test to be sure it really is trace before I pour.

Tanya

 

[AshleyR]

That is gorgeous soap! Truly lovely and if the green darkens somewhat it will still be lovely - so congratulations!!! You definitely are your own worst critic (along with most of us )

I don't think regular safflower would be too different, high oleic could be very different though....how much weight did you sub? Maybe run your new oils through soapcalc to check? I have soaped with coconut milk powder rehydrated in aloe juice and added at trace with no problems. Perhaps you had a false trace? I stir my trace 'down' gently and then repeat the drip test to be sure it really is trace before I pour.

Tanya

It could very well have been false trace. I've been working with a lot of new FO's and get really nervous about them seizing on me since it happened with the first two I used. When I added the milk and FO the soap was not quittttttteeee at trace... it could have gone a bit longer. I SB'd it once I added those though, and it ended up pretty thick. I assumed it was at trace..... but maybe I mistook the milk possibly curdling? No idea what happened! I ended up scooping off all the separated oil on top and we'll see what happens to the chunk of "soap" underneath overnight. I will end up rebatching it I'm sure... if the bottom stuff sets up at ALL. :?: :?: :?:

 

[Asil02]

I think these soaps are beautiful. I hope I get mine to look like that one day. All of you on here are simply soaping goddesses.

 

[NMAriel]

It's beautiful. I love the thin light layer between the green and brown. Great job.

 

[AshleyR]

It's beautiful. I love the thin light layer between the green and brown. Great job.

Thanks! No idea how that happened!

 

[squeakyclean]

Ashley,
The soap is awesome!!! ......... You are way to hard on yourself.......... As for "whoopsies", you're gonna have them from time to time if you want to be creative. It would be so boring if you just made the same old "perfect batch" everytime because you were afraid to try something new. You go girl!!!

 

[surf girl]

Verrrrrrry nice!!! I too love the pale line between the green and the brown. They look fantastic.

 

[ChrissyB]

Great job Ash, yes you are too hard on yourself!! It's wonderful.
And I bet it smells great!

 

[AshleyR]

Great job Ash, yes you are too hard on yourself!! It's wonderful.
And I bet it smells great!

Thanks!! I don't feel "in the clear" just yet though... I am about 90% sure the green is going to get uglier and uglier by the day. It has already darkened a bit since I took the picture. Oh well... at least I know what I did wrong, so I can NOT do it next time.

 

[digit]

A Butt Load of Borax and Washing Soda

How do you measure your butt loads? I mean........iffen I needed two butt loads......or if one was smaller.........

Geez, I am sooooo easily entertained.

Ashely - those are beautiful!!! I hope they stay just like that for you!

Digit