I've got issues (soap issues that is)

[soaphappy]

I’ve been soaping for about a year now, and like everyone else, I’ve formulated, tested, tweaked many recipes. The one I have now seems to have the qualities that I want in a soap. So I've settled in!

I have just one problem with the soap! About the third week into cure, there is a stinking residue on the outside of the soap. When I touch the soap and then smell my fingers (sounds gross) it is a pungent sour smell. Now when I wipe it with a damp cloth and allow it to re-dry, the smell is gone and doesn’t seem to return. IT’S DRIVING ME NUTS! Ultimately, I want to produce a product that I can sell on the local level at festivals and such. But right now I don’t have the confidence because of this weird smell.

I do not use milk in my soap. My recipe consists of regular olive oil, palm, coconut, shea butter. I don’t put any other additives or preservatives in my soap and I source all my ingredients from quality online suppliers. I SF 5% and do a 2:1 water/lye ratio. I was soaping at 93 degrees F, but sometimes 100 degrees. Someone told me to try 110 degrees, so I have made a couple recent batches trying that.

Also, I can’t get superfatting figured out. So if I am doing a 2:1 water/lye ratio should I set my SF to 0% in the soapcalc? I thought maybe that was what I was doing wrong!

And having a 5% SF setting in soapcalc doesn’t mean that I ADD more oils/butter/ right?? It just means that 5% of what is in my recipe won’t process through to soap? Or the extra 5% serves a a ‘buffer’ in case I overpour an oil when I am mixing? that’s another confusing things I have in my mind.

Thank you for your help!

 

[new12soap]

I'm sorry, I have no idea what could be causing a stinky residue on your soaps, hopefully someone will come along that can answer that part.

"Superfat" and "lye discount" are used interchangeably and mean essentially the same thing. When you enter a 5% lye discount into soapcalc, then you put all your oils and amounts in, soapcalc will tell you how much lye to add and that is 95% of the lye it would take to fully saponify those quantities of those oils. You do not need to add more oil than what you put in your recipe. The "extra 5%" is already oil, not lye, so an overpour would give you more superfatting. There are several reasons for superfatting or lye discounting. Some people feel that the soap is more conditioning with a higher superfat, it is very much to leave room for any small errors to make sure your soap is not lye heavy, but also it is because SAP values themselves are not exact. There is a range for each oil (because no 2 agricultural products are going to be identical from one geographic location to another or from one year to another), and the SAP values calculated are averages. So a margin is really necessary!

Your water/lye ratio seems fine. That is not related at all to superfat or lye discount. It does seem that you are soaping pretty cool, depending on how much of the harder oils and butters you are using and how high your stearic content is you may be getting false trace. It happens when soaping too cool, the stearic will solidify and won't get well incorporated in the soap. I don't think that would account for your smelly residue problem, tho.

 

[lsg]

I don't know what is causing the residue either. Is your soap air dried? I air dry my soaps for several weeks on a wooden rack. You might try adding a little Vit E in your next batch. I add Vit. E to every batch of my soap and have had no problem with DOS or rancid smelling soap.

 

[Lindy]

Have you always used the same room/space? Have you a fair amount of humidity in the room? Perhaps put a fan in there to help to help move the air around. Do you have a picture of what the soap looks like when it gets 'stinky'?

 

[soaphappy]

Yes, have always used this spare bedroom in my home for storage. Perhaps using the fan suggestion would help!