jelly crust on LS after EO added

[jnl]

i added some EO to my liquid soap and it turned the top into a jelly like crust....i tried heating and cooling, no change. i added a tiny bit of water and heated and covered with saran wrap this time and cooled. its almost cool now but it still looks like there is no change. i did this with 3 different batches: lavender (happened instantly), orange and patchouli (not nearly as bad but it still got a bit of a crust that wouldnt go away), and lemongrass and ginger (not as bad as lavender but worse than the OP).

WHY is it doing this?
is it just because the LS needs more water?
i try to dilute my LS as little as possible.....maybe i was too close to the edge this time?
ive never had this happen before!!

what else might cause this?
usually when i added EO it would sit like oil on top till i heated it and then it would soak in.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

i added some EO to my liquid soap and it turned the top into a jelly like crust....i tried heating and cooling, no change. i added a tiny bit of water and heated and covered with saran wrap this time and cooled. its almost cool now but it still looks like there is no change. i did this with 3 different batches: lavender (happened instantly), orange and patchouli (not nearly as bad but it still got a bit of a crust that wouldnt go away), and lemongrass and ginger (not as bad as lavender but worse than the OP).

WHY is it doing this?
is it just because the LS needs more water?
i try to dilute my LS as little as possible.....maybe i was too close to the edge this time?
ive never had this happen before!!

what else might cause this?
usually when i added EO it would sit like oil on top till i heated it and then it would soak in.

Maybe it's some oil separation. People may better be able to help if you post your recipe and procedure, especially the exact oil and KOH amounts and any other additives. I am wondering which lye calculator you used, and whether you checked the 90% KOH box if it was Soapcalc. If it shows up in a photo it wouldn't be a bad idea to post a pic. It's possible that this is fixable.

 

[Susie]

LOL, TOMH! This time I think it is not enough dilution!

 

[Dahila]

You need to add the same amount as Essential oil of Polysorbate 80

 

[topofmurrayhill]

LOL, TOMH! This time I think it is not enough dilution!

I wouldn't rule it out, but if this is one of the oleic recipes like in the IL tutorial then excess soap coming out of solution doesn't look like that. It goes right back to looking like that foamy goop. I tried it by taking a perfectly crystal clear portion of high-oleic LS and further saponifying it. But all we have is a verbal description so maybe we can get a pic and see it.

I've seen reactions between FO and and fatty acids in LS with all kinds of interesting outcomes, including jelly.

You need to add the same amount as Essential oil of Polysorbate 80

Might be too late. IL mixes the PS80 and fragrance together before adding them and that's all I ever tried. Thing is, it sounds like the OP has done this before and never gotten such a result, so it might be good to look at what might be different about this batch of soap. Something more may be happening than the EO not mixing in.

 

[lenarenee]

For what it's worth with one entire gls batch done:

After ls was cool , I added citrus eo's to one portion and it gelled. Would have been great if I had diluted too much but that wasn't the case. I simply added water and stirred, it developed a foam with tiny bubbles, in 12 hours all was well. It's back to nice clear thick soap.

 

[jnl]

you dont need polysorbate to add EO
ive done it many times without
never had any oil separation issues except once when i over neutralized

the issue was simply not enough water....the soap was just on the verge of being liquid. it seems strange that adding an oil would push it over the edge into a paste again, but thats what happened.

i ended up having to add like 1/4 water to a 2 cup amount of diluted liquid soap (with the jelly top). thats quite a bit extra water needed due to the EO.

3 different cups whit different scents had all done the same thing. and they all needed extra water. the lavender needed the most, and the lemongrass ginger needed almost as much as the lavender and the orange patchouli only needed a little bit of water

 

[jnl]

for those of you thinking you need poly cause your EO is floating on top of your soap......just heat the LS a bit (like hot tub hot) and the EO will mix right in. its never separated back out again on me. thats with me using 3% SF or less.

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with JNL -- I personally have not had trouble with EOs and FOs separating from my diluted liquid soap, even though they might change the texture. Carrier oils (the usual soaping oils are examples of carrier oils) are another story.

I'm glad dilution was the answer to your troubles, JNL. Good work!

 

[coffeetime]

I am diluting my cold-process GLS right now, and I have scented it with lavender EO, another bit with Orange EO, and then the third part will be peppermint. None of them separate and I don't use PS80. Also they only form that skin when I haven't diluted enough. So I suspect you need more water.

 

[Susie]

I have found that if my superfat is even 3.5%, EO's or even a tiny bit too much evaporation will cause separation. That is why I stick to 3% superfat. I also add my EOs while my diluted soap is warm. Not hot, but warm enough that while I can stick a bare finger in it, I don't want to leave it there overly long.