Lather Issue

[CatahoulaBubble]

Has anyone ever had a fully cured bar of soap that was just fine and had a good lather, suddenly stop lathering? I made some lavender soap last year and I gave a bar to my sister at Christmas time. She's been using it for the last month and she said it was lathering just fine when she started using it but suddenly it just stopped producing lather. She tried using a poof and nothing. She said it still cleans and feels nice but there's absolutely no lather. It's the same recipe I always use and none of my other soap has shown any issues like this as far as I can tell. I haven't used the lavender batches though because I don't like lavender.

 

[The_Phoenix]

Hmm. My first thought was that it has something to do with her water, not your soap. We have awfully hard water and once a month have a whole-house water softening service replace the tank. I always know when we are due for a replacement tank because my soap begins to lather less and I start to feel itchy.

Other than that, I'm stumped.

 

[GemstonePony]

Has their water been cut off lately? That can stir things up and make the water gross. Otherwise, does she have access to softened, reverse-osmosis, or distilled water she can try to lather it in? That might at least tell you if it's the soap or the water.
Otherwise, are there any color changes or smell changes that might indicate rancidity? Rancid soap sometimes doesn't lather well.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

Has their water been cut off lately? That can stir things up and make the water gross. Otherwise, does she have access to softened, reverse-osmosis, or distilled water she can try to lather it in? That might at least tell you if it's the soap or the water.
Otherwise, are there any color changes or smell changes that might indicate rancidity? Rancid soap sometimes doesn't lather well.

Her water is the same but I will see if she can try using her bottled water with it. She sent me a picture of the soap and there's no DOS or any discoloration. She says it smells just fine and doesn't seem to be rancid at all. It just stopped lathering.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

Ok so I know it's been a year but I traveled to my sister for a visit and she brought out the bar that stopped lathering so I could get a good look at it. The first thing I noticed was the scent was off. It wasn't a bad smell it just wasn't the smell of the soap fragrance I had used. This lather issue happed on a lavender bar and on a black raspberry vanilla and both of the soaps that she showed me did not smell like either of those. So I took one in the shower and tried to use it and sure enough nothing happened, no lather, no bubbles, it was like I was rubbing a nice smelling rock on my hands. But then I washed my hair and when I went to use my sister's conditioner, I smelled the fragrance that was on my soap. It turns out that her bottle of conditioner had been leaking down into the soap dish and coating the bars of soap. So I took a veggie peeler to the outside of the soap and took off the top layer and then tested it and voila, the lather was back as was the original fragrance of the soap. So, no weirdness with my recipe or fragrances, just a leaking conditioner bottle.

 

[lsg]

That was a good solution to the soap mystery.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

So I took a veggie peeler to the outside of the soap and took off the top layer and then tested it and voila, the lather was back as was the original fragrance of the soap.

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

 

[earlene]

It turns out that her bottle of conditioner had been leaking down into the soap dish and coating the bars of soap. So I took a veggie peeler to the outside of the soap and took off the top layer and then tested it and voila, the lather was back as was the original fragrance of the soap. So, no weirdness with my recipe or fragrances, just a leaking conditioner bottle.

Who would have thought!?! I am amazed that would make such an impact on the soap. Good to know.