lye mixture yellow, think with jelly like floaties

[angiesmithsc7]

Should be *thick* with floaties.


Hi! First time soap maker here. Started with a batch of castile which is maybe doing ok? My second batch was an oatmeal infused water soap.

Fat Amount
(ounces)
Castor Oil 2
Coconut Oil 15
Olive Oil 12.5
Lard 22.5
lye 7.1 ounces
water 20 0unces

I mixed the lye in 20 ounces of water that I had soaked rolled oats in. Almost immediately the lye solution got thick and yellow-ish then I noticed floating jelly like clots in in. It stayed that way until it cooled enough to be added to my oils (both were in the 130-140 range) and after I hit it with my stick blender I couldnt see the orangey jelly like floaties. my castile batch smelled A LOT like olive oil once I put it into the mold, this second batch with the jelly lye mixture is still pretty strongly smelling of lye. DO I need to just trash this batch? Is it ok? Did the oatmeal water cause the weird lye mixture with the jelly floaties?

HELP?!

 

[new12soap]

It's normal for oat water and lye to sort of gel. It really shouldn't smell like lye, though. Are you sure the lye was totally dissolved? I didn't put your recipe through a lye calculator, but I am hoping you did?

Welcome to the addiction of soapmaking but you may want to start with a few simple recipes to learn the process and the properties of the different oils first before using additives like oats or scents or colors.

 

[new12soap]

Oh, sorry, forgot to add that no, I don't think you need to throw it away. Wait until a day or two after it is unmolded and cut and do the zap test to check to see if it is lye heavy.

 

[Obsidian]

I think fresh soap smells kinda chemically so your soap is probably just fine.

 

[angiesmithsc7]

Hi! Thank you for the fast responses!

I did run it through a lye calculator, https://www.thesage.com/calcs/LyeCalc.html

http://note.io/1oX6nDRhttp://note.io/1oX6nDR

I think I mixed it pretty well. It did thicken, unlike the first batch I made with plain distilled water. But I stirred it for a few minutes and again a couple times while waiting for the temp to come down.

I will see what happens when I try to unmold it in the next 24-48 hours. I'm nervous! A lot easier to muck up than melt and pour!

 

[angiesmithsc7]

Also. after getting it into the mold this is what it looked like after about 20 minutes (top pic) (bottom one is castile soap)

The other images are the lye mixture after mixing, note the jelly like clumps. The last one shows my glass mixing cup after rinsing and washing, the gunk on the bottom had to be scraped out.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I say wait it out.

While the olive oil smell of a Castile is easy to pin point, mixes of oils tend to smell less like one thing and more like.......well, a mix if oils. Can smell odd to start off with.

 

[angiesmithsc7]

It's been a couple of hours now. The castile soap still had a pudding consistency (yellow loaf). The other one that I was worried about (lighter, almost clear color) is firming up but it looks like it is either really full of bubbles (like champagne) or has some sort of crystal-ey type consistency. Is this still ok?

 

[Obsidian]

They both look fine, just give it time. The little bubble looking bits could have been from the soap slightly overheating.