My very first volcano-what did I do wrong?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mamabear

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
Location
Richland, WA
Rose petals steeped in olive oil for 3 weeks...16 oz
Coconut oil 8 oz
Cocoa butter 4 oz
Lye 4 oz
Cold infused rose tea 6 oz
.25 oz brick red beewax chip, melted into oils first
a few drops of petitgrain (steeped in the olive oil)
1 oz White tea and ginger FO
1 oz Baby Rose FO
1 oz castor oil at trace

Seemed like it was seizing in the pot, got it into the mold, put it in the fridge to prevent gel. I opened the fridge a few minutes later and it was trying to climb out of the pot.
I am really bummed. I thought I had planned this one well, but I also did a few too many new things this time. Was it the FO's or something else?
 
I'm assuming the Baby Rose caused the seize, Ive used White Tea and Ginger several times without incident. Perhaps combination of scents?
More details I forgot-used a tiny bit of Titanium dioxide to mute the red color, and I dissolved a bit of silk fiber into the lye solution before combining with the oils.
 
Is the 6oz of tea the only water you used? That seems a little low for the floral FOs. Could that have caused the seizing?

I wonder if the beeswax had something to do with the overheating?
 
Happy Lass said:
That seems a little low for the floral FOs.

This may be a silly question but...
What I'm getting from this statement is that floral FO's do better with full water. Is that the secret I'm missing when working with florals? I haven't heard this before. I usually do 33% water vs a full 38. Florals aren't usually a huge problem but some do misbehave. If using a full 38% would help control them better, I'd certainly like to know.

Thanks much. : )
 
Yes, full water and lower temps help. I've soaped baby rose and it does move fast.
 
Hm. Yes, I did take a water discount, which I've done only my last few batches. Not sure how it affects florals, but it makes sense to me that it would make the soap more reactive if I have the teensiest thing that's touchy. I've never had much luck with beeswax, either. I wish now that I hadn't made color chips with all the pigments. It sounded cleaner and easier at the time rather than playing with all the powders. I makr enough of a mess as it is ! Lol.
I rebatched the soap right away last night. It smells pretty, but a little stronger than I wanted.
I think I will try again tonight, but try the half and half method instead taking a high water discount, eliminating the beeswax chip, and nixing the Rose fragrance. The rose tea and infused rose oil are pretty strong on their own, and the petitgrain/White tea mixture is lovely on it's own.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top