MountainMedic1206
New Member
I have an issue with oil separation in my cold process soaps. I tried to reach out to a particular person for help but they have not been very quick to respond. I am going to copy and paste the primary aspect of the email here for your consideration:
Allow me to give me to give you my base recipe. Its pretty basic:
1% superfat, 35% water.
Palm oil 13.2oz
Coconut oil 19.8oz
Olive oil 33oz
Water 23.45oz (approx 12oz reconstituted frozen goats milk with balance satisfied with distilled water)
Lye 10.01oz
28g Sodium Lactate
1oz MCT oil (used for colorants)
Typical atmospheric temperature: 62ºF, relative humidity: 35-50% controlled with a dehumidifier.
My soaps have failed regardless of what essentials oils or fragrance oils I may have used. All fragrance and essential oils have been longstanding in my library and so are familiar to me. They all are used within the manufacture’s stated IFRA recommendations or based off of eocalc.com as well as essential oil texts with regards to the essential oils
I have made multiple batches and have had oil separation to varying degrees. Of note, I have not been texturing my tops as I wanted a clean landscape to monitor for separation.
My initial superfat was 5% and I have progressively worked it down to the 1% that the above recipe reflects.
My initial water load was 43% and I have progressively worked that down to 35% as reflected above.
Using a laser thermometer, I have measured my different batches of oil and of water between 95ºF and 110ºF but always keeping them between 5ºF of each other.
I use a 63oz rectangular loaf mold. I always bring the oil and lye solutions to emulsification and further to a medium trace for every batch as I only use either one or two colors so medium trace works fine for that aspect. I use a stick/immersion blender fired in 5-10 second bursts while also stirring with a flat spatula.
Historically, I would place the mold on a bath towel folded to the same width as the mold and, together, set on a wire shelf. I then would top the mold with a long piece of cardboard folded into an A-frame and set on top of the mold and then I would lay a bath towel folded on top of all of that so that it would cover the cardboard and the sides of the mold meeting the bath towel on which the mold rests.
My curing area is the same temperature as the working kitchen. I use a box fan on low speed for indirect air circulation.
I used to make soap in a dry mountain environment in a small kitchen where I could maintain a constant temperature and humidity. I have moved to Missouri and work in the basement of a building on a historic square where we own a wine and charcuterie shop above. I have been working down there since the late spring and, from time to time, I would experience an oil separation but it was an unusual.
As summer progressed through fall and now winter, my ambient temperature has slowly decreased from what was 67-67ºF to around 62ºF. I suspected that I may have been right at the bottom threshold of ambient temperature tolerance for soap making and that this is why I began to see more frequent and then constant oil separation.
My solution was to buy a 24”x48”x60” indoor horticultural tent with a reflective mylar interior, a wire shelf set that would fit inside and a small radiant oil heater to set inside the tent. I placed four digital thermometers at both sides of the shelf set at 18” high and 48” high. I loaded the shelves with the folded towels where I would set my molds. I adjusted the heater and monitored the four thermometers for four days to assure a stable environment. My goal was to keep a minimum temperature of 82ºF with a max of 90ºF and I was able to meet that. This tent was to be where my soaps would saponify for 48 hours and then be removed to my historic curing area.
My results, unfortunately, continue to show mild oil separation on the top of the soaps. Also, I have getting texture changes from the flat top that I create after my pour into the mold to a lightly wavy top often with a slight elevation running along the center of the length of the soap. To me, this indicates that I may actually be getting a little too hot during the saponification, rather than not hot enough.
I forgot to mention earlier that this had crossed my mind. I used to use 15oz of frozen goats milk cubes and I was concerned that, with my atmospheric changes and the increasing oil separation that things were getting too hot so I decreased the goats milk to decrease the fats and sugars… to no avail.
I continue to use the “incubator tent” I had made because I know that is a stable environment and effectively removes that variable. From all of the reading I have been doing to try to find what variable needed to be adjusted, I had set on 85ºF to be an ideal environmental temperature for saponification. The rH within the tent stays between 35-45% at all times including when there are soaps within.
But, I am no longer sure if my cooler ambient temperature is actually the issue or, on the other hand, if my soaps have always been getting a little too hot creating the textured top with mild oil separation. I have always used reconstituted frozen goats milk in my soaps so I don’t think that is the issue and I believe reducing the milk load from 15oz to 12oz was a fair effort to rule that out.
I have been gentle and progressive in whatever metric I adjusted within the recipe so as to not create great changes that would obscure things.
I have tried to be detailed and explicit in my process but I’m sure I have forgotten to include some things or was unclear on others. Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions you might have.
End of email. Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions. Thank you very, very much for your helpful and constructive thoughts.
Allow me to give me to give you my base recipe. Its pretty basic:
1% superfat, 35% water.
Palm oil 13.2oz
Coconut oil 19.8oz
Olive oil 33oz
Water 23.45oz (approx 12oz reconstituted frozen goats milk with balance satisfied with distilled water)
Lye 10.01oz
28g Sodium Lactate
1oz MCT oil (used for colorants)
Typical atmospheric temperature: 62ºF, relative humidity: 35-50% controlled with a dehumidifier.
My soaps have failed regardless of what essentials oils or fragrance oils I may have used. All fragrance and essential oils have been longstanding in my library and so are familiar to me. They all are used within the manufacture’s stated IFRA recommendations or based off of eocalc.com as well as essential oil texts with regards to the essential oils
I have made multiple batches and have had oil separation to varying degrees. Of note, I have not been texturing my tops as I wanted a clean landscape to monitor for separation.
My initial superfat was 5% and I have progressively worked it down to the 1% that the above recipe reflects.
My initial water load was 43% and I have progressively worked that down to 35% as reflected above.
Using a laser thermometer, I have measured my different batches of oil and of water between 95ºF and 110ºF but always keeping them between 5ºF of each other.
I use a 63oz rectangular loaf mold. I always bring the oil and lye solutions to emulsification and further to a medium trace for every batch as I only use either one or two colors so medium trace works fine for that aspect. I use a stick/immersion blender fired in 5-10 second bursts while also stirring with a flat spatula.
Historically, I would place the mold on a bath towel folded to the same width as the mold and, together, set on a wire shelf. I then would top the mold with a long piece of cardboard folded into an A-frame and set on top of the mold and then I would lay a bath towel folded on top of all of that so that it would cover the cardboard and the sides of the mold meeting the bath towel on which the mold rests.
My curing area is the same temperature as the working kitchen. I use a box fan on low speed for indirect air circulation.
I used to make soap in a dry mountain environment in a small kitchen where I could maintain a constant temperature and humidity. I have moved to Missouri and work in the basement of a building on a historic square where we own a wine and charcuterie shop above. I have been working down there since the late spring and, from time to time, I would experience an oil separation but it was an unusual.
As summer progressed through fall and now winter, my ambient temperature has slowly decreased from what was 67-67ºF to around 62ºF. I suspected that I may have been right at the bottom threshold of ambient temperature tolerance for soap making and that this is why I began to see more frequent and then constant oil separation.
My solution was to buy a 24”x48”x60” indoor horticultural tent with a reflective mylar interior, a wire shelf set that would fit inside and a small radiant oil heater to set inside the tent. I placed four digital thermometers at both sides of the shelf set at 18” high and 48” high. I loaded the shelves with the folded towels where I would set my molds. I adjusted the heater and monitored the four thermometers for four days to assure a stable environment. My goal was to keep a minimum temperature of 82ºF with a max of 90ºF and I was able to meet that. This tent was to be where my soaps would saponify for 48 hours and then be removed to my historic curing area.
My results, unfortunately, continue to show mild oil separation on the top of the soaps. Also, I have getting texture changes from the flat top that I create after my pour into the mold to a lightly wavy top often with a slight elevation running along the center of the length of the soap. To me, this indicates that I may actually be getting a little too hot during the saponification, rather than not hot enough.
I forgot to mention earlier that this had crossed my mind. I used to use 15oz of frozen goats milk cubes and I was concerned that, with my atmospheric changes and the increasing oil separation that things were getting too hot so I decreased the goats milk to decrease the fats and sugars… to no avail.
I continue to use the “incubator tent” I had made because I know that is a stable environment and effectively removes that variable. From all of the reading I have been doing to try to find what variable needed to be adjusted, I had set on 85ºF to be an ideal environmental temperature for saponification. The rH within the tent stays between 35-45% at all times including when there are soaps within.
But, I am no longer sure if my cooler ambient temperature is actually the issue or, on the other hand, if my soaps have always been getting a little too hot creating the textured top with mild oil separation. I have always used reconstituted frozen goats milk in my soaps so I don’t think that is the issue and I believe reducing the milk load from 15oz to 12oz was a fair effort to rule that out.
I have been gentle and progressive in whatever metric I adjusted within the recipe so as to not create great changes that would obscure things.
I have tried to be detailed and explicit in my process but I’m sure I have forgotten to include some things or was unclear on others. Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions you might have.
End of email. Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions. Thank you very, very much for your helpful and constructive thoughts.
