Oil ugly soap top

[gitalis]

Hello soap makers,
I made this cold process soap today. As soon as I sprayed the isopropyl alcohol on top of it, the oil started separating and now the top looks ugly. Please see the picture. Do you know what caused it? It happened with my last batch too. When I cut the soap, the rest of the soap was fine. What could've caused it?
Adding the process here-
Cold process soap making
Recipe- 100% olive oil
Additives- FO and mica only
Water discount 38% and poured at light trace.

 

[Relle]

Please provide recipe and method of making what additives etc.to get some help from members. Only guessing without full info given.

 

[gitalis]

I used cold process soap making method. Recipe is 100% olive oil. No additives. Only mica and Fragrance oil 3%.

 

[AliOop]

Which fragrance oil did you use? Naughty FOs are the most common cause of separation and other bad behavior in soap.

 

[gitalis]

Which fragrance oil did you use? Naughty FOs are the most common cause of separation and other bad behavior in soap.

Yes the fragrance I used generally accelerates. That could be it.

 

[DeeAnna]

You will get the best advice if you will share EVERYTHING that you put into the batch of soap -- the weights of fat, alkali (lye), water, fragrance, other additives, etc., etc. It's best to list the ingredients all in the weights you measured to make the batch. It's also best to not mix percentages and weights. It's also good if you share your method.

Relle offered good advice -- you didn't use just 100% olive oil to make the soap. If you're making "soap" from only olive oil, that's going to be a pretty greasy soap!

In this case, your accelerating fragrance is as much a part of your recipe as the olive oil. But perhaps you're making soap at overly high temperatures or perhaps some other factor in your recipe or method is contributing to the overheating.

 

[gitalis]

Update- So I finally figured out what happened with my soap top. First of all thanks to all who responded to my post. I really appreciate it!
So it was the isopropyl alcohol that I was using on my soap. I had made last 3 batches and this batch with completely different recipes. Fragrances were different too. Only thing similar was alcohol that I sprayed on top. All of those soaps had the same weird soap top where it separated the oil and mica a little bit. This had never happened to me before. That alcohol I had gotten from a local pharmacy store.
So yesterday I made another batch of soap but used my usual isopropyl alcohol that i bought from a chemical company. Guess what- no issues at all. Beautiful clean soap top. I am glad I could figure it out. I had to cut all the soap tops from those last 4 batches.
Just wanted to give an update here in case someone faces the similar issue. You never know what can mess up a soap batch.
Lesson learned- Always try the new ingredient in a soap batch and be mindful if there is anything different happening. It could be as simple as changing the alcohol. ️

 

[Becky1024]

Update- So I finally figured out what happened with my soap top. First of all thanks to all who responded to my post. I really appreciate it!
So it was the isopropyl alcohol that I was using on my soap. I had made last 3 batches and this batch with completely different recipes. Fragrances were different too. Only thing similar was alcohol that I sprayed on top. All of those soaps had the same weird soap top where it separated the oil and mica a little bit. This had never happened to me before. That alcohol I had gotten from a local pharmacy store.
So yesterday I made another batch of soap but used my usual isopropyl alcohol that i bought from a chemical company. Guess what- no issues at all. Beautiful clean soap top. I am glad I could figure it out. I had to cut all the soap tops from those last 4 batches.
Just wanted to give an update here in case someone faces the similar issue. You never know what can mess up a soap batch.
Lesson learned- Always try the new ingredient in a soap batch and be mindful if there is anything different happening. It could be as simple as changing the alcohol. ️
View attachment 70248

I wonder if there was a difference in the concentration of isopropyl alcohol? Bottles in my local pharmacies are 70%, and from chemical supply companies can have several concentrations.

 

[gitalis]

I wonder if there was a difference in the concentration of isopropyl alcohol? Bottles in my local pharmacies are 70%, and from chemical supply companies can have several concentrations.

The one from pharmacy was 91% and the one from chemical store is 98%.
But 91% alcohol shouldn't clog oils on top, that's just my thought. I think it might have something mixed in it other than water that is not mentioned. It says "purified water", maybe some minerals in that water that might be reacting? Because I would assume they should use distilled water, not purified water. I could be wrong, just guessing!

 

[dmcgee5034]

I’m curious about this. Could spritzing with a non-technical grade isopropyl alcohol do that to soap? Curious what our expects think about that theory, for my education.

 

[gitalis]

@dmcgee5034
Yes I would love to know that too. It's a learning opportunity for us.

 

[Misschief]

Why do you spray the tops? I never do.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I do because I read it’s supposed to help prevent soda ash @Misschief
I still get it sometime tho so it’s not always effective

 

[Misschief]

I do because I read it’s supposed to help prevent soda ash @Misschief
I still get it sometime tho so it’s not always effective

Any time I've used alcohol in the past, I get a weirdly textured top so I don't bother with it anymore. Soda ash is purely cosmetic and I have no issue with it.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Any time I've used alcohol in the past, I get a weirdly textured top so I don't bother with it anymore. Soda ash is purely cosmetic and I have no issue with it.

Same with me @Misschief - Had more problems when using it than I did without it. So I stopped using it.

 

[gitalis]

I get a lot of soda ash and spraying alcohol does help with it.

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

When I spray mind with ISP alcohol (99%) it also seals the top and then I get volcanoes. Maybe I use too much?