opinions needed on rtcp using palm oil

[heartsong]

this has me quite foxed!

in my soaps i use anywhere from 30-40% hard conditioning oils (non coconut) including shea, lard, tallow, mango, and blends of these.

sometime ago i purchased a 5 gallon bucket of homogenized (no stir) palm oil. i really like it warm soaping, but i've noticed that now that i'm about halfway thru the bucket, that when i rtcp, there are tiny but noticeable flakes of white in my soap, like a "grainyness". i've stirred the heck out of the remaining part of the bucket to make sure it's mixed. this remains even when i force it to gel. i know that this is not lye and i do not get "zap". this even occurrs with a stick blender.

i don't notice them as much in my rtcp whipped soaps, but the flecks are irritating.

any ideas? i believe i'll stop using it in rtcp.

your thoughts would be most appreciated!

 

[topcat]

I havent' soaped palm rtcp Monet, so I cannot comment from experience, however I have read that quite a few soapers find little white stearic spots in their soaps using palm at rt....perhaps your palm wasn't homogenised enough and the lower half has more stearic settled in it so it is noticeable in your soap now?

Tanya

 

[heartsong]

x

that's the really odd part!

all along i've been using the same recipe and it includes 5% steric acid (soy) which i melt completely in my olive oil with no problem what so ever, until lately with the palm. in fact, i melt all my oils together, then let it sit overnight before i soap.

i'm going to change out the palm with lard & shea this weekend, and if there is no flecks, then i guess i'll use the palm for warm soaping only.

this is so perplexing! :shock:

 

[Guest]

I do RTCP all the time with palm and haven't had that happen . I think Tanya is absolutely right .

 

[MikeInPdx]

I think Tanya is correct too.

I RTCP with palm on occasion and have never had an issue, but then again, I only use it at 20% and do an extra HOT 40% lye solution.

 

[heartsong]

x

i rtcp and both my lye and oils are cold. the oils are almost vaseline like. i like this way as it gives me lots of time to color, fragrance, fool around etc-i keep it on the right track with a stickblender. sometimes i whip it with electric beaters.

i have been using the same recipe, same method and same oils for almost 3 months!

today i soaped the same recipe-1 with palm and 1 with lard. tomorrow i should know for sure.

this all gets so frustrating! :roll:

thanks for all your input.

baffled in alabama! :shock: