Orange liquid on top of soaps

[dillsandwitch]

Hi All,

I have just made 2 batches of soap and both have this orange liquid on the tops of them.

Recipe was 35 OO, 30 Palm, 20 CO, 10 Grapeseed, 5 Castor. Full water and used milk instead of water. Also added 2 tbls kaolin clay, 1 tbls salt, 1 tbls sugar, 2 tbls honey to each batch.

1 was 1kg of oils the other 900gm of oils as my mold overflowed on 1kg of oils. I used BB fragrance oils, OMH in one and Lilly of the valley in the other.

Both were put into the fridge to prevent gel because of the sugar content in them, and for the first time I put some glad wrap over the tops of them (trying to prevent ash).

I couldn't smell any fragrance in the liquid and its not oily but it zaps like the almighty. What is it and will it be reabsorbed into the soap or should I be looking at my first re-batch?

Pics:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Can you attach the pics instead of just linking them? I personally can't always access them and not sure if others also have the trouble.

You put them in the fridge, but how hot were you soaping?

 

[dillsandwitch]

Edited as requested .

I have absolutely no idea what the temp was. I heated the solid oils just enough to melt them and then added that to the liquid oils. I used an ice bath on the milk and lye so not to burn the milk. So maybe around room temp. I was under the impression that the temps didn't matter too much so I have never really paid attention to it.

I have used this recipe many times before and had no problems. The only new thing was the clay and the glad wrap.

 

[IrishLass]

I can't be sure, but the orange liquid looks like it could be honey leaching out. If it were me, I would let it sit for about a week to give it a chance to absorb back in and mellow out before making any decisions to re-batch.


IrishLass

 

[dillsandwitch]

so if it is the honey will it get reabsorbed into the soap. Should I be leaving it n the fridge or take it out and let it come to room temp? Its been in there for probably 5-6 hours now

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

...............I was under the impression that the temps didn't matter too much so I have never really paid attention to it.................QUOTE]

Usually that is so, but if you are making something that is likely to generate a lot of heat and are only putting it in the fridge (rather than the freezer) then the difference between 30C oils/lye and 60C oils/lye can make a difference.

 

[dillsandwitch]

I have a chest freezer. great for storing heaps of meat and such but crappy for soaping.

 

[Susie]

I would leave those soaps in the fridge for the full 24 hours. You are probably going to get partial gel, but next time put them into the freezer to prevent gel. Let those sit a week before thinking rebatch. They may yet reabsorb that orange stuff. If it is still there at the end of the week, then you need to figure out what exactly the liquid is before deciding what to do about it.

 

[dixiedragon]

What did you use for the green colorant? Once, I was using spirulina and I had too little lye, so I had a pool of yellowish excess oil on top of my soap. The soap underneath was green, and while it was a bit soft, it was fine.

 

[lionprincess00]

Agree with irishlass and Susie. Wait and see. It looks like honey to me. Did you add it at trace? It may not have gotten blended completely.

Any liquid on top usually zapps in my experience, whether it be lye water, fragrance, or in this case maybe honey. This has happened to me twice now, but the time my fo pooled on top (small pool) and zappy water pooled on top, once it reabsorbed, the soaps were fine! It may take longer in the colder environment to reabsorb, but I agree to leave it in the fridge a full 24 hours. It should reabsorb completely once you pull it out. If it doesn't, like Susie said, then try and figure out what it is and go from there. She's right, you will probably get partial gel in the fridge because that's a lot of sugars. Freezer is best in this case.

Also, I've had this happen twice now, and since you have sugar AND honey, I want to mention it. I've pulled out milk soaps from the freezer, stuck in the fridge, and after 24 hrs in the cold pulled it out. It started to heat back up. Cold slows saponofication and occasionally, once pulled out, it will warm and saponofication will speed back up to complete whatever it didn't do in the freezer/refrigerator. You may notice the soap warming up to the point it may start gelling the center, and I wouldn't normally mention it, but you look like you have a lot of soap there that will take some time, and you used milk with sugar and honey, so it is more likely to get hot. If you notice it warming back up once you pull it out, you can stick it back into the fridge or freezer another 12-24 hours and that should take care of it. It might not happen since you're in the fridge which isn't as cold as freezing thus doesn't slow saponofication quite as much as freezing, but I just wanted to throw that out there in case you notice it.

It's an anomaly I never read about, and ironically after this happened to me, an experienced soaper on here had the same thing happened to them about a day or two after me lol!

 

[dillsandwitch]

dixiedragon the green was just some green oxide powder mixed in a little water.

lionprincess00 The honey was added in with the oils before I added the lye, so it would be blended in properly.


Fingers crossed it turns out okay. If not I'm gonna blame the soap gremlins for this one. Hahahahaha

 

[dillsandwitch]

Okay so I just made 2 more batches exactly the same as these 2 minus the honey. So im guessing that was the culprit here. If it is the honey thats oozed out would it be safe to just wipe it off as it doesn't seem to be reabsorbing at all?

 

[Soapsense]

That happens to me with this one FO I make. It Traces so fast, I don't think the fragrance gets mixed enough. It usually reabsorbs after a few days, and what doesn't I wipe off. The soap is fine, and doesn't zap after waiting.