Orange scented soap (two part question)

[Catscankim]

My friend asked me to make him an orange scented soap, so I bought some 10x orange.

I tried to make this a double project by also attempting a butterfly swirl. So many things went wrong from the beginning with this soap lol.

I used the BB eo calc, which I got 1.75 ounces, after running it through eocalc, it is pretty much on the money. After adding the eo to the batter at emulsion, it thinned out so much and took forever to trace. Impatience and time constraints made me give up on that swirl. It really just would not come to even a thin trace. I poured the bottom layer (AC and eo)....waited waited waited. I tried to gently pour the other still liquid batter on top (eo and kaolin clay only, with some calendula flowers). Seeing that it already broke through the black, I just willy nilly continued to screw it up even more LOL.

24 hours is usually enough time to unmold and cut. It was way too soft. So I let it sit until today, now 48 hours, which I never have to do. Assuming there is something major wrong with this soap by this point as it was still fairly soft, I just turned the mold upside down, and to my surprise it popped right out. Sorta. Chunks of black stuck to the mold inside. And the whole thing has a weird spongy/oily texture. Like if you broke pieces apart, it resembles that weird astronaut candy we had as kids LOL, or maybe the inside of a peppermint patty.

Assuming that it is quite possible that I made a mistake with a measurement (probably not...although I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken .) I am going to give it another go in a bit.

But after all of that prologue, my real question is...is it the EO? I have never used the 10x Orange eo before. Does it normally act weird?

And while I am here...the color of the uncolored soap with only orange eo is absolutely terrible. It was bright yellow that was supposed to be just "orange" according to BB. I guess that might be because of the kaolin, I dunno.

I want to either mute it down a bit to a nice creamy color (which might be impossible), or maybe do something other than black as the base layer because I really don't want it to look like a bumble bee, or something out of a scary movie LOL. It is for a guy friend. Any ideas on colors/designs?

edit: i wasnt going to show it, but here is the failed saop. I threw it away…wasnt dealing with it

 

[maryloucb]

Orange EO does slow down trace, but I’ve never had it affect the texture before. I’ve also never had it turn the soap yellow either. Maybe try a combo of orange and litsea?

 

[Catscankim]

It was orange ITP. I dont understand the yellow LOL.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

What about adding orange peel wax into the game? Inconclusive action (accelerated for some, gave nice orange colour for others, anchored citrus smell for yet others, but also gave crumbly texture as yours), but maybe worth a try.
You still have the option of HP and adding the scent post-cook. With some sodium lactate and swift working, you still can achieve some simple swirling action, and no EO/FO can disrupt your saponification.

 

[dibbles]

I use Bb 10x orange and the color is only a creamy white-ish with no colorants added. Orange EO will decelerate so maybe try soaping a bit warmer to move things along a little faster.

 

[Catscankim]

I soaped warmer than my comfort zone...only cause I didn't want to sit around babysitting it all night. And it still took forever to trace.... but I waited for it to come to a good solid trace before I started to work, which made me nervous, because the pitcher without eo in it was getting trace first.

End result is that I added orange mica to the fragranced batter and did an itp swirl with un-fragranced batter and td. I also added some of the td unfragranced batter to the orange as an afterthought to make it not so ORANGE-Y

To make it "slightly scrubby" as per his request, I added a bit of pumice. Less than I usually do, but the last soap that I added pumice to he hated it. I don't know what slightly scrubby is to him, so I did half-scrubby. I was gonna do walnut or apricot powder because that is what my store bought face scrub is made out of. But I just added about half the amount of pumice because pumice is what his sasquatch soap is made of LOL.

Here is the top. I ran out of white LOL. Hope its not too orange now

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I soaped warmer than my comfort zone...only cause I didn't want to sit around babysitting it all night. And it still took forever to trace.... but I waited for it to come to a good solid trace before I started to work, which made me nervous, because the pitcher without eo in it was getting trace first.

End result is that I added orange mica to the fragranced batter and did an itp swirl with un-fragranced batter and td. I also added some of the td unfragranced batter to the orange as an afterthought to make it not so ORANGE-Y

To make it "slightly scrubby" as per his request, I added a bit of pumice. Less than I usually do, but the last soap that I added pumice to he hated it. I don't know what slightly scrubby is to him, so I did half-scrubby. I was gonna do walnut or apricot powder because that is what my store bought face scrub is made out of. But I just added about half the amount of pumice because pumice is what his sasquatch soap is made of LOL.

Here is the top. I ran out of white LOL. Hope its not too orange now
View attachment 61715

Thats really pretty. is this your 2nd batch from above picture?

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I've never worked w/ 10x orange EO so wouldn't know about that. I have used orange' EO & a few citrus EO & Ive found they can be temperamental, I use less then what is allowed, a little gos a long way. IMHO.

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

One of my most popular soaps is made with just Orange 10x EO. I've never had an issue with it tracing or separating. However, all the soaps I've made lately with kaolin clay have been soft and springy and have taken a few days to come out of the mold. I usually soap with a 40% lye solution but with the clay I increased the water to account for clay absorbing water. I think I'm going to just go back to a stronger lye concentration.

 

[glendam]

I only used orange 10x about 3 years ago, when I was at my early stages. At that time I was not doing any water discounts and I was soaping a lot warmer than now (soapqueen’s recommended temperature of 120‘s F.). I was also an enthusiastic stick blender user and used mostly oxide pigments for color. So with all those factors, I actually had what was considered a thick trace by the time I was done with a secret feather swirl. I noticed that the soap had random yellow spots after cutting it (Not DOS though), and it was also yellow on top. Other than that it had a creamy color In the sections were the Uncolored batter were seen. I took this picture shortly after cutting the bars.

I have experienced the spongy texture once, when I was soaping at cooler than usual temperatures and very possibly had false trace.

 

[scmorgans]

I soaped warmer than my comfort zone...only cause I didn't want to sit around babysitting it all night. And it still took forever to trace.... but I waited for it to come to a good solid trace before I started to work, which made me nervous, because the pitcher without eo in it was getting trace first.

End result is that I added orange mica to the fragranced batter and did an itp swirl with un-fragranced batter and td. I also added some of the td unfragranced batter to the orange as an afterthought to make it not so ORANGE-Y

To make it "slightly scrubby" as per his request, I added a bit of pumice. Less than I usually do, but the last soap that I added pumice to he hated it. I don't know what slightly scrubby is to him, so I did half-scrubby. I was gonna do walnut or apricot powder because that is what my store bought face scrub is made out of. But I just added about half the amount of pumice because pumice is what his sasquatch soap is made of LOL.

Here is the top. I ran out of white LOL. Hope its not too orange now
View attachment 61715

Beautiful looking soap!

I've used 10x in the past in my goat milk soap. I didn't add color as I knew the soap would color from the 10x. The scent didn't hold very well for me! 10x soaped easily - with no issues but, I have since started using Orange Blossom from candle science and the scent is holding! Love the Orange Blossom scent. It smells like you're standing in the middle of an orange grove in full bloom! My house smells like heaven!

 

[Justcallmewillie]

Orange EO or sweet orange is used in many degreaser applications. From my experiments over the years with it, I use it sparingly cause of the degreasing action and it didn’t smell orange like for very long at all. If I were to do it again, I’d mix orange FO and sweet orange together

 

[lucycat]

Some manufacturers decolorize Orange 5x and 10x and others don't. If it isn't decolorized then the EO is a orangish brown liquid and it will discolor soap a pale yellow gold. I was told once by a supplier who doesn't decolorize that they thought the EO strength was better. I have never compared side to side to have an opinion. I usually purchase just on what is available but there is a definite difference in the final soap color and I usually plan for it in design if it isn't decolorized.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I only used orange 10x about 3 years ago, when I was at my early stages. At that time I was not doing any water discounts and I was soaping a lot warmer than now (soapqueen’s recommended temperature of 120‘s F.). I was also an enthusiastic stick blender user and used mostly oxide pigments for color. So with all those factors, I actually had what was considered a thick trace by the time I was done with a secret feather swirl. I noticed that the soap had random yellow spots after cutting it (Not DOS though), and it was also yellow on top. Other than that it had a creamy color In the sections were the Uncolored batter were seen. I took this picture shortly after cutting the bars.

I have experienced the spongy texture once, when I was soaping at cooler than usual temperatures and very possibly had false trace.

Oh my goodness' beautiful soap. besides the orange eo issue.

 

[Zing]

The top of your 2nd batch is awesome. Sorry about that first batch. And honestly, I think yellow & black is a great combo.

I routinely use BB's orange 10X essential oil and have never noticed it affecting trace -- but from now on I'll look for deceleration. Also, it hasn't really affected the final color, my main colorants are micas and TD.

Can't wait for the cut!

 

[VikingChick]

I have since started using Orange Blossom from candle science and the scent is holding! Love the Orange Blossom scent. It smells like you're standing in the middle of an orange grove in full bloom! My house smells like heaven!

Good to hear about this scent. I’ve been thinking about trying it.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

My friend asked me to make him an orange scented soap, so I bought some 10x orange.

I tried to make this a double project by also attempting a butterfly swirl. So many things went wrong from the beginning with this soap lol.

I used the BB eo calc, which I got 1.75 ounces, after running it through eocalc, it is pretty much on the money. After adding the eo to the batter at emulsion, it thinned out so much and took forever to trace. Impatience and time constraints made me give up on that swirl. It really just would not come to even a thin trace. I poured the bottom layer (AC and eo)....waited waited waited. I tried to gently pour the other still liquid batter on top (eo and kaolin clay only, with some calendula flowers). Seeing that it already broke through the black, I just willy nilly continued to screw it up even more LOL.

24 hours is usually enough time to unmold and cut. It was way too soft. So I let it sit until today, now 48 hours, which I never have to do. Assuming there is something major wrong with this soap by this point as it was still fairly soft, I just turned the mold upside down, and to my surprise it popped right out. Sorta. Chunks of black stuck to the mold inside. And the whole thing has a weird spongy/oily texture. Like if you broke pieces apart, it resembles that weird astronaut candy we had as kids LOL, or maybe the inside of a peppermint patty.

Assuming that it is quite possible that I made a mistake with a measurement (probably not...although I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken .) I am going to give it another go in a bit.

But after all of that prologue, my real question is...is it the EO? I have never used the 10x Orange eo before. Does it normally act weird?

And while I am here...the color of the uncolored soap with only orange eo is absolutely terrible. It was bright yellow that was supposed to be just "orange" according to BB. I guess that might be because of the kaolin, I dunno.

I want to either mute it down a bit to a nice creamy color (which might be impossible), or maybe do something other than black as the base layer because I really don't want it to look like a bumble bee, or something out of a scary movie LOL. It is for a guy friend. Any ideas on colors/designs?

edit: i wasnt going to show it, but here is the failed saop. I threw it away…wasnt dealing with it
View attachment 61714

Oh I'd like to add like any Citrus it can neutralize the lye. Citrus is a fleeing scent' we tend to use more so it can survive the lye, which only causes havoc. Try adding your citrus eo to lemongrass eo or another closely related eo that will help anchor the citrus, i've found this helps.

 

[glendam]

Oh my goodness' beautiful soap. besides the orange eo issue.

Thank you! I must not have blended it properly before splitting into the other colors.

 

[Catscankim]

Getting ready to cut soon. So far it looks good LOL

 

[bumbleklutz]

I can't help with the EO question, but I know that orange FO decelerates, and sometimes reverses trace/emulsion.