akseattle
Well-Known Member
@skinbyroi, what a big bummer!
At this point, if it were me, I would cover it, put it in a cold, dark place and forget about it for 30 days. If it hasn't set, ignore it for another 30 days. I've read posts where someone forgot to throw away a disastrous loaf and ran into it a year down the road and it was a great loaf!!
I'm still a relative newbie myself (22 mostly small 500g batches), and when I read everything you had in your loaf, I have to say that I admired your ambition!!! Your recipe had alot of elements!! More than I would have taken on at my newbie stage.
In addition to your oils you
1) made added aloe vera that you made yourself,
2) calendula tea,
3) blended calendula petals,
4) calendula infused olive oil,
5) annato powder (I had to look that up!), and
6) bergamot EO.
Any of those (in addition to an unknown mistake in measuring- maybe putting the same oil in twice or just reading your scale wrong) could be the culprit. In addition to whatever you did in the rebatching process.
When I looked up the use of annato powder in soap making, Lovin Soap said use it for "color and texture." Another entry said calendula provides an "interesting texture." I don't know what exactly they mean by "interesting texture." When I said your initial soap looked fine to me, I really meant it!!
In regards to putting soap in the freezer, I've only twice put soap in the refrigerator (not freezer.) I did this my first two times using goatmilk powder because I didn't want it to go through the gel phase. In part, because i read if the goatmilk soap heats up to much it can burn and smell weird. Refrigerating was recommended to avoid overheating. Unfortunately, it got condensation. That extended the time before cutting since it had to dry out! I've now used goatmilk powder 2 more times. I skipped the refrigerator part. Even though the recipe also used sugar (I routinely use sugar and salt), it didn't overheat. I even deliberately gelled my loaf in the oven this weekend and there was no bad effect with the goatmilk.
But, I digress.... what I mean is that every new thing you add can cause something. I put one batch in a styrofoam cooler with the lid on it to keep out all air to avoid soda ash. The loaf seemed to rain on itself. I deduced that since I didn't leave little crack for the evaporating water to escape, I had made a terrarium for my soap!! Since the loaf had to dry out, I had to wait to cut it
I now follow @DeeAnna 's advice of taking it slow. Not adding too many new things at a time to a recipe until I've had a chance to test each prior element. This way, if something goes wrong, it's easier to find the culprit.
Your soap mainly had a number of ways you added calendula. But, unless your soap is lye heavy and zaps, it doesn't seem like there is anything in your soap that is harmful. Unless you need your mold to make your next batch, I think you just need put your loaf in a coo, dark place with a crack for moisture to escape then kick back and wait- maybe a time that is longer than short. But, I think it will surprise you at some point! Let us know in 3 months how it looks!! We'll keep our fingers crossed!!
At this point, if it were me, I would cover it, put it in a cold, dark place and forget about it for 30 days. If it hasn't set, ignore it for another 30 days. I've read posts where someone forgot to throw away a disastrous loaf and ran into it a year down the road and it was a great loaf!!
I'm still a relative newbie myself (22 mostly small 500g batches), and when I read everything you had in your loaf, I have to say that I admired your ambition!!! Your recipe had alot of elements!! More than I would have taken on at my newbie stage.
In addition to your oils you
1) made added aloe vera that you made yourself,
2) calendula tea,
3) blended calendula petals,
4) calendula infused olive oil,
5) annato powder (I had to look that up!), and
6) bergamot EO.
Any of those (in addition to an unknown mistake in measuring- maybe putting the same oil in twice or just reading your scale wrong) could be the culprit. In addition to whatever you did in the rebatching process.
When I looked up the use of annato powder in soap making, Lovin Soap said use it for "color and texture." Another entry said calendula provides an "interesting texture." I don't know what exactly they mean by "interesting texture." When I said your initial soap looked fine to me, I really meant it!!
In regards to putting soap in the freezer, I've only twice put soap in the refrigerator (not freezer.) I did this my first two times using goatmilk powder because I didn't want it to go through the gel phase. In part, because i read if the goatmilk soap heats up to much it can burn and smell weird. Refrigerating was recommended to avoid overheating. Unfortunately, it got condensation. That extended the time before cutting since it had to dry out! I've now used goatmilk powder 2 more times. I skipped the refrigerator part. Even though the recipe also used sugar (I routinely use sugar and salt), it didn't overheat. I even deliberately gelled my loaf in the oven this weekend and there was no bad effect with the goatmilk.
But, I digress.... what I mean is that every new thing you add can cause something. I put one batch in a styrofoam cooler with the lid on it to keep out all air to avoid soda ash. The loaf seemed to rain on itself. I deduced that since I didn't leave little crack for the evaporating water to escape, I had made a terrarium for my soap!! Since the loaf had to dry out, I had to wait to cut it
I now follow @DeeAnna 's advice of taking it slow. Not adding too many new things at a time to a recipe until I've had a chance to test each prior element. This way, if something goes wrong, it's easier to find the culprit.
Your soap mainly had a number of ways you added calendula. But, unless your soap is lye heavy and zaps, it doesn't seem like there is anything in your soap that is harmful. Unless you need your mold to make your next batch, I think you just need put your loaf in a coo, dark place with a crack for moisture to escape then kick back and wait- maybe a time that is longer than short. But, I think it will surprise you at some point! Let us know in 3 months how it looks!! We'll keep our fingers crossed!!
