SCREAM !!!! ZAPPING CURSE KEEPS ON GOING

[IrishLass]

I will definitely tone down the FO.I never had a problem before with my FO, but I will safe some money ,too.I have one FO from WSP, you can use at 9% I thought, that is a lot.

I know what you mean- some of those IFRA amounts can be ridiculously high. I have one that has a max rate of 100%! It might be considered to be safe from a toxicity standpoint, I suppose, but there's no way my soap can handle a 100% FO load. :shock:

IrishLass

 

[tkhaney1]

5 quarters equal 1 ounce. You could try that to test your scale again too.

 

[PippiL]

I tested again before I started my salt bars today.I had the same numbers on both scales, but for the fun of it..I will try the quarters.
I did use the 9 % I couldn't help myself.It was oatmeal and honey fromWSP.It is soooo good, with goats milk.
I'm always worried, that the soap would smell like nothing...that is why I use more.I better check on my salt bars,before they get to hard :?

 

[BakingNana]

I don't suppose you tasted the ooze? (Not that I'm recommending it, but hey...we all do it!). Every time I tried to exceed 4.5% with the FO, I've had an oil slick. Sometimes it soaks back in; sometimes not. I try not to exceed 3.5% now, even though I'm tempted at times! Really I only pay attention to the max use guidelines for leave-on stuff like lotions.

 

[dOttY]

I've noticed some of my soap is 'sweating' too. But I put my issues down to the fact that it's been raining for some time and we had a few days where the humidity was so high, you could almost cut the air with a knife!

I'm waiting to see what happens... :x

 

[judymoody]

OK, I did the math and for the batch that produced the sweating, PippiL is using one ounce of FO PPO or about 6.25% of base oils. This is a pretty standard usage rates for FOs. I personally tend to use less (4-5% or roughly .6-.8 oz/PPO) but that's neither here nor there.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, WHICH FOs are you using? Even if they are appropriate for use in CP, some FOs can cause heating issues. If you post what you used, perhaps somebody else with experience with that FO can offer more specific advice.

ETA: you mentioned that your goat's milk batch had this problem also, the milk might contribute to heating. And you said that this batch accelerated when you did your column pour.

So I'm betting that it's an overheating problem.

Are you using wood or silicone molds?

BTW, it's perfectly OK to peek at your insulated soap. I check after a half an hour and if nothing seems amiss, I check at hour intervals after that. When gel is complete, I throw off the insulation and let the soap cool.

I did a pumpkin puree soap once that completely gelled and separated within 20-30 minutes. Therefore, I peek.

One more thing, I have noticed that when I use castor oil my soap can sometimes appear a little greasy or sweaty. Usually temporary. But I don't use castor in soap much anymore.

HTH!

 

[PippiL]

I will be a good girl and not use so much FO,and I will keep an eye on my gelling.I was always happy when the soap gelled like crazy.
Now I know at least where the zapping tops are coming from.
The GM soap didn't overheat,I soap at really low temperature and bring it straight to the cold garage.
thanks for thinking with me.
When I removed the salt bars from the oven, I gelled them for an hour, they were dripping with water,but they look great.I will see...
Do you have to gel salt bars.I always have and they came out great.

 

[Hazel]

I have tried to prevent gelling in a couple of salt bar batches. (Experimenting :wink: ) They turned out fine so I think you wouldn't have to if you didn't want to gel. I think the main problem with it is salt batches get hot so quickly. I didn't notice any signs of partial gelling but I used FOs that discolored so I may not have seen partial gel.

eta: I used molds with individual cavities so I didn't have to worry about cutting.

 

[PippiL]

I use a log mold, just made some salt bars, here is a picture.

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[Hazel]

Ooh! I really like those bars. How did you get the flecks of color in them? Are they ungelled?

 

[PippiL]

I grate some of my soap bars, I made extra, or they didn't look so great.I think I'm obsessed with grating soap bars for salt soap.
I post another pick for you.


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[Hazel]

I think those look fantastic! Very different.

I had achieved a flecked look in a rebatched soap I made which I thought looked interesting. (I was so disappointed I had to rebatch because it actually had lovely swirls in it.) But yours are much prettier and more defined. The colored soap almost looks translucent in the white base. I never though of adding grated soap to salt bars. It's a clever idea. Thanks for sharing the idea and the pics.

eta: I meant to add I also thought the soap looked festive. It reminded me of something but I couldn't think of what. I realized the soap reminded me of the candy I see at Christmas. It's like hard sugar candy bits mixed in powdered sugar. Do you know what I mean?

 

[PippiL]

thank you very much Hazel for your nice words
I had so many soaps with no use, but they smelled so nice.And my little guy was bored,so I told him to grate all my soaps up.
When I made my first salt bars, I got the idea to through them in to the batch and really like the result.They do look translucent .I know also what candy you are talking about.We have that kind of candy in Germany....

 

[Hazel]

Ah ha! That's your secret! You have an assistant. Please tell him he did a great job.