Soap does NOT smell good.. Need help

[isha]

Hi all. I'm new to soaping doing it for couple of months now. My 1st batch cured.. N it stinks.. Kind of chemicals n stale oil smell.. My mom suggested it may be low heavy.. What am I doing wrong...??

This is what I follow
Lye 30%
Superfat at 7%
Olive pomace oil 45
Coconut oil 35
Palm oil 25
N add few drops of essential oils. ( I don't usually weight or count!!! Cos I don't know how and couldn't find the right info anywhere )

So what am I doing wrong???
Feels good while using.. Skin in soft shinny n moisturizes
But kind-of stinks
Any suggestions... Can someone guide me on amount on essential oils to be used.. Per kg weight of oils In grams /ml

 

[SoapAddict415]

What essential oil did you use? I'm just guessing, maybe the scent morphed?

Sent from my Z828 using Soap Making mobile app

 

[isha]

I just used lavender essential oil.. N violet food colouring

 

[DeeAnna]

How do your fats smell? If they have a strong odor or an "off" rancid odor, then your soap will have that same smell at least to some degree.

Only solution for rancid fat is to not use rancid fat (or learn to clean up rancid fat, which is a whole 'nother story that most of us avoid).

A strong odor that is characteristic of the fat can be covered up by an added scent, but you want to choose a scent that will blend or mask the odor and you need to use enough of the scent to do some good.

EOs generally recognized as safe are often used at rates similar to fragrance oils (FOs). A "few drops" is not remotely enough. You should be using more like 1% to 3% EOs by weight of the fats. So 10 to 30 grams EO per 1000 grams of fat.

Need to start weighing your ingredients!

 

[isha]

Thanks.. I'm using therapeutic grade essential oils.. Which are quite strong. N hence thought few drops was be enough... I also wanted to know. Is in important to set soaps with diff fragrance in separate curing trays always from each other???
Currently I'm using few cardboard boxes lined with needed plastic sheets n dump. 2 different type of soap together. N keep in under my bed... Or on a high cupboard where my little one can't reach
Is that okay

 

[Kamahido]

Thanks.. I'm using therapeutic grade essential oils.. Which are quite strong. N hence thought few drops was be enough... I also wanted to know. Is in important to set soaps with diff fragrance in separate curing trays always from each other???
Currently I'm using few cardboard boxes lined with needed plastic sheets n dump. 2 different type of soap together. N keep in under my bed... Or on a high cupboard where my little one can't reach
Is that okay

Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils are just a marketing gimmick! They are no more powerful than my 100% essential oils (5X or 10X folded notwithstanding). Assuming you have pure 100% essential oils, try using Brambleberry's Fragrance Calculator to find out how many grams are needed.

For example... I make batches of soap with 2,500 grams of oils. To get the desired Lavender smell my customers like I have to use 113 grams of 100% Lavender Essential Oil.

 

[penelopejane]

Soap without added scent should smell lovely - clean and soapy.

I'd also check your oils.
Pomace is extracted using chemicals from twigs, leaves and olive oil remnants left after all the other grades have been extracted. You may be able to smell or taste some of the chemicals in the oil.

You will know when CO is going or about to go rancid. It smells really, really bad!

Did you add your oils after trace?

 

[Cellador]

Soap without added scent should smell lovely - clean and soapy.

Personally, I don't like the smell of unscented soap. It definitely has a distinct smell...like oils and slightly sour. Kind of like Playdoh...Now, I just associate the smell with new soap, but when I first started soaping (without scent), I worried about the smell of my soaps too.

I personally think you just have new, unscented soap that's not completely cured. That smell should continue to dissipate the longer it cures.

 

[Susie]

If you would post your entire recipe in weights, including all additives, we could see if there is something there that might be an issue.

If you want your scents to stay separate on the outsides of the bars, store separately in an OPEN place with good air flow. You should always cure them in an open place, but the scents mix on the outsides of the bars if you store them together. Once you use a bar a few times, the original scent comes back, but the scent on the outside can get weird if you mix two very dissimilar scents in close proximity.

 

[isha]

It could be oil that I use.. Pomace doesn't smell bad. But I guess it could be my coconut oil..

What kind of coconut oil do you guys use??
I'm in India and here most widely available oil is from copra (dry coconut) which is cold processed.. So I get it directly when fresh extracted.. It has this coconutty odor and has a pale yellow color. I cook the oil for about 30 mins on low flame to get off some of the odor.

 

[shunt2011]

After reading what Copra was I found this in a basic search. Sounds like it can go bad fairly easy.

http://www.noble-house.tk/en/products/food/conventional-fats/extra-virgin-organic-coconut-oil/copra

and can even be contaminated.

 

[isha]

What kind of coconut oil do you guys use...??

 

[dixiedragon]

Is it possible you burned the oil when cooking off the odor? Maybe try making a batch without cooking the coconut oil?

Most of us in the US use 76 degree coconut oil - we call it that b/c it's melt point is 76F. Usually that's what is just referred to as coconut oil by us. There's 92 degree (melts at 92F), liquid coconut (liquid at room temp), and virgin coconut - which is what I think you have. Virgin coconut is minimally processed and smells coconutty - which is why I love it in lip balm and lotion!

I agree - we need your complete recipe.

In soap, you would use essential oils by the spoonful, b/c the lye monster is going to gobble it up! Roughly 1 or 2 teaspoons PPO (per pound of oils). Use a fragrance calculator - Brambleberry has one, so does www.thesage.com.

 

[penelopejane]

It could be oil that I use.. Pomace doesn't smell bad. But I guess it could be my coconut oil..

What kind of coconut oil do you guys use??
I'm in India and here most widely available oil is from copra (dry coconut) which is cold processed.. So I get it directly when fresh extracted.. It has this coconutty odor and has a pale yellow color. I cook the oil for about 30 mins on low flame to get off some of the odor.

I don’t think cooking the CO is a good idea at all. Just use it unheated and see if the coconut scent cures out. When I use CO I use cold pressed and only heat it very gently - just enough to melt it until it is clear.

Pomace can smell in a finished soap because some of the chemicals used in the extraction method can be retained in the oil. Lye can bring out these smells.

 

[isha]

This is the recipe. With I guess 1tsp of lavender eo n few drops of tea tree eo

 

[jcandleattic]

Soap without added scent should smell lovely - clean and soapy.

Only if you like the smell of unscented soap. IMO unscented handmade bar soap (regardless of oils used) stinks, or at least it stinks to me. I don't like the smell, at all.

I make one triple batch of unscented soap a year, and that's it, and only for those particular clients that want unscented/uncolored bars.
As a general rule, that is plenty and I usually end up with several bars left at the end of the year, because they really just don't sell as well as others do.

 

[penelopejane]

Only if you like the smell of unscented soap. IMO unscented handmade bar soap (regardless of oils used) stinks, or at least it stinks to me. I don't like the smell, at all.

I make one triple batch of unscented soap a year, and that's it, and only for those particular clients that want unscented/uncolored bars.
As a general rule, that is plenty and I usually end up with several bars left at the end of the year, because they really just don't sell as well as others do.

This is what gets me about making soap - every mix and everyone using soap is different. Pure Castile smells lovely to me as so does high OO with AO.
I have quite a few friends and family who want unscented soap and love it.

 

[isha]

Now I'm pretty sure that my coconut oil is the spoiler.... [emoji19]

 

[toxikon]

Now I'm pretty sure that my coconut oil is the spoiler.... [emoji19]

You could always try making a small, unscented batch (around 500g would be good) of palm oil and pomace olive oil to see how it smells. That might help narrow down if your coconut oil is the culprit.

You could try 60% palm and 40% olive.

 

[shunt2011]

Only if you like the smell of unscented soap. IMO unscented handmade bar soap (regardless of oils used) stinks, or at least it stinks to me. I don't like the smell, at all.

I make one triple batch of unscented soap a year, and that's it, and only for those particular clients that want unscented/uncolored bars.
As a general rule, that is plenty and I usually end up with several bars left at the end of the year, because they really just don't sell as well as others do.

Me too.... 3 batches a the beginning of the year and this year I still have 1/3 of it left.