Soap gone wrong! Help me diagnose, please?

[DeerBunny]

So I experimented with a new soap last night and....It just went all wrong. First, I had everything measured out perfectly, lined up just right, had my design plan, and went to measure out the lye and I didn't have enough. So, last minute trip to TSC to grab some more lye, made it there five minutes before they closed and got their last bottle of lye. Phew! Then I'm driving home and almost died from a drunk driver who decided to get in my lane, head on! Had to swerve off the road. So I get home still shaking, give my husband a kiss and shake it off, and start soaping.... And that was a fail.

This was my first soap using wasabi Go from brambleberry, and also my first soap using beer. I boiled the beer and then froze it into ice cubes along with the goat milk and aloe vera, I've used goat milk and aloe vera a ton before with no problems. My recipe is as follows:

Avocado oil- 450 grams
Castor oil- 150 grams
Coconut oil- 450 grams
Lard- 1500 grams
Sunflower oil- 450 grams

Equal parts goat milk, aloe vera, and beer- 880 grams
Sodium hydroxide- 433 grams

Wasabi FO- 90 grams
Avocado superfat- 90 grams

I also added some green mica and activated charcoal into the superfat oils.

I had read reviews that wasabi FO behaves well in CP so I decided I would give the "dancing funnels" technique a try...Massive fail. At first it was smooth and went great but it started hardening SO FAST and when I went to refill my bottles it was a clumpy mess already! So I had to just quick dump it all in and tried stirring with a chopstick but it was all chunky...Naturally it looks totally gross and upon cutting this morning there are little pockets with oil oozing out, looks like orange/yellow oil? I haven't tested for zap, I'm a little scared to. Lol.

If anyone could help me diagnose the issue that would be great! I could probably find the answer for myself with some reading but I have a four year old, a two year old, and a three month old...Just typing this up has been quite the chore, so if someone could help me out that'd be amazing!! Thanks soapy folks.

 

[DeerBunny]

An up close photo of one of the oozy spots

 

[DeerBunny]

And another!

 

[toxikon]

Okay, so let's break some things down. I ran your recipe through Soapee to determine your percentages.

Lard - 49%
Avocado Oil - 17% (this is your 450g + 90g)
Coconut - 15%
Sunflower - 15%
Castor - 5%

Superfat - 3% (not including extra fats from goat milk)
Lye Conc. - 33%
FO - 3%

A few quick notes.

It's impossible to choose an oil to superfat with when it comes to cold-process. The saponification process takes place over several days, with the lye choosing what it wants to eat from all the oils you used. So your avocado oil superfat isn't achieving anything, it's better to mix all your melted oils together at the beginning.

When exactly did you add your superfat? Did you stick-blend it in well? The oily spots may be the avocado oil if it didn't get mixed into the batter well enough. And when did you add your FO and how did you mix it in? Could be the same problem.

A zap test will let you know if they're lye spots - just gently rub a wet gloved finger against one of the spots and just barely touch the tip of your tongue.

Did you use aloe vera juice? Or actual pieces from an aloe vera plant? Did you blend it well and strain it?

 

[DeerBunny]

Oh okay, thanks! I actually got that from a YouTuber, I think the woman at "essential soaps"? She said she adds her superfats after blending her lye water and oils to trace, at the same time that she adds colorants and FO. So that's what I've been trying! Actually this is only my second batch doing that and the first batch hardened oddly too, but I attributed it to a new FO because it was vanilla sugar, and overall it still turned out fine. I blended it in with a spatula like she did in the video.

 

[DeerBunny]

I used the aloe vera juice, frozen into ice cubes, not strained.

Just did the zap test and it definitely zaps. Does that mean I should toss the batch?

 

[toxikon]

Yeah, sounds like the random Youtuber led you astray!

I actually add my FO right to my melted oils and stick-blend well to make sure everything is well incorporated. Sometimes a spatula isn't quite enough.

edit: Good thing you zap-tested! You could give it a few more days to see if the lye re-absorbs and zap-test again. Then you can re-batch it if need be.

 

[DeerBunny]

Okay! I've never rebatched before, yikes! So if it doesn't zap in a couple of days should I still rebatch to be safe?

 

[toxikon]

If it's not zapping at all in a few days it should be just fine to use.

 

[DeerBunny]

Alright so looking into rebatch... It looks like it's inevitable that it'll lose it's fragrance? But I'm assuming that making it into confetti to keep its fragrance isn't going to work because of these lye pockets so, I'll have to rebatch completely in a Crock-PLPot, right? Since those spots zap does that mean the problem wasn't adding the oils after trace but something else? Sorry I just want to make sure I understand correctly so I don't make any more mistakes!

 

[kchaystack]

Ok, first off - I would not rebatch this right away. Let it sit for a week or 2. The oils will probably absorb back in and you will be fine.

Second - it will probably be zappy for a few days. thats normal and nothing to worry about.

Third - I think the beer was the culprit for the acceleration. its a tricky liquid to use - esp with milks and aloe. that is alot of added sugars.

This all sounds normal for a batch that accelerated unexpectedly. So yes - let it set a week or 2. if it is still zappy after that - then we can think about how to fix it.

 

[Steve85569]

Alright so looking into rebatch... It looks like it's inevitable that it'll lose it's fragrance? But I'm assuming that making it into confetti to keep its fragrance isn't going to work because of these lye pockets so, I'll have to rebatch completely in a Crock-PLPot, right? Since those spots zap does that mean the problem wasn't adding the oils after trace but something else? Sorry I just want to make sure I understand correctly so I don't make any more mistakes!

Making confetti will not solve the problem of lye pockets. Don't ask how I know.

Shredding is still a good idea for rebatching since it helps increase the surface area thus helping the soap melt quicker. Start with a small amount of water - you can always add more if the soap isn't melting very well. Remember, you will have to cook and cure the water back out of the soap.

Not that I've had to rebatch several batches or anything like that.:headbanging:

In CP soap the superfat oil cannot be chosen. As toxicon said, the lye monster will eat whatever it wants when it wants. AND it can leave you with pockets.

 

[toxikon]

It's hard to say what the exact problem is.

But if your soap is still quite fresh, you may find the zap disappears in a few days to a week and it'll be safe to use. My soap sometimes sweats out lye drops but it all ends up reabsorbed by the end of a week and perfectly safe.

Lye spots can be a mixing issue - it's important to blend till emulsion with the stick blender before switching to a spatula.

So I'd say give it a bit more time, re-test and if it's still zappy, rebatch!

 

[DeerBunny]

Thank you all! I'll try to remember to update with how it turns out. I decided to do a small rebatch with the ugliest bars just to learn how to do it, and also because I so hate the look of them anyways. So if I do need to rebatch them all I'll at least kinda know how to do it!

 

[kchaystack]

Thank you all! I'll try to remember to update with how it turns out. I decided to do a small rebatch with the ugliest bars just to learn how to do it, and also because I so hate the look of them anyways. So if I do need to rebatch them all I'll at least kinda know how to do it!

I have never seen a rebatch turn out looking better than the original soap - just FYI. We had someone on here rebatch the same batch soap 6 or 7 times - because 'It is just ugly'.

While I agree it is good to know how to do it should you ever have to - it is not a fix for appearance in my opinion.

 

[DeerBunny]

Haha okay, I'll keep that in mind and won't be too hard on myself!!

 

[DeerBunny]

Okay so after giving it a few days it was still a touch zappy and it was stressing me out so I decided to just go with it and rebatch it. It went okay, here's the finished product:

 

[SunRiseArts]

Alright so looking into rebatch... It looks like it's inevitable that it'll lose it's fragrance? But I'm assuming that making it into confetti to keep its fragrance isn't going to work because of these lye pockets so, I'll have to rebatch completely in a Crock-PLPot, right? Since those spots zap does that mean the problem wasn't adding the oils after trace but something else? Sorry I just want to make sure I understand correctly so I don't make any more mistakes!

I personally like rebatching. In my personal experience, if your scent it strong, it survives the process. If you want, and you did not max the percentage of FO allowed, you can always add a tad more.

I love your rebatch. it looks so pretty! And I love the stamp. I find some people love the rustic look of soaps!

 

[Wyredgirl]

Cute!

 

[Susie]

I would have rebatched or tossed, also. When you have pockets of lye water, there is no other option because sometimes it never reabsorbs (ask me how I know), and then you have pockets of lye lurking underneath the surface that you find in the worst possible way. (again, ask me how I know)