Superfatting & DOS

[Buddytheborador]

Hi Guys,

I’ve been making soap for quite a few months now, I’ll admit I started with a fairly complex recipe but until recently I haven’t had any trouble with it. The recipe is as follows:

Sodium Hydroxide - 140g

Distilled Water - 240g

Olive Oil - 300g

Coconut Oil - 450g

Sunflower Oil - 50g

Neem Oil - 160g

Castor Oil - 50g

Rosemary Oil Extract Oil - 2g

I also use around 24g of organic fragrance oil which is normally ether rosemary, lavender or cedar wood. I read up about water discounting originally and wanted to give this a go, the results were fantastic. The bars unmoulded very easily and I thought I was onto a winner.

Sadly I have now been experiencing Dreaded Orange spots with pretty much all my bars. I believe this is down to me miscalculating the superset percentages. As I am fairly new to all this I wondered if anyone had any comments that could help me out. I have also just purchased ROE and a dehumidifier but I am still getting DOS.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advanced!

 

[shunt2011]

Okay, I would add the ROE to your oils when you first open them. It will help slow down oxidation in the oils but not likely the soap itself. Your CO is quite high at almost 45% and a 12% SF. Yes, higher SF can cause issues. Though I've had 100% CO soap with 0 SF get DOS. But I've never had DOS on 100% CO with 17% SF. Your recipe is different from most I've come across. Also, lavender EO has been known to be an issue as well. You don't say how old your soaps are or how you cure them. So many things can play a part in what happens to soap and sometimes we just don't know.

 

[DeeAnna]

There are many reasons for rancidity (DOS). Sometimes the fats (or superfat) is the problem, but often it's not. If you post a picture of what you're seeing, it would be helpful.

 

[amd]

This is what the recipe looks like in a lye calc. The two things that concern me on the calc is the high Super Fat, the high INS number, and linoleic/linolenic numbers. In my experience for a combination oil recipe such as this, these always lead to DOS for me. (Of course single oil soaps such as castile are a different thing.) You don't say whether you sunflower is High Oleic or not, but that will change the numbers slightly. My experience with using sunflower oil that is NOT high oleic has also always led to DOS.

BUT.... as DeeAnna said, DOS is also more than your oils or superfat used. What kind of water are you using? Where are you keeping the soap? What kind of equipment are you using to make soap? What process (CP or HP) are you using to make soap?

I would say let's take a look at your processes before we go too much further with your recipe.

 

[Buddytheborador]

View attachment 41536

This is what the recipe looks like in a lye calc. The two things that concern me on the calc is the high Super Fat, the high INS number, and linoleic/linolenic numbers. In my experience for a combination oil recipe such as this, these always lead to DOS for me. (Of course single oil soaps such as castile are a different thing.) You don't say whether you sunflower is High Oleic or not, but that will change the numbers slightly. My experience with using sunflower oil that is NOT high oleic has also always led to DOS.

BUT.... as DeeAnna said, DOS is also more than your oils or superfat used. What kind of water are you using? Where are you keeping the soap? What kind of equipment are you using to make soap? What process (CP or HP) are you using to make soap?

I would say let's take a look at your processes before we go too much further with your recipe.

Hey AMD,

Thank you for your detailed reply first of all, it really helps me looking at the recipe in greater detail. I use distilled water, a 10L jug that i've been using for over 2 years now which is coming to the end of it's usage. There is only a small amount left in the jug.

The soaps currently getting DOS are only 4 weeks old. At the moment I am storing the soap in a small cupboard under my stairs due to space issues. I have a dehumidifier in the room but I believe due to the size of the room it is heating the room up when the door is closed. The temperature in the soap curing room ranges from around 68 - 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

The equipment I use are sets of stainless steel spoons, knives and forks. I use a stainless steel bowl for soap mixing as well as heating up my oils. I use a stick blender as well as digital scales to measure out of the oils etc. I also use a plastic jug for pouring and a glass container for holding my lye water in. I'll check the sunflower oil but I lowered the quantity of it in the recipe for that very reason.

Thanks again for all your help, really appreciate it!

 

[shunt2011]

Hey AMD,

Thank you for your detailed reply first of all, it really helps me looking at the recipe in greater detail. I use distilled water, a 10L jug that i've been using for over 2 years now which is coming to the end of it's usage. There is only a small amount left in the jug.

The soaps currently getting DOS are only 4 weeks old. At the moment I am storing the soap in a small cupboard under my stairs due to space issues. I have a dehumidifier in the room but I believe due to the size of the room it is heating the room up when the door is closed. The temperature in the soap curing room ranges from around 68 - 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

The equipment I use are sets of stainless steel spoons, knives and forks. I use a stainless steel bowl for soap mixing as well as heating up my oils. I use a stick blender as well as digital scales to measure out of the oils etc. I also use a plastic jug for pouring and a glass container for holding my lye water in. I'll check the sunflower oil but I lowered the quantity of it in the recipe for that very reason.

Thanks again for all your help, really appreciate it!

Please do not mix your lye in glass. You are asking for a disaster. The lye etches glass and can cause it to break. Plastic with the #5 or #2 in the triangle on the bottom works best. I store my masterbatch lye in an old laundry detergent bottle.