Swirl. Not. (Do cinnamon leaf or ylang ylang accelerate?)

surf girl · Apr 27, 2009

I've used cinnamon leaf EO in a recipe or two or three, with no issues. Today I made a batch using cinnamon leaf, patchouli, and ylang ylang, in a recipe I've made once before (but in that one I was using juniper, anise, and ginger). I planned to do a nice swirl at light or medium trace (I swirled the juniper, anise, ginger version happily), but, alas, no. Let's just say I had soap on a stick. Instantly. I mean instantly. WTF?

Does cinnamon leaf in a large percentage accelerate trace? This would be 10mL in a 2 lb batch (I know, I know, we've got a volume/weight/imperial/metric mismatch going on here). The recipe was OPO, CO, Avocado, and Shea butter.

Or maybe it was the ylang ylang? First time I've used that sucker.

Thoughts, anyone?

The blob of soapE is currently staring balefully at me while mr surf girl makes dinner. He kicked my whining ass out of the kitchen.

rubato456 · Apr 28, 2009

so sorry to hear of your soap misbehaving!! i've used yling ylang eo a number of time and it's been fine. i believe i've heard that cinnamon can speed up trace, but i'm not quite sure about that....i' ve not soaped w/ cinnamon before. what temp did you soap at.....perhaps a warmed than usual temp plus cinoman could do this.

i rarely use a stick blender anymore...because stirring by hand with a wisk gives me more time to experience a slower trace....i use a bit of grapefruit seed extract and this will help make the trace not so slow but not too fast either since i'm mixing by hand.

you are an awesome soaper surf girl. i LOVE your pink soap you did w/ yellow dock....that was such an awesome soap....you rock! 8)

Guest · Apr 28, 2009

I have used all of those scents , never had any trouble .I use patch a lot with other scents, same with ylang ylang , so my best guess is that the cinnamon is the culprit .

sorry you got sos out of your hard work

kitn

surf girl · Apr 28, 2009

Thanks for your thoughts, ladies (and thanks for the compliments!).

The soap blob is now in a Ziploc in a pot of water on the stove (I have no oven). I am attempting some kind of pseudo hot process (aka Imminent Disaster). Or maybe it's an instant rebatch. We'll see what happens. At least it's not staring at me any more. (And dinner was great - stuffed peppers, BBQ'd green beans, PEI potatoes, and tuna sashimi. Worth getting kicked out of the kitchen for).