The bottom of my soap turned yellow with yellowish spots. What happened?

[sapphire74]

 

[lsg]

Is this freshly cut soap? What were your additives?

 

[sapphire74]

Is this freshly cut soap? What were your additives?

Yes it's freshly cut. I added colour (titanium dioxide, mica powder) and a fragrance oil, that's it

 

[Zing]

Did you just cut it? I recently had 2 soaps that had an unexpected yellow color. I think in my case it was two separate essential oils that caused it. Both times, the yellow dramatically decreased if not outright disappeared during the cure.

 

[sapphire74]

Did you just cut it? I recently had 2 soaps that had an unexpected yellow color. I think in my case it was two separate essential oils that caused it. Both times, the yellow dramatically decreased if not outright disappeared during the cure.

Yes I cut it on the 4th and it's the 9th now. I don't know if the yellow is going to go down, is there any reason it turned yellow in the first place?

 

[Zing]

Look at this post, What went wrong? Avert your eyes..... I'm guessing the lemongrass essential oil was being weird. Over time it got reabsorbed. This took literally weeks to change. I'm wondering about your fragrance oil?

 

[sapphire74]

I've used the same fragrance oil before and it never did anything. however I noticed when I used it this time, there was very slight ricing in the pink soap better. But is there any actual definitive reason the soaps turned yellow and will that fade for sure?

 

[Zing]

I'm so sorry but I cannot answer your question. I only speak from my experience and my assumption that EOs were to blame.
I suggest you post your recipe. Smart people on here (smarter than me!) usually can spot something when they see the details.

 

[sapphire74]

Ok thanks for helping. I don't think it's the recipe though because I've used it a lot with no issues. And I've made this exact soap before twice with no problems, so I don't know what happened?

 

[AliOop]

Without knowing your recipe and process, we really can’t help you pinpoint the issue. Even if you have made this recipe before, sometimes writing it out helps you realize where you might have changed something - an additive, an EO, the temps, etc.

And even if nothing changed, some ingredients are known to be fickle, with different results at different times. But without knowing what you used and how you used it, we can’t be of much help.

 

[TheGecko]

Ok thanks for helping. I don't think it's the recipe though because I've used it a lot with no issues. And I've made this exact soap before twice with no problems, so I don't know what happened?

Unless you are in a completely controlled environment, no two soaping sessions will ever be the same even if you use the same ingredients because there are so many variables in play...from the age of the ingredients, a different supplier for any of your ingredients, the temperature of your oils/butters and lye solution, the temperature of the room you are soaping in, the amount of time you do or don't stir and/or stick blend, the temperature of your mold, the temperature of the room and/or process of saponification, the relative humidity and temperature of your curing area and so on and so forth.

I master batch both my oils/butters and lye solution...not counting additives, colorants or scents...enough to make 56 pounds of soap so my "recipe" is fairly consistent. I also buy my base ingredients in sufficient quantities from the same supplier as to make at least three master batches before reordering. I soap in my kitchen, cure in my garage. I try to control as much as I can, but I can't control time or the weather...which is why I include that information on my notes and then make adjustments. I live in the Pacific Northwest in the US and while it doesn't get as cold as the Mid-West, it does get down in the low 40sF during the Winter AND it rains a lot. So I increase my Lye Concentration from 33% to 35% and use a dehumidifier. When the temps hits 80F...I put my GMS in the frig to saponify and have a fan going in the garage.

 

[sapphire74]

Unless you are in a completely controlled environment, no two soaping sessions will ever be the same even if you use the same ingredients because there are so many variables in play...from the age of the ingredients, a different supplier for any of your ingredients, the temperature of your oils/butters and lye solution, the temperature of the room you are soaping in, the amount of time you do or don't stir and/or stick blend, the temperature of your mold, the temperature of the room and/or process of saponification, the relative humidity and temperature of your curing area and so on and so forth.

I master batch both my oils/butters and lye solution...not counting additives, colorants or scents...enough to make 56 pounds of soap so my "recipe" is fairly consistent. I also buy my base ingredients in sufficient quantities from the same supplier as to make at least three master batches before reordering. I soap in my kitchen, cure in my garage. I try to control as much as I can, but I can't control time or the weather...which is why I include that information on my notes and then make adjustments. I live in the Pacific Northwest in the US and while it doesn't get as cold as the Mid-West, it does get down in the low 40sF during the Winter AND it rains a lot. So I increase my Lye Concentration from 33% to 35% and use a dehumidifier. When the temps hits 80F...I put my GMS in the frig to saponify and have a fan going in the garage.

Yeah that would really help. I suspect the FO is to blame here, my supplier ran out of stock and when it finally came back in I grabbed all of it but maybe they changed something up. The rest of my ingredients were bought in bulk and have never given me trouble

 

[sapphire74]

Without knowing your recipe and process, we really can’t help you pinpoint the issue. Even if you have made this recipe before, sometimes writing it out helps you realize where you might have changed something - an additive, an EO, the temps, etc.

And even if nothing changed, some ingredients are known to be fickle, with different results at different times. But without knowing what you used and how you used it, we can’t be of much help.

I did some more research and think it's the vanillin in the FO, anything to do to fix that?

 

[SoapHobbyJT]

I did some more research and think it's the vanillin in the FO, anything to do to fix that?

Here's a blog post I found on the topic which might help: Soap Queen - Vanilla Discoloration

And an excerpt which I think might be relevant in that case.

Spoiler: Soap Queen post excerpt:

Other aroma chemicals may cause discoloration as well. We include performance notes and finished photos of the fragrances in soap, so make sure to read those before use.

How to prevent or work with discoloration
If you’re making melt and pour soap, you can use Vanilla Color Stabilizer to prevent discoloration. We recommend a 1:1 ratio with the fragrance.

We don’t recommend vanilla color stabilizer for cold process soap because the results are inconsistent. It may not prevent the discoloration at all, or it may only work for a few months.

If the fragrance has a low vanilla content, you can use titanium dioxide. It lightens tan or light brown discoloration. Start by mixing 2 teaspoons of titanium dioxide into 2 tablespoons of a lightweight oil. At trace, add 1 dispersed teaspoon at a time. It’s tricky to know exactly how much to use because the soap hasn’t discolored yet. Just keep adding color until the soap is pretty light. We used titanium dioxide in this Creamy Goat Milk Soap, which is made with Oatmeal Milk and Honey Fragrance Oil.

With a lot of titanium dioxide, you can get glycerin rivers. We recommend a 5-10% water discount to prevent those. It also helps to keep the temperatures around 115-120°F and store the soap in a cool place.

If the fragrance has a higher vanilla content, the titanium dioxide can only lighten it so much. In that case, we recommend embracing the discoloration and working it into your design. You can scent some of the soap so only one part discolors, like we did in the Cinnamon Cocoa Soap. You can also scent the whole batch.

 

[Chrissy Murphy]

Mine d

View attachment 53099Mine did the same thing after using rose fragrance oil from new directions. It didn’t however do it to my other soaps. Mind you it turned colour when I added salt in the soap. I believe the fragrance oil discoloured the salt. It’s annoying so I’m just using it for myself . Try washing under warm water

 

[AliOop]

I did some more research and think it's the vanillin in the FO, anything to do to fix that?

Yes, you can use vanilla color stabilizer. You can purchase that from FO suppliers, or we have a great thread here on SMF about how to make your own. Just be sure to read through past the original recipe given, and also click the link in that thread that takes you to Todd's summary thread about how he made it, and how to use it.