Trouble with Aloe Vera Juice

[reallyrita]

From time to time I pull out my gallon jug of Aloe Vera juice from the fridge to use as my liquid. I use a brand called Aloe Organics that I got from Sam's club or maybe Walmart. Contents: Certified Organic Aloe Vera Juice, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate. It is a clear liquid but when I add my lye (same jar I have been using for a while now) it turns sort of white. I stir and stir and then let it sit to cool down to RT. It gets kind of thick and icky looking. Not clear any more. Seems to soap ok but the final product is very soft, goopy even. Eventually the bars harden up on the cure rack....sort of. Has the juice gone off or is this just what happens with Aloe Vera Juice? It really looks nasty in my lye pitcher no matter how long I leave it sit. Any ideas?

 

[Laurie]

Does it look a little bit foamy or thick? I think I use the same aloe, got it from Wal-mart. I still use it and my bars turn out just like they always have. I do RTCP so I make up a big batch ahead of time. It is certainly not clear like distilled water.

Laurie

 

[reallyrita]

Yup...it looks a little foamy and thick. I soap RT also and the batches I make with the Aloe are much softer than the ones with distilled water. I have to leave them in the mold for a couple of days and then they still need to harden up on the cure rack.

 

[Laurie]

That is really odd. Mine are hard within hours. I use gm for the other half of the liquid. Of course it probably depends on the oils too. Have you used the same recipe with or without this aloe?

Laurie

 

[reallyrita]

I really only have one recipe so far....it is a 3 oil one: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Palm Oil. Recently...last month or so....I have been using lard instead of Palm oil. I do notice that my lard batches take longer to trace. Sometimes I use Shea butter or Mango butter or a little castor oil. This last time I just went with the basic OO, Coconut and lard. I really never got beyond light trace with this batch even though I stirred and SBed for over 20 minutes. I used an FO and a touch of an oxide for color.

 

[Laurie]

I have never used Lard, but I definitely use the other oils. Maybe someone else has an idea as to what is happening here. Hope you get it figured out.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

I have been using aloe vera I buy at Sams for over a year now, with no issues. When I add my lye, and make a 50% solution, and add silk, it does darken to a light tanish colour. No problems with hardening.

Paul :wink:

 

[reallyrita]

Laurie: thank you so much for your imput on this aloe issue. I feel sometimes I soap in a vacuum. I only know my fellow forum soapers to help me along. I thought I was ready to soap after reading some books. But, I knew nothing. Everything I know, I know from the wonder cyber friends I have met on this forum. I suspect I "overthink" this soaping process too much. I just have to accept that there are soap faeries out there who drop in and visit us from time to time. I will just stick to my distilled water for the time being. I was using the aloe vera juice for 100% of my liquid and I really do not not if it is adding anything at all to the finished soaps. The water content will evaporate out and leave a little bit of aloe in the soap.