Trying to fix a batch

[happymom]

Hi everyone! I tried HP for the first time. I made a basic soap of 80% olive and 20% coconut. I made the same recipe as a CP and it turned out wonderful. The HP batch smells a little weird though.

I scented both batches (the earlier CP and my recent HP) with lemongrass EO but did not put as much in the HP batch - I added 1 oz. It has an off smell - my oils were fresh, but I think what I am smelling is the Olive Oil scent in the soap.

So my first question is, has anyone ever made an unscented castile soap? Is it truly unscented or can you smell the OO? That would explain it - the lemongrass was strong enough in the first batch to mask the OO.

If not, is there something about HP that's different chemically?

Right now I have all the soap melting again in my crock pot - I am going to try a sample bar with more EO and see if that is the problem, then fix the rest of the batch.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Hazel]

I made an unscented CP bastile and I thought it had a funky scent. I never considered it might have been from the olive oil. I can't even say if that's what I was smelling. It was an experimental batch with 70% OO/30% FCO. I wouldn't think there would be anything really different between HP and CP. You're just cooking the soap to accelerate saponification as opposed to insulating it in a mold. Also, you should be able to use less EOs as compared to cold process. I know honor435 told me to use .5 oz ppo when I first started HP. How big was your batch?

I've had some batches I've made with EOs or FOs smell slightly off for a few days but then the fragrance seems to alter and the soap smells fine. I had one batch which I did CPOP, used a FO and it smelled terrible to me for 3 weeks! I couldn't understand why people gave such wonderful reviews for this FO (Vanilla Hazelnut). I decided to I'd have to rebatch it, then discovered the scent had changed and smelled rather nice. So, sometimes you may have to give a batch some time to let the fragrance settle. Even though you've HP'd the batch, the soap is still going through some changes. This is why I recommend curing HP because it will also become milder, etc. Perhaps it just needs some time to mellow.

However, I would like to hear what happens with this batch. :grin:

 

[happymom]

Funky smell OO HP soap

Hazel, you may have answered my question - maybe mostly OO soaps do keep the OO scent. Yes, I would describe it as "funky" - not bad, just smells like oil. But it is not appealing at all. I let it cure for a few days but it still smelled.

I have noticed that some EOs and FOs settle down - I did a anise orange batch and the anise was about half the strength after cure than at first.

I thought you could rebatch in a crock pot but it's overcooking on the sides - I took some soap out of the middle and put in the mold with more lemongrass EO and I'll see what happens.

My original batch was 4 1/2 lbs, which I usually use 2 oz of EO. But I took some of the hot soap out and made some sample bars with other fragrances and just guessed at what I needed for what was left in the crock pot, and I underestimated.

Thanks for your reply! anyone else feel free to chime in too!

 

[Hazel]

I wish I really could answer your question. I've used fragrance in all the other castile/bastile batches I've made so I really don't know if it is the olive oil. Maybe someone else can give a definite answer.

I would have used 2.25 oz or maybe a little less for a 4.5 lb batch. Did you make a lot of sample bars? It may not have been too little of an amount. I think lemongrass is rather strong smelling but I'm basing this on the lemongrass EO I've used. I always go a little lighter on it. But this is just my opinion - what I think is strong may not necessarily be considered strong by someone else.

 

[krunt]

happymom, it has been my experience that olive oil lends an unpleasant smell to unscented handmade soap. when i first started making soap, i always used OO and left my soap unscented, so i thought that was just how handmade soap smelled. then i moved onto other oils, and realised that smell was coming from the olive. for me, that smell never went away. as i prefer not to use EOs/FOs, i no longer use olive oil in my soap as i really don't like the smell.

 

[Genny]

I use EVOO & make a lot of castile soaps (all unscented) and there's no oil smell.
I just checked some of my older curing ones (6 months & up) and there's no smell at all.

Maybe it's the type of olive oil? Or maybe some people are more sensitive to olive & I'm not one of those people. Although I can't stand the smell/taste of actual olives :sick:

 

[lizflowers42]

I use EVOO & make a lot of castile soaps (all unscented) and there's no oil smell.
I just checked some of my older curing ones (6 months & up) and there's no smell at all.

Maybe it's the type of olive oil? Or maybe some people are more sensitive to olive & I'm not one of those people. Although I can't stand the smell/taste of actual olives :sick:

Not to hijack this thread, but Genny, how long do you let your castile soaps cure before you even consider giving them away/selling etc? Also, just to add, I adore the taste of olive oil when I am cooking, but I hate the taste of actual olives. :-D

 

[Hazel]

I use EVOO & make a lot of castile soaps (all unscented) and there's no oil smell.
I just checked some of my older curing ones (6 months & up) and there's no smell at all.

Maybe it's the type of olive oil? Or maybe some people are more sensitive to olive & I'm not one of those people. Although I can't stand the smell/taste of actual olives :sick:

Perhaps it is the type. I use refined A olive.

 

[Genny]

Not to hijack this thread, but Genny, how long do you let your castile soaps cure before you even consider giving them away/selling etc? Also, just to add, I adore the taste of olive oil when I am cooking, but I hate the taste of actual olives. :-D

3 months at the very least, but I shoot for 6 months.

 

[lizflowers42]

Perhaps it is the type. I use refined A olive.

Do you use refined A from experience using others? I've been using pomace since it's the cheapest...

 

[happymom]

Pomace

Liz, I have been wondering about pomace too... does your pomace soap have an olive odor?

I have been using the big Members Mark bottles from Sam's Club. Not EVOO to VOO, just regular olive. I would hate to spend the extra $ for the higher grades, but they do have less odor.

 

[2lilboots]

I love pomace OO. I have tried the regular OOs and didn't like how my soaps turned out.

 

[Hazel]

Do you use refined A from experience using others? I've been using pomace since it's the cheapest...

I used to use EVOO because it's what I found in the groceries. Then I ordered some refined A online since it worked out cheaper than what I was finding in stores. I am not one of the lucky ones who live close to a Sam's.

I haven't tried pomace since I had some concerns about the solvents used for extraction and from reading post about how it accelerates trace. I have been considering buying it next time I need more OO since refined A has gone up so much in price since I last bought it. But I'd want to do more research before making the decision. I've got time. I still have enough olive left which will last me awhile. What's your opinion of it?

 

[lizflowers42]

What's your opinion of it?

I *think* I might have used it in my swap soap, but the more I think about it, the more I think I made that before I bought my big jug of pomace, and just used the olive oil I had in my pantry...so that doesn't help you any :-D

I have used the pomace though in most of my soaps and I haven't had trouble with quick tracing in my soaps (aside from my first ever milk soap that I think I had false trace). In the bottle it's pretty olive colored (who woulda thunk??), but mixed with my other oils I don't notice the color difference, or any smell.

 

[Hazel]

Thanks for replying. It gives me something to think about and I promise I'll get to your swap soap soon...I hope. I've got all the soap in a box and I reach in with my eyes closed to randomly select a bar. I can also search for 'pomace' and I'll know I'll find some discussions since there have been ones in the past.

@ happymom -

I'm sorry I hijacked your thread.

 

[happymom]

OO Odor

No problem Hazel! I think my question was answered - a few folks have made OO soap with no odor so it must be something else - it must have been over or under cooked. I ended having to throw the batch out. Since lizflowers uses pomace with no diff in smell or color I will have to try that too .

 

[Hazel]

Thanks for being nice about it. :grin:

 

[happymom]

I think I found the answer here:

http://www.homemakershomestead.com/smf/index.php?topic=15434.0;wap2

"French fry smell" describes the soap's odor exactly. I put the oils in the crock pot at room temp and used the low setting so I must have cooked it too long, so it overheated.

 

[Hazel]

I'm glad you were able to find an answer. :grin: