Weird smelling soap

[cascarral]

Hello!

I have 3 different soaps in my shower and two of them are smelling weird.

The first one is from a batch I made a year ago and I have noticed DOS in other soaps from the same loaf, it smells odd and it has turned yellow in the edges.

The second one also smells and had a slight color change but not as much as the first one. It’s from a batch I made on November, there are no signs of DOS and I went back to the oils I used, all of them smell good.

The third one smells fine, it also has EOs in it (rosemary and tea tree) so this could be why I haven't noticed a bad smell? Made one week after the second one with the same oils.

All of the other soaps from these batches smell fine, it's just the ones I've been using in the shower that have the smell...

I'm suspicious of a 5 gallon bucket of coconut oil I bought a year ago throw Amazon... it's the only oil I've used in every soap, but has no smell at all. and it's perfectly white.

The smell is not the fish-like smell soaps sometimes get, it's more of a rancid oil smell.

 

[Obsidian]

Any yellow spots or edges is dos and it smells bad as it is the oils going rancid. Sometimes a bar will develop a rancid scent without the color change.
I toss smelly soaps out as the scent can stick to skin though they are safe to use.

Any chance you store them on a metal shower caddy? That can make them develop dos.
Spending a long time in a damp shower doesn't help either. How long have they been is use?

 

[cascarral]

Any yellow spots or edges is dos and it smells bad as it is the oils going rancid. Sometimes a bar will develop a rancid scent without the color change.
I toss smelly soaps out as the scent can stick to skin though they are safe to use.

Any chance you store them on a metal shower caddy? That can make them develop dos.
Spending a long time in a damp shower doesn't help either. How long have they been is use?

Hi! Thanks for your reply! My shower caddy is metal!! But I've used it for years and have never had this problem.

I'm curious if the smell from one soap stuck to the other? Could this be the case? They don't smell really bad, just kind of not very soapy jaja.

My concern is with the 20 liters of coconut oil that I have... should I stop using it? It doesn't have any kind of smell though.

 

[penelopejane]

Hi! Thanks for your reply! My shower caddy is metal!! But I've used it for years and have never had this problem.

I'm curious if the smell from one soap stuck to the other? Could this be the case? They don't smell really bad, just kind of not very soapy jaja.

My concern is with the 20 liters of coconut oil that I have... should I stop using it? It doesn't have any kind of smell though.

DOS can occur for a number of post production reasons. It’s not necessarily the CO. You will know if CO is rancid - it stinks, puffs up the container and changes colour.

Yes DOS spreads from one soap to another and gets progressively worse so throw out soaps with DOS or cut out the yellow bits and isolate them. Don’t touch your curing soap unless you have clean hands or gloves. Keep your soap away from metal at all times. Make sure you have good ventilation as your soap cures and none sweat. Use very clean equipment to make soap including molds. Store your oils in a cool dry place and consider using ROE in oils you aren’t going to use up quickly.

 

[cascarral]

DOS can occur for a number of post production reasons. It’s not necessarily the CO. You will know if CO is rancid - it stinks, puffs up the container and changes colour.

Yes DOS spreads from one soap to another and gets progressively worse so throw out soaps with DOS or cut out the yellow bits and isolate them. Don’t touch your curing soap unless you have clean hands or gloves. Keep your soap away from metal at all times. Make sure you have good ventilation as your soap cures and none sweat. Use very clean equipment to make soap including molds. Store your oils in a cool dry place and consider using ROE in oils you aren’t going to use up quickly.

Wow I didn't know DOS were "contagious" jaja thank you!

what is ROE?

Ok thank you! For soap storage I use cardboard boxes (after cure) is this OK? I'm concerned I don't have Good Manufacturing Practices, is there some kind of manual for soap makers in this regard?

 

[penelopejane]

Rosemary Oleoresin Extract is an antioxidant. A tiny bottle will last forever. You mix a tiny amount with your oils when you get them to reduce the likelihood of rancid and DOS.

You should cure your soap for at least 6 weeks in a well ventilated, dry, cool space before you put them in cardboard boxes where they get no airflow. You don’t need a book just do what I said above. DOS is caused by some bacteria or contamination in or on the soap. Think of how you avoid the flu and how you prepare food and do the same for your soap.

 

[cmzaha]

Coconut Oil has a long shelf life.

 

[cascarral]

Rosemary Oleoresin Extract is an antioxidant. A tiny bottle will last forever. You mix a tiny amount with your oils when you get them to reduce the likelihood of rancid and DOS.

You should cure your soap for at least 6 weeks in a well ventilated, dry, cool space before you put them in cardboard boxes where they get no airflow. You don’t need a book just do what I said above. DOS is caused by some bacteria or contamination in or on the soap. Think of how you avoid the flu and how you prepare food and do the same for your soap.

Thanks so much! I will do all of the above!

 

[Arimara]

What other oils have you used in the soaps? coconut oil lasts too long to be a prime suspect, especially if it smells fine.