Why does my soap leave a rancid smell behind???

[Cattleyabubbles]

Using too much oil when your superfattening your soap, that hasn't chemically combine with the lye, will turn rancid,

If you mean unsaponified (un-reacted) oils then it's not "will turn rancid" it's "can" and it takes a significant amount of time - as in months. And if it does go rancid then assuming his soap is fairly light colored he would see bright orange dots of rancidity. His oil is a particularly stable one so even with a year and adverse conditions I'd not expect much trouble.

That's what I've been trying to say all along. Let me go back to drawing board on this one. *scratching head and thinking*

 

[welder]

Using too much oil when your superfattening your soap, that hasn't chemically combine with the lye, will turn rancid,

If you mean unsaponified (un-reacted) oils then it's not "will turn rancid" it's "can" and it takes a significant amount of time - as in months. And if it does go rancid then assuming his soap is fairly light colored he would see bright orange dots of rancidity. His oil is a particularly stable one so even with a year and adverse conditions I'd not expect much trouble.

Good observation Carebear.

What I thought was that maybe the PKO was already rancid at purchase, but it doesn't seem to smell rancid?!

What's also confusing is that the soap bers smell fine too?!?!

The water is distilled from a grocer, so no issue there.

It's likely the used mold. I bought a new one to try out.

Will report on that when I test it.

 

[welder]

Hi welder - I have not soaped with PKO so cannot help with actual advice :wink:

What I would like to do is ask a few questions to get you thinking....it's your soap and you know it best ....

*Actually, as a newbie, I know virtually nothing about my soap...Yet...*

*Did you HP or CP this one?

*CP*


*How old is it and might the rancid washing smell fade over a longer cure time?

*1 week old, hopefully the smell will fade with time*


*How about using an EO or FO next time? BTW- are EOs available in Ghana?

*that's what I thought too. I think neem is the most reliably available scent in Ghana as they do grow it ther. Would Neem work well as a cover scent?*


*Is the lye you used the correct one for soaping? You're not using drain cleaner are you? :shock: If it has any other ingredients it may not be suitable for soaping.

*Yes, the lye came from a hobby soap supply house. It was soaping lye.*

Now can anyone else think of something to add to get welder brainstorming on this one???

*Hopefully!!*

Tanya

For ease, I posted my replies embedded in your quote, Tanya. Hope you don't mind.

 

[carebear]

yeeeeah neem will cover almost any scent. but you will be left with the scent of neem...

now I love the smell of neem, but I'm not sure I'd want to smell OF neem if you get my drift. it smells yummy to me - like an Indian restaurant.

I don't know if the scent would stick to the person or not - I use it in my acne soap but at very low levels and actually tend to use its cousin karanja instead.

 

[welder]

I don't know if the scent would stick to the person or not - I use it in my acne soap but at very low levels and actually tend to use its cousin karanja instead.

Thanks Carebear.

I think I've read somewhere that Karanja is mellower than neem. Is that right?

 

[carebear]

yes it is much milder

 

[welder]

UPDATE

Okay, I found out the source of the rancid after-smell my PKO soap was leaving behind:

The PKO was stale.

It was very difficult for me to determine this, but I finally figured it out when I was melting some PKO for a 3rd batch from the same gallon bucket that I had made the other two batches from.

I had put the PKO on the stove to melt & ran out onto the sundeck to dump the lye into the water. When I finished stirring up the lyewater, I came back inside & went to get the PKO off the stove to mix the lyewater into the oil.

As I approached the stove, I noticed the same nasty rancid smell like cat puke hanging in the kitchen air. I sniffed at the PKO in the pot & sure enough, the smell was much stronger near the oil itself.

I remember when the salesman sold me that cr@p, he very quickly rushed over his standard line about how his oils are all "descented, hydrogenated & stabilised" or something like that. Now I know he wasn't rushing over that part because he was in a hurry to get back to work. He was lying quickly subconsciously.

I bet they bought a huge wholesale order of this putrid oil in order to secure extremely low pricing & can't get their supplier to refund the stuff, so they're selling it to soapers hoping that nobody will blend it with other oils in high concentrations. Maybe it actually was fresh when the bought it, but because the bought too much, the tail end is gone bad.

The guy told me that anything over 10-15% PKO in a soap may cause dry skin. Someone here told me that a good hand soap can be made with 75% PKO & 25% palm oil, so I think the guy was just trying to prevent me from discovering that their oil is rancid.

I think I've read somewhere reputable that PKO can actually dry skin in higher concentrations, but I think superfatting should prevent that.

This is all just speculation on my part that they already know about the oil being bad. They move a lot of soapmaking feedstock & soaping hardware, so I think they know what's up.

It is possible that they've never blended their PKO in high enough concentrations to notice the after-smell, but the place smells like a perfumery so I think they're covering up the rancidity hanging in the air.

 

[Rhysid]

Hi everyone.

About a week ago, I made my first two batches of soap.

The first batch was HP and was a failure. I was too excited and cooked it to death. I think my wife threw it in the garbage a few days ago.

The second batch was much nicer. It looked good, smelled normal and lathered up well when I tested it.

The second batch was made with 100% brand new palm kernel oil. I know that adding other oils would have resulted in a much more well rounded bar of soap, but I was trying to simulate a soap that I plan to make in Africa. Palm kernel oil is the cheapest oil in Ghana, and I'm trying to make cheap laundry soap, not luxury skin soap.

The problem is, my soap leaves a horribly rancid after smell like cat puke or something gross like that!

Does anyone here have any idea why my soap looks good, smells good, lathers well, but leaves a horrible rancid smell behind after washing???


Oh, I almost forgot:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I know this is an old post but this is the only lead I’ve found. Any soap containing palm kernel oil also leaves my skin stinking - shower gel, bar soap… everything.
I think it’s a reaction with a pheromone or something in my skin - similar to how perfumes or colognes smell different from person to person - it’s probably the most dreadful smell I’ve ever smelled.