soaping again :)

[shout4joy]

I haven't made soap for months and months. I had to get some CP soap made for the holidays coming up so I pushed myself to get some done. I had the soap fairy visit on Monday but I think we survived the visit and this is what I came up with:



top row: fresh laundry, three kings, lavender lane

bottom row: sandalwood/vanilla, mandarin spice, orchard breeze, oats n' honey

Since I hadn't soaped in so long, some of my shea butter and all my mango butter was bad - phew - stinky! I am out of cocoa butter now and will need to reorder some other supplies, BUT I didn't have to buy much at all to crank out 7 batches.

Does anyone have any guesses as to why my sandalwood/vanilla would have dark spots in it (hardly noticeable in this pic)? The only thing I did differently was to add some silk...could that cause really dark brown spots? It doesn't smell funny and it isn't oozing...

JOY

[Nymeria]

First: lovely! Absolutely lovely!

Second, and to your question: My guess would be one of two things. Vanilla, as you probably know, discolors in soap to a brownish color. The discolorations could be the vanilla starting to turn brown. OR it could be DOS (dreaded orange spots, which often appear brownish orange) which could be caused by a variety of things.

[MareMare]

Was your silk old? I used some liquid silk in a batch a while back that was apparently super old and it ruined the batch. Ick.

[shout4joy]

yep, I expect vanilla to turn this one a nice, deep brown. but I had dark brown spots on all exposed surfaces from the get-go. It doesn't look like any DOS I have ever experienced.

The silk I used was from an old silk shirt that finally gave out. I was using the lye dissolve method. Could the silk have somehow held some of the fragrance oil in "clumps" I just don't know.

The scent is good, no odd odor And as the soap darkens, the dark spots are less obvious (but still there).

Oh well, it is what it is and that is part of the process of soaping. Surprises are part of what to expect 

JOY

[smittenheart]

if its dark spots..my guess would be the FO wasnt mixed in thoroughly..

your soap looks awesome..

[shout4joy]

if its dark spots..my guess would be the FO wasnt mixed in thoroughly..

your soap looks awesome..

thanks for the kudos.

OK, if it is the FO not mixed thoroughly...would that give a "burn" feeling during use? Or is it dissipating as the soap cures? Can I (in good conscience) give this soap to people for the holidays?

LOVE the scent It is my most favorite of all time Just never had dark spots before in all the batches I have made *sigh*

JOY

 

[smittenheart]

do you have another photo of the spots??

I havent had issues with soap that had spots and if there are issues to be had 'I' would be the one to get it

my spots though weren't oozing..are they oozing(theres a word..oozing..weird,right??!!)

I do let me soap cure for 6 weeks..so I am NOT sure if the curing process made the spots less of an issue..I took it as more of a 'looks' issue than anything else..

[shout4joy]

I'll take another picture, see if I can catch the spots.

No oozing (what a delightful word) at all.

JOY

[shout4joy]

here is the best shot of the brown spots...they are more obvious in person than in the photos, I just can't get the camera to see what I see 

As the soap darkens, they don't bother me as much as they did at first and the soap smells SO good

JOY

[smittenheart]

yes..I would go with a FO issue..meaning that it wasnt incorporated well..