# I need your help



## Happytailzfarm (Jan 5, 2008)

:help I have been making soap since around March/April and all of a sudden my soap is doing some funky things, the only thing that has changed is this summer I could not get in any hard palm oil, they sent me palm oil in like a solid liquid state? Kept it in the sun till it was totally liquid, stirred it and then took 5 gallons of it and put in a separate pail, now I did not stir the more solidified oil when we used it. Has to be stirred with a paint stirrer that my husband puts on his drill, anyway, here is whats been happening, on the bottom of the bar its hard already, but soft on top, oily? and the bottom you can actually see layers, the bottom is kinda whitish hard, the middle is a little (oh forgot to say that Im using a vanilla Fo for an example) tan and the top is dark like my vanilla usually gets. I need to know what Im doing wrong, if its the palm and is it safe to use. CAn I send pictures??? I need your expertise on this as Im totally clueless! Anyone else ever experience this? If it is the palm oil I can get in the stuff that I usually use now because its cooler here in Michigan, but I hate to throw all of the other palm oil out. Thanks
Aletha


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2008)

Aletha, 
did you get the palm oil that is not hydrognated? if so then yes you have to stir the palm oil before you use it.. 
but honestly it sounds like you did not reach a complete trace with your soap and it has separated.. Too much heat (even a too hot of gel) can also cause separation.
did you pour your soap at light trace? or did you wait until full trace?
is this the first time you have used this fragrance?
did you measure everything right?
If this batch is not lye heavy you can save it by hot process method.. Grind and chop up all the soap to small peices.. Put into crock pot or double boiler and cook till thick liquid, add a little water or milk.. When cooked and melted good, glop into molds.. 
Barbara


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## Happytailzfarm (Jan 5, 2008)

Barb, these scents have been used before with no problem. So we can not use these? Can I post a picture? As far as I know, all ingredients, lye etc had been measured correctly. The temps were within 10 degrees of each other, and I never add them if they are over 100 degrees. I like to do it when they are around 85-90 degrees. Im just stumped as I don't understand or know what the hard bottom layer is?? What is the bottom layer? I do not *think it is lye heavy as I had said before I run it threw a soap calc, but I guess human error could have happened but all of a sudden? Like on 4 different batches of soap? I do know that even though I "HATE! throwing away that palm oil, I think that Im going to have to. I did get it on the soapers page though. I will be ordering the other kind tomorrow. Please let me know if the soap is ok to use and can you explain why it wouldnt be ok to use? Thanks Barb YOU ARE THE BEST!
Aletha


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Weird. I have only used hyrdogenated Palm because I do not want to have to worry about separation and stirring. I'd say that must be it if everything else you did was the same as you've done before. But then I've never experienced separation. Odd that it would happen on 4 different batches if it were something else.


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## Happytailzfarm (Jan 5, 2008)

can i post pictures anywhere? I would love to have someone else see what is going on with my bars of soap
Aletha


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2008)

Go through photobucket. Once you have uploaded them onto there you can put pics on here in any post by clicking on the image code. Like this:
Green Tea w/citrus









Tammy


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2008)

Yes, Please do post a pic, and also a pic of the palm oil... and send me your recipe privately if you don't want to post it.. I will put it in my soap cal... I am assuming that the only thing you did different was use different palm oil..
I have used both kinds in the past and had no problems but this could be a bad batch..
What is your percentage of hard oils to liquid oils in recipe and percentage of palm oil in rec..
try making another batch of soap (small) without this palm oil and everything else the same, sub it with crisco.. and see what happens
Barbara


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## Happytailzfarm (Jan 5, 2008)

ok, I think I got them uploaded to photobucket but how do I get them on here???
Aletha


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## Happytailzfarm (Jan 5, 2008)




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## Happytailzfarm (Jan 5, 2008)

oops so sorry that one picture was so big...
Barb, I'll email you privatly sometime tomorrow, worked late today and am just bushed.
Has anyone else had their soap turn out like this??? Do you's see the 3 layers? and the hard outer bottom?
aletha


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

That actually looks pretty cool!


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2008)

Yea I agree, sometimes our mistakes turn out to be pretty cool. So all but the bottom is soft? Tammy


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

yep in my meager knowledge it is way to superfatted and not brought to trace before pouring. I had this happen so I did a rebatch with mine and it then turned out good. I can tell you that it will never get hard all the way thru it has to be rebatched or milled as they say.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Did you change your recipe for the change of oil? Can you ask the sap value of your new oil so you can see if it is a change? I have never seen soap seperate into layers like that....what is in the bar besides butters and oils and lye? Vicki


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

that is exactly how mine did when I added sweet orange oil and 5 fold orange at trace 
It had to be rebatched


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2008)

Also, just another thought, adding too much fragrance can do this, we are already superfatting our soaps by using goat milk.. If a fragrance oil has been diluted by the distributor, it adds more oil to the recipe and you have separation because of the too high fat content in your recipe.. I would grind up and cook down and cook some of this off.. and glob into molds
Barbara


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