# burnt omh



## icboers (Feb 1, 2009)

I made a batch of omh yesterday and it is burned in the middle on top. I havent unmolded yet to see how far into thr loaf it burned. Is this soap still safe for home use if there is anything not scorched.
Karla


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Cut it up and let it cure then check for zap. 

How much honey did you put in? Did you freeze your milk? Was it all milk or 1/2 milk, 1/2 water? Did you scent it? So many things can cause overheating.


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## icboers (Feb 1, 2009)

It was 100% GM, I was soaping a bunch of batches yesterday and this one was slushy but not frozen cubes like I usually use. No fragrance, when I was measuring the honey I squeezed the container too hard and the lid popped off so I got more than I intended but not sure how much since it all went on top of the oats. 

Plus I was using my new silicon molds and I mistakenly insulated it when I usually don't.

I unmolded it this morning and it is only ugly on the top, super dark but doesn't look horrible. I will check for zap and hope I can just put it in the ugly soap basket.

Karla


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Soap can't really burn. If your milk turns orange than yes you have burned your sugars in the milk with the lye, but it doesn't effect the soap, not even the smell. When you insulate your soap, and there isn't a reason in the world to do that unless you soaping deep molds like PVC, or block molds and you want to gell all the way to the outside, it is going to overheat most any soap with vanillia in it, so why do it?

Your just looking at a soap that overheated causing it to gell to hot. IF you had pulled off your blanket or whatever you insulate with you would have seen it go into lava stage (the soap appears like a crust on the top with molten lava right underneath it)...all this does is burn off scent. All scent comes with a flash point, get your soap in gell over that flash point and it burns off the best qualites, the most expensive parts of your fragrance.

That does become a problem in soaping, anyone can soap, but if you don't learn the basics of saponification, learn quickly heat has nothing at all to do with it, and keeping your soap from overheating to protect your scent isn't done by insulating!


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

So to keep your soap from overheating, you let lye mix and oils separately cool down before mixing together and adding FO? Is this right?


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2012)

No Betty, I don't think that is what Vicki is saying.. she is saying that there is no reason to insulate soaps like the books and some forums tell you to..Unless you want a complete jell.. and then you risk the chance of burning off your fragrance by the soap overheating.. Many of us also do soap cooler tho (than the books also tell you)... most will tell you that your oils must be 100 degrees and your lye/water/milk must be within range of that also.. But this is one of the bigger soaping myths.. It does not have to be that warm to make good soap.. it can be room temp and make good soap easy.. 
Fragrances have a flash point and getting it hotter than the flashpoint burns it off and you are left with soap that is not fragranced or it morphs from the heat..
The major trick to good saponification is forcing the oils and water to mix without separation.. use a good stick blender and make sure you take your soap to trace


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

I guess what I trying to understand is when the fragrance is added, how do you know what is too hot so you don't burn off? Use a thermometer to determine before putting in fragrance? My oils haven't been as hot as the lye when I mix. My test batch cracked the top like overheated. Otherwise the soap is fine and smells good.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I've never had a batch burn, ever. Overheat, sure, lava out of the mold, occasionally, but never burn. And once it's been cut it usually looks fine, even more rustic than normal. You should not be soaping with hot lye solution. If you are using frozen cubes, that is not a problem, and if your oils are melted, they are hot enough. No need to heat most oils such as coconut in the summer unless your house is really cool. Mine stays liquid all summer. Harder butters do need to be melted, but don't heat them any more than needed to get them to melt. I never ever use a thermometer, but if I have had to heat oils, I stick my finger in them to make sure they are just barely warm before mixing my lye solution in. With water and lye there is a wait time before you mix them into your oils to prevent overheating, burning off scent, and a possible volcano reaction.


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

Anita - RE: With water and lye there is a wait time before you mix them into your oils to prevent overheating, burning off scent, and a possible volcano reaction. 
So do I need to let the lye cool down more to prevent the overheating. My oils were just melted mush liquid. Just about room temp. I used frozen cubed gm. In adding the fo when do most of you add it in?


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

I should have added I have made the walmart recipe with sucess with all gm.


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## 2Sticks (Dec 13, 2007)

Betty, 
Since the weather is warm, you can soap with your oils at room temp. Take a few ounces of the water you are going to use with your frozen milk and put it aside (subtract this water from your fluid total). Add your honey to it. Put your milk cubes & water l in an ice bath and add your lye. Mix ittogether and wait for it to reach below 100. When it get around 90 you can strain it into your room temp oils. At emulsion add the honey mixed in the water you subtracted from the fluid total to your soap. Next you can add your oatmeal and continue to mix. At very light trace, add your FO. At light trace you can pour it into your molds and you really shouldn't have any problems with it.


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

Thanks Tamera, I will try that! :biggrin


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## Dorit (Apr 20, 2011)

After reading an old post by Vicki, I never insulate my poured soap. Its working great. I use wooden molds and stack them if something accelerated or riced and find that they get more homogenized as they gel in this little bit of incubation.
This summer I am soaping like crazy for the holiday season. Its so easy to do so since oils are soft or liquid. And also I no longer soap with hot or even warm oils. I premix lye/water and even premix some of the oils that I often use together. Another trick I found is that if I melt solid butters first and then mix with liquid oils they pretty much stay liquid or at the most mushy. hope this helps. Dorit


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

When I soap OMH, I do not add honey to water at all. Lye onto frozen cubes and stir 'til milk cubes are dissolved. My oatmeal is already in the bucket of melted oils (just melted). Add lye mixture to oils. I add the honey after emulsion. If I add scent, it is at light trace (very light, usually), blend to ensure all eo is incorporated into batch, and pour. I do not get gel or partial gel from the honey although it does heat up my batch pretty well. I do get partial gel when I use cinnamon and clove eo's.

I can't soap my hard oils at room temp. Even in the hot summer, my lard and co are not melted.


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