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Soap & Candle Making

HELP! Soap seized - which essent oil did it?

19 years ago

I was making my first ever CP batch of mint/thyme soap. I used same formula as always (aside from essential oils).. The essential oils used were a 1/2 1/2 mix of Spearmint essential oil and White Thyme essential oil. Soap seized immediately upon introduction of essential oil mix. Question is: Was it the spearmint? Was it the Thyme? OR Was it the fact that they were both in there together? Does anyone know? I'd like to make a batch of spearmint, but if that is the one that seized my current batch, I would refrain from doing so. Nor do I want to expend the energy, time, or money to try spearmint w/out knowing.

Appreciate any help anyone can give.

Thx.

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Comments (3)

Terri_PacNW
19 years ago
I don't know. I don't make soap but I hang out with CP'ers on another forum.

There is one lady in particular that uses EO's alot. I think she mixes some of her 'oil' with her eo's before introducing them into the batch.
Terri_PacNW
19 years ago
The word I got was probably the mint.

The suggestion was to warm the EO next time.
My pal says that she had peppermint seize on her, and no other EO she's used. She said she just rebatched the seized soap.

Good luck figuring it out.
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Brent B
19 years ago
I have soaped with spearmint (without any problem) but I have not soaped with thyme.

Here are some ideas that I would ask for most failures, these may not suit your situation, but here goes:

First make sure that the scents are EOs, not FOs. We don't know what may have been added to the FOs in the manufacturing.
Second, make sure that they are "skin safe" and not candle fragrance.

Eos and FOs that will give problems are some white florals and scents that contain spice; IE clove.

Failing this tact, what were your temps of the lye solution and the temp of the fats/oils? Make sure that these are body temp and close to being the same temperature. You do not require a thermometer.
Stick your finger into the oils; you should not feel any difference in temp between the finger and the melted oils.
With the lye solution, feel the outside of the container that you use; there should be again, no difference in the temp.
I have even made the lye solution the night before and used the next day without rewarming. Caution about leaving lyeout, of course.
I add the lye to all ice cubes in a container, and within 10 minutes or so of stirring, I will have my lye solution close to the right temp.

It can be a good idea of warming the scents to room temp, I do not need to do this, but it can depend on the storage and the prep.
You can add some of the oil from the recipe, or what I would do is; I melt the oils in my microwave (yep, it's large) and after the bucket is removed, I could put the measured scent in there just to sit.(Don't forget it though!)

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