Titanium dioxide and sodium lactate

[Josh1974]

Hi there,

Quite a newbie in soap making so I was hoping someone could help me understand what happened in my latest batch.

5% superfat

Olive oil 368g
Coconut oil 493g
Hemp oil 190 g
Green team 300ml
Lye 148g
Essential oil Lavender 10ml
Essential oil Rosemary 5ml
Sodium lactate 15ml

I split the batch at trace into 2, added 1-2 tbsp Titanium dioxide to 1 batch and poured/swirled.

After 36 hours i unmolded. The half with titanium dioxide was like a paste and the half without was hard as rock.

I had to grate and rebatch (slow cook with a dash of water) and I remolded it. It came out as great soap and cured very quickly (probably due to the sodium lactate). The colour is now pastel beige, very nice but not the green/white swirl I was looking for!

Can anyone help explain what happened? My guess (from my research) is that the titanium dioxide batch absorbed more humidity?

Is using titanium dioxide and sodium lactate a big no no unless titanium dioxide is in all batches?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Josh

 

[Josh1974]

Forgot to add it was my first time using sodium lactate… and I an weary of using it again until I understand what happened

 

[PhotoStamper2]

Forgot to add it was my first time using sodium lactate… and I an weary of using it again until I understand what happened

I'm not pleased with the soap when I don't use sodium lactate. It helps to make my soap firm.

 

[Yooper]

I'm not pleased with the soap when I don't use sodium lactate. It helps to make my soap firm.

That really depends on the recipe. If you use tallow, shea butter, other hard oils, the bar will be rock hard in less than 24 hours. For soft oils, sodium lactate can definitely help.