In my 16 years of cold process soapmaking, I have heard of of soap volcanoes in various soap forums, books and soap gatherings over the years. But until today, I had not experienced one for myself. The ensuing happenstance was so exciting that I started exclaiming ‘Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh‘ with such glee that Erik (manager of Otion) thought I was thrilled about what he was talking about. When I finally got him turned around to see the soap, his jaw dropped. Erik has been making cold process soap for only 2 years but has made 300+ batches of cold process soap in those two years. He’s never seen the volcano happen either. I shouted at the top of my lungs for the customer service team from Bramble Berry to come watch. They arrived just in time to catch the last of the show.
The soap literally bubbled out of the mold like a fizzy soda fountain, with mounds of frothy, bubbling caustic soap. The entire thing was funny because I was wearing my gloves and goggles but had I not been working on a protected surface with my hands and eyes covered, it could have been a disaster. The bubbling took about 90 seconds to finish. After it was done erupting, about half the soap was out of the mold and on the table.
Notice how much the soap deflated as it cooled down? It lost almost half of its volume!
The soap was super hot (over 200 degrees) as though it was going through a full hot process (or in-the-oven-hot process) gel phase. Since the soap hadn’t separated much, I just plopped all the soap that had overflowed back into the mold, patted it down (with gloves on – the soap is still caustic) and smoothed it out. The soap isn’t the most pretty soap I’ve ever seen but hopefully it will be usable.
I’ll cut the soap tomorrow to see how it looks and am hopeful I saved the batch. The experience reminded me of the valuable lesson about making soap with too many unknown variables. Coconut Milk + Cocoa Butter + Coconut Oil + Untested Fragrance = Super Pow Volcano Soap. This is why buying fragrance oils from a proven, tested vendor is so important for you too. If someone else has done all the testing for you, there is one less variable for you to worry about when you’re soaping at home or in your soap studio.
Hi Anne-Marie!
I get a lot of stuff from Aussie soap supplies, but they don’t have that lovely paper! I don’t think they have the liner either. Is it like the cookie sheet liners in silicone? I could cut up a few of those.
Aussie don’t have a full range of Milky way Moulds, either and that breaks my heart. If I want to get them from the US, the postage works out to be more than the purchase, (tears, tantrums, sighs). I’ve been drooling over their Alice in Wonderland range.
It astounds me that I can buy heavier goods from other US companies, and not be charged nearly as much. I’ll just have to throw all the extra change in a big tin, and raid it at the end of the year!
I was thinking of making a wooden log mould and just waxing it very heavily with beeswax, and renewing the wax layer after every moulding. Time consuming, though. I buy the wax in 2 kilo blocks from a local apiarist, and so that’s not hugely expensive for me. I hate using clingfilm as you get all the scruch marks. I may have to bite the bullet and obtain a few plastic log moulds, although I like to have the excuse to play with all my power tools, if I make wooden ones.
I already have a victim! My invalid neighbour has volunteered to be the guinea pig in my new soap adventures…
Thanks for all your help,
Jaya
Hi Jaya!
If you are looking for freezer paper in Australia, I’d check for butcher paper (as it might not be called freezer paper there). Just make sure it is the butcher paper with one waxy side! ๐
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Further to that last post….
I have just seen a lot of talk about room temperature soaping. I reckon I’ll have a go, should be much less likely to have a volcano.
My poor Mum complained when I told her about it…she’s now convinced that her next batch will do the ”bread” thing. I then told her about the room temperature method. It should be interesting to see the difference in our two batches!
Have a Great Day Everyone.
I room temperature soap all the time. It doesn’t work great for me in the winter when I’m using Palm Oil so keep that in mind if you start getting strange white streaks in your soap and you’re room temp soaping with palm oil =)
You are absolutely correct, Jaya! If your oils and lye water are at room temperature you are much less likely to have a soap volcano.
Just let your mum know that as long as she keep her temps lower (especially while using milks) that there shouldn’t be any problems in her next batch!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Thanks Ladies!
We have always soaped at fairly low temps anyway….Mum has also never had a volcano! It’s just the thing where if someone tells you – then it happens. Just exactly what happened to me. I suspect that it was because I’m totally unfamiliar with tallow. I didn’t realise it would hold more heat for longer. The soap is great, I did two loads of laundry today, and it’s actually better than the last one. Maybe I’ll do HP for laundry…..hmmm.
Thanks for letting me know about the palm oil, that’s handy. I may start just using coconut and sunflower for laundry soap, and shea, coconut and olive for personal soap as I’m having trouble sourcing sustainable palm oil at a reasonable price. I don’t like the threat to habitats from palm oil production. The eternal dilemma. Ethics versus cost.
Sourcing raw materials is such a pain in Australia, we can’t even get that nice freezer paper you have to line your moulds. Our niche markets are so small that the economic viability is almost zero for most suppliers – hence we get nothing. And what little we do get is seriously overpriced.
Still, the lifestyle compensates!
Tomorrow is slated for the room temp experiment, wish me luck.
Thanks again Ladies,
Love from Oz
Yes, the tallow definitely holds that heat well. HP for laundry would be so easy – and the texture doesn’t matter for laundry soap anyways. Coconut Oil is awesome for laundry soap.
No freezer paper? Ouch! That’s too bad! You might pick up the $15 silicone liner that we sell and build your own box to fit around it? Aussie Soap Supplies might have it too!
Greetings from Australia!
I have been soaping for 20+ years and never had a volcano…Until today!!!
I didn’t know there was such a thing until yesterday. You know how it is…. as soon as you find out about something – suddenly it’s everywhere.
I always use vegetable fats as a rule… until this morning. I thought I’d try a laundry soap that was a bit harder and used Supafry (tallow), along with the palm and coconut that I usually use.
It separated a bit in the pot and went slightly grainy…no problem, bring on the stick mixer.
Yay! looked perfectly traced and all smooth and homogenous. added tea tree oil.
Yay! once again, all smooth and homogenous.
Poured into my plastic tray, lovely colour, nothing unusual. Towels on the bottom, board covered with towel on the top.
Sat down for a nice cuppa tea!
Heard funny popping noise, thought I had something on fire.
Went around to investigate.
Noise coming from insulated mould.
Hmmmm…… no idea what to do or how to handle it.
So I took off the board and had a lovely layer of nice ivory soap, all cracked and what looked like over-risen bread dough oozing out, but not over the sides. The plastic mould was waaay hot! So I grabbed the stainless steel whisk, and started whisking all the oozing juice, bread, and good soap back together. As I whisked, I realised that I was looking at CP that turned to HP in the mold. I whisked, it heated, and I had…applesauce! If you know HP, you know this step. So I bashed it all back in and left it a bit. 5 minutes later….translucent gel….HP later stage. Forked it around a bit to homogenize again. I now have a great batch of hot process. As it’s for laundry, looks aren’t important, but wow. I now know that I am calm in a soap crisis. Honestly, all those years, not one bad batch until now, and I don’t even own a thermometer.
hahahahahahahahahahahah………ha
Love from OZ
I am so glad you were able to save it so you could still use it for laundry soap! Sometimes it can be a bit nerve-wracking when your soap doesn’t do what you expect it to do, but it is good to find out that you can be calm under soapy pressure. ๐
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Thanks, Becky – it was the pot, I think. I didn’t buy a large quantity of ingredients, I wanted to see how it turned out first, so before I can try it again I need to restock, and since we’re in the country and I have to get the supplies from Durban, it may be a while!
I diluted it at various percentages and added eos for different types. I’m using one batch for dish washing liquid and it works marvelously. I put Lemon Grass into that one, and it made it slightly cloudy, but that doesn’t concern me – it cuts grease like magic. I messed around with Lavender, Pine Needle, Sandalwood (very old bottle) and Jasmine for the hand soaps and they smell great. I also messed with borax and glycerin to try and get it thicker, but with such a high percentage of hard oil (coconut) nothing really makes it thicker other than a lesser dilution – and I’d like it thicker!
One odd thing, though: I decanted some into a plastic pump bottle, and this morning that bottle has gone completely milky, although all the rest is still crystal clear. Still works well, but it’s strange. Could it be the kind of plastic? The bottle was brand new, so there wasn’t any residue or anything in it. The rest is in 2lt plastic coke bottles and it’s fine.
Sorry – this isn’t really the right forum for this, but the volcano caught my attention! I’m pretty sure mine was from using (stupidly unknowingly!) an aluminium pot.
Hi Anne!
It’s sounds like the fragrance oils you were using might have changed your liquid soap from clear to milky and cloudy. Were the fragrance oils you were using from BB? Let us know if it clears up, or stays that cloudy look.
You are spot on about the aluminium pot, they can cause a bit of trouble when you are soaping and react badly to the ingredients, when we soap we always use a stainless steel pot.
I’m so glad to hear that the one batch for your dish washing is working so well, I love the Lemongrass EO for any of my cleaning products!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I’m trying to make liquid soap for the first time. We heated up the oils, and then slowly poured the potassium hydroxide lye mixture into the oil. At first it went as shown on the pictures and videos I’d watched, and then it suddenly started rising in the pot. I immediately turned off the heat, but no matter what I did it kept rising – I didn’t think of covering it, so not sure what would have happened if I had. It filled two enormous pots, the big double boiler pot I was using, and the big pot I had it in, before it started subsiding. I’ve put most of it back into the original pot (except what flowed into the water), but it’s like a very thick foam, with no substance. I’m going to let it cool and keep stirring it every so often, but I’m not hopeful. I’m also nervous about trying it again.
In all the years we’ve made cold process soap we’ve never had anything like this happen. Is it just a temperature thing, or could there be some other cause? I was very careful about measuring the oils, water and POH. The oils are coconut oil, castor oil and a small amount of palm oil.
Hi Anne!
Making liquid soap is going to be a little different then making cold process soap. The Coconut Oil you used can speed up the process quite a bit, so that may have been what happened in your case.
Have you had a chance to check out the Liquid Soapmaking Online Video that Anne-Marie has done? She goes through each stage of the process and explains what happens and gives some really great tips!
https://www.brambleberry.com/Liquid-Soapmaking-Online-Video-P4828.aspx
Many times the liquid soap will turn out looking a bit watery before you add everything else to it! Let us know how this batch turns out. ๐
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Thanks for your quick reply, Becky. I worked up the nerve to try a second batch, and all went well until just after we reached trace – and then when we went to stir it after half an hour, it had started the volcano effect again. The water wasn’t all that hot, and I just can’t understand it. It’s wasn’t nearly as bad as the first time, it subsided when I put the lid back on, but then it went into a sort of powder. I’ve read and seen photos of the ‘dry mashed potato’ phase, so I thought that must be what it was. However, it remained like that for the next three hours! I’ve left it on the stove (stove is off) covered in blankets overnight, but I’m not in the least bit hopeful! The first batch has gone into a rather unpleasant very thick sort of spongy cream.
I thought maybe my supplier had sent sodium hydroxide instead of potassium, but they assure me this isn’t the case. The only other thing I can think of is that what I thought was a stainless steel pot (it’s an old pressure cooker pot) is not stainless steel. Sounds silly, but with such an old pot it really is difficult to tell… Tomorrow I’m going to try again with a pot I KNOW is stainless steel.
Other than that, I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong – I’ve watched numerous videos, and I have the Natural Soap Making book (it’s in the soap room, can’t remember the author). It’s late here now, so first thing in the morning I will watch Anne-Marie’s video.
Thanks again! I’ll let you know if I have any success. At the moment I’m not counting on it…
Just to let you know – third attempt a huge success, but a bit surprising: it went from trace to the vaseline stage in literally a couple of minutes. I didn’t believe it was possible, so I let it cook for a further hour and then did the test to check on clarity, and it was crystal clear. Added the borax and water and dissolved it at 20% and it took less than 15 minutes to dissolve completely. I’m letting it cool before testing it, but it looks perfect. Whole thing took just a couple of hours from start to completion. Next time I’ll do the test as soon as it gets to the vaseline stage, and not wait the further hour.
So glad to hear it worked out Anne! Making liquid soap from scratch can be a little tricky sometimes, but it looks like you got it spot on! Did you change anything on your third try that was different from the previous two? Let us know how this one turns out, we are rooting for you!
Happy Soaping!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
had this experience the first time today, 3 times in a row….. then i found this website… thank you guys!!…
the usual batch i make is a combination of pomice olive oil, coconut oil and palm oil. these oils are usually between 75-85 degrees when i mix the lyre solution in at 60 degrees. the only differance this time is i used demineralised water instead of filtered water and i mixed the lyre in at about 70 degrees instead of 60.
the first batch fizzed like the photos, the 3rd batch i let the lyre cool more and also split over 2 moulds, it fizzed not as much as the first.
as mentioned i think i will let my lyre cool more next time, from what i have read here i think that is the key….. thanks guys!!
Temperature is key – keep it lower, lower, lower. The warmer the weather gets, the more important it is to keep your soap lower. The fragrance or essential oil can also contribute to a volcano. =)
Thanks Anne-Marie, after watching your videos it seems you have been combining at lower temperatures….. lyre at 62 degrees and oils at 58…. I’ll try that. I thought maybe the fragrance oils could be contributing….. Thanks ๐
I’m fairly new to this but you have a really great and informative website and videos.. Thank you
We do like to soap at lower temperature in order to prevent it from getting too hot and creating volcanoes like it did above. Fragrance and Essentials can contribute to a volcano like Anne-Marie said, but if you soap at lower temperature it can help to prevent problems. ๐
Good luck and we can’t wait to hear about how it goes. Happy Soaping!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Hi, I just started soaping a few weeks ago and did quite a few batches of CP, and all was well. Then yesterday, I got the volcano. Thanks to your site, now I know I’m not the only one with wierdo soaping experiences out there.
I used a pretty standard recipe: olive oil, coconut oil 76, palm oil, castor oil, shea butter. However, I used a new fragrance oil and added aloe vera gel at trace. I’m thinking that may have done it. Even though the aloe vera gel said it was 100% pure, it still had some additives in it.
I knew something wasn’t quite right after I poured the batter into the mold. It looked like it was starting to gel. Then the foaming started. And the expansion. And the overflowing. Quite exciting.
After it quieted down, I showed everything back into the mold and it looks like it will still turn out OK.
My next experience will be to add the aloe vera gel to the lye water and see if that makes any difference.
Marie
Wow! That sounds quite exciting! I’m glad you were prepared for it and had full safety gear on. I hope no counters were hurt in the overflow. It could have been heat or the fragrance oil. Though, I suspect you are right. Anything that is an aloe vera “gel” does have full additives in it to make it “gel” up and they could easily affect the soap. In its natural state, aloe vera is more watery. You might try this https://www.brambleberry.com/Aloe-Vera-Liquid-P3704.aspx and I think you’ll have significantly better luck =)
Thanks! I’ll give that a try.
Totally cool! I wouldn’t want to do it routinely (messy! and the soap didn’t look awesome when it was done) but it is a fascinating chemical reaction isn’t it? =)
LOL….I just had this happen to me…I had poured everything and turned around to the sink..when I turned back around it was foaming all over the counter…It was awsome…like you guys I pushed it back in the mold…I think my oils were to hot and the EO just put it over the top….but it was way cool…..
I had a batch volcano on me this summer. I know my fats were a bit higher than I generally used, but I wasn’t using anything exotic – deer tallow, 96 coconut oil, olive and some jojoba. Scared me so badly and I wasn’t sure it would be okay. I ended up dumping the batch. Now I wish I hadn’t as it sounds like it would have been okay. Thanks for posting this, Anne-Marie. I’ll know better if there’s ever a repeat.
It’s just an overheating issue – it could be that the deer tallow just held the heat better than most other oils. That said, yes, it probably would have been safe to keep but if I hadn’t had any experience with it? I might have done the same thing – after all, always better safe than sorry. =)
I have had the pleasure of a volcano twice, once I could salvage by pressing down with the back of a spoon (vanilla sandalwood f/o)…but last night I had tried an eggnog f/o and holy lifting, I had taken my gloves off, and I burned my finger when I tried rushing it to the sink lol, I was so so ticked, I wanted that one to turn out so bad. I have also had 2 soaps puff up in the middle when I put a towel over the mold…..I wish there was an exact science but then again, the outcomes are so so cool lol
Oh man, sorry about the burn. I made some coconut milk / cocoa butter soap last week and kept the temperatures really low. With low temps, you can do almost anything with milk but if you get a little too high, whoops! =)
I just make melt and pour and made more of a mess than that! lol Ok I did want to learn how to make cold process soap but that kind of scares me!!! Its cool but scary. I would have been in such a panic that I probably would have called the Fire Dept!!!lol Thanks for sharing Anne Marie
Jan
I have experienced a near volcano only once. I had a chef's knife near by, grabbed it, and stabbed the rising soap. It immediately deflated–I think the rush of cool air in there was enough. It settled down and was like a regular batch.
I can't say this would work every time, but it's worth a try to the folks out there who are seeing one happen, and who also have their eyes and hands/arms protected.
Amy
So awesome – I LOVE that you were able to be calm about the entire thing and just let the chemical reaction happen without panicking and without ruining your counters. You really achieved your soapmaking stripes there. =)))
Yes! I'm an elitist now!
Lol
But like I said, my oils were hotter than I normally soap at and it was tracing pretty fast after I added an FO that I knew acted up. It looked like it was seizing on me, but I kept stiring and it mellowed a little. Poured into molds (60oz batch poured into two 32oz molds)..and about 30 seconds after pouring, the center started to expand and fizz. I knew exactly what it was doing (thanks to your post!) so I picked up the mold and just held it over the bowl. I'd say half erupted over and back into the bowl.
It was crazy…glad I had freezer paper over my countertop!
It was still expanding in the bowl so I waited until it stopped growing and poured it back into the molds. It was still pretty fizzy (to where it couldn't fit into just the two molds), but once it cooled, it was back to normal-ish size.
It was just a laundry soap batch, but I think it would have turned out fine to sell too.
Yay! Doesn't it feel great to be part of the club?
I'm glad you had the exact same reaction as me – complete and utter delighted amazement. I mean, talk about chemistry in action.
I'm bummed you didn't grab the camera too! Were you able to save the batch?
Yay!! I just had my first Volcano today! Lol.
I was attempting the 100% coconut, 0% superfat laundry soap with a FO that I knew acted up. It was SOO cool!
I knew the oils were on the hot side…but I've done that before. Maybe it has something to do with Coconut oils being too hot?
It was amazing…too bad I didn't grab the camera
Anon, Thanks for popping in. That is so fabulous that this experience was able to help you.
Just drop your temperatures more next time and you should be in the clear. =)
A-M
This happened to me today, and i was shocked. Thank you for posting pictures and an explanation so I don't feel alone. Although i have made a few batches of soap, this never happened before.
It seems there Always a learning curve to soap making and always interesting .
Many years ago when I was new to using fragrance oils I used 3oz. of Giorgio to my C.P. batch and it erupted similar to yours , I tried not to panic as it was seizing up quickly and it turned out looking similar but fine after cutting it up , and it smelled divine . I took it to Market when it was cured and it sold out quickly as everyone thought it was "Rustic " .
I just finished making a batch of coconut milk soap (Yes, I chill the coconut milk WAYYYY down before) because it does heat things up significantly. I've never experienced the volcano effect yet, but really happy you took pictures.
thank you so much for showing us the volcano soap- today i had my first volcano and i knew exactly how to handle it- thankfully i was suited up in my safty equipment.
I am glad that you are all liking this. I cut the soap this evening. It looks like a hot process batch of soap with the varied colors and textures. I'll post a blog photo of it hopefully tomorrow.
kat, I think it was a combo of the milk and the fragrance oil. The recipe itself was strange (75% Coconut, 25% Cocoa Butter) so that could have contributed to it. Yes, I subbed 100% coconut milk for the water.
I didn't get around to soaping it today (but on the plus side, I did get around to approving the new SoapyLove mold design for next week's release! yay!) but I'll do it this weekend or Monday for sure. I am really, really curious.
Oh My!
Like you, I hate to lose good materials, expensive materials, or $$$
Do you think it was the Coconut Milk or the Fragrance Oil? or both? Probably the latter?
that being the case, did you use the coconut milk instead of the water?
so i guess cooling it would be the big variable that may make tomorrow's batch a success.
can't wait to see/hear!
Thanks for taking pictures! I've never seen that happen either. I think its one of the few botched batches I haven't had ;0)
Thank you! Now I feel so much better about myself! Whenever something goes wrong I always think that I'm the only one crazy stuff happens to – even after 9 years of soaping. Thanks for sharing this AM!!
So cool! I have had soap super heat dur to FO to 200+ degrees and the soap became very much like rebatch consistency, translucent and almost aerated. No volcano though. I wonder if the volcano had something to do with that – like it boiled the soap or something.
Thanks for sharing as always and I am glad you were still wearing your protective gear!
It's great that you have a good sense of humor about experiments gone awry! =) And it's even more great that you share these experiences with us. Brought a giggle to me this morning…
I love that you get excited about the soap volcano and that you want to try it again! I know it's your job because you are a supplier, but still…. you are cute.
As someone who's on the verge of trying CP soap … what do you protect surfaces with? I have standard counters in the kitchen that I soap in. Also — where or where do I find *comfortable* eye protection?? I have heavy duty protective gear … aprons, gloves, eyes because I'm a home schooling mom, that is teaching chemistry now! We were all geared up yesterday in fact! But the eye protection hurts my face terribly, I can't loosen or I won't get a seal. ๐ Any tips would be great. I figure once I get done "playing" with all these heavy duty chemicals maybe I'll take on some lye. ๐
~Erin
Wow! What a sight!! I've had one batch similar to Singing Wolf…it puffed up in the middle of my slab mold with a couple of inches of air underneath. Wild as well…wish I had taken a photo!
That is wild! I've never had it happen either(cross the fingers)….thanks for the pics!
i've had this happen…just the once. i was scared out of my wits. it was like a scene from alien!
Wow, I'm in soapmaking for 4 years now and I didn't know this could happen ====:o
Thanks for the documentary, now I know how it looks like!
Greetz, Salomรฉ
I use coconut milk a lot and even CPOP it, so your soap seems like it reacted with the cocoa butter and FO. I had a bad seize this week with cocoa butter and bay rum where it gelled before I had even finished the layers. I feel you!
WOW….heard about this but don't think I've seen it documented so thoroughly! One advantage to oven hot process, FO goes in after the lye and oils have danced the tango so no fiery explosions….yet.
Isn't it amazing? It was so impressive and I was thrilled to have the second most experienced CP soaper in the company with me at the time. It just kept overflowing and overflowing and overflowing …
I'm going to make the same exact recipe again tomorrow and chill the milk AND oils prior to soaping with it.
Fingers crossed for no explosion. I'd like to see how the recipe does without the volcano =)
Dang, girl…. never ever had this happen. Thanks for documenting it!
Ok, I know that isn't what you hoped for but I think it's very cool looking!
WOW!! I've been soaping over 10 years too and have never had this happen with a CP batch. Of course, I've never made a milk soap. I've always wanted to do a coconut milk soap, guess I'll freeze it before adding lye!!
The one time I almost had a volcano, a Plexiglas cover (originally there so I could insulate the mold without acrylic fuzzies from the blanket ending in the batch)I had in place kept it from bubbling over until I could crank up the AC, strip of the insulation, and get a fan blowing on it full force. I ended up with a soap peak in the center of the loaf (it actually lifted the cover by about an inch) but no overflow. Never soaped without the plexiglas in place after that, with or without insulation.
In 10 years i have never seen this happen! But i have to tell you the pictures are cool! LOL
oh my! I have yet to experience one of these. At least I know what it looks like now.
hope you are able to save it ๐