Do you want to know why Soap smells like urine? Like you, I recently purchased this new lye, and after pouring the lye mixture into the oil and mixing it for a few minutes, it began to smell like pee.
This was the first time I had this issue in my prior lye. But I got the same lye from the same store, and it turned out like this this time.
When I added EO and FO to the batch, the EO bar removed that nasty odor much faster, nearly immediately.
While the FO bar still had a faint smell of urine two weeks after unmolding.
As a result, it prompted me to conduct extensive research, and I discovered that, First and foremost, does my lye container state 98% sodium hydroxide (or 99 or 100%)?
It must solely include sodium hydroxide.
Second, do I use any milk?
I occasionally perceive a faint ammonia odor, which is exacerbated by milk soaps for a short period before dissipating.
I’ve also used several FOs that, after being soaped with, smell like cat urine.
Don’t worry; as you read on, I’ll explain why Soap smells like pee. How to repair it, and much more.
Now, let’s get started.
Why Does My Soap Smell Weird
At the beginning of the curing phase, cold process soap may have a fragrance that is reminiscent of chemicals; however, this odor will eventually disappear.
The scent of a bar of Soap can only be explained by one thing: the substances that were used to make it.
The Soap may develop a fragrance if one of the ingredients is growing old or spoiled.
Soaps that have been heated with milk products might end up smelling smoky. Sometimes, lard can have an unpleasant odor.
Please have a look at the ingredients you’ve been using because there’s a good probability that one of them is the offender.
Why Does My Homemade Soap Smell Like Ammonia
Nobody wants to talk about their faults. I’m sure I don’t.
But what I believed was a massive soap-making blunder from over a year ago appears to have had a pleasant ending.
Let me clarify and provide some context for the tale.
I’ve been manufacturing Soap for a little more than three years.
I need to do more to call myself a specialist, but I am not a ranked amateur either.
The problem started when I chopped the Soap the next day. It didn’t smell very good! I characterized the stench as ammonia-like.
However, because the lye hasn’t done its work with the oils, cold process soap normally smells a little nasty when you first cut it. But this was excessive.
I let it cure for four weeks, and it still stank. I didn’t know what to do with it.
I researched more to find out what was wrong with our Soap.
I received a lot of advice, but I needed more specific answers.
I was courageous enough to test things on my hands, and it worked well.
But the Soap still smelled horrible.
So I put it in the basement cupboard where I store all of my soaps. It had been down there for nearly a year, hanging out with our other soaps.
I modified the way I create Soap using milk following that incident and subsequent studies.
Now I freeze the milk first, then combine it with lye.
This keeps the combination cold and prevents the lye from burning the milk and discoloring it.
More investigation revealed that I can also do this with coconut milk.
I tried this as well, and it came out very well. Thick, fluffy lather it produced.
But with the coconut milk, I am still not fond of the odor.
I assumed that utilizing fresh coconut milk rather than frozen coconut milk was the major issue previously.
I chose to produce another coconut milk soap after considerable deliberation.
This time, I froze the coconut milk and added a little vanilla fragrance oil that we had previously used.
That Soap has been created and cut, and it is currently curing in the basement.
At the very least, it doesn’t smell like ammonia!
This is how I got the urine smell out of my Soap.
How Do You Fix The Smell Of Soap
Can I add anything to attempt to mask the odor? The only things that come to mind are baking soda and vinegar (although vinegar also sticks around for a long time and smells bad,
plus, it’s acidic, and I’m going to combine it with a probably-alkaline soap. Ideally, I’d like to avoid any wacky reactions and byproducts).
If the aroma is powerful enough to reach out and touch you, however, it is probably very flammable.
Please put it in a pot, cover it with water, and boil it on a hot plate outside your home until the odor disappears.
Reduce the liquid by boiling, then measure the contents. A tiny bit of a tasty item that was lost due to boiling might be added back in. Gradually increase the heat.
The mess created by a strong boil is substantial.
How Do You Know If Soap Is Bad
You may tell if your bar of Soap is about to expire if it loses its color fragrance or develops orange patches.
You should toss out your bar of Soap if it has a musty or bitter odor or mold growth.
Soap does not technically go bad, but if it isn’t stored correctly, it may lose some of its cleaning power over time.
Keep your bar of Soap in an airtight container or reusable plastic wrap and keep it in a cold, dry area for maximum longevity.
Whether or not you choose to utilize old soap bars is a matter of personal preference.
You may assume that a bar of Soap is still OK to use if it lathers up into a foamy white mass of bubbles and shows no other symptoms of deterioration.
When in doubt, though, it’s safer to go with the safe option and get a new bar.
What Ingredient Makes Soap Smell Good
There are three methods for getting gorgeous hues.
1. Essential oils: As was already said, essential oils are typically used to give Soap and other skin care products a natural aroma. Citrus essential oils, for example, may impart both fragrance and color.
However, certain color/scent combinations aren’t achievable due to the hues of essential oils.
For instance, because clove oil is dark, you cannot create a pale yellow soap that smells like cloves.
2. Direct addition or colors: This method of color management is the simplest. Our herbs, clays, or a mixture of the two are added when we are almost through mixing.
Given that the color of the herb or clay is a reliable indicator of the finished product, determining the color of the Soap is a very simple process.
However, there are a select few distant plants, like Rosemary Leaf Powder, that are green in color but generate a golden hue when prepared. So, before producing huge numbers, make sure to experiment.
3. Steep herbs to extract color: This method of soap coloring is the most difficult, but it also yields some of the most satisfying hues.
Organic annatto seed, wild-crafted alkanet root, and madder root are excellent plants for this.
You may accomplish this by steeping your preferred herb, removing the herb from the mixture, and then mixing in the colored oil.
The quantity of herb used and the steeping period will change depending on the desired hue. Additionally, you may combine steeping and adding a herb immediately. The secret is to experiment!
Final Thought
Now that we have established why Soap smells like urine, also know that it is common that when urine gets concentrated with waste materials, it may smell like ammonia.
Waste products in urine can be caused by a number of illnesses, including bladder stones, dehydration, and urinary tract infections.
In most situations, ammonia-smelling urine may be treated with fluids or antibiotic drugs.
