A possible nemesis. Coincidentally I had a favorite sweatshirt that said Banff across the front of it when I was younger. I am part Canadian, you know. You have to admit, it is a really fun word to say though. Watch out Orange Girl. I'll beat you to being friendly.
Definition: DOS, or Dreaded Orange Spots, is something that most every soapmaker will come across at one time or another. Basically, they look like they sound - small yellow-orange spots, about the size of pencil erasers, on your bars of soap. Sometimes they're on the edges, sometimes in the middle. Sometimes just one spot, sometimes a lot. While many theories exist as to just what causes them, most people seem to agree that it has something to do with either rancid oils, humidity, high superfat percentages, combinations of oils - or all of the above. The best ways to prevent DOS seem to be:Whatever you do, if you do get some spots on your soap, don't fret. It's really mostly an aesthetic problem - your soap won't look (and perhaps smell) as nice as other bars. But it's perfectly safe to use.
- Keeping your superfat percentages to about 5% maximum
- Only using oils that are fresh and have been stored properly
- Only using distilled water to make your soap
- Reducing the amount of canola and/or sunflower oil in your recipes (I've heard Rice Bran oil can be prone to DOS too, but haven't had it happen to me)
- Let your soaps cure in a cool, dry spot out of direct sunlight
Be sure to check out the links below for even more information about DOS and other people's interpretation of what it is and how to prevent it.
Ask me what my favorite color is and I’m going to say blue. Over the last decade, I’ve bought somewhere between 10 and 137 more-or-less-identical short-sleeved blue check shirts.
Every now and then, though, I buy something orange. I have a couple of orange shirts, a pair of awesome orange Saucony sneakers and a black leather jacket with a big orange stripe across the chest. Somehow in my mind, that’s the “cool” stuff that I only get to wear sometimes. Why only sometimes? I don’t know.
...That got me thinking about the blue vs. orange dichotomy. And I realized I need to be more orange.
What do I mean by that? We’ll see. It’s still a vague notion but it revolves around the idea of being more present, more engaged, more active, more excited about what I’m doing, and hopefully, ultimately, more interesting....
Photo by hexodus
