Excessive soap suds when washing test batch...

[fattmann]

Very early stages of experimenting here (don't even have a diesel yet!), and had an issue i can't figure out. Using the instructions from: Biodiesel i made a 1L, fresh oil test batch. It turned out fanstastic! after a couple days of settling (forgot about it in the garage..), the bio was extremely clear with the glycerin at the bottom. It looked like it was ready to put in a tank, but have read it only improves quality when you wash it. So i decided to take a stab at washing it, for practice. I used the "Dr. Pepper" wash method since it was only a small batch- Washing Biodiesel Dr. Pepper Style - Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial And i was alittle horrified by the results.. After the first wash, which i was VERY gently, i got a bit of sud formation. It settled out after a few hours, so i persisted. Second wash there was even more, about two inches of the bottle were suds. I've washed it about 4 times now, and still have Massive soap formations. I stuck the two liter bottle in the freezer to try and break any emulsion, it's thawing out right now but doesn't look good.. Looks like i may have lost as much as a quarter of my original liter from bleeding off the water and suds. The water still won't settle out clear... What did i do wrong? Was i just not gently enough? Was going to move on to a WVO test batch, but think i'll wait till i figure this out.