Hello! (and what's happened to this soap?)

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DandelionLeaf

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Hello! :bunny:

I have been a bit of a lurker but thought I'd actually join and start posting since I made my first batches of soap last week! Woot!

However the third batch has got me stumped...

It's a basic 30% CO, 35% EVOO, 20% shea and 15% sweet almond. I used 2% sodium lactate. It was very mildly scented with cedarwood EO. It was soaped quite cold, about 33C, though the lye was about 37C - I thought that colder was better, I have now found out nearer 45+C is recommended especially with high sat fat content.

But I have these odd swirls. Despite being a cool mix, it has gelled almost completely, but has these white swirls and occasional 'croc skin' funny-looking patches. I've zap tested them and it's not lye. Also the litmus paper says it's only 8 after 48 hours?! :Kitten Love:

Any ideas why it might come out like this? Is it likely to be the saturated fats/oils 'setting' too soon or something because I soaped cold? I like the soap anyway and have tried it out a little and it feels nice, though obviously still very soft.

Any help would be appreciated. I bow down to your collective superior knowledge! :smile:
 
Sounds like it could have overheated and you have glycerin rivers, however, as Kittish suggested it would be much easier to see what you are talking about and diagnose if we had a pic to look at.
pH strips are notoriously unreliable to test the soap. And probably inaccurate, as most handmade soaps fall within 9-11 on the pH scale.
 
Did you by any chance use titanium dioxide in your soap? That can cause crackle or glycerin rivers.
 
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