What's going on with my soap?

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Cactuslily

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This is the first time I kept my soap in fridge for 24 hours. Today, ( made soap Friday), I'm seeing a few white crystal type spots. They don't zap. Also, it seems the Orange is the only color that seems to be raising? First time attaching photo. Hope it works!

image.jpg
 
Could they be stearic spots from dropping the temperature quickly?
 
I have no idea. There's just a few of them. I am having issues with TD. This is the first time I used coconut milk added to my oils, and first time I refridgerated log.i did strain my lye solution, which also had silk in it. I soap cool. Never had this before. Don't know why only the Orange is doing that funky thing. I looked up stearic spots on the forum, and the picture didn't look like mine, but I'm too new to know if it can also look like this. In this pic, the spots are in the creamy part, but in other bars I see them in pink. So far, there's very few of them and they don't zap. What's with the Orange color? Only color so far doing that. I'm so glad I finally can post a pic. I should post my others for review. That's the best way to critique and diagnose them. Are these safe? Need to get ph strips.
 
Cactuslily said:
I have no idea. There's just a few of them. I am having issues with TD. This is the first time I used coconut milk added to my oils, and first time I refridgerated log.i did strain my lye solution, which also had silk in it. I soap cool. Never had this before. Don't know why only the Orange is doing that funky thing. I looked up stearic spots on the forum, and the picture didn't look like mine, but I'm too new to know if it can also look like this. In this pic, the spots are in the creamy part, but in other bars I see them in pink. So far, there's very few of them and they don't zap. What's with the Orange color? Only color so far doing that. I'm so glad I finally can post a pic. I should post my others for review. That's the best way to critique and diagnose them. Are these safe? Need to get ph strips.
Click to expand...

No, you do not need test strips. They are useless for soap. If it does not zap, then it is safe.

It could be ash forming. I have had them show up on faces liek that after I have cut.
 
It looks like tiny little air bubbles to me. Do you use a wire cutter? They can make the edges of the bubbles rise up like that.
 
I just got a adjustable wire cutter. The bars initially looked smooth, but now?...not so much :-( I don't know why I'm having such trouble with TD. I've used same recipe, same FO, and the white can be super white, or creamy. This soap was made using a 50/50 blend of blue sugar and pink fluffy candy. I've just never seen white spots like that before ( in all of my 12 batches) lol. Thanks for letting me know the ph strips would be a waste of money. They are costly, and I'd much rather spend on other things like more FO's etc..thanks for feedback. So stearic spots can look like this? (The white spots)? Now that I've figured out how to post pics, I can have the soap Dr.'s diagnose my maladies :)
 
I've seen glycerin rivers in some of my soap, but not crackle. Do they look differently? I'm also seeing the base darken. Maybe vanillan in one of them, or the two combined? Individually, they aren't noted to darken per site, but maybe together they don't like each other? I whipped up some extra TD on the fly because my base wasn't lightening, but after two adds, I gave up. I did strain them, but it's possible? Will watch over time to see what else happens. As long as no zap, I'm safe to use? Also, when you're testing a new batch, how long before it's safe to test? Full cure, or after zap ceases?
 
That doesn't look like crackle/river to me. Rivers are smooth looking, crackle is cracked looked rivers, pretty much the same thing with a different look. Try taking a flat metal something (like the back of a spoon on side of a knife) and see if the spots smooth out when rubbed. you can also try and dig out a spot, smear it across something dark and see if you get a white streak, if so then its TD specks. I still thinks its from the wire cutter though.

Yes, it safe as long as there is no zap. Testing really depends on what you are testing for. I usually check for lather the first time when its just a few days old but I never try a shower test until its at least 4 weeks old.

here is a thread with good pictures of air bubbles, are yours similar?
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=46181
 
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If you click on the link in my first post, there are some pictures of titanium crackle. It may not be glycerin rivers or crackle, just my idea.
 
after looking at pics and reexamining my soap, I definately think I have some bubbles. The condensation looking stuff on the Orange is gone and or wipes away. I zap tested again, and while I don't get zapped, it's sharp if that makes sense when I test over the white crystals...is that lye? Is my batch ruined? I don't know what I'd do without all of your help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
 
Ha I've never heard the term "glycerin rivers" before, I like that name for it, very accurate!
I bloody hate when I get glycerin rivers, It has happened to me twice now when using red brick oxide and white titanium it rivers where they both meet. I'm not sure if it is the red and white together or the red/white with peppermint EO... either way ::I shake my fist to glycerin rivers:::mad:
 
Crackle is the same as "glycerine" rivers. It's not actually glycerine, it's different types of soap that are cooling and turning solid at different times and temps. Yes there are different patterns, so it gets called by different names, but it all comes from the same process.
 
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