did this one batch over heat? *Picture

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jodym

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and how can i clean it after it cures?
the other is a batch that didn't gel, even tho i sure tried to get it to.
now im tempted to not gel my soaps, it turned out so pretty and was easy to get out of mold also..
any input is very appreciated! thank you!
woodsman soap.jpg
 
No didn't overheat. Looks like it has ash on the top. You can wash them by running them under hot water, or you can steam them off, OR you can leave them as is. Sometimes ash can be pretty, and will probably look better once it's cut.
 
If you had overheating, you'd have at least a crack on the top, if not some volcano-ing. Very pretty! Looking forward to seeing the cuts!
 
Thank you guys! I am just wondering why they turned out so different? I don't think the one that's so vibrant gelled but still wondering why the other turned out w such a blah finish. I'm wondering if I spritzed to much alcohol ...
 
I think it probably did gel given your experience of it unmolding well, and the lack of ash - you also said you tried to get it to gel. How?
The ashy soap - you didn't try to gel?
 
the vibrant soap on the right looked this way almost from the beginning. it never went through the gel phase that i know of
the other one did it almost looks translucent and from what im reading this is normal? for gelled soap? mine have gelled in the past and never looked like my batches are turning out now? im wondering if i gel them to fast? i cut down and only spritz once with the alcohol. i dont know what else it could be i havent changed my recipe or done anything different. i soap at 120 for most...in the past my gelled are somewhat opeque these now are not at all..
 
Have you cut them yet? I'd love to see how they look cut.

So you ask if these overheated. I am wondering why you ask that. Did the soap start out very warm when you poured? What did you use in your recipe that would contribute to heating of the soap? How warm was the environment prior to your concern about the color? Also what was your lye concentration? What specifically was your recipe and process (in detail)? Did you make both logs from the exact same soap batch, splitting the batch in two for the pour? Or did you make two separate batches, one for each log? All those things make a difference in the gelling process.

If I make a Castile soap with only olive oil and a very low lye concentration ('full water' which is the default in the lye calculator), my soap will not gel at all without lots of added heat. However, my (full water) 100% CO soap will gel without added heat because coconut oil and lye create a lot of heat.

So I wonder what is going on with your recipe and if these came from the same batch of soap.

Your soap on the left really looks like it is covered in ash. Under the ash I bet you will find a very pretty color, once you clean it off. One other thing I have noticed is that lye heavy soap will produce a lot more ash than soap that is not lye heavy, gelled or not gelled, so that's why I ask if these logs came from the same or different batches of soap batter.

Here is an example of how ash muted my colors in one of my soaps and how they looked after steaming off the ash.

full


As you can see the ash really muted the surface colors of this gelled Castile soap. The 'marbles' were made separately, and I also made this soap over a 2-3 day period, so it has three separate batches of soap put together for the effect. I used full water (the default in the lye calculator) and 0 SF
 
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