White spots

[Megasaurus Rex]

Hi

I’ve made 3 batches of soap so far and each one has these white spots. I can feel the texture when I run my finger across the bar. My recipe is:

40% olive oil
25% coconut oil
25% Palm oil
5% castor oil
5% sweet almond oil

5% super fat
33% lye concentration

This was a 4 pound batch. One half was left natural and the other half I colored with 2tsp of purple Brazilian clay that was dispersed in water at 1tsp clay to 1tbsp distilled water.

Thank you for your help.

*Edited to add*

My lye and my oils were at 71 degrees F.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Possibly soaping too cool? It could be stearic spots. Try aiming for around 90 of your degrees and see how that goes.

 

[artemis]

Did you cut it with a wire cutter?

 

[Megasaurus Rex]

Did you cut it with a wire cutter?

Yes. Does that make a difference?

Possibly soaping too cool? It could be stearic spots. Try aiming for around 90 of your degrees and see how that goes.

I’ll do that next time! Thank you!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes. Does that make a difference?

If there are air pockets, the wire cutter can 'catch' on them leaving raised spots.

 

[AliOop]

I was going to opine that those are mostly stearic spots, but the way they follow the swirls makes me wonder if they were the start of glycerin rivers... maybe little puddles that never connected into rivers?

Oh, and definitely there are a few holes from the wire cutter chopping through little air bubbles, too.

 

[artemis]

Yes. Does that make a difference?

If you can, try cutting one of the slices with a blade to make a smooth face. Then, take a picture for us. That will eliminate some of the texture you get from a wire cutter and we can maybe see what's going on better.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I was going to opine that those are mostly stearic spots, but the way they follow the swirls makes me wonder if they were the start of glycerin rivers... maybe little puddles that never connected into rivers?

Oh, and definitely there are a few holes from the wire cutter chopping through little air bubbles, too.

@AliOop - little glycerin puddles sounds like the cute cousin to @KiwiMoose lovely full sized rivers

 

[KiwiMoose]

@AliOop - little glycerin puddles sounds like the cute cousin to @KiwiMoose lovely full sized rivers

I don't do things by halves

 

[Becky1024]

Looks like stearic spots. Be sure to heat your palm so it is all melted (the melting point of palm oil is ~95 F and like KiwiMoose said soap in the 90s. I suspect there are more spots around the clay because your clay was cooler when you swirled it in.