A weird reaction and result

[Traumabrew]

So, I made a loaf of soap last night. Here is my recipe

coconut oil 30%
castor oil 10%
olive oil 40%
palm oil 20%

7.71 oz NaOH
11 oz water
10 oz greek yogurt

Clove bud EO 0.27 oz
Patchouli EO 0.918 oz
Geranium EO 0.324 oz
Lavender EO 1.188 oz

2 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp yellow brazilian clay

The total water for the recipe was 21 oz. I replaced 10 oz water with greek yogurt. I mixed the 2 tsp of cocoa powder and clay in 2 tsp water each.

I melted my oils and added the yogurt to the melted oils. I mixed my lye with 11 oz water. I soaped at 110 degrees (both oils and lye). Once I achieved trace,I added the EO blend and split the batter off into 3 portions. I added the cocoa powder to one, the clay to one and left the majority of the batter uncolored. I poured the uncolored batter first. I did have acceleration and my drop pour turned into layers. So I added the yellow clay on top of the uncolored base and then the cocoa colored layer last (there was no penetration of any layers into the other layers). The mold is a 5 lb wood mold with a silicone liner. I did not oven process it. I left it on the counter over night. Today I cut the soap to find the oddest results.

The bottom base layer appears to have gelled but there is an odd green tint to the uncolored base but it is not uniform. On some of the slices from the middle of the loaf, there is a "river" of opaque white gel which is where the bottom and middle layer meet; possibly a huge glycerin river? But this gel river is only in the middle section of the loaf.

I have included pictures. The end pieces came out fine as you can see from the picture.

Anyone who can give me some insight into these odd reactions, I would appreciate it. I have not used yogurt in soap before, so could it be the yogurt?

Update:

The opaque seam in the soap, is now liquefying and is thin and oily. Almost reminds me of the essential oil. it is running out of the soap and collecting on my drying tray

 

[lenarenee]

How interesting! I know you're eager for a response but I really don't have one other than thinking the yogurt supplied so much superfat that the lye wasn't enough to complete the soap. Did the soap gel? I suppose it could be some overheating...but I'd expect to see more signs of it...

How long after you finished the soap did you cut it?

 

[cmzaha]

nope it is not the yogurt, but always wondered if it was un-saponified fat. I have always superfatted low so I do not think that contributes to this. I actually never have figured out what causes this to happen, but I have had it happen when soaping high percentage of lard. I just could not nail it down to overheating or soaping to cool. I always thought maybe to cool, but it has never happened since I changed to a 33% lye concentration in place of full water.

Your only chance of a save for this is to rebatch it dumping all of it in a crock pot of un-reactive pan and melting down in the oven. Wish I was better help, but I never figured it out myself

 

[CaraBou]

Well at least you're not alone! Some comfort to an odd soap, I know

I don't have an answer either. But I'm always suspect of additives and heaters (like yogurt and clove EO, respectively). And then again, there's always gremlins!

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't have any words of wisdom about your problem. It looks to me like partial gel with some separation due to overheating. But that's just a guess.

Do you realize that greek yogurt has a lot of water taken out of it compared to milk or regular yogurt? One source I found said, "...The process of making Greek yoghurt starts with THREE or more litres of milk to create ONE litre of yoghurt...." I'm thinking this substitution may have reduced the water content and added unexpected amounts of protein, fat, and sugar to the recipe. That might have triggered the odd results you're seeing.

 

[cmzaha]

I don't have any words of wisdom about your problem. It looks to me like partial gel with some separation due to overheating. But that's just a guess.

Do you realize that greek yogurt has a lot of water taken out of it compared to milk or regular yogurt? One source I found said, "...The process of making Greek yoghurt starts with THREE or more litres of milk to create ONE litre of yoghurt...." I'm thinking this substitution may have reduced the water content and added unexpected amounts of protein, fat, and sugar to the recipe. That might have triggered the odd results you're seeing.

You could be right DeeAnna, and I always though it was overheating, but the layer always looked like un-saponified oil so I never figured it out. I only had it happen with lard and full water as I mentioned without any naughty fo's. When I had it happens it never really leaked and just kept the mushy white layer.

 

[Obsidian]

Is the mushy stuff oily or more like glycerin? I've never had this happen so I can't help but it sure is a odd thing.

 

[Traumabrew]

The opaque layer melted and oozed out and was a light yellow in color and thin and oily. It didnt match the essential oil blend I used but it did have the scent of the blend. After it melted, it created a void pocket. I am thinking that maybe the yogurt added more fat and the lye load could not saponify it. You can clearly see that the soap did gel (the oval shape in the middle is the "gel sign"). The weird thing I can not figure out is why it turned green around the edge of the gel circle?

 

[penelopejane]

The opaque layer melted and oozed out and was a light yellow in color and thin and oily. It didnt match the essential oil blend I used but it did have the scent of the blend. After it melted, it created a void pocket. I am thinking that maybe the yogurt added more fat and the lye load could not saponify it. You can clearly see that the soap did gel (the oval shape in the middle is the "gel sign"). The weird thing I can not figure out is why it turned green around the edge of the gel circle?

You have partial gel.
Where it has gelled it has the more natural colour so it seems to be changing colour as it gels.