Brittle, Discolored Edges?

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Sorry if this is a repeat question! I'm still pretty new to CP, and I'm not great at identifying this stuff, so I would appreciate any advice!

I made chocolate-scented soap about a month ago using a silicone mold, and I was happy with the way it turned out, except for the outside edges and corners of the two end pieces of soap. The chocolate fragrance oil I used discolored the soap to dark brown, but for some reason the edges that were right against the silicone mold stayed a lighter color, and they're far more brittle than the rest of the soap, as you can see from the photos. Does anyone know why this could have happened? The inside pieces are totally fine.

I've made 5 or so CP batches before, and while I've encountered soda ash, this doesn't look anything like that to me. I wondered if the soap could have partially gelled, leaving the corners ungelled, but I'm not really sure about that. My best guess would be that it had something to do with sodium lactate, which I've just started using. From what I've read, it should be used at a rate of 1 tsp. per pound of oils, and I used about 11 oz. of oils total, so I added a little less than 3/4 tsp. of sodium lactate. I don't think that's enough to cause this problem, but I could be wrong!

Here are the ingredients I used:
1.53 oz lye
3.63 oz water
2.20 oz canola oil
3.30 oz coconut oil
5.50 oz olive oil
0.44 oz Brambleberry Dark Rich Chocolate fragrance oil
about 3/4 tsp. sodium lactate

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Last edited by a moderator:
Welcome, SaponificationCelebration!

From the looks of things and from your description of it's texture, everything points to partial gel. No worries, though- just let it cure out. The edges will eventually catch up with the rest of your soap as the weeks go by.


IrishLass :)
 
Welcome, SaponificationCelebration!

From the looks of things and from your description of it's texture, everything points to partial gel. No worries, though- just let it cure out. The edges will eventually catch up with the rest of your soap as the weeks go by.


IrishLass :)

Thanks so much! I really appreciate it!
 
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