Certain type of oils causing soda ash ?

[beardguy]

The last batch I made had soda ash and the recipe was :

20 % avocado oil
20 % shea butter (refined)
5 % castor
55 % lard

I used EDTA 0.5 % gross weight, fragrance 31g/kg and used a 8 % superfat. I sprayed with 99 % isopropyl alcohol and the whole top of the soap is covered in soda ash, covering the nice colours :cry:

I looked at my notes and past soap pictures and all the soaps I have used avocado oil in (5% up to 20%) have had soda ash ; all the soaps that don't have avocado oil also don't have soda ash... This is 12 batches in, not a huge sample size, but still.

I soap around 120 F (lye and oil) and use silicone molds. I don't CPOP or force gel (I leave the soap lying there and don't cover/insulate).

 

[IrishLass]

I use avocado oil as high as 30% in one of my soaps and have never gotten ash on it. For what it's worth, I soap with a 33% lye concentration, soap warm (110 to 120) and encourage gel by CPOPing in a pre-warmed 110F oven which is turned off immediately as soon as I put my completely covered soap inside. And I don't uncover or unmold my soap until the soap is completely cool- roughly 18 to 24 hours later.

It's very rare that I ever get ash on any of my soaps except for the very light, occasional dusting on top from uncovering/unmolding a little too soon, which easily washes right off. The only ones that come down with heavy ash are the ones I purposely don't gel.

You might want to try covering your mold with a physical cover, instead of with alcohol. I've always found alcohol to be one of those hit-or-miss kind of things. Sometimes it worked for me, and sometimes it didn't.

My best preventative against ash, though, is using a water discount, gelling, and keeping my soap covered until it's done saponifying.


IrishLass

 

[penelopejane]

I use up to 30% avocado oil and 30-31% lye concentration and I do the same as Irish Lass (wonder where I learnt that! ) but I do lightly spray with alcohol and I cover it and wrap it in a blanket before putting it in the turned off oven at 100*C and I don't get ash - touch wood.

 

[Susie]

I always get soda ash. Every last batch. I just rinse it off and go on with life.

 

[christost7]

For me : fully covered and gelled soap with water discount = rarely (if any) soda ash ever.
uncovered, ungelled soap (with or without water discount) = soda ash, less or more.

I just steam iron the thing out so no biggie.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with the others. If you keep them covered through the entire saponification process I find I don't get ash except once in a bit. If I uncover them or making something that can't be covered I find I get ash.

 

[beardguy]

Ok, so I'll cover the loaf and shoot for gel then. I don't have the patience to line a wood mold to go for cpop. I tried lining a mold when I started out and after two hours of origami I fianlly gave up. I already soap hot and use a steep water discount (one batch of soap had a lye concentration of 43%), so that can't be it.

Thanks all.

PS: Iron steaming, that's using the steam for a regular iron to get the ash to dissolve ? That's might be the trick for the already affected batches.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I always get soda ash. Every last batch. I just rinse it off and go on with life.

I never get soda ash... I can't help but wonder if it's cuz I live in a dry climate in CO vs. the humid climate of TX. Dunno.