color seperation or what?

[Curefortheend]

Hi all,

Im fairly new to CP soap and have been having problems with my CP recipes. Ive done two seperate batches to ensure that I am following the recipes perfectly and both times After I demold, this is what I see ( see pic)

Ive done it with blue and white as well as black and white. Both have the same problem . It looks like the color has tightened and left transluscent gaps of colorless "oil" looking soap inbetween.

Im using a fairly basic soap recipe just to play with the colorants and fragrances. I stick blended everything really well to incorporate the colors and i monitored my temperatures of lye and oils to make sure they were equal before i mixed.

Im hesitant to waste more supplies If this is going to keep happening... oddly enough it doesnt happy at all with my HP soap.

Any help would be apppreciated!

R.

 

[new12soap]

Hello and welcome

That looks like stearic streaks to me. If you would like to post your recipe and your process, that usually makes it easier to help troubleshoot, but my guess is that you are using a high stearic recipe and soaping at too cool a temperature. The same recipe in hot process won't leave streaks, which expains the differences you are seeing. Even if your temps are close to equal, too cool means the stearic will separate out. Try increasing your soaping temp to 115-120F

HTH

 

[Curefortheend]

recipe and method and still not working

hi there.

thanks for responding. I do soap at 120. its my go to number. i read on a thread that it can be caused by over insulation and one person recommended cooling and preventing gel phase which i dont really want to do.

should i increase my temps even higher then 120?

my recipe is

30% olive
30% shea butter
20% coconut 76
20% palm

12.16 oz water
4.4 oz lye

mixed lye and water and water soluble TD and set aside to cool to 120 ( saw this successful td technique on soaping 101)

weighed oils and melted hard butters first then added soft oils to heat in pot to 120

added lye to oils and stirred and stick blended until trace
added 1.0 oz fragrance ( goldie dreadlocks from NG) and blended

seperated oils into two containers and stick blended colorant into one of them

poured into silicone mold, wrapped and insulated.

demold after 24 hours, slice and set to cure.

thats my method and recipe and I have no idea what is wrong. im considering doing on HP now because it has turned out well... but CP gives me more options and is much more attractive .

anymore advice would be great!

 

[judymoody]

How much TD are you using? That can cause streaks or a crackle effect.

It could also be stearic streaks but if you're soaping at 120 that shouldn't be an issue. Usually that happens when you soap too cool and the stearic acid precipitates out of solution.

Are you heating and stirring your palm before use? The stearic in palm oil can sink to the bottom of your container and as you get to the end, the stearic content increases.

Finally, fragrance oils can do funny things to soap consistency. That might be the culprit.

Good luck! Hopefully somebody else will chime in.

 

[hoegarden]

Hihi,

Perhaps I can share abit of my experience and hope it will be helpful. Although its a CP soap, I have been taught that it is relatively important to maintain the temperature especially before it goes into the mold.

At the point when the mixture goes into the mold, the temperature of the mixture should be at 38-45degrees celcius (you have to convert yourself)

Other than that, look out for fake trace when stiring/mixing the soap. When temperature drop, the soap will trace faster. However, it does not means that the soap mixture is well mix enough. One of the way is to check the temperature when the soap started to trace. Apply heat to it and see if the trace soften ie. the mixture become watery again. If that is the case, the mixture is not ready yet.

I think my soap color looks better when I observe the mixing process better and look out for things that I mention above. Hopes it helps.

 

[ClaraSuds]

Another soaper recently posted pics very similar with the same issue with water dispersible TD. My method would be to take out the fragrance oil and just focus on the colourant to ensure the problem is actually with the TD first. Otherwise there's too many variables to really know what's going on. There's a chance it could be a combination of the TD with the fragrance oil. In any case there is another thread on here about exactly the same issue, maybe check that one out too.

TD is not water soluble, water dispersible just means the particles have been treated to suspend in water more uniformly. This could be a case of the FO being added at trace messing around with the suspension of the TD particles and causing them to clump which is then locked into the hardened soap. It's unfortunate that a lot of sellers of water dispersible TD usually say it's water soluble.

 

[Lindy]

It looks to me like you have used too much TD as well as too much blue, they look overloaded in my opinion. Try reducing the amounts.

 

[Curefortheend]

Hi again!

thank severybody for the responses.

I actually did two batches.. one with blue color and one with black. One with the porridge fragrance and one without and it happens with both batches

Ive been using 1 tsp of TD as well as color. the blue color is actuallyfairly light compared to what its supposed to look like so I didnt think I was using too much of it. On the black bar, the issue is primary among the White TD areas of the bar.

The method i used was successful on the tutorial video... but then again that lady has a lot more experience then I. Should i be blending my lye and oils and brining to trace etc while being heated at the same time? I cant see how I can do all I need to do before i pour without losing much heat.


I will definately follow the advice about the temperature and maybe try with no FO and see if I can use an additive instead .

 

[Lindy]

I have to say that I no longer worry about temps being exact when making soap. If I want something to trace quickly then I will use hotter oils/lye, if I want some time to play I soap much cooler and most of the time I'm at room temperature anyways. The temperature issue is more of a myth than anything else.

I would recommend dropping how much TD you're using, because that really does look like crackle...