Could someone tell me what's going on here?

[Jackofhearts]

Hello all!
Long time, no post. Rest assured I'm doing well and I've been soaping consistently thanks to the advice and help I've gleaned from here!
While I've been soaping for the past 3-4 years, this my first time soaping in my new place during a heat wave (it's like 90f and 90% humidity).
Thinking I was being clever, thinking I was smart I put some soap I made today in my largely unused side stair well landing. Given that I've made this recipe (10% CO, 10% Castor, 30% OO & 50% Lard) dozens of times with the same fragrance oils (BB Rustic woods and rum & CC Sage and Citrus); I decided to put out on the landing, which was probably over 100f today, to encourage gel. It seemed to work.
Unfortunately, there seems to be some clear liquid on top that has an oily sheen to it. This has never happened to me before. Does anyone know what it is? Did a mess up? Is it salvageable?

Thanks so much!
Jack

 

[shunt2011]

It likely overheated. I would just let it sit and see if it absorbs back in. It usually will. If not might need to rebatch it. But I would wait and see first

 

[Jackofhearts]

Thanks for the quick response! Y'all are awesome!
I'll let it sit. I took it in to an air conditioned room. Out of curiosity, what is it? Lye? Glycerin?
Thanks!

 

[shunt2011]

Could be your fragrance or some oils seeped. Hard to tell.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...Out of curiosity, what is it? Lye? Glycerin?..."

It's liquid. Rub a bit between your gloved fingers (it's probably highly alkaline so be careful) and then gently try to rinse it off under cold water. If it rinses off, it's water based -- water, lye, glycerin, etc. If it doesn't, it's fat based -- fragrance, fats, etc. -- or a blend of both. That's about as close as you can come, because whatever the liquid is, it isn't just fragrance or just lye or just fat, even though it's tempting to assume that.

I agree with Shari to let the soap sit for a day or three. The liquid should reabsorb.

I sometimes get some droplets or a thin sheen of liquid on my soap due to overheating too. If it's only a small amount of liquid and it doesn't reabsorb in a day or three, I wipe off any remaining residues and don't worry about it.

If there's a serious pool of liquid on or in the soap, that's a problem with major separation, and I'd treat it differently. But that's never happened to me, thankfully, and it doesn't look like that's happening to your soap either.

 

[Susie]

Welcome to the hot and humid weather conditions! I would NEVER EVER let soaps sit in that kind of heat. Never. I would always have them inside where you can monitor them. Put a towel over them to help gel start, but be prepared to get it uncovered and onto a cooler surface pronto if you start to see a "grains of sand in liquid" appearance which is the first sign of overheating. I have even had to put mine into a sink with cool water and ice to stop it from volcanoe-ing. So I almost always have a sink with a couple of inches of water in it as soon as I put my soap under towels. This has saved batches quite frequently for me.

 

[Jackofhearts]

Thank you all so much! I just cut 3 of the other soaps I made yesterday that were fine and I'll wait on these until tomorrow or the next day. Susie, great tip on the "sink of water". DeeAnna, you and Shunt2011 have put my mind at ease and THAT is priceless!
Thanks again!
Jack

 

[dixiedragon]

To me it looks like glycerin sweat. It should reabsorb. If not, gently blot it away.