CP spotty looking soap

[Bigmoose]

Hello all,

I have made 3 batches of CP soap now and have a small problem. The first turned out fine, the second has just a few of these spots on on the soap and the third seems to have lots of them. They are light in color say about an off white and are mixed thruout the soap. I just used a bar from the second batch and all seems fine so I think this is just cosmetic and nothing more. But I would like better looking soap. I use a wood box loaf mold and have scliced all around 36 hours after making. I use a soap calculator and 5% superfat. Any ideas? :?

 

[mandolyn]

Can you post your recipe? That would be helpful. Did you experience any riceing or anything like that? Did you use Titanium Dioxide or any white clay? It sounds like something didn't get mixed in. Did you use any type of powdered anything at trace?

 

[IrishLass]

Yes, posting your recipe will be a big help.

Besides the things that Mandolyn mentioned, there are also certain oils/fats high in stearic acid that can do this if you soap them too cool.

For instance, whenever I soap PKO, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Kokum Butter, and/or Illipe Butter at too too cool of a temp, I get what I call 'stearic spots' throughout my soap. 'Stearic spots' are tiny, pin-hole sized white-ish spots that are actually re-solidified stearic acid from those oils/fats.

What happens is that the stearic acid from those oils/fats comes out of suspension and re-solidified when the temp is not hot enough to keep them fully melted and in suspension throughout the soaping session. I soap those particular oils/fats at 120 degreesF now, and voila! No more stearic spots.


IrishLass

 

[chrisinflorida]

Hey IrishLass,

Do you think these could be "stearic spots?" I know in this batch the oils were cooler than the lye when I combined the lye with the oils, and as soon as I started stickblending the lumps began to form. I have gotten it a few times in the past, but I'm not completely sure if it is that or not. The only culprit oil would be PALM. Other oils are olive, rice bran, coconut, and castor.

One more question, if you get the stearic spots after combining the lye with the oils can the entire mixture be heated on the stove to re-melt the stearic spots? Can it still be done the CP way? I'm no good at HP. I tried a rebatch once and it didn't turn out good...we got good laundry soap though... I vowed after that no HP and no rebatching.

Thanks for your help.

Chris

 

[IrishLass]

Hi Chris!

Yes- those look exactly like the 'stearic spots' I'm talking about that I used to get. Although aesthetically unappealing, stearic spotty soap is still good soap to use.

I'm not able to answer your second question, unfortunately, for I've never rebatched any of my stearic spotty soaps, but theoretically, I would think that if you were able to get your raw, still liquid, 'spotty' soap on the stove immediately upon noticing them (the spots), that it just might be possible to smooth everything out again (it works for me with seized soap). It's definitely worth a try. Hopefully someone who has done just that will chime in with their experience.


IrishLass

 

[Bigmoose]

For the batch I was referring to I used 3oz castor, 11 oz coconut, 6 oz. corn, 8 oz lard, 7 oz. lard, and 13 oz. palm. 18.2 beer, 6.7 oz lye. No colors or anything else added. I did use one bar and after one use it looked great and the spots were gone. I pour my soap into a wood mold. Do I need to wrap it with a towel? I did cover it with plastic wrap. I also do heat my oils to 120 deg. and cool the lye mix to 105 to 110.

Thanks, Bruce.

Have you hugged a moose today?

 

[chrisinflorida]

Thank you so much for the information IrishLass. I am so happy just to have an explanation for those spots. I'll have to make a note about it in my soap notes and be sure to not let the oil temps get too cool.

For my 2nd question...if I get the spots again I think I will just throw it back on the stove for a little bit and see what happens. If the spots re-melt great, if not I'll probably just go ahead and put it in the mold with the spots.

Again, thank you so much for your help.

Chris