Crystals?

[Jesssoaps]

Hello! I just started making cold process soap and am enjoying experimenting! On my fourth batch of soap, something goofy happened about 5 days after cutting. It has started to get little crystals forming on the bottom and on a few bars on the cut side as well (they almost look like they are inside the soap).

This is my first milk-based soap (coconut) and of course I worry that I didn’t mix the lye up well enough. So, it has now been a week since cutting and I did the zap test, no reaction. I should be less worried, but my mind hasn’t been eased yet! Thoughts on what this may be?

Recipe:
Olive oil 46.24%
Coconut oil 27.74%
Cocoa butter 12.33%
Sweet almond oil 13.69%

Water 38%
5% super fat

(Please forgive me if this is an odd recipe! I’m just using things I already have at home right now and having fun!)

 

[lsg]

Did you do a zap test on the white spots? If they don't zap, then it is not lye. Was your cocoa butter completely liquid when you added it to the other oils?

 

[Iseleigh]

Hello! I just started making cold process soap and am enjoying experimenting! On my fourth batch of soap, something goofy happened about 5 days after cutting. It has started to get little crystals forming on the bottom and on a few bars on the cut side as well (they almost look like they are inside the soap).

This is my first milk-based soap (coconut) and of course I worry that I didn’t mix the lye up well enough. So, it has now been a week since cutting and I did the zap test, no reaction. I should be less worried, but my mind hasn’t been eased yet! Thoughts on what this may be?

View attachment 39886

Recipe:
Olive oil 46.24%
Coconut oil 27.74%
Cocoa butter 12.33%
Sweet almond oil 13.69%

Water 38%
5% super fat

(Please forgive me if this is an odd recipe! I’m just using things I already have at home right now and having fun!)

I have a coconut milk soap curing right now (3 weeks old I think) and it has the same spots though much smaller and in a lot larger numbers. I read that the milk starts to separate and causes those spots. Someone else here knows more than me for sure so maybe they have more insight.

 

[Jesssoaps]

Did you do a zap test on the white spots? If they don't zap, then it is not lye. Was your cocoa butter completely liquid when you added it to the other oils?

Thank you! I did the zap test as recommended here, by rubbing a wet gloved finger over the crystals and then testing that. I didn’t test directly tongue-to-crystals because I am a weenie! But, if that is the better route I can try it...

Eek!

I have a coconut milk soap curing right now (3 weeks old I think) and it has the same spots though much smaller and in a lot larger numbers. I read that the milk starts to separate and causes those spots. Someone else here knows more than me for sure so maybe they have more insight.

Thank you! It makes me feel better if it is just an aesthetic thing. Right now my soaps are just for me and my family as I am settling in on a recipe that I like the best!