Curing Issue?

[greenbarnsoaps]

So, hopefully this is the right forum to ask this on. Years ago I made a Lemon Poppy Seed cake soap that was a huge hit and people loved. It contained palm kernel oil however, which I discontinued from my line pretty early. It's been years since I made this soap. Since it was requested I gave it another go with a new formulation. I know I had my water/lye concentration and oils measured correct (run through my SoapMaker Calc software).

I used a standard HDPE 6lb loaf mold. I think I'm seeing a curing issue however. Anyone have any idea what happened with this batch by the looks of it?

It's not lye pockets. I've never seen anything like this before in a batch. I'm wondering if it's tiny bubbles, but when I cut through it there are no holes, it just looks the same.

I don't have the exact quantities on me now (which I can post later if requested), but the recipe includes olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, sodium hydroxide, well water (always use this, no issues ever), poppy seeds and the Wholesale Supplies Plus Lemon Poundcake fragrance oil.

What on earth...

 

[Susie]

I can't see anything wrong with it on my computer. Could you be more specific?

 

[navigator9]

If you're talking about the tiny dots of color, I don't think they're bubbles, because bubbles usually show up as lighter in color than the rest of the batch. My guess would be undissolved colorant.

 

[TVivian]

Are you talking about that circular, lighter section in the center of the bar? If so, I've had marks like that on one of my soaps. I thought it may have been from pouring too thin or maybe from the fragrance oil. Let me see if I can find it and take a picture to compare.

 

[TVivian]

Does it look like this? I poured this really thin because the FO was an accelerator and I was afraid of seizing. ... That's what I blamed the spots on..

 

[greenbarnsoaps]

View attachment 16089

Does it look like this? I poured this really thin because the FO was an accelerator and I was afraid of seizing. ... That's what I blamed the spots on..

Yes, it looks like those!

I can't see anything wrong with it on my computer. Could you be more specific?

The weird lighter color in a rather circular pattern vs. the fully gelled darker color around.

If you're talking about the tiny dots of color, I don't think they're bubbles, because bubbles usually show up as lighter in color than the rest of the batch. My guess would be undissolved colorant.

No colorant in the batch. I'm guessing the dark pinkish color was because of the fragrance reaction.

 

[snappyllama]

It looks like uneven discoloration due to either not getting the FO mixed totally it or maybe the FO started separating out a bit since the batter was thin.

I don't trust FOs to evenly discolor and normally add in a bit of brown mica to ensure things look even when the bars are fully cured.

 

[greenbarnsoaps]

It looks like uneven discoloration due to either not getting the FO mixed totally it or maybe the FO started separating out a bit since the batter was thin.

Interesting! That could be it. I'm likely going to re-batch it this fall. There's no harm with it the way it is (we've used it in the shower already), but I would prefer it to look a little different and I think the re-batched look would work for this.

 

[Seawolfe]

I actually like the look of that - you should pretend it was on purpose

 

[CaraBou]

Ditto -- you sure you want to change it? Maybe you should try to reproduce it!

 

[greenbarnsoaps]

Ditto -- you sure you want to change it? Maybe you should try to reproduce it!

I actually like the look of that - you should pretend it was on purpose

Really?! It looks like an obvious fluke to me! It was a test of a slightly changed recipe. So I was going to sell as is at a lower price as a test batch, but I feel like I'd rather try to fix it.

Interesting that some people like it though! Hmm...

Here's an up close shot.

 

[rparrny]

Really?! It looks like an obvious fluke to me! It was a test of a slightly changed recipe. So I was going to sell as is at a lower price as a test batch, but I feel like I'd rather try to fix it.

Interesting that some people like it though! Hmm...

The best advice I ever got was this: Never say "Oops", say "There!"

 

[greenbarnsoaps]

Hahaha I do that with cooking all the time!