Experiment with TD and CPOP

[TVivian]

A post yesterday about TD "crackle" got me thinking about what causes it and how to prevent it. So I decided to start experimenting since I have my own theories. I used a very basic recipe of Olive, Palm, and coconut oil and 1% Orange EO. To batch "A" I added the TD to the hot lye mixture. To batch "B" I added the TD to the soap batter at trace along with the EO and then stick blended. I measured everything precisely and after pouring I could already see a difference. Batch "B" did not get as white as "A"

I put the mold into a 170 oven and left it there for 30 minutes. I usually do not leave the oven on when I CPOP, but I wanted to purposely overheat this batch to see if heat affects the crackling.


I just removed it from the oven and already I can see that batch "B" overheated considerably more than "A" .. Even though the only difference was how the TD was added.. Interesting! I will cut tomorrow and redo this experiment without leaving the oven on to
compare.

 

[seven]

thank you so much for doing the experiment. i will certainly try method A next time. what an interesting results!

 

[DeeAnna]

Seriously cool! Thank you for sharing....

 

[Obsidian]

Great experiment, you may have solved a lot of troubles

 

[new12soap]

Very cool. In Soap B, did you put the TD powder directly into the soap batter, or did you disperse it in water or oil first? Are you using water soluble or dispersible TD?

 

[TVivian]

I'm using water soluble and yes, I dissolved it in water first.

 

[new12soap]

Thanks. Mine is oil dispersible, and I stick blend the daylights out of it into my oils before adding the lye solution and haven't had a problem. That is really a big difference, can't wait to see them cut.

 

[TVivian]

So here are the results:
The one with the TD added to the lye water turned out white and creamy with zero cracking.. Even though it was overheated a bit.


The one with the TD added to the batter did not turn out as white as the other batch and DOES have some cracks, but not much considering how overheated the top looked.

My conclusion: I'm still as stumped as before and that TD has a mind of it's own haha!

 

[Obsidian]

Thats pretty darn cool. Next time I make a white batch, I'll have to try the TD in lye. How much TD did you use for this? I have a tendency to use too much.

 

[TVivian]

So this entire batch was 24oz of oils, (I dispersed the TD in water first 50/50 not by weight but by measurement. Just so that the TD was a runny consistency not too thin) and I used 6 grams of the mixture in each batch.. So 12 grams total.
I was really hoping to get more crackle since I purposely overheated it.. But no, of course no crackle when I WANT it! Lol

 

[Tienne]

Wow, Vivian, that's quite a noticeable difference between the two! Hmm... I'm wondering if something could be done to make oil-soluble TD more cooperative as well. Was the lye water hot when you added the water-soluble TD to it? Maybe it's the heat that does it. So maybe using hot oil to premix the oil-soluble TD would help too! You just never know! Gonna give it a whirl and see if it makes a difference.

 

[judymoody]

Thanks for sharing your experiment!

I use oil dispersible and I SB my TD into my oils, generally before adding my lye. But sometimes I do it after emulsification (but before trace). Unfortunately, I haven't been good about taking notes. Next time!

 

[renata]

That is a very interesting experiment. I always thought that the heat makes TD cracks...So I usually prevent gel. I wonder what would happen if you add TD to lye and then prevent gel in the fridge.

 

[neeners]

awesome experiment! going to add TD into my lye solution from now on (when i'm using it). thanks so much!

 

[shunt2011]

I too use oil soluable TD and add it to my oils most the time before the lye mixture is added. I only get the crackling effect if it gets way too hot/overheats. I no longer insulate my molds but just put the cover on and have not had that happen in awhile. I RTCP so sometimes it takes a couple hours before it gels Thanks for sharing your experiment.

 

[athallr]

Neat experiment, thanks for posting!