Have I Ruined My Batch?

[angemarie]

Hi Everyone

I made my 2nd batch on Saturday, goat milk oat and honey, I added the oats at trace and was just about to add the honey when I came up with a last minute idea of splitting the batch and adding the honey to half the mixture then doing an in the pot swirl before pouring BUT my mixture got way too thick by this time so I worked quickly then put it all back together and just gave it a few stirs as the was trying to keep the color contrast, I put it straight into the freezer for 6 hours then into the fridge overnight. I un molded 24 hours later and there is a dark patch on the bottom of the soap which is weeping a little...It smells like honey! will this absorb back in? it has dried up a bit since taking it out of the mold, everything else looks good apart from the half that I added the honey too is really dark. As soon as I poured it into the mold I regretted what I had done lol. Could I have ruined my batch by not incorporating the honey through the whole batch? I am yet to zap test as they are not quite 48 hours old. Any advice would be very appreciated!

Thanks in advance! :-D

 

[Obsidian]

What probably happened is the honey didn't get mixed all the way in and some settled towards the bottom. This is why you should dissolve the honey in a bit of water if adding at trace or mix it into the warm oils before adding the lye.
Some of the excess liquid might soak back in but if your dark bits are really sticky, you might need to slice it off. Give it a week or more before you decide what to do, sometimes thats all a soap needs. The honey spots won't affect how the soap performs, it mostly cosmetic unless the spots are big enough to become messy.

 

[angemarie]

What probably happened is the honey didn't get mixed all the way in and some settled towards the bottom. This is why you should dissolve the honey in a bit of water if adding at trace or mix it into the warm oils before adding the lye.
Some of the excess liquid might soak back in but if your dark bits are really sticky, you might need to slice it off. Give it a week or more before you decide what to do, sometimes thats all a soap needs. The honey spots won't affect how the soap performs, it mostly cosmetic unless the spots are big enough to become messy.

Thanks for that Obsidian...I did dissolve the honey in a bit of water before adding, I just cut it and so far looks ok, it's still a little soft so will do what you said and look at it another week, it didn't zap so pleased about that.

 

[kryse13]

Thanks for that Obsidian...I did dissolve the honey in a bit of water before adding, I just cut it and so far looks ok, it's still a little soft so will do what you said and look at it another week, it didn't zap so pleased about that.

When I added honey to one of my batches it seemed to want to stay together and not meld in the soap. Honey is also likes to burn or over heat the soap (so I have read). When my honey was trying to stay in a liquidy blob and got really dark. I mixed the crap outta the soap and threw it in the mold. The soap then gelled and got dark in the middle of the bar.