Is This Overheating?

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BrewerGeorge

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Please see the attached pic.

That rippled top surface and shine was not there when I poured. It was CPOP at 170F (supposedly). My first time using a silicone mold and my first time CPOP. Recipe has performed well before; only change this time was a different fragrance.
 
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The shiny surface is normal for soap that's gelling but the ripples/texture makes me think it's overheating. And possibly your FO is doing something funky too . . . those purple spots are worrysome if you didn't add any colorant. What recipe & FO did you use?
 
The purple is mica.

Recipe I've used before without this wrinkle. ;)

40oz total oils
44% GV tallow / palm shortening
25% OO
20% CO
5% each avocado and castor
1% stearic
Sodium citrate and lactatelactate, silk
RO water to 30% lye at 5% superfat
Soaped with oil at 120F and lye at 130F
CPOP @ 170F for 40 min

FO is BBs lavender and green tea

Never mind , I guess. It's cooled enough that I lifted one of the basic bars and it has terrible pock marks in the surface. Looks overheated for sure.
 
Whew, relieved to hear the purple was mica and not FO! Recipe looks good to me but I've never tried to CPOP with a silicone cavity mold. I'm usually trying to avoid gel when I use those because I know they won't generate as much heat as a loaf mold. Pock marks definitely sound like overheating . . . try forcing gel with a heating pad next time. I also blend my oils & lye water at a lower temp (around 100) to keep things from moving too fast especially with new FOs.
 
Was there any separation on the mold? Lye pockets?

If not, then the issue is cosmetic. I would save for personal use or shred it for confetti soap.
 
Silicone molds are known to produce those little bubbles when used for CPOP. I suggest either a wooden(and lined) mold for CPOP, and save the silicone for straight CP. You probably won't get gel in individual molds, but they should have smooth surfaces.
 
I would just use it as is, rebatching is likely to make it uglier. I CPOP in individual silicone molds, you need to keep a really close eye on it and as soon as you see its in full gel, pull it out of the oven so it can start to cool. I also set the temp to 130 F, helps stop the pitting if it doesn't get so hot.
 
I think it's most certainly overheating. Small individual molds in the over at 170 for 40 minutes is a long time. I tried that once and had the same thing happen. I would just let them sit and give them some time. They may be just fine to use since no zap.
 
Thanks, All. I'll just take this as a lesson learned, then, and not compound the error by trying to rebatch. These were supposed to be gifts, so I was going for "pretty". Since nobody in my house really wants to use lavender, I'll give them to my mother; she'll love them just because I made them. ;)

I guess it's time to order more scent and try again - without the CPOP this time.

Thanks again.
 
BrewerGeorge, don't give up on CPOP so quickly....170 F for 40 minutes is IMHO overkill...you're already soaping at 120+....just for comparison it's been often said to put ungelled soap on a heat mat which is either side of 100F...it helps if you have some way to get an accurate reading on the temps in your oven...I have a thermometer with a remote and I put the oven on convection mode to evenly distribute the heat. I prewarm the oven to 125, sometimes warming the molds, most times not .After I put my soap in the oven usually the temperature has dipped so I start it up again never exceeding 120 F and then quickly shutting the oven off..the temperature climbs up to 130F or so before it levels out and starts descending...this has worked for me time and again...keep in mind you're forcing gel, not cooking the soap.
 
It looks to me that you poured at a thick trace. The soap just looks like it went through the gel phase, to me. Was the mica approve for cp/op soap? Just unmold an smooth it down a little. It should be fine. I usually don't cp/op multiple, small, cavity molds.
 
BrewerGeorge, don't give up on CPOP so quickly....170 F for 40 minutes is IMHO overkill...you're already soaping at 120+....just for comparison it's been often said to put ungelled soap on a heat mat which is either side of 100F...it helps if you have some way to get an accurate reading on the temps in your oven...I have a thermometer with a remote and I put the oven on convection mode to evenly distribute the heat. I prewarm the oven to 125, sometimes warming the molds, most times not .After I put my soap in the oven usually the temperature has dipped so I start it up again never exceeding 120 F and then quickly shutting the oven off..the temperature climbs up to 130F or so before it levels out and starts descending...this has worked for me time and again...keep in mind you're forcing gel, not cooking the soap.
Thanks for the encouragement. I never have trouble getting good gel in my wooden mold with wooden lid and a towel, so I've not needed to CPOP. The only reason I tried it this time was because I had read that gel can be difficult with the silicone molds and smaller individual soap molds with greater surface area.

I'll try it again in these molds with my next batch of personal bath soap just to practice the technique (doesn't matter what they look like). But I'm not going to risk ten bucks in ingredients - especially with an unfavored scent in our house - on another try for these gift soaps. Ungelled it is for them.

My oven only goes down to 170. I preheat and then shut the oven off after it reaches 170. Pop in and check every 20 minutes til gelled.
That's a good idea. My oven also only goes to 170F. I know it was above that, though, because I could smell the scent being driven off at the end and its flash point is 174F according to BB's site. I was actually watching it pretty closely - about every 10 minutes. But in retrospect the recipe probably wasn't the best bet for success at the CPOP because the yellow clay in the bulk of the batter kept it from going really clear, which made it difficult to identify gel.

The irony is that I had about 4 oz of batter left over that I quickly tossed into the bottom of an old yogurt container and left on the counter that's going to make a nice, ungelled bar of soap.
 
It looks to me that you poured at a thick trace. The soap just looks like it went through the gel phase, to me. Was the mica approve for cp/hp soap? Just unmold an smooth it down a little. It should be fine. I usually don't cp/op multiple, small, cavity molds.

It went in at medium trace and the surface was pretty smooth. Mica is CP-approved from Nurture. The real problem is not the backs, but the detailed sides. They are heavily pockmarked and all the detail is destroyed.
 
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