Keep Getting Stearic Spots! Help!

[merg_a]

So I’ve read all the threads/posts and seem to be doing everything I know to prevent stearic acids spots, but keep getting them. Picture attached.

I melt my hard oils (coconut & shea butter) well above 185degrees for several minutes before adding the rest of my oils (olive oil, soybean, rice bran, castor). Stirring well and let sit to cool to around 100 degrees. Then I mix my lye, which is anywhere from 80-95degrees. From my understanding, stearic acids spots can occur if soaping under 90*. I usually soap around 95-105degrees because I want to prevent gelling and I immediately put my soap in the freezer after pouring. Stays in freezer 10+ hours over night. Could freezing cause stearic acid spots since temperature drops significantly?

I have played around with my lye concentration from 29%-33%. Using less water is heating up my batch too much and causing partial gelling (yes, even in the freezer).

Thoughts? Any advice as to how to get rid of these dreaded white spots is greatly appreciated!

 

[merg_a]

Circling back….

- Could these “spots/specks” be caused by air bubbles?
- Am I cutting the loaf too soon (~2-5days later)? Cut by knife or wire, specks are still there.

Also: they definitely feel waxy. But as I mentioned, I melt my oils until they are completely clear - don’t know how any oil will be left over. Could lye at room temperature be too cold for oils at 95-100*?

 

[KiwiMoose]

Your recipe sounds very similar to mine. I always gel if I can. I have more problems with stearic spots/swirls when I don't gel.

If you don't want to gel, I would tend towards using higher lye concentration - about 35-38% and don't put in the freezer/don't cover. See if you can let it saponify without the cold and yet without gelling.

And yes - they could also be wire bubbles. Hard to say from a photo.

 

[AliOop]

I use mostly high-stearic recipes and concur with Kiwi. I also want to clarify that using more water (aka lower lye concentration) will cause your soap to gel at lower temps. I was not sure if that was just a typo in your original post, or if you were confused about how that works. So that’s why we are suggesting a higher lye concentration.

Another tip to prevent or lessen stearic spots is to melt the hard oils to at least 160F. Before I did that, I got a lot more spots. As long as I hit that temp, I can let the oils cool to 90F and use room-temp lye with very few stearic spots.

 

[merg_a]

Thanks Kiwi & Ali!

Yes, as I mentioned, I already melt my hard oils well above 185f for several minutes and then add soft oils.

I’ve tried a variety of lye concentrates and still have Stearic spots AND partial gelling (which I don’t want).

I am assuming my issue is a combo of freezing and wire cutting?

Today’s batch will be made at low temperatures, higher lye concentration, and not putting in the freezer. Fingers crossed that has fixed my issue!

 

[Ephemerella]

Yes, as I mentioned, I already melt my hard oils well above 185f for several minutes and then add soft oils.

I'm not in the same league in terms of experience as the other posters, but I will offer this... perhaps try warming both your hard oils and liquid oils to the same temp and then combining. Adding room temp liquid oils to your hot hard oils might be cooling your hard oils too quickly.

I actually heat all of my oils together, and I personally do it in phases: I heat to just below full melting, then let it sit, then heat it more, let it sit more, until I reach a certain temp and everyone is melty. When I stir my oils, I make sure they are crystal — and I mean crystal — clear, no whisps of slightly melted anything, no little bubbles, no hazy clouds.

I developed this strategy as it works with timing the cool down of my lye, so the oils and lye eventually start cooling at the same rate and when I'm ready to soap they're always within 5° of each other, usually the same exact temperature. I use that time to prep everything else, clean up from the last batch, and ... have the ultra important wine break (or three).

 

[merg_a]

Thanks, E! Appreciate your suggestions! Will definitely give them a try and report back!

 

[AliensrReal]

I honestly like steric acid spots. I think they look cool.

 

[Zing]

I'm just here to say welcome, good luck -- and I feel your pain!

 

[merg_a]

Reporting back!

Made my Rosemary bar: 35% lye concentrate. (recipe above)
Mixed all oils 200degrees for several minutes. (hard oils then liquids - until VERY clear)
Lye temp: 86*f / Oil temp: 104*f (trying to prevent stearic acids spots, but yet stay ungelled!)

Instead of putting in the freezer as I do all of my bars - I propped up on cooling racks and had cooling near a fan on medium-high (about 1 foot away). Came back an hour later - BOTH molds had cracks down the middle from both ends. ARG! Was the fan too cold? Too close? Should I not have even used a fan? I smeared the cracks together with my finger and put both molds in the freezer for ~5 hours.

Cut bars today: both have partial-gelled to just almost the edges. Some stearic acid spots and/or air bubbles? (Even though I mixed with bursts of my immersion blender and mostly spatula). Ugh. I thought higher lye concentrate PREVENTED gelling? I suppose I need to go higher? 38%? 39%? Just not wanting bars to crack with my high-ish coconut oil % --- even though they cracked anyway.

/rant. Hahaha.

 

[AliensrReal]

What type of mold are you using?

 

[merg_a]

What type of mold are you using?

Handmade wooden molds (1/2” thick). Been using the same ones for years. Always putting them in the freezer to prevent gelling. The spots (seen above) are a new-ish issue. Perhaps my immersion blender is producing too many bubbles? Hmm. Definitely look like Stearic acid spots to me though.

 

[AliensrReal]

The cracks in the soap generally means your soap overheated. Any reason you have against gelling?

 

[merg_a]

The cracks in the soap generally means your soap overheated. Any reason you have against gelling?

Totally understand that. I don’t understand how my batches are still overheating if I’m soaping at low temps, putting in the freezer, & using a water discount? I prefer the matte/opaque look of the bars.

 

[AliensrReal]

Maybe try a 40% lye concentration.

 

[AliOop]

A higher lye concentration doesn't prevent gelling, but the soap must get hotter before it does gel. I regularly use 40% lye concentration and usually put mine on a heating pad to ensure complete gelling.

If you could post your entire recipe, including the amount of each oil in percentages. and every single additive, that would really help us troubleshoot with you. For instance, coconut oil, honey, molasses, certain molds (thick wood, for instance) and certain EOs and FOs can all cause overheating. Sometimes the problem comes form a combination of "heaters" that are ok on their own, but together will spell trouble. But without knowing all the variables, it's really hard to figure out.

 

[merg_a]

Coconut oil: 39%
Shea Butter: 7%
Olive Oil: 39%
Rice Bran Oil: 1%
Soybean Oil: 8%
Castor Oil: 5.5%

SF: 6%
Lye Concentrate: 35%

Additives vary but for this batch: Sage fo - 4%. Rosemary (4 sprigs) infused distilled water.

Melting oils until clear. Soaping at 90-105f both lye and oils.

Wanting to prevent gelling, so I put molds in the freezer.

Appreciate everyone’s input!!!

 

[AliensrReal]

Could the fragrance oil cause it to heat up? I’m not too sure why you keep getting steric acid spots.

Do you mind receiving some advice about your recipe? Rice bran oil at 1% isn’t going to do much for your soap. I would drop it at that low of a usage. Your soap is going to be very cleansing which means it can be very drying at that high of a coconut oil amount. If you like your soap as is then no point in changing anything. However, if you haven’t tried it yet then I would consider adjusting the recipe.

 

[AliOop]

As Aliens suggested, that’s a lot of CO. Not only is it cleansing, it can definitely heat up your batter.

However, before changing that, I would first try making a small batch without the FO and without the infused rosemary, and see what happens. To me, those are the most likely culprits.

 

[merg_a]

Appreciate the suggests you guys! Yea, the bars are cleansing, but not overly drying. I used to use palm oil and since getting rid of that, upped my coconut oil and added rice bran.

I have purchased a new immersion blender to see if mine was adding extra bubbles than usual. I’ll make a batch without FO and additives and see how that turns out prior to changing my entire recipe. I’ll report back. Hopefully I can pinpoint the cause of the stearic acid spots! And not gel!

Thanks again for the help troubleshooting and feedback! Stay tuned for an update!