Lye Heavy? Zapped? Why?

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Debra Hopp

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Jul 13, 2020
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I have been making soap with the same recipe for 2 years, today when I took the soap out of the mold it looked different. Out of curiosity I tried the zap test on several bars and I got a good tingle. Then I used PH strips and it was purple the color guide placed it between 11 and 14, (fairly useless) What I don't understand is why? This hasn't happened to me before, could it be a false trace caused it? And the soap is 24 -48 hours old, is there anything I can do with it? It's Grapefruit and Honey Goat Milk Soap. The irony is it was a 2 step batch, (One Solid, split and remolded, new batch swirled) and both batches zapped. Oh and just wondering could the fragrance or essential oil play a part? Thanks for any help.
 
It can take up to 72 hrs for soap to finish saponifying especially if poured at a very light trace or if not gelled. When I first started soaping I would pour at light trace, would not gel my soaps and they would always zap until the 72 hr mark then like magic it was like the light switch turned off, no zap.
 
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