My 1st Beer Soap.. what went wrong?

[TexasSkyz]

I'm pretty new to soap making .. I only have about a dozen batches of milk soap under my belt.

This is my 1st attempt at beer soap and everything seemed to go perfect.

I used 3 different molds. 1 Lg Silicone loaf and 2 plastic cavity molds. Soaps looked great when I unmolded them after 24 hours.

But then 36 hours later I started seeing something new... The edges are turning white and cracking open.. These white spots are softer then the rest of the bar.. I tried to smooth them over but overnight they started cracking again.

Bars from all 3 molds are showing it and it's only on the outside edges.

 

[terminatortoo]

Looks like ash.

 

[cmzaha]

I agree that it looks like ash. It doesn't hurt anything and is really just cosmetic. Once your soaps are cured you could wash them in a salt water bath to wash off the ash. Some use hand held steamers but they never worked for me. I usually just leave the ash unless it is really bad

 

[dagmar88]

have you done a zap test?

 

[Kersten]

I've not experienced ash that is noticably softer in spots and cracks like you describe. If I get ash it completely covers the tops of my soap, but no textural changes or cracking has ever occurred, but that is just my experience. If I saw this on my soap I would definitely do a zap test to make sure these spots aren't lye heavy.

 

[gratia]

Looks like it may go deeper then just the surface. IDK I can't say I have had much experience with ash.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

What process did you use? Did you boil your beer down or freeze it? Did you gel or force it not to gel? Recipe? The beer soap I made recently didn't have any issues, knock on wood. I did boil my beer down but did not freeze it, and I did gel. I used lard, palm, coconut, olive and soybean to make that batch.

 

[TexasSkyz]

Thanks guys,

I did boil the beer and then froze it.
I did keep temps cool...probably just under 100 ...

I dont have the recipe in front of me but i used coconut oil, lard, palm and olive oil.

Used sandlewood and vanilla FO ...

Doesnt look like the ash i have seen before.

Will zap test when i get back home.

The white spots seem to be getting firmer..

If they are from lye pockets ....will they eventually fade away?