Not sure what happened....

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rbecca74

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I made my 7th batch... A Guinness stout... The brown looks awesome... But the whiter color looks weird... Any ideas?

Small amount of the oils were sitting on top as well.

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That is called "glycerine rivers". Often times it happens with overheating AND the use of titanium dioxide (which in this case I assume you used to get that white color?) The oil sitting on top is also likely from overheating. Did you CPOP? Otherwise the sugars in beer can cause overheating as well.

ETA: Beautiful soap by the way.
 
Definitely glycerin rivers as galaxy said, but not to worry, it's just an aesthetic thing and not harmful. Did you zap test the oil on top to make sure it's not lye? If so, and there was no zap, let the soap sit and usually the oils will reabsorb and all will be fine with your soap. The rivers add a very cool dimension to the look of the "beer foam" you added to the top. Nice looking soap!
 
Thank you guys so much! I like the look, but it's definitely something I've not seen so far. I've noticed that ALL my soaps so far, overheat. They all have cracked on top. The only 2 that haven't, I had put in the freezer. (My husband said I can't do that anymore, because it raised the temp too much...sweet off the alarm). I've been waiting till the lye AND oils get to around room temp or around 90° at the most... But they all have cracked.
I do have DOS on my second batch :(
 
I was thinking the recipe might be off causing all those problems. Sometimes things look great on paper if you only look at the numbers but they don't work out so well in real world!
 
Rebecca, what is your formula? I bet the good folks on here would have excellent suggestions for you.

I have just started this wonderful hobby, and have only made 7 batches... but have used 7 different recipes. All have been made with goat's milk except this last one. I use wooden molds that my husband made for me, and line them with parchment paper.
 
Goat's Milk will contribute to overheating. I put all Goat's milk soap in the freezer, they are not hot enough to effect the freezer temp if put in immediately. You can also try chilling your mold, before pouring the batter
 
Goat's Milk will contribute to overheating. I put all Goat's milk soap in the freezer, they are not hot enough to effect the freezer temp if put in immediately. You can also try chilling your mold, before pouring the batter


Yes to this! I've also seen that people freeze their GM into little ice cubes so that their lye solution doesn't overheat and become yellow/ smell. I've also seen that most people put GM soap in the freezer.

Make sure you are not insulating the soap as well since it is prone to overheating. Try seeing if you can set up a fan by the finished soap in the mold to at least keep the temperature down in the immediate area since you cant put it in the freezer.
 
I haven't insulated any of them... I'm thinking it may just be too warm in my house... , but I'll try freezing my mold the next batch I make.
 
Milks, beers, honey, any additives with sugars will contribute to overheating. Have you tried doing a recipe without any additives, ie, just oils, lye/fragrance/colorant? That might be a good way to target what is leading to the overheating, you can add stuff from there and it will be easier to identify the problem factors if/when they arise.
 
Milks, beers, honey, any additives with sugars will contribute to overheating. Have you tried doing a recipe without any additives, ie, just oils, lye/fragrance/colorant? That might be a good way to target what is leading to the overheating, you can add stuff from there and it will be easier to identify the problem factors if/when they arise.

I haven't tried any "plain" batches yet... I was going to try an aloe soap next. The only additive being aloe... Maybe I can start with that...
 
My typical oils have been olive, coconut, palm, almond, and castor. (Cocoa our shea butter) I've made one batch with small percentage of hemp oil, and I think 2 with small percentage of avocado
 
That is called "glycerine rivers". Often times it happens with overheating AND the use of titanium dioxide (which in this case I assume you used to get that white color?) The oil sitting on top is also likely from overheating. Did you CPOP? Otherwise the sugars in beer can cause overheating as well.

ETA: Beautiful soap by the way.


Thank you!

I actually didn't use CPOP, just CP, and covered the top with my second mold for about 18 hours. It cracked very slightly, (so far ALL my soaps but 2 batches have), and the oil seems to be absorbing back into the soap.
I did use titanium dioxide for the lighter color.
 
I actually like glycerine rivers. I think they look cool. Maybe not what you were expecting, but I think they add character.
 
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