Oil on top of my soap

[Cactuslily]

Hi! I tried searching forum, but couldn't find anything regarding this. Yesterday, I finally got to try my soaphutch mold. I've never CPOP'd before, and wanted to try. Soon after getting it in the mold, I noticed a bit of oil on top. Not much, but it looked green. This morning, there's still quite a bit of oil on top, but it hasn't been 24 hours. I left it insulated overnight. It sure was a heater! The FO I used has always played nicely, which is why I chose it to attempt a spin swirl. My batter did get pretty thick, but was still able to attempt the spin swirl. I did use aloe Vera juice as part of my water, which I saw contained 1% citric acid. Please tell me this will reabsorb... I've never had this happen. Should I zap test the oil?

 

[shunt2011]

It sounds like it may have overheated a bit. I would just let it sit to see if the extra absorbs back in. I just had something similar happen this past weekend. I left it alone for a couple days and all was good. Then once cut I would zap test it just to be sure all is well.

 

[Cactuslily]

Thanks shunt2011! After looking closer I can definately tell it overheated. I did zap test, and nothing...just oil. will let it sit, and zap after removal.

 

[shunt2011]

Thanks shunt2011! After looking closer I can definately tell it overheated. I did zap test, and nothing...just oil. will let it sit, and zap after removal.

Just be careful when you cut it. When I first started I had a couple overheat so much that when I sliced them liquid just poured out. Needless to say those went into the garbage.

 

[Cactuslily]

Well isn't that delightful. I'd be heartbroken. I've never made such a big batch. They are individual bars in a slab that I poured 3" high, so I could cut them in half horizontally. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I don't think I'll ever attempt cpop again :-( at least until I get an internal oven thermometer. My lowest setting is 170, but without checking who knows. I turned the oven off after I put it in. Was hard to see into because the mold is so big. I left it in for @60 min then popped it into my igloo.sorry about your loss last weekend. Can you tell me why that happens?

 

[MorpheusPA]

On the up side, it'll probably reabsorb. On the down side, overheating can cause the soap to tunnel. You're fortunate it wasn't a volcano.

On the way up side, if it doesn't zap and doesn't have durable oil puddles, it's fine to use after cure, no matter how ugly it got.

I haven't gotten tunneling during CPOP, but I get a lot of "swiss cheese exterior" where the outside of the soap is pock-marked a bit. It looks very lunar, so I've been thinking of making a light gray soap and doing that intentionally. It doesn't impact the performance or durability of the soap.

 

[shunt2011]

I tried to CPOP and never had any luck. Except my slab, I will generally turn it on and let it heat of at about 170 (my lowest setting as well) and then wait 5 minutes and put my soap in. I watch it like crazy though. My logs, I just put the lid on and cover with a towel or two and let it go. Unless I know the FO is a heater, then I watch it carefully.