Oil on top of my soap

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Cactuslily

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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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 

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