Oil Seeping from Castile Soap after 24 hrs in Mold

[Orchidgirl]

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new here, and started making CP soap exactly one week ago. My first batch seems to have turned out well, but I have a question about my second batch. Sorry for the length of this--I am very concerned I have messed up this batch and want to be descriptive so that hopefully someone can help! :sad:

I decided to do a 100% olive oil castile soap, and I followed the recommended water and lye amounts on soapcalc.com (water at 38% of oil, 2.953 : 1 water to lye ratio). I superfatted at 5% and added lemongrass e.o. at .7 oz/pound for my ~2 lb batch. All went well, initially, but after checking the mold 12 hrs after pouring it, I noticed small beads of oil on the surface of my soap, but only on the soap that was in my 2 lb wooden log mold. You see, I had poured a few residual ounces of soap from my recipe that didn't fit in this mold into a yogurt cup...no oil beaded up on this smaller portion. Now, 24 hours after making the soap, there is more oil (maybe a tablespoon's worth) on top of the soap in my wooden mold, but the bit in the yogurt cup still looks fine.

I have come across some sources, while googling this problem, that say that the soap is ruined if it leaks oil and/or that I will need to rebatch. Please tell me this isn't so...! In case it matters, I did insulate this batch perhaps a tad excessively (2 layers of towels covering it in an already warm room); could the soap in the wooden mold have overheated, causing this? Also, it has been raining constantly this week and is extremely humid here--this is probably not helping my issue. So, to get to my main question, should I remove the plastic wrap currently covering my soap from the top of my mold and just let the whole thing sit exposed to air a few more days to (hopefully) reabsorb the oil? And if it remains oily even then, is it okay to unmold and cut it as usual and let it cure with the oil still on top?

Thanks for any help or reassurance you can give me. I would love to know if anyone has experienced this and had their soap turn out okay.
--Claire

PS The soap itself looks lovely (aside from the oil), smells great, and seems otherwise firm...in fact I was planning on unmolding and cutting it tomorrow until I saw the oil seepage.

 

[melstan775]

After tomorrow zap test it. If it tests neutral it might just be essential oil leaking on the surface. also it could be glycerin that formed. also yes, it could have overheated - do you have any cracking or crackle marks? That sometimes indicates overheating as well.

 

[lsg]

I agree, if it doesn't zap, it should be OK. The excess oil may be reabsorbed into the soap if you let it set for a couple of days.

 

[Orchidgirl]

Thanks for the replies. Melissa--There are no cracks, just a few small bubbles in the center of the soap that's in the wooden mold. Otherwise the surface is smooth and firm. I wonder if it slightly overheated? I will zap test it tonight (am going to try to unmold and cut it, too, because I am afraid it will be too hard to cut if I let it sit any longer than 48 hrs). I will let you know what happens!

 

[Orchidgirl]

Update: Life is good! All the oil has been reabsorbed by the soap, there's no zap, and I think it turned out pretty nicely. (Except I don't notice much of the original lemongrass scent...seems like it has dissipated already. Ah well). I did end up giving it some more time to just "sit" before cutting it--patience is a good thing--and fortunately it was still soft enough to cut easily with a knife. Hallelujah! And thanks again!