pockets of lye?

[davidsoaps]

I've heard that if the soap doesn't have a nice uniform look it could be the result of unsaponified lye. I'm not sure if that is what I'm seeing here.

 

[danahuff]

That doesn't look like pockets of lye. Lye will be really white. I had that happen once when I forgot coconut oil. You could try to test for zap. I did that with my lye heavy batch, and yep, that was the issue with mine.

 

[davidsoaps]

Thanks Dana.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Does your recipe have high ratio of Lard, Tallow, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, or Palm Oil? Sometimes Stearic Acid can cause white splotches.

 

[davidsoaps]

This one was mostly rice bran oil and coconut oil

 

[judymoody]

Did you use colorants? Any milks?

I'm assuming that the golden streaks are calendula petals? For next time here's a neat tip. Cut your soap upside down and then the stuff on the top won't get dragged down the sides.

 

[SoSoapy]

OMGosh, that is the greatest tip ever! I just never thought about that!