red gel on goat milk cp soap

[kstewart113]

I have a red gel on top of my goat milk soap (CP) that I just turned out of molds. The small individual molds had less. I'm guessing it had to do w/ more heat the larger molds retained. I'm seeing where some people don't insulate and even refrigerate goat milk soap. The batch I made in the winter turned out perfect. Question: Is this soap safe to use? I scraped and washed off all I could b/c I thought it smelled like lye. Now I see where overheated / scorched goat milk has an unpleasant ammonia smell - so maybe that is it. Some bars had a white rough substance on them. How do I keep this from happening again?

 

[Dorymae]

A picture would really help here.

I haven't heard of a red gel forming but it could be your interpretation of a common problem. Is your mold by any chance red? I have hear of red molds leaching some color into the soap.

When you say gel, is it thick and wet like gel? How thick is it? Also will it wash off under water or must it be scraped?

These questions will help to narrow down the problem.

 

[kstewart113]

Well - picture is out of the question b/c I've removed all the evidence. Almost like soft set Jello. Mold is clear. Able to wash off for the most part, but some remained and had to be scraped off.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Did it look like this sort of? I tried to look up goats milk soap overheat

 

[kstewart113]

Yes - I think it is similar. I did find that picture as well. She is saying oil when to me it is plainly a gel like substance.

My soap is not pretty, but I'm beginning to think it is safe to use (once cured, of course). What I've read so far, is to use frozen milk (which I do) but to not insulate it (which I thought I had to) - and maybe even put it in the fridge. My house is pretty cool in the winter - so that may have been the difference. AND even though I was using semi-frozen (not totally frozen) milk, my lye mixture got up to 150 which is a lot hotter than I normally like it to get.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I re-ordered some supplies that I ran out of, and will get some more goat milk this Wednesday - so plan on making a small batch making those changes. I'll post my results!