Soap leeching ( or is it leaching) liquid

[Kate Goodhart]

Cold process. Did my second wine batch yesterday. Did everything exactly as I did the first time , and the first batch turned out perfect.

I've been using the same oil/lye recipe all along, only I change the liquid to either milks, beers, wines, Etc

Everything yesterday was identical to the first wine batch. Alcohol was boiled off, wine was frozen, lye added to the Frozen wine, soap at 88 degrees lye mixture, 87° oil mixture. Froze for the first 4 hours. No colorants, fragrance, or sodium lactate added.

I noticed last night that there were beads of liquid on top of the mold. Never had that happen before! Wiped them off and went about my business. Just unmolded and there is a sizable layer of liquid at the bottom of the mold, and beads on the sides. The loaf is hard with no soft spots, or cracks. No soda ash either.

Any ideas what happened here??

Guessing many of the answers will be wait and see how this soap cures, and of course I will do that. I am guessing that since the oils are intact, the soap will be safe to use, but the leaching his got me quite confused.

I guess I should add, the liquid is the color of the wine / lye mixture. Wiped it off bare-handed and touched it and did not get burned, so it's liquid with no lye.

 

[DeeAnna]

I would not assume the liquid is not lye heavy. The skin on your hands is far tougher than other places (your tongue) and can tolerate a short exposure to lye. When I've handled lye-heavy soap or lye-heavy fluids from soap, a day or two later the skin on my fingertips will be rough like sandpaper. But at the time of exposure, I don't perceive anything to be amiss.

The real proof would be a zap test, but honestly I don't think it's a wise choice to zap test liquid like this. Instead, take advantage of my experience in zap testing weepy liquid like yours -- it is extremely likely to be lye heavy. Anymore, I just assume it's "hot" and save my tongue from unnecessary grief.

Separation in the mold is a sign the emulsion has failed -- the water-based lye and the fats separated. One contributor is pouring the batter into the mold at a very light trace / emulsion stage. Overheating is another, especially if the batter was barely emulsified when poured into the mold.