Soap went wonky

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Fujihime

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I'm sorry for the messed up title but I'm not sure how else to describe it!

My soap 'grow spots' as you can see from the pictures. I thought they were unmelted oil at the first few hours but as I unmold the loaf, the 'spots' grew in numbers. Previously there weren't even any on the surface (the round ones are actually embeds but now they look like part of the spots!)

It's my first time encountering this condition. I'm fairly new to soaping so I need help to identify what went wrong so that I would not repeat the same mistake again. The only thing I did differently compare to my other batches of soap is adding cherry blossom fo. I'm experimenting on a few new fo and so far they turn out ok. Does unstable fo result in such spots? Please help. Thank you!

IMG_9401.jpg


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Are the spots liquidy/oily, or are they firm to the touch, like they are a part of soap, but somewhat clear or translucent? If they are firm and seem to be part of the soap, they are most likely 'glycerin rivers'. The term 'glycerin rivers' is actually a misnomer, but that's what we tend to call them around here. Here's a pic of one of my soaps with similar spots, which turned out to be 'glycerin rivers'. They are firm and a part of the soap, but translucent. One would think I had tossed some clear MP chunks into my batch, but I didn't. This is the result of my FO causing my soap to accelerate and go through a really hot gel:
IMG_0547KentishRainGlycerinRivers640.JPG



IrishLass :)
 
Could you post your recipe? It helps everyone troubleshoot.

ETA: And "wonky" is an official soaping term. :wink:

Here's the oil I used:
Olive 40%
Coconut 15%
Palm 15%
Sweet almond 10%
Castor 10%
Cocoa butter 10%

Fragrance used were cherry blossom fo, grapefruit eo and rose geranium eo.

I forgot to mentioned that it was my first time using cocoa butter after my Shea butter ran out.

My soap looks so weird now, *sobs*

Are the spots liquidy/oily, or are they firm to the touch, like they are a part of soap, but somewhat clear or translucent? If they are firm and seem to be part of the soap, they are most likely 'glycerin rivers'. The term 'glycerin rivers' is actually a misnomer, but that's what we tend to call them around here. Here's a pic of one of my soaps with similar spots, which turned out to be 'glycerin rivers'. They are firm and a part of the soap, but translucent. One would think I had tossed some clear MP chunks into my batch, but I didn't. This is the result of my FO causing my soap to accelerate and go through a really hot gel:
IMG_0547KentishRainGlycerinRivers640.JPG



IrishLass :)

Thanks for the explanation! I wouldn't thought that its glycerin river until you show me the pic cuz I always thought glycerin rivers look like cracks and with lines. This morning I found out that the spots changed too. Some of the surface spots are more visible now but some spots are less translucent at the sides. I'm really no good in explaining, please see pic below. If it's really glycerin river, is there a way to fix it at this stage?

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There's no way to reverse it. It's a shame that happened to such an elegant soap. But judging by IL's, I think it will still be very pretty.

Thank you for your encouragement :)
I just cut the loaf and the insides look like dinosaur egg texture lol. It's so tragic but so funny lol. I think it'll be a while until I take up the courage to experiment on fo again!
 
Now that I think of it, they resembles more of the dragon eggs texture in game of thrones! Here u go :)

Oh yea and a failed hanger swirl as well lol

IMG_9407.jpg
 
Looks to me like you've got an interesting combination of things going on there. Glycerine rivers typically don't happen gradually after the soap is past gel phase so the 'growing of spots' in room temp must be oxidation - perhaps of vanilla content in the fragrance oil. From the cut pic it looks as if the soap got quite hot and possibly riced, and then stayed in gel phase for quite some time and crystallized unevenly. It looks as if whatever is turning dark/oxidizing stuck to some parts of the soap but not to others.
 
I live in a hot and humid country and it's almost 30 degrees c all year round. I do switch on the ac whenever I soap though. I wonder if this contributes to the condition of the soap?

I'm sorry but what does riced mean?

An update, I've check with my fo supplier and cherry blossom is one of the fo not compatible with cp soap... sigh. I've bought a few others which are also incompatible. Not sure what else I can do with them...
 
I live in a hot and humid country and it's almost 30 degrees c all year round. I do switch on the ac whenever I soap though. I wonder if this contributes to the condition of the soap?

I'm sorry but what does riced mean?

An update, I've check with my fo supplier and cherry blossom is one of the fo not compatible with cp soap... sigh. I've bought a few others which are also incompatible. Not sure what else I can do with them...

This is making me nervous as the temp here reached 42 deg C already... it typically goes to 50 here in summer..
 
It is not the temperature that is affecting that soap. The fragrance oil is incompatible with soap making. That is the problem.

I, and many others, routinely heat up our soaps, either in the oven, or on a heating pad to ensure full gel. The oven temperature is roughly 50-77 deg C. Way warmer than your climate.
 
An update, I've check with my fo supplier and cherry blossom is one of the fo not compatible with cp soap... sigh. I've bought a few others which are also incompatible. Not sure what else I can do with them...

You might be able to use the fragrance oils for other projects, like; fragrance for laundry soap added after everything is mixed, salt scrubs, bath bombs, or room sprays. Maybe the fragrances might be good for hot process or if you decide to rebatch?

Added: and "wonky" is absolutely a perfect soaping term! I use it all the time! :D
 
I get spots that look just like that when my FO rices and I can't beat it back into submission. The supplier said it's not compatible with CP so does that mean it's not skin safe or because it behaves so badly? I've got a few that are skin safe but not recommended for CP because they're so naughty so I can use them in HP, LS, lotion, etc safely.

ETA: If it's not skin safe that's really sad because you made a beautiful loaf of soap! If it's unusable you can grate it up, put it little mesh bags, then toss the bag into a drawer or hang in closet like a sachet.
 
I'm pretty sure they are skin safe as the supplier sells soaping supplies only but it's good to check with them again. Thanks for the suggestion on using them on other non cp products! Not a fan of hp cuz of bad experience though I'm trying to tackle bath bombs and balms soon.

Love the idea of putting them into sachets too. My hubby travels a lot for work so chucking some into his luggage may lighten up his mood!
 

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