Soda ash

[hotcarl]

I am still having a really hard time with soda ash, it's making me crazy! I've tried spraying with rubbing alcohol and using Saran Wrap to cover with. It seems like the smaller molds always have a lot more than when I pour my larger loaf mold. Anyone have some insight?

 

[HerbalEarthling]

I am still having a really hard time with soda ash, it's making me crazy! I've tried spraying with rubbing alcohol and using Saran Wrap to cover with. It seems like the smaller molds always have a lot more than when I pour my larger loaf mold. Anyone have some insight? View attachment 7680

I've recently started making "square" soaps as opposed to round PVC-made soap. I've added botanicals to the tops and you can see the soda ash through them. Grr! Bumping this post, as I've also tried using Saran Wrap and the like.

 

[AF_SOAP]

I think steaming works the best to get rid of it. Though never proven it seems to be lye reacting with air. Well you need air to cure the soap so it may or may not be an inevitable problem. Try some of these solutions.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3WiX6sD-fY[/ame]

 

[HerbalEarthling]

[ame]
Seems like a fairly easy way to do it.

If you don't feel like watching the video, here is a summary with the spoiler at the end:

Soaping 101 shows different methods of trying to remove soda ash.

1. Spraying and saturating a bar of soap with rubbing alcohol then letting it dry at room temp
2. Submerging bar of soap for a few seconds in water while rubbing gently then letting it dry at room temp
3. Painting the bar of soap with a mixture glycerin and color
4. Steaming a bar of soap with a hand-steamer (maybe you could even use tongs to hold a bar of soap over a steamy pot, or putting the bar for a few seconds in a steamer pot over the stove).

The best method....
.
.
.
The hand steamer. Really shined her bars right up. And seems decorated top-friendly.

Ways to prevent and factors that may contribute to ash

- Cover with plastic wrap. Covering goat milk soaps aren't advisable because of gelling which is a fun fact for me since I've never used goat milk soap nor have I gelled any of my soaps.
- Add some beeswax to your recipe to make a denser bar. The more dense the bar is, the less likely ash will make it to the surface. Pouring at a thicker trace will also make for a denser batter.
- Spray with rubbing alcohol after pouring the soap, at the first sign of gel, and after unmolding
- Too much humidity in the air allows the surface to stay moist, allowing more ash to make it to the top of the bar

Pretty cool stuff. I never thought I'd need to know all of this stuff as I said, I've only made soap in PVC until very recently. Good luck! Gonna try the steamer tomorrow!

I think steaming works the best to get rid of it. Though never proven it seems to be lye reacting with air. Well you need air to cure the soap so it may or may not be an inevitable problem. Try some of these solutions.

Haha! I was busy typing out my reply then I hit send and was like "Wait, how did I double post??" Too funny!

 

[AustinStraight]

My gelled soaps never ash, just the ones that get a partial gel. If you don't want to gel, I'm afraid there's not really a way to prevent ash completely except for using plastic wrap, which prevents you from adding texture to your tops.

 

[HerbalEarthling]

My gelled soaps never ash, just the ones that get a partial gel. If you don't want to gel, I'm afraid there's not really a way to prevent ash completely except for using plastic wrap, which prevents you from adding texture to your tops.

Curious, how does plastic wrap prevent you from adding texture? Like high peaks? Or do most people pour to the top of the mold? Or does it "melt-like" when you gel?

 

[AF_SOAP]

I've also heard that if a soap is denser, this helps stop soda ash which would make sense if the liquid still in there that has to cure out is the culprit.

You could try a smaller ratio of water:lye and see if that helps. I just haven't had issues with soda ash other than my first batch ever and the only changes I have made since then was higher concentration of lye in the water/lye solution.

 

[Serenity]

I have this problem too. It's devastating when you uncover your beautiful soap only to see ash on it! It's my understanding that ash is more prevalent on soaps that are either ungelled, soaped cool or contain milk or juice. Kevin Dunn says this:

How do we prevent it?
Cover your soaps with wax paper or plastic wrap to keep the air from “touching” your soap surface as it saponifies. Do not uncover or unmold your soap until it is “tongue neutral.” This is especially important to remember when you are doing un-gelled soap. In my experience un-gelled soap takes longer to complete the process of saponification than gelled soap and can sometimes remain “zappy” 12-24 hours (sometimes more) longer than the same recipe when gelled. Once saponification if complete (no zap) you are usually safe from the ash monster.
http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/05/secret-life-soap-kevin-dunn-2011-hsmg-conference/

I'm trying to find the perfect temp. I think for me it's somewhere between 35-40C. I did 43C the other day and it was too hot, got thick too fast and the finished soap was a funny texture. Good luck.

 

[CaraBou]

Funny you guys posted that video today. I used my hand steamer last night for the first time in many years - and it did a great job removing the ash!

 

[HerbalEarthling]

Funny you guys posted that video today. I used my hand steamer last night for the first time in many years - and it did a great job removing the ash!

Good to hear! I got a hand steamer last year for $5 at a yard sale. Pretty excited that there is yet another purpose for it. So cool! Even if I had bought it all full price, it's worth every penny.

 

[AustinStraight]

Curious, how does plastic wrap prevent you from adding texture? Like high peaks? Or do most people pour to the top of the mold? Or does it "melt-like" when you gel?

The plastic wrap is put so it's touching the soap, that way there's no air and the lye in the soap can't turn into soda ash after coming into contact with the air. I think. :Kitten Love:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Curious, how does plastic wrap prevent you from adding texture? Like high peaks? Or do most people pour to the top of the mold? Or does it "melt-like" when you gel?

Form my understanding you can't do really complicated textures and cover it properly simply because you can't actually have the wrap touching all exposed areas of the soap without smooshing (technical term, there) the lovely texture down. The wrap has to be actually physically touching all of the exposed soap, not just "covering" it like one might cover some food.

Imagine squirting some cream on to a pie and then covering all the cream with wrap - with the wrap actually touching all of the exposed cream - but without changing the texture of the cream

 

[Moody Glenn]

My gelled soaps never ash, just the ones that get a partial gel. If you don't want to gel, I'm afraid there's not really a way to prevent ash completely except for using plastic wrap, which prevents you from adding texture to your tops.

Hello! Yes, I agree with AustineStraight for my completely gelled soap almost never seems to form ash. BUT here is another interesting observation: The only time I do get ash from a gelled soap is from certain FO's. For example, I use (I think its called) Black Cherry Bomb from Natures Garden. It never fails to provide a sticky, white pelt of ash all over it - every time. This one is so time consuming to work with. A couple other scents will make a very light dusting which is easy to wipe off. But with the majority of other EO's and FO's I get absolutely no gel - under the same processing methods. Maybe the fragrances are partially to blame.

 

[hotcarl]

Can you guys shed a little more light on gelling versus not? I thought that it was only aesthetic purposes? How do I gel or not gel? I'm going to try the steaming method... Do you want to steam after it has completely cured?

 

[AF_SOAP]

Gel you insulate with towels or wraps and to not gel you could put in freezer.

I have a wood mold that won't gel if just left out at room temperature

 

[hotcarl]

Okay then I've always gelled my soap.

 

[AustinStraight]

If you want to be sure your soap gels completely, you could put it on the oven on warm for awhile. I'm actually doing that right now Might be best to leave the plastic wrap off the soap if you put it in the oven though ;-)

 

[OliveOil2]

Glen, I noticed that when I was testing 1 ounce samples last month. Same exact recipe, and same molds which weren't gelled. Some fragrance oils had no ash, and others had quite a bit more. I am impatient and many times don't take the time to test each fragrance with identical recipes. In the long term it saved me lots of money.