Spots on soap

[laurahatt214]

Hi guys!

I have 2 soaps that I made and they have been curring for about 5 weeks now and I have been wondering about these white spots on my soap. What do you think they are?

Pink/Red/White Soap:
Rice Bran Oil 35%
Coconut Oil 25%
Olive Oil 25%
Sunflower Oil 10%
S. Almond Oil 5%
White, red and pink mica's added 1 TSP each mixed with 1 TBS of S. Almond Oil

Black/Brown Soap:
Palm Oil 40%
Coconut Oil 24%
Olive Oil 36%
No mica used only cocoa powder

I normally soap low temps around 100 if that makes a difference.

Thank you for your help!!

Edited to add mica

 

[dixiedragon]

In the pink and white pick, that's what we call glycerin rivers. It's just cosmetic - your soap is fine. To avoid that effect, you can reduce your water. The default on SoapCalc is water as percentage of oils 38%. Try dropping that to 35 or 33. A lot people here prefer to calculate lye concentration, which is a water to lye ratio, rather than a water to oil. I'm used to water as percent of oils, so I've been sticking to that. (probably too much information here, lol.)

Did you use titanium dioxide (TD)? That can make the appearance of the glycerin rivers stronger.

Brown and white - I think those are stearic spots. Did you use palm or stearic acid in this recipe?

 

[IrishLass]

I second what Dixie said....glycerin rivers in the first soap and stearic spots in the second.


IrishLass

 

[laurahatt214]

Hi Dixie

In the Pink/White soap I did not use TD straight but did use a white mica from BB which probably had TD in it lol. My water was at 38%

For the Brown soap I did use a lot of palm oil at 40%...is that bad?

 

[dixiedragon]

Not bad, but palm is more prone to stearic acid spots than lard. Lard is my One True Love.

This might have some suggestions.
https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/01/white-spots-in-soap/

 

[IrishLass]

You can get glycerin rivers even when you have no TD in the soap. Full water and a hot gel are a good combo for contributing to them.

40% palm is not bad....it's all in how hot you soap with high stearic fats. I use lots of high stearic fats and the thing that keeps stearic spots away from my soap is not letting my soap batter go below 110F when soaping.


IrishLass

 

[Zing]

@laurahatt214 I learned a lot when I posted this back when I didn't even know what to call the problem, i.e., glycerin rivers, https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-caused-ridges-oil-on-top.69744/
Since my first glycerin rivers issue, when I use TD, I lower my water, use the bare minimum of TD, and soap at cooler temps. I have not gotten glycerin rivers ever since. I really like TD and relieved to find a prevention.
And by the way, recipients of that particular soap said "Oh, I love how you got that design"! I was like, yeah, totally on purpose....

 

[Meena]

Your chocolate swirls are divine!

 

[laurahatt214]

Thank you everyone!

Zing I have been there before..a design not coming out in my head but someone saying oh it so pretty and I was like yep I did it that way on purpose lmao.

Thank you Meena

Not bad, but palm is more prone to stearic acid spots than lard. Lard is my One True Love.

This might have some suggestions.
https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/01/white-spots-in-soap/

Thank you for the link...so after reading the comments here and that article I think it was from me soaping at a temp so low. I have to make the brown soap again soon, so going to try to temp a bit higher and see if that helps

 

[Dawni]

You got your answers but I wanted to say your soaps are pretty.. Especially the cocoa powder one

 

[laurahatt214]

You got your answers but I wanted to say your soaps are pretty.. Especially the cocoa powder one

Thank you!