The "what happened" post

[Happysoap]

This is my CP charcoal soap with goat milk. It is a batch of my true and tested recipe. I have made it hundreds of times. I made it following all the standard soapmaking methods. Poured and went to sleep. I went to unmold it today and I found myself scratching my head. At the bottom there were was some caustic liquid. At the top 1mm there is a white layer of soap (not soda ash). Any ideas what could have caused this?

Above is the top and here is the bottom

 

[navigator9]

Wow, I wouldn't know where to begin guessing. First of all, is anything different, anything at all? Different mold? Ordered oils from a different supplier? Powdered goat's milk as opposed to liquid? New stick blender? Anything? I think there has to be something different that caused this to happen. It's just trying to figure out what the heck that was! The fact that it's a recipe that you've made over and over again in the past with no problems, makes it more difficult. I'm stumped. :Kitten Love:

 

[seven]

gosh, dont you hate it when that happens. your tried n tested recipe suddenly acting out on you. i swear soap has a mind of its own sometimes. it decided to be a rebel today. sorry my blurbs are no help.... but like navigator above me said, there must be a different variable that might be the perpetrator...

 

[Happysoap]

Nothing is different. Same mold. Same blender. Same everything. It was supposed to be just another steady batch to stock up my supplies.

The only thing is that I just remembered that I forgot to add the tablespoon of sugar. But I can not see the sugar being the problem.

Here is a twist to the story... the top part seems to be softer than the bottom so I am thinking that some kind pf settling occured....

 

[Susie]

Did it happen to come to trace faster than normal?

 

[Happysoap]

Actually I think it took look a bit longer to trace than normal. But I had attributed that to the fact that it was a cold day. Why? What are you thinking?

 

[CaraBou]

Trying to learn here, how do you know it is not ash on top?

Did you use more water than normal?

 

[Susie]

I had a batch do almost the same thing that was finally attributed to false trace. I re-batched it, and it did fine in the long run. But I learned my lesson on really fast tracing soaps.

I am still thinking it was not quite blended long enough, especially if you blended at cool temperatures. However, I am no expert, so I am looking forward to seeing some of the experts' opinions.