Top of soap looks funny

[Lillipad]

Hi all,

I’m new to soap making. I’ve been trying to make tallow soap.

When I went to demold my soaps I noticed this strange texture on the top of the soap (the other sides of the soap are perfectly smooth). What have I done wrong here??

Super fat 8%, water ratio 38% - I mixed my batch for around 3-5 mins, consistency was like a light batter (thick but pourable). Temps for tallow and lye around 100-115F.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[KiwiMoose]

You have covered it with plastic wrap or other kind of wrap and it has clung to it in parts where the soap was poured higher in the mold. Also the slightly white 'chalky' bits are just soda ash so nothing to worry about.

 

[DeeAnna]

The lye concentration for this recipe is just over 25%. That's more water than most people would use for cold process soap, although it would be fine for hot process. The generous amount of water in this batch may be one reason why you're seeing that much soda ash on the top of the soap.

"Water as % of oils" calculates the amount of water based on the fat weight. That's not very helpful if you want consistent, repeatable results when using different types of recipes.

It's better to base the amount of water on the alkali weight instead. The lye concentration or water:lye ratio setting will do that. They mean the same thing, just look different. My suggestion is to stop using "water as % of oils" entirely and start using either lye concentration or water:lye ratio, whichever makes more sense to you.

When in doubt I suggest starting with 33% lye concentration (2:1 water:lye ratio) and tweak from there. I think this starting point would be a better choice for a 100% tallow soap made with a cold process method.

I have more info in my articles: Lye conc vs water:lye ratio | Soapy Stuff
and Water in soap | Soapy Stuff

 

[Lillipad]

You have covered it with plastic wrap or other kind of wrap and it has clung to it in parts where the soap was poured higher in the mold. Also the slightly white 'chalky' bits are just soda ash so nothing to worry about.

Thank you KiwiMoose, yes I was using parchment paper that must be it

 

[Lillipad]

The lye concentration for this recipe is just over 25%. That's more water than most people would use for cold process soap, although it would be fine for hot process. The generous amount of water in this batch may be one reason why you're seeing that much soda ash on the top of the soap.

"Water as % of oils" calculates the amount of water based on the fat weight. That's not very helpful if you want consistent, repeatable results when using different types of recipes.

It's better to base the amount of water on the alkali weight instead. The lye concentration or water:lye ratio setting will do that. They mean the same thing, just look different. My suggestion is to stop using "water as % of oils" entirely and start using either lye concentration or water:lye ratio, whichever makes more sense to you.

When in doubt I suggest starting with 33% lye concentration (2:1 water:lye ratio) and tweak from there. I think this starting point would be a better choice for a 100% tallow soap made with a cold process method.

I have more info in my articles: Lye conc vs water:lye ratio | Soapy Stuff
and Water in soap | Soapy Stuff

Great feedback DeeAnna, I’m going to follow your advice for my next batch and increase the lye concentration. Thanks so much!!