Unexpected results with jojoba

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MarnieSoapien

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I've been trying out some new recipes lately. Yesterday I made a small batch using jojoba, which I've never used before. Things seemed pretty normal. I mixed my lye/water, measured and melted my oils, blended to a thin trace and I added about 15 grams of Citrus Burst FO by Gracefruit and hand mixed the FO in. The FO did accelerate my batch a bit. It seemed a little lumpy when I poured it into the mold.

I covered the mold and left it in a room for 24 hours. When I went to check on it today, I noticed lighter patches in the soap, that looked almost like glycerine. What do you think this is from? Should I have mixed the batter longer?

Thanks for any feedback!
 

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I noticed lighter patches in the soap, that looked almost like glycerine. What do you think this is from?
It is glycerine, a product of saponification. When you make soap, you are making glycerol (glycerin, glycerine) as well.
oil + NaOH = Gly(OH)3 + 3 soap
For every three molecules of soap that you make, you are making one molecule of glycerin (propane-1,2,3-triol).
 
It is glycerine, a product of saponification. When you make soap, you are making glycerol (glycerin, glycerine) as well.
oil + NaOH = Gly(OH)3 + 3 soap
Ok . And what would you recommend if I wanted to avoid the glycerol patches?
 
Glycerin is created when the fats are broken down into fatty acids and glycerin. Because the fats are evenly distributed throughout the soap batter, the glycerin is also distributed evenly throughout. I have never heard nor seen of "glycerol patches" in soap until today, so you've invented a new thing if it actually happened. Are the areas unsually soft or weepy? If not, I honestly doubt they're from glycerin. Overheating can cause some odd structures and unexpected liquids to form, but this doesn't look like overheating.

You said you blended the soap to emulsion and then added an FO that may have caused some acceleration and possibly ricing. I'd say it's more likely that this is more likely the cause of your troubles. The jojoba may have played a part as well. Jojoba is a wax, not a triglyceride fat, and it does not consume much alkali (NaOH), so the implication is that most of the jojoba survives saponfication. In larger amounts (and 10% would be on the higher side), it can contribute to the soap being soft and that may have contributed to these marks as well.
 
I have never heard nor seen of "glycerol patches" in soap until today, so you've invented a new thing if it actually happened. Are the areas unsually soft or weepy? If not, I honestly doubt they're from glycerin.

To be fair I did flunk out of organic chemistry. The idea of me creating something new by accident is pretty darn funny to me. :D
The patches are not softer than the surrounding soap and they do not appear weepy. So, probably not glycerin?
 
I posted before I looked closely at the photos. It does not look like glycerin. If it were glycerin, I would expect it to be soft and weepy.

Carve out piece of the spot only. Carve out a equally sized piece of the other. Place each in an equal amount of water, and compare how they dissolve. Glycerin is soluble in water and will dissolve easily. Oil is not and does not. The soap will dissolve at the expected rate. I don't know what to say about the non-saponified conponents of the jojoba. It would be interesting to see what is left of the spot.
 
...The patches are not softer than the surrounding soap and they do not appear weepy. So, probably not glycerin?

Nope, not glycerin. It's probably just soap that is slightly different than the main body of the soap. I still think the culprit is most likely the FO causing acceleration, but the high % of jojoba might have contributed too.
 
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