Well I tried to embrace the ash...

[Pepsi Girl]

Only it's not really ash it's actually big white bubbles! On the wooden log mold and the silicone molds the soap grew and then fell like a big cake. And while it looks like acne it's really just little bubbles.
I used Tienne recipe but ... I never did cpop before so maybe that had sometime to do with it?

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Take 2.

 

[eyeroll]

I've had this occur when doing CPOP, too, though not quite as dramatically. I think I may be overheating the soap. I am having a really hard time getting the temp/timing right and I seem to end up with bubbly tops and lots of air bubbles in the soap itself.

I think I may put the kibbosh on CPOP and just start using a heating pad to make sure it gels.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I'm with you eyeroll! I've never put a problem just wrapping it and putting it to bed. In fact here is the same batch I pour in a plastic container with luffa and I couldn't put it in the oven. It turned out just great!

 

[TVivian]

I CPOP all of my soaps and at first I had overheating issues for sure. The soaps looked similar to yours and kinda had a "veiny brain" look to them and lots of TD cracking as well. Did you leave the oven on while the soap was in there? What I've started doing is heating the oven to 170 while I mix then turn it off once I put the soap inside. I leave it in there for about an hour, then prop the oven door open about an inch for another hour or 2. After that I take it out and let it sit at room temperature. My soaps have been SO much better and no gel ring so far.


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[Pepsi Girl]

I left the heat on, yes Ma'am! And then after it cooked for an hour, I left the door closed until this morning. Guess that was some of that misinformation you get from books and why I like this forum better than books!

 

[Tienne]

Your title made me giggle when I saw it...

..... but then I saw the soap!! Eek!! That is not what was supposed to happen. :sad:

I have no idea what went through that soap's mind to warrant it having such a hissy fit. The few I poured into single cavity molds came out awful too, though. I don't think the batter likes to get cold.. at all!

The loaf I made was kept pretty warm during the entire process from mixing, to pouring into a preheated mold, to putting it into a preheated oven. (With all that solid oil, there is always the risk of getting a false trace if the batter gets too cool.) Then it was in the oven an hour at 50C and then I turned it off and just let the soap stay in there until the next day. No lid on, though. You did use distilled or rain water, right? DSM has so many minerals in it, that maybe using ordinary water would be enough to push it over the edge.

It's one thing to embrace the ash, but when the soap answers back like it has a bad case of Tourettes's, well that's when the fun ends! Ugh.

It does sound a little like it could have gotten way too hot in the oven, though. The bubbling sounds like it may have boiled, even. Do you have any way you could check that your oven actually is at the temp you have chosen? Some ovens can be finicky and imprecise down in the lower temp range.

I'm so sorry your soap went mental on you, Pepsi Girl.

 

[TeriDk]

I put my covered mold on a heating pad set on med for an hour or two. Gels just fine.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Your title made me giggle when I saw it...

You did use distilled or rain water, right? DSM has so many minerals in it, that maybe using ordinary water would be enough to push it over the edge.
I'm so sorry your soap went mental on you, Pepsi Girl.

I guess that could be it. I actually forgot that part as I never use distilled water, we have wonderful well water, but I was going to use it for this recipe because of the mud. So the upside is I have a lot of DSM so I'll try it again.

So As I always say: Keep Calm And Soap On!

 

[Tienne]

I wonder if it couldn't be rebatched? It can hardly get any worse and maybe the thicker consistency of HP'ing it will bind some of the minerals in the soap, so they don't migrate to the surface. It might be worth a try?

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I wonder if it couldn't be rebatched? It can hardly get any worse and maybe the thicker consistency of HP'ing it will bind some of the minerals in the soap, so they don't migrate to the surface. It might be worth a try?

Yes, I thought I would try it for sure with the single bars.

 

[mkstylessoap]

Your title made me giggle when I saw it...

..... but then I saw the soap!! Eek!! That is not what was supposed to happen. :sad:

I have no idea what went through that soap's mind to warrant it having such a hissy fit. The few I poured into single cavity molds came out awful too, though. I don't think the batter likes to get cold.. at all!

The loaf I made was kept pretty warm during the entire process from mixing, to pouring into a preheated mold, to putting it into a preheated oven. (With all that solid oil, there is always the risk of getting a false trace if the batter gets too cool.) Then it was in the oven an hour at 50C and then I turned it off and just let the soap stay in there until the next day. No lid on, though. You did use distilled or rain water, right? DSM has so many minerals in it, that maybe using ordinary water would be enough to push it over the edge.

It's one thing to embrace the ash, but when the soap answers back like it has a bad case of Tourettes's, well that's when the fun ends! Ugh.

It does sound a little like it could have gotten way too hot in the oven, though. The bubbling sounds like it may have boiled, even. Do you have any way you could check that your oven actually is at the temp you have chosen? Some ovens can be finicky and imprecise down in the lower temp range.

I'm so sorry your soap went mental on you, Pepsi Girl.

I have never had good luck with CPOP, I've tried it multiple times all with varying degrees of bad results so I have just stuck with CP and patience.

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[girlishcharm2004]

I've also heard that silicone molds can keep temperatures higher -- just to keep in mind if you use both silicone and wooden molds.

 

[djk17]

You cooked it. I've done the same in silicone cavity moulds. And it is just a very short time between great gel then 1 minute later: cooked.
What I've done is thrown it all in a loaf pan with some old grated soap I had at hand (designated for laundry soap) and coconut milk powder and it ended up rebatching beautifully.

ETA for clarification: I mushed everything together and tossed the loaf pan back into the oven and melted it down, then let it cool & harden in the loaf pan, then sliced it up into bars.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

You cooked it. I've done the same in silicone cavity moulds. And it is just a very short time between great gel then 1 minute later: cooked.
What I've done is thrown it all in a loaf pan with some old grated soap I had at hand (designated for laundry soap) and coconut milk powder and it ended up rebatching beautifully.

ETA for clarification: I mushed everything together and tossed the loaf pan back into the oven and melted it down, then let it cool & harden in the loaf pan, then sliced it up into bars.

Wish I'd read this a couple hours ago. I just finished rebatching it. So how do you melt it in the oven? I'm a little oven shy right now!

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Rebatched and sleeping comfortably!

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Rebatch gotta love it!

 

[Tienne]

Rebatching! ... every soapmaker's "Plan B".

It looks great, Pepsi Girl! Considering how rock hard that soap is and the state of what you started out with, you've gotten it pretty smooooooth looking! Well done!

This recipe is the one I have used that has made the soap usable the absolute fastest ever. On day two, it was already hard and mild enough for me to sneak a lather and I have been using it (uhm, I mean testing it), every day since and I gotta say it's growing on me. At first I was kind of "nyaaa", it can't be good with all that palm, but now I find myself having to revise my oil prejudices. I actually really like the way this recipe pans out and I luuuv how hard-wearing it is. Have you snuck a lather yet? Wadda ya think of it?

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Rebatching! ... every soapmaker's "Plan B".

It looks great, Pepsi Girl! Considering how rock hard that soap is and the state of what you started out with, you've gotten it pretty smooooooth looking! Well done!

This recipe is the one I have used that has made the soap usable the absolute fastest ever. On day two, it was already hard and mild enough for me to sneak a lather and I have been using it (uhm, I mean testing it), every day since and I gotta say it's growing on me. At first I was kind of "nyaaa", it can't be good with all that palm, but now I find myself having to revise my oil prejudices. I actually really like the way this recipe pans out and I luuuv how hard-wearing it is. Have you snuck a lather yet? Wadda ya think of it?

Thanks Tienne, I'm pretty happy! I did sneak a lather :silent: and it so nice!