What are these dots?

[Breeee1095]

Hello,

I just made this charcoal soap and used chamomile tea instead of water, and I also infused chamomile into oils. I strained most of the chamomile from the tea and everything looked great when making. Once I cut it I have all these white dots you can actually feel them sticking out and I don’t know what it is. I did strain the chamomile tea leaves and lye water, ( I pressed down on the tea through the strainer to get all the water out) but I’m not sure what these spots are? Is it in dissolved lye crystals? Is it safe? If anyone can help I would really appreciate it thank you!

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi and welcome to the forum. What is your recipe and what was your process?

 

[Breeee1095]

Hi and welcome to the forum. What is your recipe and what was your process?

Hello,

I make cold process soap

I attached my recipe.

I didn’t not use aloe gel nor the lavender e.o instead I used lemongrass e.o, lemon, and tea tree e.o blend for both rose mold and the big loaf

Hi and welcome to the forum. What is your recipe and what was your process?

Thank you

 

[Ephemerella]

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in but.... At first I wanted to say it was bubbles, but they don't look cut. They don't appear to be stearic spots, and I find it curious that there are very few drag marks from cutting.

Did you happen to add any clays like kaolin clay? I've had kaolin clay create little pebbles like that.

Your recipe has a generous portion of cocoa butter, is it possible you soaped at a very low temperature and it started to congeal?

Is it possible your shea butter is old? I've read posts where people indicate graininess from old Shea butter.

I don't know anything about soaping with grapeseed oil, but as I cook with it quite a bit, I can't see it becoming globular.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Thanks for the details. What temp did you heat your oils and butters to?

 

[artemis]

Did you use a wire cutter or a knife. Even these little details can be useful.

 

[Breeee1095]

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in but.... At first I wanted to say it was bubbles, but they don't look cut. They don't appear to be stearic spots, and I find it curious that there are very few drag marks from cutting.

Did you happen to add any clays like kaolin clay? I've had kaolin clay create little pebbles like that.

Your recipe has a generous portion of cocoa butter, is it possible you soaped at a very low temperature and it started to congeal?

Is it possible your shea butter is old? I've read posts where people indicate graininess from old Shea butter.

I don't know anything about soaping with grapeseed oil, but as I cook with it quite a bit, I can't see it becoming globular.

I used activated charcoal and I did not add any kaolin clay.

I do tend to soap at lower temperatures but this time I soaped at 90 degrees F and my lye solution was no more than 10 degrees hotter


As of shea butter I haven’t had it that long I also make lotions and it does not feel grainy


I did a zap test on one of my soaps and it did not zap nor feel anything but yet again it was my first time doing the zap test

Thanks for the details. What temp did you heat your oils and butters to?

I soap around 90 degrees F and my Lye solution was no more than 10 degrees than my oils because when I was mixing and I scanned everything together my thermo heater had read 103 F

Did you use a wire cutter or a knife. Even these little details can be useful.

I used a wire cutter I cannot cut straight to safe my life

 

[artemis]

I used a wire cutter I cannot cut straight to safe my life

Sometimes a wire cutter can cause a bumpy surface as it catches tiny air pockets in the soap.

 

[Breeee1095]

Sometimes a wire cutter can cause a bumpy surface as it catches tiny air pockets in the soap.

Oh ok that makes a lot of sense. the outside of the soap and the top of the soap is really smooth it is just the cut part. Thank you so much for your responses I just started making soaps 2 months ago but i have not encountered this problem with the other soaps I have made.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Sometimes a wire cutter can cause a bumpy surface as it catches tiny air pockets in the soap.

Thank you for this. I learn something new every day.

 

[Breeee1095]

Thank you for this. I learn something new every day.

I agree! I learn something new everyday as well thank you for your help everyone appreciate it

 

[dmcgee5034]

I don’t know if it’s necessary for your recipe, but you might try heating your oils to about 160 degrees to be sure all your fats are completely melted in case they are steric spots.

 

[Breeee1095]

I don’t know if it’s necessary for your recipe, but you might try heating your oils to about 160 degrees to be sure all your fats are completely melted in case they are steric spots.

Thank you so much I will start melting my fats at higher temperatures and start soaping at 90 degrees or higher

 

[dmcgee5034]

I don’t think you have to start soaping at 90 or higher, I soap at 85-93 usually. I do hope the higher initial temp on your fats might help. Keep us posted.

Btw- I hadn’t commented on the soap - it’s pretty - I’d call it Starry Skies.

 

[cmzaha]

I agree it could be your wire cutter, or your cocoa butter and/ or shea butter were not melted down enough. Also if you used fresh aloe it can leave specks but usually not a consistent size which is why I am going with the wire cutter and small bubbles.

 

[Breeee1095]

I don’t think you have to start soaping at 90 or higher, I soap at 85-93 usually. I do hope the higher initial temp on your fats might help. Keep us posted.

Btw- I hadn’t commented on the soap - it’s pretty - I’d call it Starry Skies.

Thank you so much! And I love it I hadn’t thought of a name so if you don’t mind I will definitely call it Starry Skies in appreciation to your help

I agree it could be your wire cutter, or your cocoa butter and/ or shea butter were not melted down enough. Also if you used fresh aloe it can leave specks but usually not a consistent size which is why I am going with the wire cutter and small bubbles.

I’m going to be making a soap again in a couple of days I will keep you guys updated! Thank your !

 

[Vicki C]

Beautiful soap - I vote stearic spots - this is what they look like when I get them.

 

[Becky1024]

I use a wire cutter too and see these sometimes. It's purely cosmetic. The wires can "pop" an air bubble or catch and pull out a little piece of the charcoal.

 

[Breeee1095]

I agree it could be your wire cutter, or your cocoa butter and/ or shea butter were not melted down enough. Also if you used fresh aloe it can leave specks but usually not a consistent size which is why I am going with the wire cutter and small bubbles.

Beautiful soap - I vote stearic spots - this is what they look like when I get them.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your help as well

I use a wire cutter too and see these sometimes. It's purely cosmetic. The wires can "pop" an air bubble or catch and pull out a little piece of the charcoal.

Ahhh ok I see thank you for your help! I was unaware of what these dots were I was scared it was lye so thank you so much!