What happened?

[Suzi]

I just made a batch of 100% coconut oil dish soap @ 1% lye discount. At trace I put it in my pvc molds, a few minutes later (maybe 3-4) I looked and the top of the very white soap has cracked and an off white foam or gel is seeping out of the top. I have not seen this before and I have no clue what I did wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Obsidian]

Its overheating and cracking. The hot liquidy soap is oozing out the cracks.
Try to get it cooled off either by placing a fan to blow across the molds or pop it in the fridge.
Coconut soap is prone to heating up fast and hot.

 

[Suzi]

Thank you so much. So next time, if I put it in the fridge immediately would that take care of it?

 

[Obsidian]

It depends. Sometimes it can get so hot that it will still crack in the fridge.

It generally does help though and is always worth trying.
If you consistently have issues with this recipe, HP could be a way around it.

 

[cmzaha]

soap cool. If you put it in the fridge I would put something under it in case it still volcanos. Being in a pvc pipe with little exposed surface exposed I am not sure if the fridge will cool it down quick enough. CO soap tends to heat quickly.

As Obsidian mentions above you could hp it or use silicone with round cavities if you insist on having round soaps. Otherwise, pour it into another type of mold such as a log.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I find soap made in a PVC mould heats up a lot quicker than other types of mould. I had my first (and only) cracked top in a PVC pipe.

 

[Cesar G]

In my experience, 100% coconut oil soap results really well in small silicon moulds. In this way it does not overheat and this avoids the cracks.